CzarPeppers Posted June 6, 2018 Share Posted June 6, 2018 (edited) I was originally going to make a YouTube video of this build, but I don't have a way of mounting a camera in a good position to document the build at the moment. So I figured I would do it with photos here to test the waters and see if anyone is interested in the first place. This is a 1/48 Trumpeter MIG-3 late model kit that's I have been looking forward to doing for awhile. My impressions so far are very good as far as the exterior of the aircraft is concerned, but the cockpit is rather lacking in detail so I got a resin cockpit upgrade kit for it along with the Eduard photoetch set that also has a lot of external detail stuff too. I also got resin exhaust and guns/pitot. This will be my first time working with resin so I'm looking forward to it (don't worry I'm aware of the safety precautions you have to take with resin). By the way, I do already have some but any reference photos you guys can provide in these early stages would be much appreciated. Especially in regards to the cockpit since I want to add as much extra detail as I can. I know that I'll be doing the Soviet green/black camo pattern, but I'm still trying to decide exactly which variant I'll be doing. Mainly which prop and prop spinner finishes I'll be going with. Edited June 6, 2018 by CzarPeppers 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CzarPeppers Posted June 6, 2018 Author Share Posted June 6, 2018 The most challenging thing about this build is that these two upgrade kits are made for the Trumpeter Mig-3 kit... but not for each other. I've been itching to get started but so far it has been a game of figuring out how to mash these two together, and since there is some over lap choosing whether to use the resin part or the photo etch part or a combination of the two has been interesting. All that said I think that when I figure everything out these will go together quite nicely, a little troubleshooting never hurt anyone. Actually it probably has... oh well. Lots of instructions Making my own instructions! I'm pretty sure there are as many bits in these accessories as there are in the actual kit. 5 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Azgaron Posted June 6, 2018 Share Posted June 6, 2018 Looks like a nice kit with some nice extras! Nice start! Håkan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the South African Posted June 6, 2018 Share Posted June 6, 2018 I love the mig 3's lines so will be following this one. Regards: Shaun Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Masters Posted June 6, 2018 Share Posted June 6, 2018 Looking good! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Max Headroom Posted June 6, 2018 Share Posted June 6, 2018 I built the early version and it thoroughly enjoyed it. The only parts needing attention were the intakes by the wing root. Looking on with interest. Trevor Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Troy Smith Posted June 6, 2018 Share Posted June 6, 2018 10 hours ago, CzarPeppers said: I was originally going to make a YouTube video of this build, but I don't have a way of mounting a camera in a good position to document the build at the moment. So I figured I would do it with photos here to test the waters and see if anyone is interested in the first place. This is a 1/48 Trumpeter MIG-3 late model kit that's I have been looking forward to doing for awhile. My impressions so far are very good as far as the exterior of the aircraft is concerned, but the cockpit is rather lacking in detail so I got a resin cockpit upgrade kit for it along with the Eduard photoetch set that also has a lot of external detail stuff too. I also got resin exhaust and guns/pitot. This will be my first time working with resin so I'm looking forward to it (don't worry I'm aware of the safety precautions you have to take with resin). By the way, I do already have some but any reference photos you guys can provide in these early stages would be much appreciated. Especially in regards to the cockpit since I want to add as much extra detail as I can. I know that I'll be doing the Soviet green/black camo pattern, but I'm still trying to decide exactly which variant I'll be doing. Mainly which prop and prop spinner finishes I'll be going with. Hi If you have not seen it then have a good look here https://massimotessitori.altervista.org/sovietwarplanes/pages/mig3/mig3.html @Massimo Tessitori is also a member here, and wrote the Mushroom book on the MiG-3 There is probably all you need in the link Eg cockpit https://massimotessitori.altervista.org/sovietwarplanes/pages/mig3/cockpi.html HTH T 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CzarPeppers Posted June 6, 2018 Author Share Posted June 6, 2018 3 hours ago, the South African said: I love the mig 3's lines so will be following this one. Regards: Shaun I definitely know what you mean about its lines, the first time I saw it I was immediately attracted to that. I know it wasn't known for being a particularly successful aircraft in service, but its certainly a looker. 2 hours ago, Troy Smith said: Hi If you have not seen it then have a good look here https://massimotessitori.altervista.org/sovietwarplanes/pages/mig3/mig3.html @Massimo Tessitori is also a member here, and wrote the Mushroom book on the MiG-3 There is probably all you need in the link Eg cockpit https://massimotessitori.altervista.org/sovietwarplanes/pages/mig3/cockpi.html HTH T I came across that site a few days ago, it is a great resource. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CzarPeppers Posted June 11, 2018 Author Share Posted June 11, 2018 Things have been a bit slow going starting off this project, a lot of time sorting out how I'm going to mash the resin cockpit upgrade set with the Eduard photo etch because there's some overlap. I'm pretty happy with the resin cockpit upgrade, although I feel like their molding process isn't the greatest but maybe that's just me. It is better than the stock cockpit though. I think they'll turn out well though with a little ingenuity. First thing was cutting the resin parts off and cleaning them up, making sure to keep everything wet to keep the resin dust from getting into the air. Figured I'd start with the bottom of the cockpit, then do the sides, prime and paint them separately then apply the printed photo etch on and do any detail paint work/weathering then finally glue it all together. I found a good cockpit photo I'm working off, so I can add some extra detail in cables such as coming off the stick and a few other things along the side walls. Now I'm having to do some modifications to the seat, because the resin seat has two slits for the seat belts to come out of on each side. However most of the references I have found have them coming out of a single opening in the centre, and that's how the Eduard photo etch seat belts are set up to work. Hasn't been a hard modification though, little Tamiya putty and a little sanding. I just have to cut out the new centre mount, I was thinking of using a tiny drill for the outer edges then carefully cutting the middle with my exacto knife. Oh yeah, and that's the radio unit beside it, found some good reference photos for that too so I plan on doing some wiring on that. There is also a decent amount of photo etch stuff for it too so I think it'll look pretty good. If I don't screw anything up anyways. And this is just all the other stuff as it stands. So far everything has been decent to work with, although I haven't actually touched more then a couple parts from the actual kit yet. Only problem is a few of the mounting points for the seat were broken off when I first opened the resin set up, but I could just cut up some scrap photo etch to fix them. If that is even needed, might mount just fine regardless. 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CzarPeppers Posted June 14, 2018 Author Share Posted June 14, 2018 Still rather slow going, for doing this sort of thing I really need to get some better magnification. At the moment I work for maybe an hour or two at a time before my eyes get too tired to focus on this tiny stuff. I've been very happy with the results so far, still just working on the cockpit. The funny thing about this one is I had a very frustrating time trying to put the two little gauges on the bottom of the panel, and I ended up gluing it with one hanging off the one side a bit. I was rather annoyed by that and thought about trying to get it off to fix it (glued on with CA), but as I was looking for new reference photos of that area for something else, I found that they were actually placed on the panel exactly how I mistakenly put it on. So it all worked out in the end! I'm finding that the Eduard photo etch and this resin cockpit set from another company have been going together nicely. For some parts where I prefer the photoetch I have cut off parts of the resin, where I refer the resin I use that instead. Then I'm making sure to add as much of the visible wiring as possible, but most of that will go on later. Floor of the cockpit is pretty much done, there are just a couple additions I need to make based on a great new detailed cockpit diagram I found. Which I can post if anyone has interest in it. Annnnd all the instruction and my awful scratchy quick note writing of a 5 year old. 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the South African Posted June 14, 2018 Share Posted June 14, 2018 as I said Previously:"Silently stalking you my friend......"Cracking good job bud! Regards: Shaun 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Azgaron Posted June 14, 2018 Share Posted June 14, 2018 Nice work with the cockpit! Håkan 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CzarPeppers Posted June 30, 2018 Author Share Posted June 30, 2018 Well! I've been pretty lazy lately, but I do have a bit of an update. Been mainly working on the other panel and frame, along with finishing my modifications to the seat and a few other things. Some nice little photo etch parts for the radio platform, I also decided to add some small bits of cut up stretch sprue for the plugs that the wires will connect to. I made the mount for the seat belts where it is suppose to be, and the one box on that right panel was too curved for the printed photo etch parts I have for it so I leveled it out with Tamiya putty. I wasn't quite finished when I took the photo. Just everything from the cockpit so far, I decided to glue the panels on since it didn't seem like there was any reason I shouldn't at this point. I also thought doing that would make priming and painting everything easier. For anyone else who has