MiG-15 (Lim-1), Eduard 1/72

[opus999]

I'm starting an Eduard MiG-15 in Polish markings (which I suppose makes it a Lim-1, the Lim-2 being a MiG-15bis).  This is the finish I was trying to do with my Dragon MiG-15, but I switched gears when I decided the surface of that model wasn't good enough for a NMF. So, why Polish? Well, I did an Airfix MiG-15 when I was in high school and it was the first Soviet-made aircraft model I built that had something other than the Soviet markings. The Airfix kit was hideous and I always intended to replace it and that moment is now!

 

So here's the kit:

 

 

I took a few minutes to paint all the cockpit and landing gear pieces with Testor's Enamel Dark Ghost Gray (FS36320). The Jian-2 cockpit was painted with Russian Interior Green, which @zigster kindly pointed out was not used until later MiGs. Pictures I found on the internet showed both colors, but on a closer examination, the ones that were blue-green interior were in museums, and I'm guessing they were "Restored". Other reliable websites confirmed that gray was the cockpit color in the MiG-15.

 

I tried something different for the wash this time.  On one of my previous build (can't remember which, now) I tried a technique I'd read about where a couple of drops of Tamiya acrylic black was added to future and painted with a broad brush over the cockpit and as it dried the pigment worked its way to the edges.  It worked reasonably well. This time I thought: isn't Tamiya smoke kind of the same thing? So I thinned Tamiya smoke with Testors acrylic thinner (something like 15:1 thinner to paint) and painted all the parts with a broad brush and let it sit over night.  The effect is more subtle than I usually achieve (which is good).  It's a little hard to see because it's glossy and I need to dull coat the parts.  The landing gears didn't turn out very well, so I may do a more traditional wash on those.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Is there an advantage to this new technique? Perhaps. I coated the gray parts with Alclad Aqua Gloss before the wash, but it could be that I could skip this step.  I don't know, I'll have to do a test. Also, this was easier and less messy than mixing a wash.  The downside is it's only one color, so any oil or fuel staining that usually uses burnt umber as part of the mix would still need to be mixed up as a traditional wash (although, burnt umber water color might work!).

 

This is my first Eduard kit.  I hope its as good as everyone says! It would be nice to have a relatively effortless build for once.

 

Just for fun I dug up a photo of my original Airfix kit.  I was in the process of deciding whether I could refinish it and I took this picture with my new state-of-the-art 640x480 digital camera (this was a long time ago...).  I actually pitched this model in the trash it was so dreadful!

 

[GrzeM]

Good start! I'll be watching your build.

4 hours ago, opus999 said:

@zigsterMiG-15 in Polish markings (which I suppose makes it a Lim-1

To be honest - not exactly. It depens on production. Original Soviet MiGs remained MiGs in Poland till their end. Lim means "license build" so all the MiGs 15 produced in Poland were Lim-1, MiG 15 Bis - Lim-2 etc. - up till the Lim-6 which was Polish-modified attack version of the MiG 17 (standard MiG 17 was Lim-5). Lim-7 was intended for Mig 19, but its production in Poland never begun.

[opus999]

1 hour ago, GrzeM said:

Good start! I'll be watching your build.

To be honest - not exactly. It depens on production. Original Soviet MiGs remained MiGs in Poland till their end. Lim means "license build" so all the MiGs 15 produced in Poland were Lim-1, MiG 15 Bis - Lim-2 etc. - up till the Lim-6 which was Polish-modified attack version of the MiG 17 (standard MiG 17 was Lim-5). Lim-7 was intended for Mig 19, but its production in Poland never begun.

OK, I'd read that "Lim" aircraft were license built, I just didn't know that the Soviets exported MiGs to Poland!  Thanks for clarifying that -- half the fun of this is learning!

 

Thanks for watching!

[GrzeM]

:-)

In 1951, feared that Korean war may soon become WW III, Soviets sent 60 Soviet-built MiGs 15 to communist-ruled Poland (some from the Soviet units stationed in East Germany), first Polish-produced Lim was flown in July 1952. Poland also imported 60 Czechoslovakia-produced MiGs 15 designated Avia S-102. Total number of Mig-15/Lim-1/S-102 in Polish aviation was 357. You must be aware that Polish infrastructure and industry was almost in 100% robbed and destroyed during the WWII, mostly by Germans, but Soviet offensives also harmed what was left.... Opposite to Czechoslovak one, developed by Germans and not destroyed during the "liberation".

