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Airfix MiG-17F "Fresco-C" Mali 1/72


RidgeRunner

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4 hours ago, reini said:

@RidgeRunner Thanks again for noticing that I was gonna make a school boy error with my kit & decal selection. You certainly have given me some extra work but then again - I prefer that over having a finished kit that I realise in the end that I have made poor choices on it. I'm still not quite over my colour selections for the Wirraway :D 

👍😊

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4 hours ago, reini said:

Is it so bad that I wouldn't build it again if I wanted an early Fresco? Probably not, I would not lose my sleep over it. But as I have the Airfix kit - and it is a better kit overall, shapewise, how it goes together etc. - and seeing what you are making out of it, I think I will give it a go too :) I will try to survive with just one kit, though. So putty, sanding and scribing will be required. If it doesn't work, I will explore other options. 

Good luck!!! :) 

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I got a bit more done today. A lot has been masking and sanding, and slowly I am wrestling her in to shape. The wing joints have had Gloop while other areas have had Squadron White. Once these are cleaned up I will attend to all of the small gaps etc with PPP. 

 

I added the gun sight together with two supporting struts, made from square rod. 

 

513n

 

I also scribed the differment access panel on the port side of the fin. The MiG-17F had a larger and odd shaped version. The Fresco-A had this simple ovoid. In fact Airfix got it wrong too! 

 

513o

 

I have started to repair sanded panel lines too - not quite there with that yet!

 

Meanwhile I have brought TZ-339 (the Malian) along side and given her similar treatment.

 

513m

 

Right now this is how the Guinean is looking. I need to get the sanders out and tacxkle the tidy once the fillers are hardened. Cannon covers installed, pitot locations cemented, tailplanes on.

 

513l

 

Martin

 

 

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A little more...  After some thinking I realised that my idea of using spare MiG-21 pylons was not a good one. If you look at the image in the first post you can see that they are deep, which the MiG-21 pylons were not. Therefore I have made some out of card. They are entirely based on guess work and that image. Who's to disagree if that is the only image available!! ;)

 

513p

 

And I've finished the MiG-21 so I can concentrate on these Frescos! :)

 

Martin

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  • RidgeRunner changed the title to West African Aggressor - Bilek/Airfix MiG-17 "Fresco-A" Guinee Conakry 1/72 - 27apr21 more assembly, some filling, new pylons, a little scribing

Nothing too dramatic today. I spent a little time trying to get the lower fin to match my 1/72 drawings. I now think it is pretty close :)

 

 

513q

 

After that it was more filling and sanding. Having got Gloop in to the larger gaps and where more strength sis required I got this sanded following a few days of curing. With other gaps already filled with Squadron White I tackled these too with a variety of sticks. After that I took PPP to the finer gaps. Right now she is resting on the shelf. I like this combination because it allows different gaps to be treated with appropriate strength fillers. The beauty of the PPP, of course, is that it can later be brushed with a wet paintbrush to ensure it gets in to all the crevices. :) 

 

513r

 

Martin

 

 

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  • RidgeRunner changed the title to West African Aggressor - Bilek/Airfix MiG-17 "Fresco-A" Guinee Conakry 1/72 - 30apr21a little more done on the gaps and shaping the lower fin

Edging my way forward. I've been around her with the sanders as well as PPP and a wet cotton bud ;). The wing tanks are assembled, the aerial is added as well as the "forgotten" nose pitot. I've also gone around the panel lines to re-scribe any further damage. I just need to add the cannons. I just need to allow the Colourcoats Blue Grey to dry around the cockpit first. After that it will be the windscreen on, seal the joint and she'll' be ready for a blast with Humbrol 1 Primer :). After that I'll apply the underside, assuming I don't discover any nasty blemishes. For this I will be using Humbrol 56 or Colourcoats ACD09 to give her a more intense blue. The uppers will be Colourcoats Vert Fonce. 

 

513s

 

Martin

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  • RidgeRunner changed the title to West African Aggressor - Bilek/Airfix MiG-17 "Fresco-A" Guinee Conakry 1/72 - 04may21 ready for primer :)
On 5/4/2021 at 5:27 PM, Vultures1 said:

Coming along nicely Martin!  Looking forward to seeing some colour on this one

 

On 5/4/2021 at 9:10 PM, exdraken said:

nice ones here!

 :thumbsup:

 

8 hours ago, reini said:

@RidgeRunner Looking good, can't wait to see some paint on it :)


I’ve been tinkering with her today, trying to get the windscreen to bed in properly.  Again, my small addition of support struts along side the gun sight had protruded to dark forward and had to be sanded back. Finally I got her sorted out and the windscreen is cemented in place. :) Tkmorrow I will get her primed and checked over for glitches. 
 

Martin

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  • RidgeRunner changed the title to West African Aggressor - Bilek/Airfix MiG-17 "Fresco-A" Guinee Conakry 1/72 - 07may21 OKO-57K rockets?

