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1/48 Mig-31


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This is my AMK Mig-31 which I started about a week ago. I have got the wheel wells done and fuselage built. The model is going together really well the fit is as good as I've ever made and because of that I'm seriously considering buying another as it's such an enjoyable build. I have completed a lot of the kit so far so it's about 50% done, but I have a few photos here of the progress in no particular order. I would ask that if anyone has made this kit already and has any tips please let me know! The front fuselage join is a bit of a pain to get the part on right but it fits perfectly when on but that's the only issue so far.

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On 5/23/2020 at 5:13 AM, asgardiano said:

hi ! which version is it ? the B/BS  or the BS/BSM !  i'm building as well the B/BS and it's a very good kit i have another two ! 

Hey it's the B/BS as well the kit is awesome I've not had much time on the bench so progress is slow, which is why I rarely do in build posts. I'm seriously considering buying another as well. I have the Hobbyboss one in 48th scale as well but I'll see how it builds compares to this one. I think Hobbyboss has released the Mig 31 with the Kinzhal missile which would be pretty good.spacer.pngspacer.png

I've the cockpit mostly completed and so far so good the join between the forward fuselage and the rear is fiddly to connect but once fitted it goes on just fine.

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That's a very good kit. I've built one and have two more in my stash. Yours is moving on very good as I see, the cockpit color is quite ok and the IPs look great. The only problem I had when finished was finding a shelf to place it on, as this monster is bigger than even some 1/32 aircraft :)

 

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22 minutes ago, F-4Guy said:

That's a very good kit. I've built one and have two more in my stash. Yours is moving on very good as I see, the cockpit color is quite ok and the IPs look great. The only problem I had when finished was finding a shelf to place it on, as this monster is bigger than even some 1/32 aircraft :)

 

It's great, I'm curious I've heard the landing gear is weak, how is yours holding up? The nose strut does seem flimsy to be fair but I'm hoping the main gear legs will take the weight ok. There's no metal inserts on this one.

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23 minutes ago, Deano353 said:

It's great, I'm curious I've heard the landing gear is weak, how is yours holding up? The nose strut does seem flimsy to be fair but I'm hoping the main gear legs will take the weight ok. There's no metal inserts on this one.

No other material other than metal is enough for a model that big, in my opinion. For strengthening the struts of my builds, either styrene or resin, I dip them into clear epoxy resin, then remove excess resin with brush to reveal all the details and leave to dry for 48 hours. This adds a bit of rigidity and then still I drill holes underside the wheels and locate the model's wheels to receive the pins I insert on the display base. A few times I drilled holes to the center of the strut in vertical axis and inserted steel rods. which is a very delicate surgery and not every strut geometry is suitable for it but serves quite well if accomplished properly.

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I see well I have seen there's metal gear available for this kit and I'm thinking I might just buy it, I'll have to check Hannants out for it as the plastic on the nose gear is quite flexible so I'm worried it's not going to hold up but I'm also aware that as it's installed prior to being inserted into the fuselage it might be a bit of a pain to replace but probably better to replace it before it's finished I suppose.

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  • 2 weeks later...

So another update, very slow progress like I said as I'm surprised by the sheer size of the plane, the Harrier next to it is the same scale! I have removed the plastic nose strut and bought scale aircraft conversions landing gear along with Eduard resin wheels and some seated modern Russian pilots specifically for the kit, I want to do a diorama with it at some point so I wanted crew for this aircraft. I should hopefully make a bit more progress soon enough with a few more updates.spacer.png

 This is the horizontal stabilizer of the  Mig next to the main wing of the Harrier.

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STOP!!!!!!! Before you go any further, check the fit of the afterburner sections!!! In your pictures you have the engines shown on the correct sides and also on the incorrect sides which will cause the afterburner sections to not align after the fuselage is all closed up. Please check!

 Having said that, Your build looks fantastic! I can hardly wait to see it finished.:worthy:

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1 hour ago, Nachtwulf said:

STOP!!!!!!! Before you go any further, check the fit of the afterburner sections!!! In your pictures you have the engines shown on the correct sides and also on the incorrect sides which will cause the afterburner sections to not align after the fuselage is all closed up. Please check!

 Having said that, Your build looks fantastic! I can hardly wait to see it finished.:worthy:

You're right I glued the engines in on the wrong side ffs! I can't do anything about it at the moment so I will have to cross that bridge when I come to it but I'm hoping if I just swap the sides it should be ok. Fingers crossed lol.

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1 hour ago, Nachtwulf said:

STOP!!!!!!! Before you go any further, check the fit of the afterburner sections!!! In your pictures you have the engines shown on the correct sides and also on the incorrect sides which will cause the afterburner sections to not align after the fuselage is all closed up. Please check!