done WW2 Soviet aircraft what colour do you usually use for the cockpit? I have used the same blue for the bottom of the aircraft in the past, but after looking at photos again I am thinking I should use a blue grey that I have, maybe with a tiny bit of my sky blue added to it. Instructions always say light grey, which might to true for pre-war Soviet aircraft that had grey bellies instead of the blue. But later aircraft definitely have a certain amount of blue to it, just not quite as much as the belly. Here you can see I have roughly outlined where I'm going to add some of the framing behind the metal part of the cockpit. I'm not going to go too far back, but I think some of it will be visible when it is done so I figured I should do a little bit of the wood section. Not really sure what I'm going to use for doing the framing though, I don't have a very good selection of scratch building materials. I have some things on the way, but probably won't get it for 3 or 4 weeks, so I'll have to improvise. Not much to say about this, other than a few modifications with the photo etch set I have for the kit that I thought would work better. The finished left side framing, minus the printed photo etch parts. The completed floor area of the cockpit, again minus the printed photo etch. I don't have much left I need to put on, so I'm hoping in the next few days I'll be able to prime everything and paint the green for the floor section and seat, and blue-grey for the rest. Very enjoyable build so far, using the resin and photo etch sets that aren't really compatible has been a great opportunity to think outside the box and improvise. 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CzarPeppers Posted August 28, 2018 Author Share Posted August 28, 2018 (edited) Been quite sometime since I've done an update for this project, I was waiting on the scratch build materials because I wanted to do some framing on the wooden rear part of the fuselage. But! Thankfully they arrive the other day and I can continue working on this project finally. So I have finished up that scratch built framing, and any of the other wiring that I wanted to put in. I wasn't too anal about the spacing or anything, since they will be barely visible when it is all done, but I wanted them in there nonetheless to show some of the wood on this aircraft. And now finally! Time to get out the airbrush and do some priming. I use a custom shade of Mig One Shot and Stynylrez primer (same primer, different labels), a mix of grey and white. Although I think I might darken it a bit more, I just find the normal Stynylrez grey too dark a lot of the time. Especially for the light grey blue sections of the cockpit, and I had this spare bottle of this white Mig One Shot so I figure I might as well make my own grey. If anyone is interested I spray it through my cheapo 0.3mm airbrush, the stuff is a bit thick so I thin it with a little bit of Iso Alcohol which works fine with this primer and dries a bit faster than just using distilled water; also seems to spray better. Stynylrez and Mig One Shot are great water based primers though, so much nicer than the Vallejo stuff I used before. Stynylrez is basically like a water based version of Mr Surfacer, more of a chalky smooth finish that is perfect for taking paint. Plus you can actually sand it unlike most water based primers. Although I am in the process of setting up an extractor so who knows if I'll continue using it or just switch to Mr Surfacer. I'm probably going to clean up some of the flash since I can see better now that it is primed, look a bit messy. Anyways that's all for now, hopefully now I can get into high gear with this one. If you're interested in my work keep an eye out on the finished vehicle kit forum, while I was waiting for the parts I needed, I did a 1/72 Trumpeter IS-7 that I'll likely take some photos of and post there in the coming days. Edited August 28, 2018 by CzarPeppers 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CzarPeppers Posted September 10, 2018 Author Share Posted September 10, 2018 And the Mig-3 saga continues... Painting the cockpit sides with a grey-blue that I mixed, and then behind on the wooden part of the inner fuselage some deck tan to act as the base for the wood that I'll be going with oil paints. Very nice AMT-4 colour by Mr. Paint for the cockpit floor and seat. Done the fine paint work and the wood section done with oil paint. I would have done a bit more with tonal variations in the wood, but that section will be barely viable so I just wanted to have a little bit of the wood parts there. Floor and control stick with detail work done, also with some scratching done with a silver water colour pencil. Of course the brush painted stuff always looks a bit wonky before the wash is applied. Haha. I'm sure more is to come soon once the oil paint dries. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CzarPeppers Posted September 10, 2018 Author Share Posted September 10, 2018 I'm glad I uploaded these now, while doing so I realized I forgot to paint the wood handle on the pistol. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CzarPeppers Posted October 11, 2018 Author Share Posted October 11, 2018 Little update on progress. I had not quite finished blending the wash when I took these. 