Hi Martin,

 

You probably know this already but the parts you sent me included a couple of pylon mounted rocket launcher pods - probably the short nosed UB-16-57UD which fired members of the S-5 aka ARS 57 family of 57mm rockets. The Poles licence built this pod as the Mars 2 apparently. I believe the S 5 was originally envisaged as a anti bomber weapon but proved poor so a large number of different versions have been built - mostly air to ground but there is also at least one chaff dispensing version. I don't know if any of your current/proposed build versions would have used this weapon? Pity Serge @Aardvark has gone missing - 5 months now and no posts or replies to PM - he would probably have known quite a bit about this aircraft and its weapons. I must confess I am rather worried about him - living in the "occupied" part of the Ukraine is risky enough without the added complication of Covid-19!

 

Cheers 

 

Pete

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Thanks Pete @PeterB. I appreciate your thoughts. As it turns out @reini has provided some supporting information about the carriage of the rockets and what they were. It seems from Tom Cooper's book "African MiGs" Vol 1 that my aircraft carried either OKO-57K. However, it was an either/or situation - tanks or weapons! As I have now fitted the tanks I can see that the rocket pods wouldn't actually fit! ;)

 

Martin

 

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A bit more done today - priming!

 

Here she is before application of the H1:

 

513x

 

Regarding the tanks and pylons you can see from this shot that you cant have both! 

 

513u

 

I added a few extras before priming, including the T-aerials. These are missing from the Airfix kit and have to be built from rod. Here they are prior to cutting to size:

 

513v

 

And now she sits with her new coat of H1 on :)

 

 

513t

 

You can see that I also got the cannons installed, as well as moving the flare chutes, blanking a couple of panels (thanks @reini), drilling the wing pitot locations.

 

She can sit and harden until Monday when I will tidy up and get the first paint on :). So far i am really happy with the amalagamation of the Airfix and Bilek/Zvezda kits.:)

 

Martin

 

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  • RidgeRunner changed the title to West African Aggressor - Bilek/Airfix MiG-17 "Fresco-A" Guinee Conakry 1/72 - 07may21 masked, tanks on, and primed!

Wow! some proper 'modelling' going on here. 

I have two AZ kits, the F and PF and have no idea whether they are accurate or not, reviews seem inconclusive, but if they look like MiG-17's then that'll do me.

I was disappointed that Airfix seemingly didn't get some things right,  like the characteristic thin to thick wing profile. Since I have the two AZ ones I'll not likely bother getting one.

 

:goodjob:

 

Davey.

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@DaveyGair I think Airfix kit has got way more worse reputation than it deserves. Its by far the best MiG-17 kit around and much nicer to build than the AZ kit. Shape issues? I'm sure both has their own problem but nothing too big that they couln't live next to each other, atleast in my cabinet. 

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2 hours ago, reini said:

@DaveyGair I think Airfix kit has got way more worse reputation than it deserves. Its by far the best MiG-17 kit around and much nicer to build than the AZ kit. Shape issues? I'm sure both has their own problem but nothing too big that they couln't live next to each other, atleast in my cabinet. 

I agree, Reini. I have an AZ built on the shelf and I have the Bilek kit. Both of these suffer shape and detail issues, whereas the Airfix is predominantly the correct shape. Both the AZ and Bilek have a pipe-like fuselage. Certainly the wing on the Airfix suffers shape issues but the others are much the same. The Airfix has a few detail issues but that can be overcome relatively easily. If I were to acquire more Frescos I’d be going Airfix every time. Sorry Davey. What not try one? They are not expensive. ;)
 

Martin

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Nice to see these coming together so well Martin. You've shared a heap of info that I'll find useful when I come to build mine, I am looking forward to seeing some paint going on. :)

Steve 

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Hi Martin

 

The Midland book I have on Soviet armament has a pic with both tanks and rockets and says that you could carry both provided you dropped the tanks before firing the rockets! Mind you that might be limited to only certain types of rockets - I believe I sent you a pic of an S-21 next to a tank.

 

Pete

Edited by PeterB
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Hmmm... that makes me wonder. There is very little space but, I guess, a small rocket pod could be fitted between the undercarriage doors and the wing tanks.  It would have to be small and, according to Tom Cooper it was the ORO-57K that was carried, which is pretty small. So, that makes sense I suppose... 


Thanks Pete
 

Martin 

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18 hours ago, PeterB said:

Hi Martin

 

The Midland book I have on Soviet armament has a pic with both tanks and rockets and says that you could carry both provided you dropped the tanks before firing the rockets! Mind you that might be limited to only certain types of rockets - I believe I sent you a pic of an S-21 next to a tank.

 

Pete

 

You sure that it was not the Lim-6? Polish variant of the MiG-17F, not Fresco-A. I think East German used them also. It had inboard wing pylons for rocket pods,  closer to the fuselage. 

 

If not, it would be interesting to see the photo :)

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Hi Reini,

 

Here is a link to the pic - no idea what version of the Mig-17 it is but it has a star on the tail!

https://flic.kr/p/2kXyasB

 

Might just be one of the weapons testbed versions and it is for the large S- 21 single rocket. I think perhaps the pylon is a modified one a bit like say the one used on the Tornado so it has two mountings, one at the side and one at the bottom.

 

Later- I have just checked my book on the Mig-17 and it says that the weapons test Izdeliye SI-16 plane could carry both ORO-57 rocket pods and drop tanks but it also mentions 400L "slipper tanks" just to confuse the issue! I also found this which may help.

https://flic.kr/p/2kXyKDY

 

Pete

Edited by PeterB
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