[opus999]

On 1/20/2019 at 8:19 AM, GrzeM said:

🙂

In 1951, feared that Korean war may soon become WW III, Soviets sent 60 Soviet-built MiGs 15 to communist-ruled Poland (some from the Soviet units stationed in East Germany), first Polish-produced Lim was flown in July 1952. Poland also imported 60 Czechoslovakia-produced MiGs 15 designated Avia S-102. Total number of Mig-15/Lim-1/S-102 in Polish aviation was 357. You must be aware that Polish infrastructure and industry was almost in 100% robbed and destroyed during the WWII, mostly by Germans, but Soviet offensives also harmed what was left.... Opposite to Czechoslovak one, developed by Germans and not destroyed during the "liberation".

I didn't know that! Thanks for the background. I have a book on Soviet air power from the late '70's that talks about each of the eastern block countries and their air forces, but didn't go into this kind of detail.

[opus999]

Last weekend I painted and assembled the cockpit and was very pleased with how well it fit together.  Here's what it looks like:

 

 

 

 

 

When I went to dry fit the fuselage with the cockpit in there, I couldn't get the fuselage closed! There was a gap of about a millimeter at the top when the bottom seam was butted together! I figured that the tolerances in the engineering were so tight, that I must've glued something together wrong (a slight gap somewhere, or maybe a small bit of plastic from the sprue that I didn't trim off). So I tore the cockpit apart and dressed up all the pieces, removing the glue and making sure the areas that were to be glued were clean, and re-glued the cockpit together.  The dry-fitting went the same way the 2nd time.  So, I broke out the knives and started trimming away plastic. An hour or so of cutting and dryfitting later, I have it to where I will be able to glue the fuselage together, but it will be under outward tension. I don't like that, but I don't know what else I can trim. I was pretty aggravated at this point and put the box on the shelf and worked on something else (a 1/72 Hasegawa Oscar, actually).

 

Today, I'm waiting for things to dry and figured I'd take the MiG down and play with it some more. This time I put the exhaust together.  I went to dry fit the exhaust in the fuselage and.... the same thing happened!

 

 

I'm squeezing as hard as I can in this picture, and I can't get the fuselage even close to closing! I can't imagine I've screwed up both the cockpit and the exhaust (the cockpit, maybe, because there are so many parts, but the exhaust is just two halves... kinda hard to goof it up). So now I'm just plain angry. I don't know what I'm missing; so many people have raved about Eduard that it's got to be something I've done wrong, I just can't image what. I'm at a bit of a loss how to fix it, except do a lot of sanding or fashion a new exhaust out of some tubing.

 

Anyone else have this much trouble with this kit? I'm open to suggestions...

[opus999]

In my ranting and raving, I forgot to post the question that's been bugging me about the cockpit:  What's the blue bottle between the rudder pedals?  Is it Oxygen? It appears in all my reference photos, but I haven't been able to find out what it is.  My cutaway book failed me too...

 

[Sturmovik]

Maybe it´s the exhaust that is the problem, check if you can close the fuselage by leaving the exhaust out.

[Corsairfoxfouruncle]

Possibly push the exhaust deeper into the fuselage ? Maybe the instructions have it in the wrong position ? 

[opus999]

Ugh.... From the somewhat red-faced embarrassment department:  I couldn't sleep last night so I started thinking about the problem... It occurred to me that the MiG-15bis had a larger diameter exhaust. I also had noticed that there was an extra under-fuselage part with a different gun arrangement (for the bis) on the sprue. So, it dawned on me that there are probably 2 sets of exhaust.  And sure enough, I went down to look and the instructions show an extra set of exhaust pieces that are not used. So, of course I had to accidentally pick the wrong set! Like my dad says: if you have a 50/50 chance, 75% of the time you'll pick the wrong one I guess it pays to RTM!

 

Now, I'm considering what to do about the cockpit. With a closer look, I realize that the wash looks terrible. I'm really kind of embarrassed by it. I haven't really figured out how to do a good wash in the cockpit and wheel wells (it seems simple enough, it just eludes me...). I'm inclined to tear it all apart, soak off the paint and start over. But... It would destroy the decals on the sides of the seat, and, when the fuselage gets buttoned up, it will be hard to see (see a previous rant about that )....