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CzarPeppers Posted October 19, 2018 Author Share Posted October 19, 2018 (edited) Just a few photos since I gave everything their flat clears. I find the flat coat always seems like the moment when all the paint work comes together. Sadly with how the flash was on this one you can't see the Kristal Klear I used to make the gauges pop. Edited October 19, 2018 by CzarPeppers 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CzarPeppers Posted November 6, 2018 Author Share Posted November 6, 2018 Just a little update, I've been stalled a bit on this one again waiting for some things that I need in the mail. But I'm starting to finally put the cockpit together and I'm very happy with the results, although I'm going to have to reinforce the floor because I snapped a few bits when try to get it in because its a very tight fit. I wasn't very happy with myself for that, but its nothing that compromises how it looks thankfully. Well, much. I'm still annoyed with it. Now I'm just hoping I'll be able to do the exterior justice. 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CzarPeppers Posted November 12, 2018 Author Share Posted November 12, 2018 And the project continues on. This was a pretty stressful moment putting the fuselage together, I'm a little worried about how the orientation of the cockpit turned out but hopefully once it gets some more structural support on the front it'll even out. Now for the gear bays, I really liked the photoetch that I got for it but I still wanted to add a little more to it because I have some great reference photos. I feel like I've been working on this project for years, granted I've been doing some other kits during this build. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fubar57 Posted November 12, 2018 Share Posted November 12, 2018 Greetings from the proper side of the Rockies. Looking very nice. I did the early version OOB as a German captured kite. As mentioned earlier by Max Headroom, watch the fit of the intakes at the wingroots. Test fit to the fuselage and then to the wing to decide which is the better fit as there will be no easy way to clean it up. Having said that, yours will probably snap together George 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CzarPeppers Posted November 12, 2018 Author Share Posted November 12, 2018 15 minutes ago, fubar57 said: Greetings from the proper side of the Rockies. Looking very nice. I did the early version OOB as a German captured kite. As mentioned earlier by Max Headroom, watch the fit of the intakes at the wingroots. Test fit to the fuselage and then to the wing to decide which is the better fit as there will be no easy way to clean it up. Having said that, yours will probably snap together George Oh boy, I haven't even started the air intake yet. There's some pretty complex photoetch stuff so I guess I've been avoiding it, won't be able to for much longer. I'll definitely take note of the attachment tip though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CzarPeppers Posted November 17, 2018 Author Share Posted November 17, 2018 On 11/12/2018 at 12:05 AM, fubar57 said: Greetings from the proper side of the Rockies. Looking very nice. I did the early version OOB as a German captured kite. As mentioned earlier by Max Headroom, watch the fit of the intakes at the wingroots. Test fit to the fuselage and then to the wing to decide which is the better fit as there will be no easy way to clean it up. Having said that, yours will probably snap together George Hey, since you have done this kit I wanted to get your opinion on something I've been wondering about. I wish I had photos but my phone is dead right now, but if you remember the two small parts that that go between the wing section and fuselage towards the front of the plane (they look like small intakes of some sort) I was wondering whether you glued those in place before or after you attached the fuselage section to the wings. I've been debating whether I should put them on now or wait until I've got the fuselage on. Because they seem to have a bit of a finicky fit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fubar57 Posted November 22, 2018 Share Posted November 22, 2018 Sorry for the delay, I work in a mining camp with very sketchy internet service. I had already attached the wings to the fuselage so I had to fiddle around with the fit. My choice was to start gluing the area around the wing root. https://ww2aircraft.net/forum/threads/done-gb-38-1-48-mig-3-early-axis-a-c.48918/page-4#post-1408827 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CzarPeppers Posted November 27, 2018 Author Share Posted November 27, 2018 On 11/22/2018 at 4:40 AM, fubar57 said: Sorry for the delay, I work in a mining camp with very sketchy internet service. I had already attached the wings to the fuselage so I had to fiddle around with the fit. My choice was to start gluing the area around the wing root. https://ww2aircraft.net/forum/threads/done-gb-38-1-48-mig-3-early-axis-a-c.48918/page-4#post-1408827 I ended up putting them on before gluing the fuselage to the wings, everything seemed to turn out alright. I did get some annoying gaps towards the rear where the wings meet the fuselage among other things. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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