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1/72 Kong Jiang-1 AEW (B-29/Tu-4 Conversion)


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A recent Parkinson's Disease diagnosis has explained the my right hand and arm tremor as well as a few other symptoms. If I'm honest, it has caused my modelling to stall a bit since my Be-6 build, but I've been chipping away at an Academy B-29 conversion I started 10-15 years ago.

The now out of production Meteor Productions conversion is a reasonable but far from perfect fit, which also applies for the Academy B-29. Lots of filling needed around the turret banking plates, closed bomb doors, and some shimming around the cockpit canopy. This will be a view from 3 feet model. Here's where I'm at (the radar mount's white metal legs are just clipped loosely in place).

P1110186_zpsdarfrvpn.jpg

P1110183_zpsrbr2m9gw.jpg

P1110184_zpscbph2cfs.jpg

P1110185_zpsvxing9uz.jpg

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Wow! I wanted one really badly but couldn't get one when they came on sale.I'll be watching this one closely. All the best on your health.

Edited by Supertom
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Wow! Lucky you! I wanted one really badly but couldn't get one when they came on sale.I'll be watching this one closely.

I'll just be chipping a way at it from time to time as I more focused on a Blenheim build I've just started, so updates may be a bit patchy.

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Sorry to hear about your diagnosis Mark, life can be a cruel mistress sometimes. I'll look forward to updates on this, whenever they arrive, I've seen pictures of these things & reckon they look just the ducks guts with those humungous turboprops jutting from the wings.

All the best,

Steve.

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Thanks Steve, I thought I'd had my run of medical bad luck with four spinal fusions, an artificial knee replacement, fused left wrist, rotator-cuff repairs to both shoulders, elbow ligament repair,, and few other ops along the way. But for now the PD tremor is involuntary and I can steady it when I concentrate on small manipulative tasks; so for now I can still model, so I can't really complain!

As to the Jiang-1, it may not be the prettiest adaption of the B-29/Tu-4, but it certainly has presence. I plan to paint all the white bits first and mask them, then the natural metal. The engines and leading edges are white, as are the numerous radomes. I am kind of dreading both a s I know it will reveal lots of little patch-up tasks where my joins and filling will have been less than perfect.At least when it's done I'll have something not often seen in most model display cabinets, and it should make for a good contrast with a regular b-29 and B-50 I have planned..

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Thanks Steve, I thought I'd had my run of medical bad luck with four spinal fusions, an artificial knee replacement, fused left wrist, rotator-cuff repairs to both shoulders, elbow ligament repair,, and few other ops along the way. But for now the PD tremor is involuntary and I can steady it when I concentrate on small manipulative tasks; so for now I can still model, so I can't really complain.

Jeez, it would be quicker to say what does work! Keep up the updates, it's an interesting looking beast.

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Jeez, it would be quicker to say what does work! Keep up the updates, it's an interesting looking beast.

Thanks Greg, that gave me a laugh! I've had more than one offer from my mates to take me out on the back lawn and shoot me. Will post more a soon as there's something worth taking a picture of.

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It was love at first sight when I came upon this conversion... well after the end of Meteor Production!

I don't think that I'll be able to find one, but you never know.

I'll follow this, well done so far.

You never know Antoine, I started the B-29 10-15 years ago, but only got into the Meteor productions components a month or so ago. There are bound to be people sitting on them, forgotten and gathering dust somewhere. However, you can bet any that do pop up on eBay etc will be asking for an arm and a leg in exchange because of their apparent rarity. Good luck with finding one.

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Looking forward to seeing this one completed. I've seen one of the originals in the Chinese Miltary Aviation Museum north west of Beijing. I'll see if I can find a picture.

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You never know Antoine, I started the B-29 10-15 years ago, but only got into the Meteor productions components a month or so ago. There are bound to be people sitting on them, forgotten and gathering dust somewhere. However, you can bet any that do pop up on eBay etc will be asking for an arm and a leg in exchange because of their apparent rarity. Good luck with finding one.

Hi Mark,

As you now know, for an arm, it would be a bargain for me!

:analintruder:

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Looking forward to seeing this one completed. I've seen one of the originals in the Chinese Miltary Aviation Museum north west of Beijing. I'll see if I can find a picture.

I should think it would be an impressive beast to see close up. I have some good images provided by Ken Duffey and also the web of the museum example. These show it a s being quite weathered from sitting outside, but i shall finish my model as if fresh from conversion to an experimental AEW platform.

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Mark, by the way, did you wrote any review of this?

If so, any link?

I'm afraid not. I bought the conversion from Meteor Productions long before I began writing reviews.

I started the B-29 even before I bought the conversion, it was the KB-29 boxing, and I planned to finish it a s a tanker. Then I got the Jiang-1 conversion and adjusted my plans accordingly, but did nothing to follow through on them for years and years. It was only after using the B-29 engines and cowls on my recent Trumpeter Be-6 build that I chose to revisit the AEW conversion.

If you have any particular questions about the conversion set I'll happily do my best to answer them.

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Sorry to hear about your diagnosis! Hope the modelling can be a bit of therapy.

