Myasishchev 3MD Bison - Mikro Mir 1/144

[zebra]

I'm joining in with the 1/144 3MD Bison from Mikro Mir - the second Bison on here along with @exdraken's 3MS. Couldn't resist ordering this directly from Ukraine when it came out (I've got a 3MS in the stash as well) and couldn't wait to get into it. It's a nice-looking short run kit, engraved surface detail looks pretty good, there's quite a lot of PE (not looking forward to this aspect of it quite so much!), and vinyl masks included as well. Should be a fun build, will need to be approached with care given its short-run nature though. Here's what came in the box:

 

 

Haven't got a lot done but have started with the cockpit parts and started cleaning up the many sprue attachments on the fuselage halves. I often wouldn't bother with the cockpit in this scale - on a few other builds I've just painted the inside of the canopy black - but I was tempted to do it this time. The parts breakdown for the cockpit is typical of many Ukrainian kits - the seats are made up from a base and a separate seat back - so it's all a bit fiddlier than it could be, but it all adds to the fun.

 

 

There are no colour call-outs in the instructions but I've found a few photos of the VM-T's cockpit online, which show the interior to be a similar colour to the green that's often seen on Soviet aircraft wheel hubs, so I'm going with green for the cockpit. Not that much of it will be visible!

 

thanks for looking

Julian

 

 

[Col.]

Good start to an exciting project Julian. Between yourself and Werner I can see a few more of these kits being sold to us

[zebra]

I departed from the assembly sequence in the instructions today and joined the main fuselage halves with the nose parts. Experience from other Ukrainian short-run kits tells me this is a crucial job to get done early on. In this case it went ok, the mating surfaces benefited from a few swipes with a coarse sanding stick to get a better join, and there was a gap to fill on both sides, but it's done - here it is:

 

 

The fuselage halves and the cockpit bits are in the garage now with primer drying ready for the interior bits to be painted. 

 

more soon

Julian

 

[exdraken]

Nice that mine will get company!!

You made a good start, I only did some cleanup of the main sprues

I am a bit scared of the build sequence... but for sure will be managable!

[zebra]

5 hours ago, exdraken said:

Nice that mine will get company!!

You made a good start, I only did some cleanup of the main sprues

I am a bit scared of the build sequence... but for sure will be managable!

Thanks! I'm a bit scared of the instructions - they're very, very small and I'm using a magnifier to read them (but then my usual problem is I use my magnifying headset to work on a model, then have to take it off and put my glasses on to read the instructions, then put the headset back on etc etc which all gets a bit tiresome. just leave the headset on all the time with this kit!) - and they're not very clear. Not got into how the undercarriage goes together yet but I have a feeling the instructions might have skipped a step too. I think taking the time to think everything through is going to be crucial.

[Adam Poultney]

Good work so far; even adding a Mikromir kit to the stash is further than most dare go! So happy to see a few Mikromir threads in this group build, I think they're a seriously underrated company. Their subject choice is impeccable, the quality of the kits unfortunately not so much but they are not crude like a Mach2, they just require a bit more care to get right.

My Victor B1 from them is going together nicely so far and this is a more recent kit so hopefully should be at least as good. Must say I really am tempted to get hold of one of these, I love 1/144 bombers. 

On my Victor build I just skipped adding the cockpit entirely, I plan to paint the canopy in black which is what I usually do now on small scale kits. Don't think that would work quite as well on this one though with some clear blisters on the side, might look a bit odd.

Definitely following this build and good luck with the rest of it!

[zebra]

26 minutes ago, Adam Poultney said:

Good work so far; even adding a Mikromir kit to the stash is further than most dare go! So happy to see a few Mikromir threads in this group build, I think they're a seriously underrated company. Their subject choice is impeccable, the quality of the kits unfortunately not so much but they are not crude like a Mach2, they just require a bit more care to get right.

My Victor B1 from them is going together nicely so far and this is a more recent kit so hopefully should be at least as good. Must say I really am tempted to get hold of one of these, I love 1/144 bombers. 

On my Victor build I just skipped adding the cockpit entirely, I plan to paint the canopy in black which is what I usually do now on small scale kits. Don't think that would work quite as well on this one though with some clear blisters on the side, might look a bit odd.

Definitely following this build and good luck with the rest of it!

Thanks Adam

 

Mikromir, Amodel, Eastern Express and Modelsvit kits all seem so similar to me that I wonder whether how closely related they are. Their more recent kits are all way beyond Mach 2 quality, they have a lot of quirks in common (the fuselage breakdown, the way some parts come in multiple pieces where mainstream manufacturers would do it in one), but when approached with care and a little modelling skill they go together well. And they give us some very interesting subjects. I've got a few other Mikro Mir kits in the stash - Beverley, Hastings, DH.88 Comet, and another Bison - and I'm going to need to add the VM-T, Swallow and Bounder. And I really, really hope they add a Belfast to the RAF transport line-up!

[Adam Poultney]

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Edited January 23, 2022 by Adam Poultney

[Adam Poultney]

I haven't built any Modelsvit kits yet but I'd like to give their 1/48 Bf109C/D a go, it looks pretty good. Not my scale but I really like those early Bf109s.

 

So many kits from these manufacturers I want, I've obviously already got the Mikromir Victor which I'm building for this GB but I'd love the Hastings if they'd do a silver one like the one at Duxford andthe whole range of 1/144 Soviet bombers is a must at some point. Obviously the kit I want them to do is a Vulcan B1/B1a, hardly a surprise to anyone! Amodel's Lancastrian is very tempting as well, price isn't too bad either. Unfortunately Eastern Express kits are a bit outside the price range I really want to pay which is a shame since they do an RAF TriStar (also reboxed by S&M Models which I don't think exists anymore sadly).