Falcon 1/72 MiG-3 canopies

[Andrew D. the Jolly Rogers guy]

Anyone have the Falcon 1/72 canopy set that contains the MiG-3 and have no use for that particular bit? I'd love to buy a few; I've posted in the Marketplace a few times, but to no avail; thought I'd ask here.

Thanks!

[Victor R]

If it's for Hobbyboss or RPM-Alfa kits, you should try Rob-Taurus canopies :

http://eshop.owl-czech.eu/detail/1:72-mig-3-1/

[Andrew D. the Jolly Rogers guy]

Interesting! Thanks for the link...I have no idea what the price converts to in USD ($), though....is there a US-based source?

Of course, I'm still very open to the Falcon ones as well if anyone has them collecting dust....either way would be nice.... :)

[John Thompson]

If it's for Hobbyboss or RPM-Alfa kits, you should try Rob-Taurus canopies :

http://eshop.owl-czech.eu/detail/1:72-mig-3-1/

Hey Victor - thanks for the suggestion! I went to the Owl site and immediately ordered canopies for my favourite VVS kits. It's good to find a new source - lately Modelimex hasn't had stock of the equivalent Pavla ones. Thanks again!

Andrew - for currency conversions, try XE.com:

http://www.xe.com/ucc/

FYI, 100 Czech Koruny = $5.25 US, at the time I checked.

John

[Andrew D. the Jolly Rogers guy]

Thanks, John! Okay, can I assume that 30,00 would be 30, meaning the comma would be a decimal by US practice? Because it's the difference between the canopy being $1.56 and $156!

[John Thompson]

Thanks, John! Okay, can I assume that 30,00 would be 30, meaning the comma would be a decimal by US practice? Because it's the difference between the canopy being $1.56 and $156!

Yes, that's correct - the common practice in Europe is to use a comma instead of a decimal point. Also, numbers like 2,000,000 are generally written as 2 000 000 (i.e., commas used as dividers every three digits in large numbers are omitted and replaced with spaces).

Not 100% certain about this, but as a citizen of a country other than the Czech Republic or European Union, you should be eligible to get the non-VAT price on these parts (25 koruny, not 30 koruny). I didn't investigate this when I ordered mine; the difference on such low-value items isn't a lot of money. On most sites, when you're a registered customer, the pricing automatically appears as the lower non-EU price when you log in. For example, the Modelimex site (also in the Czech Republic) works this way, and non-EU customers pay the lower price automatically.

John

Edited February 15, 2010 by John Thompson

[John Thompson]

Today I received my order of Rob Taurus canopies from the Owl e-shop in the Czech Republic. I got four different canopies - MiG-3, La-7, LaGG-3 type 35, and LaGG-3 type 66. The MiG-3 canopy is molded as one piece; the other three are in multiple parts (La-7 windscreen, sliding hood, and rear section; the two LaGG-3's are windscreen, sliding hood, and the two separate "quarter windows" behind the cockpit).

The general quality of these is excellent; the plastic from which they're formed is perfectly clear, and of a thickness which is enough to give them some rigidity, but not so thick that you'd need a saw to cut them out! The one I looked at most closely was the MiG-3 canopy. I checked it by fitting the injection-molded canopy from the Hobby Boss kit inside it, and it fit perfectly, suggesting that the HB canopy was used as a master. This is further supported by the observation that both canopies have the two vertical "frames" in exactly the same position on the windscreen. There were no internal frames on the MiG-3 windscreen; it was actually an overlap or joint at the edges of the three separate panels from which the windscreen was assembled. On the vacuform, these are quite subtle and would represent the panel overlap reasonably well if left unpainted (as they should be left). If using this canopy on the Hobby Boss kit, it will be necessary to fill in the recessed area in the fuselage ahead of the windscreen which is part of the HB canopy but not reproduced on the Rob Taurus version.

Here's an image from a thread on Scalemodels.ru which helps illustrate the point about the "frames" - the windscreen in this photo is somewhat discoloured, but the feature I'm talking about is visible:

This rather blurry shot of my own "in progress" (for about a year now... :D ) HB MiG-3 shows how the front of the kit canopy/windscreen attaches, to try to explain my point about the recessed area in front of the windscreen:

John

Edited March 3, 2010 by John Thompson

[dogsbody]

Thanks for the pics. I've been working on and off on the HB kit and your pic of the windscreen is helpful. I/m not sure if I'll replace the canopy or not, but I'll keep an eye out for further development images from you.