- iModeler

MiG-29SMT the "hunchback" Fulcrum

Started by Sebastijan Videc · 20 ≡ · ↻ 4 years ago

Viewing 1 - 15 of 20 posts

1
2
→

Jump to latest post

Sebastijan Videc said 4 years, 7 months ago:

With -21 finished and holidays over, it's time to start another MiG!

This will be Zvezda's 1:72 MiG-29SMT with a bunch of aftermarket representing a heavily weathered Red 32
Sebastijan Videc said 4 years, 6 months ago:

Unlike most of the kits that start with cockpit assembly, I started this one down below, in the wheel wells.

Some additional wiring was added to the wells, as well as some bottles attached to the right side well, as seen at MAKS'19.

Some PE detailing added to intakes and front wheel well. The fit so far is good.

I've decided to rivet the whole model, which I haven't done in a long long time. Time consuming, yes, but I think it will be worthwhile in the end.
Louis Gardner said 4 years, 6 months ago:

This is going to be a fun build to watch... I especially will be paying close attention to how you add the rivets. This is something new for me, as I have never done this to a complete model before, only having done bits and pieces at a time. I think it will add a lot of character to your build.

Nice choice by the way ! The MiG-29 is a good one to build for the group.
Sebastijan Videc said 4 years, 6 months ago:

Yeah 29 is such an icon of the end of the Cold War, it would be a shame not to have in included in the group build. As for the riveting - I am using RaduB riveter and just going slowly by the panel lines. I do screw up from time to time but I don't hold my breath over it.
Pedro L. Rocha said 4 years, 6 months ago:

Great choice for a model Sebastijan, that photo is quite inspiring undoubtably!
Sebastijan Videc said 4 years, 6 months ago:

little bit of progress, but my little daughter is taking most of my time away, so... 🙂

While Zvezda made nice over-exhaust plates on their 9.13 kit, they somehow missed this area when designing the SMT and made those plates without any details. While not perfect, simple scribing and rectangual pieces of Tamiya tape make quite a difference.

One of the reasons why I'd pick Zvezda over Trumpeter MiG-29 any day in 1:72 scale. Trumpeter completely simplified the shape of engine bulges; too narrow and without that inital curve that makes them look really beefy on real aircraft.

Really like this stage of model building when you put sub-assemblies together and the model takes shape of the aircraft you're building.
Allan J Withers said 4 years, 6 months ago:

Coming along nicely Sebastijan.
Erik Gjørup said 4 years, 6 months ago:

Cool - I'm in for the ride!
Louis Gardner said 4 years, 6 months ago:

Those are some pretty cool ideas with the tape on the exhaust cans... I'll try that sometime. It is amazing at how fast the sub assemblies came together with this build.
Sebastijan Videc said 4 years, 5 months ago:

Thanks, guys!

While I like using Eduard's photoetched parts, I really hate the fact that most often than not, their cockpits are painted in wrong colours and the flat surfaces appear really grainy. So what I did was cut thin strips of Tamiya masking tape and masked the panels and sprayed everything else with correct cockpit colour. No fear of mismatched PE-plastic colours.

Cockpit installed and windshield attached. The assembly was pretty straightforward but I did manage to make a boo-boo out of a HUD. I've tried folding the PE part just with my tweezers but I didn't get nice 90deg angles and the end result was terrible. So I leveled the PE part again and used the PE bending tool (don't know why I didn't use it in the first place?!?) and fixed that s*it!

I intend to use Master brass pitot tube - you can see how much better it looks than its plastic counterpart. However the attachment point is much narrower diameter than the kit part, so I've had to attach the plastic one first, and filled the seam with CA glue. I'll have to cut the tube off and sand the radom cone to shape, to accomodate the replacement brass part.

The result of over engine panels under a coat of primer - not perfect or 100% accurate, but still much better than just leaving them plain.

Just before installing the tail fins to the model, I noticed on my reference photos, that the aircraft I am building, has strengthening plates installed. creating a simple template, I made those out of Tamiya masking tape.
Sebastijan Videc said 4 years, 5 months ago:

Finally the painting has begun!

I've recently became a really big fan of One Shot primer by Ammo (also known as Stynylrez and Ultimate Primer).

Instead of using black basing, I have used the primer's dark grey colour as a base to show through the light grey of the underside.

Tracing the approximate lines of the splinter pattern, the upper light grey was applied. Also note the chipping on the left wing's leading edge.
Erik Gjørup said 4 years, 5 months ago:

Nice touch with the primer-chipping! When I visited a fighterbase a few years back, I took this picture of a RDAF F-16 that had been given some etch-primer to fight some corrosion.

It was thus not chipping, but a very rough application on top of the original paint, and should I ever get to build one that will indeed be used to add interest.
Anyway, your build is coming along very nicely - well done so far!
Sebastijan Videc said 4 years, 5 months ago:

Interesting photo, though I am pretty certain that with MiG, we're talking of chips instead of overpaints.

Well, I think I can safely say, most of the painting is done at this moment. Bring on the decals!
Pedro L. Rocha said 4 years, 5 months ago:

Looking promising, the complete model should be impressive
Sebastijan Videc said 4 years, 4 months ago:

Thank you Pedro!

A small update.

Decals have been applied. I am using Begemot decals and I am having two issues with these. First is that some red stenciling, especially those with red X symbols are printed slightly too bold and thus became too noticable. The second issue is the clear carrier film. I am getting a strange effect on some stencil decals, that slightly resembles silvering, but it's not. Actually the colour behind the decals looks slightley brighter than the surrounding. Never happened to me before but it is what it is. I'll fade the decals anyway so I hope in the end, it won't be too noticable.

Amigo Models exhausts were used in this build and they were painted in various shades of Mr.Paint metallic paints. I am quite satisfied with the result; current look is a bit vivid but after the wash, I am quite certain, the heat stained effect will be properly restricted.

Viewing 1 - 15 of 20 posts

1
2
→