Oh no, not another MiG-31!

Started by George Johnson · 38 · 6 years ago
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    George Johnson said 6 years, 8 months ago:

    I just started this a few days ago and I must say, this AMK MiG-31 is the Rolex watch of model kits. The fit so far has been perfect, and the detail is incredible. It is a real pleasure to build.

    1 attached image. Click to enlarge.

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    George Johnson said 6 years, 8 months ago:

    More work on the AMK MiG-31 BM/BSM. Got the intakes/wheel wells and engines finished. I decided not to paint the engines as they won't be visible and it's a total waste of time to do so. I am very impressed with this kit. I included some reference photos I found on the web.

    7 attached images. Click to enlarge.

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    Johannes Gerl said 6 years, 8 months ago:

    I've been eagerly waiting for that.
    More more more more ...!

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    Richard Mcstay said 6 years, 8 months ago:

    The more the merrier!

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    Greg Kittinger said 6 years, 8 months ago:

    Great work so far - love the way you replicated what I assume is some type of sealant. It's 1/48, right?

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    George Johnson said 6 years, 8 months ago:

    Thanks. Yes, it is 1/48 and that is a sealer that is placed onto riveted areas.

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    George Johnson said 6 years, 8 months ago:

    More on the way. This thing builds quickly.

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    George Johnson said 6 years, 8 months ago:

    My AMK 1/48 MiG-31 cockpit painted with Mr Paint Russian Cockpit Turquoise (MRP-1). I used a thinned coat of Mr Paint gray primer under it so as not to soften any of the instrument details. Instruments are AMK decals applied directly to the paint. No gloss coat was used. The seat belts are thin strips of wine bottle foil and the buckles are from the AMK PE set. I noticed after I took these photos that I need to touch-up some of the belts and paint the front seat buckles.

    6 attached images. Click to enlarge.

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    Greg Kittinger said 6 years, 8 months ago:

    Wow - the detail really pops out of the cockpit area - nicely done!

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    George Johnson said 6 years, 6 months ago:

    Haven't posted in a long time. I have been experimenting with the type of finish I'm going to use on this model. I've decided I'm going to make this thing pretty worn out. Evidently, Russia has spent 600 million dollars on refurbishing their MiG-31s. This one is going to represent one that is about to go into the MiG spa for a facelift. The pictures you see here are not of the 31, but of a test Su-27 that I purchased a while back.I used the salt technique to blister/wear/chip the paint. I used Mr Paint gray primer and Alclad black under areas that would show metal. I let that dry for a few minutes, then pre-shaded using Mr Paint Black. I sprayed a few different metallics from AK and Alclad randomly. After those cured, I misted the model with water and sprinkled slat on it from a grinder in order to get varying sizes of granules. Once that was dry, I sprayed a Mr Paint Lemon Gray and yellow primer at random while trying to get good coverage. I rinsed the salt off after that coat dried and repeated the salt procedure on the yellow. I then sprayed Mr Paint Traffic Gray and rinsed the salt off again. I used a 3600 grit sanding pad to carefully remove some bumps and salt residue and to thin down the Traffic gray so that the yellow would show through. I applied a spare Red Star and applied some Mr Softer so that it would adhere well to the paint. After the decal dried, I sanded it down with a medium grit sanding stick. Panel line washes, stains and other stuff were then applied. I coat of Alclad matte was then sprayed to seal things up. My impression of this test is that the Mr Paint Traffic gray is too light and doesn't offer enough contrast with the yellow and metal. The shades are all too subtle and a little boring. I think that in the end, I will either darken the Traffic Gray or used a more neutral darker gray that I'll lighten. I like the effect created by the salt, but it did leave some residue that I didn't see making the surface a bit too rough in spots. There is no need to use Alclad black primer in this case.

    2 attached images. Click to enlarge.

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    Johannes Gerl said 6 years, 6 months ago:

    I do look forward to see this coming, George!
    There are few aircraft whose shape and design is better suited for awful mean ugly weathering.

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    Johannes Gerl said 6 years, 6 months ago:

    I forgot to say that the prototype looks absolutely marvelous.

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    George Johnson said 6 years, 6 months ago:

    Thanks, Johannes.

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    Sebastijan Videc said 6 years, 6 months ago:

    George, BM/BSM don't have that yellowish triangular part in the main wheel wells. I've done a bunch of research when building mine and I've seen that only on older, mostly museum based airframes. Apart from that, very nice build so far.

    Also keep in mind that BM/BSMs are in a much better, most of the time even pristine condition, so your weathering attempt would not be correct for these version.

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    George Johnson said 6 years, 6 months ago:

    Hi Sebastian- thanks so much for your input. You're right about the triangular section. I found that out after I painted and added decals. I read that the BM/BSMs underwent upgrades and that's why they look pristine. Every model I've seen (except one built by Mr Houcon) have looked pretty pristine and I don't want to build one that looks like everybody else's. So I am going to use a little artistic license and paint something out of the ordinary.