My first WIP.... EVER! Academy MiG-29 1:48

[Fido996]

I've been a member here for a while now and I'm constantly amazed at the level of craftsmanship thats on display here. It makes for some great daily reading. So, I thought it was about time I made my own contribution. Whilst I realise I'm nowhere near the level of most people on here, I love the challenge. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't and it's all good practice for the next project.

Enough about that though, time to present my intended build. The kit itself was picked up long ago from Modelzone for the bargain price of £8 and then slowly added to as and when I came across the parts I wanted.

As you can see the 'battle' has already commenced. The Aires cockpit didn't need much to get a decent fit but to get everything lined up took forever. This was the main reason for building the front section first, after reading so many horror stories about the fit of some Aires sets, I wanted to make sure that everything was in nice and snug. And to be fair, this is the third cockpit set I've used and none have been that bad to deal with.

The main problem now comes from the kit itself. The two main sections were not even close to being a match. Started by trying to get the best fit and alinement on top. Shouldn't be too bad after a quick run over with the sanding sticks. Hopefully!

The underside is another story though....

My plan of attack is now to try and attach the intakes by clamping them tightly at the front using super glue. During dry fits it all seems to come close to being brought back into line. Then, I was thinking of dropping the bottom half into some hot water to take some of the natural 'spring' and tension out of the plastic. I'm hoping to end up with something that's a lot closer than this anyway.

That's all for now, hope to be able to share the results a little later.

Cheers and thanks for reading.

[Val]

Best of luck! I hear this kit is a bit... er... approximate in terms of fit!! I Have this kit too so will be interested to see how it goes!

[Janremco]

Good luck I hope you get the gaps closed.

Jan Remco.

[Fido996]

Bit of an update:

Super glue and hot water seemed to work a treat. Well chuffed with that! All I needed to do afterwards was run a small drop of liquid glue along the seams and wait for it to cure.

The sanding and any re-profiling will hopefully get done tomorrow, will leave it all for now to cure properly over night.

[Darby]

Don't worry about what level you may think you're at just enjoy it. I'm going to watch this build as I haven't done a Mig 29 since an Italeri one way back in 94

EDIT: I just started my first WIP as well.

Edited March 30, 2016 by Darby

[Janremco]

Great work Fido996 on the seam, looking good now.

Jan Remco

[The Spadgent]

Great work. Looking forward to seeing more of this one.

John.

[Martian]

Given what you have posted so far I think you will be just fine with this thread. Just enjoy sharing your build with us.

Martin

[James G]

Great choice for first WIP!

[Tiger331]

You are a braver soul than me !. I'm glad I gave up my Academy kit for the Great Wall Hobby version although the fit on the latter is far from stellar in places too (not quite as bad as the Academy kit, clearly). That said, the Academy kit looks good when it is embellished with parts such as the Quickboost radome and some Eduard wheels and exhaust cans. It's a great choice for a first WIP since the MiG-29 holds fascination for many.

Good Luck !

[Fido996]

Just a bit of an update, mostly plain sailing but one headache.

Got the wings and tail planes attached. No problems there, just let the wings set with a couple of clamps at the very ends to get the correct dihedral ( or as near as I could get ).

Also added the Master nose pitot and vanes. Theres a slight gap between these for some reason, I can only put it down to the different shape of the Quickboost nose cone and that the Master set was designed to fit the kit nose. Not too much of a problem though.

The headache occurred as I made up the HUD. It looks great once completed but I think I may have located the instrument combing a tad too high as the front part of the canopy fouls it. Looking like some re-jigging is in order. The instructions at this point are about as useful as a chocolate teapot. They show how it all fits together fine but nothing in relation to the kit its supposed to be attached to.

Nervous times ahead!

[The Spadgent]

Good luck sir. It's looking mighty fine so far.

[Fido996]

Found a bit of time to get some of the cockpit adjusted. The front canopy is now on and doesn't foul the HUD. A few more bits were tidied up in preparation for the priming stage.

Whilst things were setting I put a few more finishing touches to my F-4. Hoping to have this done by the weekend.

Cheers!

[Fido996]

A little more progress made in between house hunting.

Got the first coat of Halfords primer on, then addressed a couple of flaws along the nose and then a final coat of primer. This'll be left over night to cure and then its out with some old sanding sticks for a quick polish before painting can commence. Although, as it stands, this may have to wait a few more days than I was hoping for.

Cheers!

[Fido996]

A bit more progress to report.

It was out with the new paints for this build. I bought the Russian aircraft set by Mig Jimenez. Now, I'm still very inexperienced with an air brush and find it all a little daunting but I'm slowly getting the hang of it. A lot of practice on huge pieces of cardboard to get used to setting the brush up initially and then getting used to different consistencies. Still not quite got to grips with that part yet, but we're improving.

So, first up FS26373 Silver Grey

Then came the masking and application of FS24277 Green

After 24hrs or so to cure, more masking went on for the white. This was from another Halfords rattle can, gloss Appliance White.

Even after warming up it still seemed to go on too thick. But, if nothing else, it'll give a good surface for the decals. I'm hoping that by time they're on and it has a couple of coats of vanish, it'll look a little more uniform.

Next up the black anti-glare panel and the grey areas for all the dielectric panels.

Cheers and thanks for looking.

Edited April 16, 2016 by Fido996

[Fido996]

Another update:

Slow progress being made with all the main painting being done. This was then glossed with my special mix of Future, Winsor & Newton acrylic gloss varnish with 50% acrylic thinners. It doesn't give a brilliant gloss finish, but its hard wearing and dry within an hour.

Then came the daunting task of applying the tiger stripes. They're huge images. For example, the wing decals go from wing root to tip, above and below in one piece. Also, they're incredibly thin making them very fragile and not easy to adjust once on. From the second decal onwards I resorted to a mild, soapy water so that they would slide into position a little easier. Plus, some areas just wouldn't match to existing panel lines, although this may have been down to my original painted areas.

The main shock was watching all the wrinkles appear as the decal begins to settle. The instructions say not to apply any softer solution until the decal is dry which will be after an hour. So I put it down, came back 15 minutes later and the wrinkles were still there. After 30 minutes they were slowly disappearing. After an hour they looked as though they were painted on.

Eventually, after about 6-7 hours, all the stripes had been applied. There's a few areas that need attention to fill in some gaps, the nose area especially. Again, my fault. I left it to dry with soapy water whilst upright and the entire decal 'slid' backwards. So now a little artistic license will be used to correct this. All I need is the correct shade of grey and a steady hand.

Next up, the rest of the markings and then the tidy up before sealing it all in.

Cheers and thanks for reading.

Edited April 22, 2016 by Fido996