1/48 MiG Ye-8 Prototype Red 82

[paulsbrown]

The MiG Ye-8 first flew in 1962, developed from the MiG-21PF to carry the larger Sapfeer radar it incorporated canards, lower fuselage intake and rear folding dorsal fin. Despite good overall flying characteristics and improved mach speed high altitude maneuverability the two prototypes were plagued by a new engine that was no good and the project eventually cancelled and elements incorporated into the MiG-23.

 

I built the 1/48 Hi Kit years ago, it's a really nice kit and seemed to get the shape right. It was one of my first resin kits and although it was a good effort and not that bad (except for the vac canopy placement) I decided at some point to strip it down and redo it.  I had some MiG-21 vac canopies to replace the flimsy kit one, added a KM-1 seat, more cockpit details (although the kit details were pretty good), and Eduard landing gear and a bigger front wheel.

 

 

 

The similarities with the MiG-23 are more obvious than I originally thought.

 

I still had the kit's instructions. I have built the Hi Kit 1/48 Su-9 as well, it too was a great kit way before the Kazan conversions or Trumpeter.

 

And for Flankerman-

[Lightpainter]

Look great, the metal finish is excellent!

[Flankerman]

Excellent Ye-8 Paul.....

 

The 'Who's copying whom' trio is great - it shows perfectly the similarity between the Ye-8, J-10 and Typhoon...... 

 

Ken

[RichieW]

Love all the different metallic shades, so realistic it looks ready to take to the sky! 

[daldroflas]

That is a fantastic looking model of a very interesting plane.

[SAT69]

Beautifully done model. Love the metal finish and the well executed cockpit. Isn't it nice to have something really different in your collection?

[Wulfman]

Superb looking MiG, excellent build and finish !

 

Wulfman

[paulsbrown]

10 hours ago, Flankerman said:

The 'Who's copying whom' trio is great - it shows perfectly the similarity between the Ye-8, J-10 and Typhoon....

Thanks Ken, I came across you mentioning that phrase on another board from way back, wanting to see the three in the lineup. After finishing the Ye-8 I had to strip and repaint the Typhoon for the photo, it was an early days Italeri build and in need of a more accurate paint job so I got it in shape to pose with the other two. Glad I did, now I can do the British 1st prototype in the gray livery and the Tornado engines to go with 98+30.

 

8 hours ago, SAT69 said:

Isn't it nice to have something really different in your collection?

Yes, it's a great looking MiG, a rare kit these days and finally looking good. This was what it looked like the first time it was built.  It looks 'ok' but this time around I got to correct and improve tons of things on it, give it a better finish and I'm glad I did it. 

[RMCS]

Superb 

[markmcguire25]

Great job and presentation! I was slowly perusing, thinking "man, that shape looks familiar", and chuckled out loud (COL?!?😉) at the last few pictures.

Thanks for the laugh and congrats on a job well done.

 

Mark

[stulad]

Fantastic as ever, a mini Typhoonski long before we built ours. Love the metallic finish, I will be tapping you up for tips when I try my first....

[Shorty84]

Hi Paul,

 

that must be the first time I see this kit built. It really paid off to refurbish it (although I think it didn't look bad before). Quite interesting to see your lineup which shows the implementation of the  Delta-canard layout over the decades (Ye-8: 1960s, Typhoon: 1980s and J-10: 1990s).

 

Cheers

Markus

[F-32]

Great work and a wonderful collection