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Mozambique Mig-17. FINISHED!


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Time for another quick update.

The cockpit is assembled and fitted to the fuselage halves, minus the ejector seat which I will add later. I have added quite a lot of nose weight to this one, just in case. As well as the weights you can see in this picture there are also a lot of weight added under the nose.

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As you can see I have had to use some filler (never seem to be able to avoid this), which I think is going to be a feature of this build. I have also joined the two halves of the rear fuselage, also with some filler.

mig%20update2%20002_zpsh7zxx2rb.jpg

Now I know the kit comes with a nice rendition of the engine but I spend all week building the real thing and I cannot bring myself to build a model of one, also time is a factor so I have come up with a solution. I have joined the rear sections of the exhaust and the ring on the end (after spraying the insides with Tamiya matt black which gives a nice sooty colour), these will be installed into the rear fuselage once both it and the fuselage are finished. I have used my compass cutter to make a suitably sized plastic disc, which has also been painted black, which will the be added on the internal end of the exhaust. Unless anyone tries to shine a torch up the back end then I think I will get away with it, well I won't tell anyone if you don't !!

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Hopefully I will be able to get some more work done over the weekend, Sunday looks promising as it's supposed to be raining all day, every cloud has a silver lining!

As usual all comments and criticisms gratefully received and thanks for looking.

Craig.

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Those are very fancy looking weights Craig :coolio:

Cliff

Thanks Cliff,

I "borrowed" them from work years ago when I used to overhaul Gnomes (the engines not the little people with fishing rods). They are weights used for building the compressor rotor, they are slid into the grooves that the blades fit in in-between the blades so as to correct any imbalance in the assembly. They come in different sizes and weights and can fir into some quite small spaces, far too useful to leave at work!

Craig.

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Okay time for a quick update.

The exhaust parts that I actually am using have been assembled, painted and glued into the assembled rear fuselage halves which had been assembled earlier.

It actually fitted very well and with some liquid glue liberally applied to where plastic meets plastic and it was held in place firmly. After it had set the disc which blanks off the open internal end of the exhaust was added and that worked well also.

I have decided that the airbrakes would look good if displayed open. this also lead to the realisation that they are very sparse as they come so some research was called for. I looked at my Squadron Walk Around book and trawled the internet for suitable pictures and set to work with some brass tubing and wire to try and represent the detail I found in the pictures and the results are shown below.

mig%20update%20002_zps5nwvbefh.jpg

I am actually quite pleased with the result, it may not be 100% accurate but it certainly looks better than the bare exhaust did.

I am hoping to find time this weekend to assemble to main fuselage pieces, which having trial fitted them will require (surprise, surprise) some filler.

As usual all comments and criticisms gratefully received.

Craig.

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wow that's looking great.....I love the "weights" you acquired :D , lovely work too with the detailing.

She'll look very nice when completed.

I have to get Tom's Vol. 2 on African Mig's, was lucky to win Vol. 1 and a couple of others with the Mig-21 STGB

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Hi Craig,

The MiG is coming along very nicely, but I think those pipes in the air brake well should be clipped into place or they will vibrate :-)

How's that for a first post?

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Hi Craig,

The MiG is coming along very nicely, but I think those pipes in the air brake well should be clipped into place or they will vibrate :-)

How's that for a first post?

Very good for a first post, and welcome aboard!

You are quite right I should clip my pipes together, but unfortunately I'm completely out of microscopic clips at the moment :)

I have attempted to replicate them by using a spot of paint but obviously it isn't working so I might try something else, perhaps a tiny bit of masking tape? we shall see.

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what about some silver foil? quick dab of white glue and then press it into place.

I am on what feels like my tenth fill and sand of the T-28 wing at the mo! Is Japan a lesser built Air Force?

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No Andy, Japan is not a lesser built air force!

If you have a look at the rules at the start of the group build it lists all the countries that have already been taken (most of them).

Might use some metallic tape that I "liberated" for the clips.

I am sure your T-28 will look good when finished, as usual. Of course we shall need to see pictures!

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Minor update time.

Well it's the weekend, the weather is it's usual horrible self, the dog has been walked and my wife has gone out for the day. Sounds like the perfect day for modelling!!

I also managed to get some done last night and the photos of the progress so far are below.

mig%20update%20001_zpsxk5vf7kl.jpg

Really beginning to look like a Mig-17 now with most of the major parts now assembled. As you can see there is a fair amount of filler involved in the construction of this kit, and from what I have seen of other peoples builds I am not alone. This is a real shame as the kit is very nicely moulded and has some nice recessed panel lines and detailing, a fair amount of which will be lost in the sanding process.

mig%20update%20003_zps5shbm1rt.jpg

This has already happened in the nose area which was frankly a terrible fit and an awful lot of super-glue had to be used, both to try and hold things together and to help fill the gaps. I have re-scribed some of the lines and will attempt to put some more in later after all the sanding has taken place and I can then do all the lines in one go. Note the large amount of filler needed on the undersides of the wing joint as well as on the top.

mig%20update%20002_zps6zxj5rfg.jpg

Don't get me wrong this will not put me off building another, but it is a real shame that it is needed on a modern tooled kit.

Oh well must get on and actually do some modelling or I will have wasted my quality time.

Will try and get another update in on Sunday evening. My 2 weeks away with work to Denmark has been put on hold, again!! So hopefully I can make the most of this and get some work done on the Mig.

Thanks for looking.

Craig.

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Probably my least favourite part of modelling is applying filler and getting the joins to disappear.

As above, make the most of the time.

Gardening season... Damn. I didn't think I'd say this but I hope it keeps raining...

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Thanks guys, and yes I hear you all regarding the start of the gardening season! Like you say Aaron I didn't think that I would wish for more rain than normal but it sounds like a plan!

It truly is the modellers nemesis.

Oh well off to put the first coat of Aluminium on to show up the no doubt numerous flaws in the filling and sanding, and then I can start the process again!! Such fun.

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The weekend was actually quite productive, modelling wise anyway.

As expected the first coat of aluminium did show up a few flaws but thankfully a lot less than I feared. These have now bwwn taken care of and I have started adding the dangerously fragile bits such as aerials and the cannons (after drilling them out).

The interior colour has been sperayed onto the canopy parts and the front canopy added to the fuselage, this actually fits very well and only leaves a slight gap which will hopefully be sorted this evening.

After all these little bits have been sorted it will be off for a final coat of aluminium before the actual camouflage can be applied. The colours used by the East Germans do not look like standard warpac colours so I will have to see what I can find amongst my paints to try and accurately copy them. Any suggestions here would be gratefully received (Tom?).

No pictures this time as I'm currently at work, with nothing to do hence having the time to write this.

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are you Welsh? (Bwwn)

It sounds like you are going to rub away the coloured coats Craig for a bit of weathering. Give Micromesh a go rather than chipping away as I reckon it will be far more realistic for you. Here speaks the man who builds JASDF because they are nearly always clean :-)

Yacky Da ( or however you spell it )

Andy

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