Three little MiGs

[Bonehammer]

Greetings.

My participation in this Group Build will serve little purpose other than to counterbalance the landslide of Eduard masterpieces taking part and to get rid of some loft insulation.

The starting point is that old pony, OEZ Lethorad's MiG-21 MF/SMT/bis, which for years has been the only way to represent a late model Fishbed.

For those unfamiliar with its appearance:

(Clicking on the images above will lead you to a high-res version).

The optional canopies:

The surface detail:

The external loads:

Other than some well documented problems with the shape (wrong fuselage section, canopy size, and tail surfaces sweep) and fit (multiplied sevenfold if you're doing a bis or SMT), the kit has an odd feature in which all the mating surfaces of the wings and tail fin have an inner ridge that will prevent you from getting the right section. To my knowledge there is only one way to overcome this:

Before and after:

Before and after - the outcome:

One of the MiGs will be all buttoned up, undercarriage included, so I did the wings as well:

And that's all for today...

Edited February 2, 2014 by Bonehammer

[SaintsPhil]

Nice to see something different, some fairly brutal surgery but it's paid off!

Any idea of schemes?

Keep up the good work

Phil

[Bonehammer]

some fairly brutal surgery but it's paid off!

You ain't seen nothing yet the floor is currently covered in a fine layer of Fishbed grindings...

Re the schemes: nothing exotic, I think I'll stick to Mother Russia unless the reference dictates otherwise.

[Bonehammer]

Managed to slip in a bit of work this week...

The "all-closed" Fishbed has had the cockpit opening reworked in order to fit the spare canopy from an Eduard kit. I can't say I'm satisfied with how it turned out - the new canopy only makes the narrow nose look even punier in comparison - but since the fit of the original canopy is abysmal to say the least, it was worth trying.

Because of the need to fill over the canopy frame, I'm left with the thought of how to deal with the inevitable gap on the inside.

This side is nearly done:

Another MiG is going to be an SMT, the "family truckster" version of the -21. The reason for it - it's the version I built in my first encounter with this kit, and I failed miserably: so this is gonna be a rematch.

Armed with the foreknowledge of the trickiest points, I started by cutting the MF spine from the fuselage.

I used the same tool I use for rescribing: the tip of a hobby knife, from the blunt side. Pass, pass, pass, pass, till the fuselage neatly separates in two:

Next, the SMT spine has to be beveled from the inside. Here is the comparison with an unmodified piece:

You can see what a difference a few minutes' work makes:

The larger spine means some modifications have to be carried out on the fin. A little 'oopsie', but nothing as bad as the first time around...

(FYI, only the aft gap is my mistake, the front one come straight from the factory!)

Here I trim the opposite size to match.

In case you wonder, the OEZ company is still around, making electrical accessories (the kits were a one-off side business, just like FREMS's MB.339). Perhaps this is the reason for the thickness of the plastic? It looks like it could insulate you from a thunderbolt...

Because I'm a glutton for punishment, I thinned the wheel wells:

And now for something completely different:

The hatched parts may or may not be the next to go, depending on reference.

So far it hasn't been difficult. The hard part will be adding stuff to make up for what is gone...

Edited February 8, 2014 by Bonehammer

[nimrod54]

Fantastic work so far on these tiny models, keep it up. I look forward to seeing them progress.

[HOUSTON]

Good work....keep up the