 

 

[Steve Collins]

Opus,

 

I use watercolor paints to make my washes.  I usually use the Grumbacher kind in the small tubes.  I see you're from Washington, so you should have a Michael's or Hobby Lobby relatively nearby.  I use lamp black and china white to make my grey washes, with siennas (raw and burnt) and ochres (same) for various shades of browns.  I use distilled water in a plastic contact lens case (resealable, saves the wash for later use), put in a small amount of the paints I need, stir with a toothpick till the paint is well dispersed, then add a drop of dishwashing soap (washing up soap) to break the surface tension during application.  Put it over a gloss or semigloss surface, wait 15 minutes for it to dry.  You can then go back with a damp (not wet) q-tip (cotton bud) and wipe off any excess.  System has the advantages of being easy to store, easy cleanup, and easy removal and redoing if you don't like the look.  Of course, it can be overcoated with anything that is not completely water.  I use Future.  Sorry, not trying to hijack, just passing along something that works for me.

 

Steve

Edited January 28, 2019 by Steve Collins
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[opus999]

6 hours ago, Steve Collins said:

Sorry, not trying to hijack, just passing along something that works for me. 

No, this is great stuff! I bought a tube of black and burnt umber Grumbacher watercolors to do a wash on my F-84F, and frankly, I forgot about them. I've used the oil paint/paint thinner wash in the past and just haven't been happy with the results. One of my biggest problems is making it too dark, but that is something I just need to correct with practice.

 

The contact lens case is a brilliant idea!  I hadn't thought about that for storing washes.  They do make good pill cases for when I'm camping since they are waterproof (but you can't store more than 3 or 4 pills in them though.

 

Thanks for the input -- I'm starting to think I'm going to redo at least part of the cockpit, so I will need to give the watercolors a try.

[Steve Collins]

It works for me.  Been doing it for years.  Don't like working with oils, too messy, slow to dry, have to be very careful what you put them over, how you clean them off if you don't like it, on and on, whimper, moan.  Watercolors are just easier for me.  Hope it works for you.  MiG is looking good so far.

 

Steve

[opus999]

So, I was disgusted enough to tear my cockpit apart to redo the paint and wash on the sides.  Luckily I used Testors acrylic, so it was as easy as taking the paint off with a toothpick.  As a bonus, I was able to scratch the paint off all around the decals, so they were preserved.  Then I masked the decals and airbrushed thinned Mr. Color 306 (FS36270) which was a near perfect match for the acrylic FS36320. I let it dry overnight and this morning sprayed thinned Tamiya X-22 clear.  It has dried for a couple of hours so now I should be able to try the watercolor wash @Steve Collins recommended.  After that I plan to do a little drybrushing to bring out the highlights and maybe paint a couple of the lines (electrical?) that run along the sides of the cockpit. Hopefully, I'll have the fuselage buttoned up by tomorrow.

[John Masters]

On 1/28/2019 at 1:45 AM, opus999 said:

the tolerances in the engineering were so tight

This is true.  These Eduard Migs are precisely engineered.  I found that it is best to paint only the areas that will not touch.  Even a smidgen of a millimetre will throw the fit off significantly.  Glad you're having fun!  Nice kit.  I built the Korean aircraft.

[Steve Collins]

Good luck, Opus.  I look forward to seeing the result.

 

Steve

[opus999]

Well, I was distracted by an Oscar, and then was bedridden for a couple of days . So, I didn't get any work on this build done until today. I tried the watercolor wash method and found I prefer it to the oil paint method by far (my wife does too, since I will now stop swiping oil paints from her paint table ). In fact, I did the wash before I started the Oscar and liked the method enough that I used watercolor washes on the exterior of the Oscar.

 

Today, I painted some of the lines and some of the other "Doo-dads" in the sidewalls, even though I'll likely never see them again after buttoning up the fuselage:

 

 

I'm not terribly happy with how the black line came out, but I was really fighting that paint.  I think it needed some thinning. The wash isn't quite up to the standard of some of the cockpits I've seen around here, but I'm still really happy with it since it's better than anything I've been able to achieve with oils (thanks @Steve Collins!).

 

I scraped all of the glue and paint off of the surfaces of the parts that will be glued and re-glued the cockpit together. I was amazed at how much better it fit together than last time--and last time it fit together quite nicely--but taking off the extra acrylic really seemed to make a difference (thanks @John D.C. Masters!). I'm letting things set and will go glue the fuselage together a little later...

