ICM Mig-25RBT, Iraqi Air Force, late 80s...OOB 1/72nd scale

[John Masters]

I'll get into this as soon as I have cleared the bench of a couple of builds.  I don't have a Mig-25 or an Iraqi aircraft of any kind.  So this fills a niche.  I have heard this is a good kit and I am looking forward to it!

 

Boxtop...

 

 

...and profile.

 

 

See you all soon!

 

--John

[Hook]

Excellent! I am working on the twoseater variant of this tooling, looking forward to your build.

 

Preemptive word of advice - the instrument panel decals on mine had a tendency to curl up. 

 

Cheers,

 

Andre

[John Masters]

1 hour ago, Hook said:

Preemptive word of advice - the instrument panel decals on mine had a tendency to curl up. 

 

Thanks.  I'll keep an eye on them.

[trickyrich]

welcome along John and with a nice choice.

 

The ICM is a nice model, not quite a throw together one, but way better than some of the stuff out there. She's very much a scaled down version (or the other way around) for their 1/48th beast.

 

I see you're doing the "before I cover her in sand scheme" the later ones were done in! 

 

Good luck with the build and great to have you along.

[John Masters]

On 9/10/2023 at 1:17 AM, trickyrich said:

welcome along John and with a nice choice.

 

The ICM is a nice model, not quite a throw together one, but way better than some of the stuff out there. She's very much a scaled down version (or the other way around) for their 1/48th beast.

 

I see you're doing the "before I cover her in sand scheme" the later ones were done in! 

 

Good luck with the build and great to have you along.

Thank you Rich.  Speaking of 1/48th, I was a bit confused when I opened the box, thinking they had put a 1/48th scale kit in the 1/72nd scale package.  I'm wrong, of course.  I am so used to the Mig-21...such a neat sporty little thing, really, in comparison.  When I checked the stats for the Mig-25 I found it was 7.5 meters longer than the '21 and the wingspan is almost twice as wide.  The Mig-25 is big aircraft.  Very big.  Unless I am losing my marbles, which could be possible too.  🤪

 

Anyway...the sprue.  Big pieces.

 

 

 

Nice decals.  Lots of stencils.  

 

 

And easy-to-read instructions.  So far, at least.

 

 

I'll get into this sometime this weekend.  I need some research and all that.

 

--John

 

 

[trickyrich]

Nah....for a single seater she was a beast!  The exhaust can when open were wider than a lot of fuselages of aircraft of that era!

[John Masters]

18 hours ago, trickyrich said:

for a single seater she was a beast!

Yes.  Very large.  I started in tonight.  Just some cockpit stuff.  I'll close it up tomorrow once the paint dries.

Funny how there are no decals for the harness.  I'll have to make do with masking tape.  I'd like to have this with the canopy open.

 

 

--John

 

 

[trickyrich]

Nice start John, that Puke Green looks spot on!  

 

[Hook]

5 hours ago, trickyrich said:

that Puke Green looks spot on!  

Relaxing, isn't it?

 

Nice progress, @John Masters!

 

Cheers,

 

Andre

[John Masters]

On 9/18/2023 at 4:14 PM, Hook said:

Nice progress

Thank you Andre.

 

On 9/18/2023 at 10:27 AM, trickyrich said:

Nice start John, that Puke Green looks spot on!  

🤣 Thanks Rich!

[John Masters]

Finally!  Managed 20 minute and got the two halves together.  Not difficult but it's been busy off-bench as of late.  Page 2 of the instructions should happen tonight, I hope!

 

 

--John

[John Masters]

Worked a bit more here.  This is a nice kit.  Very precise fit, nice plastic, clear instructions.  No flash.  Nicely done. It makes assembly a joy.

 

 

With these pieces assembled and ready to fit together, I'm in good shape.  I've given the pieces some Steel colour (where appropriate, obv).

 

 

--John

 

 

[John Masters]

Putting these pieces together was tricky.

 

The rear landing gear bays were easy enough.  The rear sections of the intakes were odd because there are no real mounting points.  You just have to line everything up and glue them together.  Odd for a kit that seems, up to this point, to be almost 'snap together.'  Once that is all attached to the forward section of the nose/cockpit, then you have to kind of slide it into place (30) with the underside of the fuselage, but it is not that easy and I tried for an hour to make it fit with no joy.  One little piece kept it all from happening, and it almost felt as if the directional flow of the plans was not correct.  I hope that makes sense.  I eventually fettled off a piece or two that will be internal anyway and it worked.  Note:  there are two very thin, very small grooves on the underside that help attach the components.  It took some time to actually see them.

 

 

 

 

I'm left with a small step here.  Trust me, if I hadn't done the surgery, this was never going to come even this close to being a good fit.  Very odd.  And I tried several permutations of the puzzle before hand.  

 

 

Now that it is all set and secure, everything seems and looks straight and true.  I can fix the step easily.  All I hope is that this will not cause issues down the road.

 

--John

 

 

[Hook]

Nice progress!, and very helpful for when my ICM PU comes to this stage. 