 Having said that, Your build looks fantastic! I can hardly wait to see it finished.:worthy:

I have just tried to dry fit the engines and I have royally screwed up, I think I can fix it but I will have to cut about 8mm of plastic from the section of the engine which slots into the exhaust of the engine and they should sit fine, I have no idea how I missed that I will remember this for the next Mig-31 I make from AMK. I can't believe I did that as I was hoping for a trouble free build which is has been to date, lol thank you for pointing it out though before I got to painting it. I think it should hopefully not be too noticeable when it is done as you will have to stare down the exhaust in order to notice though, or at least that's what I am hoping.

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19 minutes ago, Deano353 said:

You're right I glued the engines in on the wrong side ffs! I can't do anything about it at the moment so I will have to cross that bridge when I come to it but I'm hoping if I just swap the sides it should be ok. Fingers crossed lol.

Oh poo!!!  I was hoping I was wrong.:sorry: You could look at it this way... even if you ended up breaking it apart to fix it, judging from what I've seen so far of your skills ,you could easily fix any damage you cause in the process.

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Haha well I think I've identified a fix as I can I think.i would write the model off if I tried to break.it apart at this stage.

So this is what the fit is like for the engine because of my mistake not the kit.

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So I have found if I were to place the exhaust in line with the body of the fuselage it doesn't look too far off I'm not sure if this photo shows it well.

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It's slightly off centre by a few millimetres but given how deep they are I hope this could help hide the mistake. As if I remove the inner part the outer sits perfectly. So I have to remove this part.

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If I cut this off which would normally position the part in place and remove location tabs from the body of the engine it should sit as though it's on correctly. I've the Hobbyboss Mig 31 to build in 48th scale as well so I'll see how that build goes but I'm thinking I'll get another AMK Mig as well as I want 3 in a diorama, no idea where I'll put that but that's tomorrow's problem. But I think this fix should work it's annoying but hey these things happen. It's also Friday so I'll have a beer while I start surgery haha!

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  • 2 weeks later...

So the new landing gear arrived and in had to twist it back into the right shape but overall the parts are stronger than the kit supplied gear there was a lot of flexion onthe nose gear in plastic and I didn't trust it.

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I ordered resin pilots from Airesas well the detail on them isn't dead I haven't finished them yet but so far In have used a magnifying glass to pain them I'm new to painting figures so they're not great but I think they will add a nice touch of colour to the cockpit. spacer.png

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I also ordered resin wheels from Eduard I don't usually buy aftermarket stuff so this is a first to be honest. I had to get mynfirstnrazor saw just to do the resin.

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But finally here it is with the intended layout of this Mig as I will do the canopy closed on this one. I'm happy that everything fits and I've got the initial paint job on the kit. I've had a week off work so I was able to get more work done on this.

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All.I can say is so far so good. It's been a fun build so far.

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Here is the engines attached I accidentally cut into the centre section between the exhausts and this looked like it could be problematic to fix as all of the surfaces back here are metal. The instructions tell you it should be the same colour as the body but in photos and a documentary I saw it appeared to be dark metal like steel so that's what I used so it's a lot less obvious but it's there. Anyway I'm pleased with the progress so far. The finish line is still away from.now but overall I'm happy, dewpite sticking the left and right engines in back to front. 

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  • 3 weeks later...

Well for my next update here I've the canopy done I'd love to work quicker but it's been on the shelf most of my days off any way so here it is so far. Now I put the decals on the canopy which were good but far too neat for my liking as in most photos I've seen of Migs and actual close up experience in Eastern Europe the pink sealant is slapped on by tge looks of it it's not even close to being as neat as the decals, so I have used Tamiya x-17 pink to add thickness to the sealant especially around the edges of the frames. It's not an exact match in the colour but it's close enough for me. Also I have gotten a wrapper from a roses sweet and I'm painting the foil so I can make the shroud that you sometimes see in the rear seat on the Mig 31 I'm not sure of it's for helping the back seater read the instruments easier from the glare although I think that's what it's for unless someone can shed light on that. Anyway here's where I am so far!spacer.pngspacer.pngspacer.png

And one other thing I forgot to mention here is the front part of the windshield appears to my eye to be slightly tinted blue even on the tinted glass with the brown tint, initially I realised on the box photograph but I looked online and it looks as though not just the clear canopy has the bluish tint but the Brown tint does as well so as I had no clear blue I took standard blue acrylic and put a drop inside a paint tin lid and few drops of thinner to make a clear blue and I'm happy with the result I painted it on the inside of the part so the outer sheen wasn't lost. It's not obvious as the tint is slight but you notice it against the other canopy colour.spacer.png

Edited by Deano353
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Thanks very much man the canopy has been glued on and it's not 100% tight so I'm doing a bit if sanding and possibly filling but the gap to be filled is minimal. The windshield is a good fit.

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  • 11 months later...

Ah hey I had issues with the nose gear on mine as well but I cut the plastic so the gear could be attached at the end of the build rather than all the way at the start, I have no idea why manufactures get the nose gear in at the start. The model accidentally got damaged beyond repair so it only got built to the last photograph before falling off a table and being stood on I was gutted but I have the HobbyBoss Mig 31 so I'll see how that goes together I was contemplating getting this kit again as it was pretty good all round. Is there a specific issue you're having with the nose gear?

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