[opus999]

I got the fuselage together, but was really disappointed in the seam. Since there's no alignment pins, I had to try to hold the fuselage together while making sure that the seam was even (that is, one side wasn't sticking up higher than the other). Well, it took a little bit of pressure to keep the fuselage halves together, so it was really difficult to keep the 2 halves of the seam even. The top turned out OK, but the bottom must have moved before the glue totally cured because one side was a couple of mils higher than the other. I tried carefully to crack that seam, but it wasn't working and I didn't want to risk damaging the plastic.  So I ended up sanding, which removed some of the finely engraved detail.  I'm not sure I can re-scribe that detail and make it look the same because it was not very deep.

 

Both wings had gaps in the leading edges, which needed filling. On top of that, one wing had about a 1/2 mm of the bottom half sticking out along the leading edge, so I had to sand that down too.

 

So I'm frankly kind of surprised at the amount of work I've had to do to get the seams looking right.  And I'm not done yet. I've read so many good things about Eduard, that I must have done something wrong.  I just can't figure out what it is. Maybe I'm just lucky.

 

Well, tomorrow's a new day...

[opus999]

Dammit!

 

 

I'm exerting a fair amount of force in this picture and I can't get the seam to close. And the other side is (mostly) flush!

 

 

What am I doing wrong???? No one else seems to have these problems with this kit! (That I've read anyway). Maybe the kit is too advanced for my skills?

 

At this point, the only thing I can think to do is sand the foreward bulkhead and landing gear bay until this part fits.

 

Unfortunately, while I was trying to get this seam to close (after I took the picture), the seam on top in front of the cockpit broke open, undoing about a half hour of sanding and shaping last night.

 

And I just received an Eduard Spitfire Mk. IXe in the mail last night. I hope it's not going to be as much trouble as this has been.

 

[Sturmovik]

Maybe you accidentally misaligned the bulkhead, it can happen.

[opus999]

I suppose that could be the case. It seemed like there was only one way it could fit in there, but maybe not.

 

I've been working at it for 45 minutes now and I still can't get that bottom piece flush.  I've filed and sanded and I can't tell where it's hung up! I almost had it a couple of times, but the superglue wasn't strong enough to withstand the tension and it popped apart.

 

This is ridiculous.

[AaCee26]

15 hours ago, opus999 said:

Dammit!

 

 

<clip>

What am I doing wrong???? No one else seems to have these problems with this kit! (That I've read anyway). Maybe the kit is too advanced for my skills?<clip>

 

Hi,

 

I had a bit similar problem with this kit although I thought it was something to do with nose weight. Maybe not, so good to know to take extra care while I'm building next MiG-15. Otherwise it is a lovely kit and a delight to build!

 

Cheers,

 

AaCee

[clive_t]

Hi, have you tried coating the interior on one side with some sort of (removable) indicator, e.g. your watercolour paint, then press the two sides together - when you take them apart again, the paint will have transferred on to the area of interference?

 

Just a suggestion!

 

[Andrés S.]

19 hours ago, opus999 said:

Dammit! 

 

 

I'm exerting a fair amount of force in this picture and I can't get the seam to close. And the other side is (mostly) flush!

 

 

What am I doing wrong???? No one else seems to have these problems with this kit! (That I've read anyway). Maybe the kit is too advanced for my skills?

 

At this point, the only thing I can think to do is sand the foreward bulkhead and landing gear bay until this part fits.

 

Unfortunately, while I was trying to get this seam to close (after I took the picture), the seam on top in front of the cockpit broke open, undoing about a half hour of sanding and shaping last night.

 

And I just received an Eduard Spitfire Mk. IXe in the mail last night. I hope it's not going to be as much trouble as this has been.

 

Hi.

I have built the same kit and I have not had this problem. Could it be for cut remains of the staple? The lace of all the pieces seemed exceptional.

Greetings.

[Steve Collins]

Maybe it's just an artifact of the photo, but is there something (sprue tag, mismold?) attached to the fuselage piece forward where the angles are?  I think it should just be a slightly obtuse angle, just greater than 90 degrees, but seems to have a piece that goes, well, down from there that is impacting on the nose wheel bay piece. 

 

Steve

 

Edited February 11, 2019 by Steve Collins