I can tell you the example of this aircraft at the China Aviation Museum really is impressive, and yes it really is grubby from sitting outside so long. I was a regular(ish) visitor to the museum for years when I lived in Beijing.

DennisTheBear

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Created an account (actually with the kind help of Mr. Williams the forum owner, -- thanks!) just to express my support of your fight against the condition and the resin parts.

On a side note, the name should really be "Kong Jing no.1", not "Kong Jiang". In Chinese Kong means "aerial" and Jing means "warning". I don't know where this misspelling comes from but did find a walk around page on prime portal with the same wrong name. Thought I'd bring this up in case you want to find more information on the web regarding this aircraft.

Incidentally "Jiang" in Chinese could mean "to lower" so put together they are "air drop"...

I've always loved this bird since my childhood and will be watching your build closely :)

-- Qing from Shanghai

Edited by asphaltmania
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If you have any particular questions about the conversion set I'll happily do my best to answer them.

I'm not that familiar with MP conversions, so there will be certainly silly questions.

Well, ready?

- Any instruction sheet?

- Possible to get a scan, a picture or something?

- Quality of the resin parts?

- Any use of other materials?

- Which kit is best for the conversion?

- How about the price at the time?

- Any decals? I see Dave Klaus is still selling them?

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Right now I'm writing a book on Soviet post-war strategic bombers, and I mention this particular bird as a fascinating variant of the Tu-4 (Soviet B-29) so I shall be watching this with great interest. I don't know which variant of the Tu-4 I'd rather build - this one or the Tu-80. Probably this one, as no conversion kit exists for the Tu-80. I am very sorry to hear about your malady, but this build should serve as a bit of therapy. Best of luck on everything!

Regards,

Jason

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Sorry to hear about your diagnosis! Hope the modelling can be a bit of therapy.

I can tell you the example of this aircraft at the China Aviation Museum really is impressive, and yes it really is grubby from sitting outside so long. I was a regular(ish) visitor to the museum for years when I lived in Beijing.

DennisTheBear

Thanks Dennis, Funnily enough, when I'm concentrating and modelling my hand tremors stop, so yes modelling is a good distraction!

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Created an account (actually with the kind help of Mr. Williams the forum owner, -- thanks!) just to express my support of your fight against the condition and the resin parts.

On a side note, the name should really be "Kong Jing no.1", not "Kong Jiang". In Chinese Kong means "aerial" and Jing means "warning". I don't know where this misspelling comes from but did find a walk around page on prime portal with the same wrong name. Thought I'd bring this up in case you want to find more information on the web regarding this aircraft.

Incidentally "Jiang" in Chinese could mean "to lower" so put together they are "air drop"...

I've always loved this bird since my childhood and will be watching your build closely :)

-- Qing from Shanghai

Thanks Qing,

I just took the name from the conversion box top. I don't know how to edit the title to this series of posts to correct the name.

To be honest, Chinese aircraft names and manufactures can be a bit confusing at times, as different references list the same plane differently.

I hope to post more progress soon, although I am distracted by another build at the moment (Airfix Blenheim I) which is part of a group build.

Edited by Kiwikitbasher
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Right now I'm writing a book on Soviet post-war strategic bombers, and I mention this particular bird as a fascinating variant of the Tu-4 (Soviet B-29) so I shall be watching this with great interest. I don't know which variant of the Tu-4 I'd rather build - this one or the Tu-80. Probably this one, as no conversion kit exists for the Tu-80. I am very sorry to hear about your malady, but this build should serve as a bit of therapy. Best of luck on everything!

Regards,

Jason

Thanks Jason,

Now a Tu-80, that would be something you don't see every day. Hope to update on the Jing No.1 soon.

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I'm not that familiar with MP conversions, so there will be certainly silly questions.

Well, ready?

- Any instruction sheet?

- Possible to get a scan, a picture or something?

- Quality of the resin parts?

- Any use of other materials?

- Which kit is best for the conversion?

- How about the price at the time?

- Any decals? I see Dave Klaus is still selling them?

Hi Antoine,

Here's a link to a review on ARC:\

http://www.aircraftresourcecenter.com/Rev2/1301-1400/rev1328-CEC72032/00.shtm

To answer your questions:

Instruction sheet is two pages, see scans below:

Instr_1_zps8ecfjg2d.jpg

Instr_2_zpspcsevvgi.png

The resin parts were good quality for their time, but fall short of the best Czech, Ukrainian and Russian products being offered these days. Fit is OK, but not precise,, very few tiny air bubbles, some panel lines need re-scribing.

All parts are resin except the big radome's supporting framework, which is white metal.

In 1//72 the Academy B-29 is the best kit to convert, I think any boxing will do, but the KB-29 tanker definitely has the gun turret blanking panels. Meteor Productions also released a 1/48 conversion for the Monogram kit.

My conversion cost me NZ$91.84 including postage from Meteor Productions to NZ. That was 10-15 years ago. In today's money that's about US$67.00 or 59.00 Euros.

Yes there are decals, scan below:

Decals_zpsxcoffm9m.jpg

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