 

Cheers,

 

Andre

[Planebuilder62]

Cracking work there John👍😊

Edited September 23, 2023 by Planebuilder62
typo corrected

[John Masters]

2 hours ago, Hook said:

Nice progress!, and very helpful for when my ICM PU comes to this stage. 

I hope you have better luck.  If you discover what I did wrong, please share!

[trickyrich]

I can see now she's not just scaled down but builds up exactly the same!

 

I have built 2 of the 1/48th beasts and they have the exact same issues joining up the intakes and fuselage bits. On my current build I even tried to assemble it different to the instructions, but still had some issues in that area.

 

At least the gap is in an spot that is mostly hidden.

[John Masters]

On 9/25/2023 at 12:12 AM, trickyrich said:

I can see now she's not just scaled down but builds up exactly the same!

Are the mounting pins so small on yours as to almost ineffectual?  This also seems to be the case.  Yet it is coming together.  

 

And I did it again...built stuff and forgot to photograph it.  I can be enthusiastic.

 

 

Exhaust thingies...

 

 

Now...these little things, the hard points for the underside of the wings, are so fragile.  Both broke as I was removing them from the sprue but since they have mounting slots on each end, fixing them was no problem.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The rudder parts came together very neatly and clean.  No issues here at all.  In fact, aside from my minor grumblings, I can recommend this kit.  

 

I am not building Variant 2 (USSR) so it is the first choice for me.  These were strange fitting pieces and really and their fit seemed to rely on how well the intake scoops were constructed.  I had to glue it in stages, ending up with CA holding the leading edges in place.  I will have to use a small amount of filler here and there, but nothing outrageous.

 

 

And I did this to begin my session...it took some finagling but it all settled down properly in the end.

 

 

And this is what I am left with.  If you look closely, you can see some very small gaps in the fuselage.  Easily filled and fixed.

 

 

Oh yes...btw...looking ahead...the lights on the underside of the nose...there are 4 of them.  Are they coloured in any way or are they landing lights?

 

 

I am off to the mainland tomorrow for a few days.  I'l do some work on this tonight and leave it for when I return Saturday.

 

--John

 

 

 

 

[Hook]

9 hours ago, John Masters said:

.there are 4 of them.  Are they coloured in any way or are they landing lights?

These are camera windows.

 

Lovely progress!

 

Cheers,

 

Andre

[John Masters]

12 hours ago, Hook said:

These are camera windows.

Thank you.  Then they will remain clear.  

[trickyrich]

On 9/26/2023 at 4:15 PM, John Masters said:

Oh yes...btw...looking ahead...the lights on the underside of the nose...there are 4 of them.  Are they coloured in any way or are they landing lights?

 

 

 

yeah they are for the cameras, so they'd be black behind the lens......unless you want to hollow them out and make some cameras?? 

 

You've made some great progress.......I'm still amazed that this model looks to be a direct copy of my 1/48th beast (or the other way around)!! I wonder which waa released first or were they together?

 

 

[John Masters]

On 9/30/2023 at 1:50 AM, trickyrich said:

yeah they are for the cameras, so they'd be black behind the lens......unless you want to hollow them out and make some cameras?? 

 

You've made some great progress.......I'm still amazed that this model looks to be a direct copy of my 1/48th beast (or the other way around)!! I wonder which waa released first or were they together?

 

Black it will be!  😆  

 

I assembled the larger components yesterday evening and it looks to be the thing.  I now have more gaps to fill--wing roots everywhere, around the engine nacelles...funny kit.  I cannot say that these gaps are not my fault, but it comes down to the kit.  The fit is tight and secure and maybe a little too tight.  I don't know.  Anyway...I am happy I got the anhedral on the wings correct.  

 

 

 

Just an example of what I had to deal with when attaching the stabilizers.  That little pointy bit is the only attachment point.  Odd, I think.  They could have made it more secure.

 

 

The wings are on...with gaps.  I fettled and scraped as much as I thought I could but there were still gaps.  

 

 

The nose is on.  And it does look like the thing.  Big aircraft for sure.

 

 

One of the wee tiny little hard point bits snapped off (port wing).  I should have added these at the end for easier handling.  And it was eaten by the carpet monster or one of its relatives.  I'll have to scratch-build this tiny piece.

 

 

Next:  masking the canopy parts, masking what I don't want painted...priming.  

 

--John

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Hook]

10 hours ago, John Masters said:

 I'll have to scratch-build this tiny piece.

I may have a spare for you - these are not needed on my MiG-25PU. 

 

Let me know!

 

Cheers,

 

Andre

[John Masters]

2 hours ago, Hook said:

Let me know!

I'll take them.  What are they for anyway?  I'll PM my address.  

 

Many thanks.

John

[John Masters]

I have filled in the gaps, masked the lights and camera windows...

 

 

I'll take the point of a sharp blade and clean out the panel lines.

 

 

 

That's done too...

 

 

I will set this aside for now and wait for spare parts.  In the meantime, I will start something for my 19th Squadron Personal Build Project.  Maybe the Gloster Gauntlet as it will not be included in the Sopwith/Hawker GB next year.  

 

--John