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MiG-17F Fresco - Airfix 1/72


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It's been a while since I built one of Airfix' newer releases. I was curious to see how far they'd come in recent years and I liked the kind of esoteric subject they'd picked, not too many MiG-17s on the market.

 

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It turned out to be a relatively quick build but the kit does have a few oddities. Best documented I think is the issues around the intake area; the intake ring diameter is too small which either results in a step around the whole circumference or a gap at the bottom. I opted to deal with the latter, which just needed a bit of plastic card to sort out. The splitter plate is also too small vertically, this I solved by filling the gaps top and bottom with Perfect Plastic Putty and wiping the excess off with cotton tips. There is also a bit of fettling and filling required to get the gun panel to fit correctly but nothing too serious. Don't forget to put in lead in the nose compartment as indicated in the instructions. You need to fill it to the brim, I did so on mine and it's still only a few milligrams away from being a tail sitter.

 

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Most problematic for me was the canopy, partly due to hamfistedness on my part. I cracked the windscreen while masking it, fortunately it doesn't show too much. Then I found the sliding section did not want to fit over the ejection seat; I couldn't find out why it would be too high so I cut it down slightly to get the canopy to fit. Then I used Perfect Plastic Putty to fair it in as there were still gaps all around.

 

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I opted to go for the more interesting North-Vietnamese option rather than the natural metal Soviet example. Humbrol Polished Aluminium for the underside of the wings, Gunze paints for the camouflage on top. I used the equivalent Gunze colors for the Humbrol codes provided by Airfix but found the darker green mottling too similar to the base green, I darkened it quite a bit to make it stand our more.

 

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Decalling was rather quick as I dispensed, at Airfix' instruction, with the stencils on the camouflaged parts of the plane. The '3020' on the nose had some trouble conforming to the compound curves in that area, even with setting solution they creased. I cut the creases with a sharp knife and most of them capitulated after applying more setting solution.

 

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Kudos to Airfix for the way they have engineered the airbrakes and landing gear parts; for the most part they are ensured a very solid fit at the right angles due to the way Airfix have moulded them. Very helpful. The gear and airbrake parts are the best part of this kit, very nicely detailed. The exception are the front gear doors; they are very thick and had I realized this earlier I would have thinned them quite a bit.  Final job was to replace the cannon barrels with Albion Alloys tubing.

 

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There we are, a simple kit with nice colors that doesn't take up much space - slighty more than the Dragon MiG-15. Well done Airfix :)

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I too built this kit and experienced the exact same issues as you did.  I really like the way your`s turned out.  While a nice kit overall, it does require some patience and skill to achieve the level you have shared with us here.  :goodjob:

 

Mike

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On 7/16/2020 at 9:38 AM, sroubos said:

No worries :) I had some help for this build from the article in Airfix magazine. It’s good to be aware of these things in advance. 

 

Shame it's necessary, really. Airfix like their 'gotchas'.

 

Outstanding job, nonetheless. Not something I'd build, but it looks fantastic. Especially in that camo scheme.

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