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1:72 MiG-31CE "Firefox"


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I posted a topic in the Sci-Fi forum in March, before I got the kit. It's typical Anigrand: low-pressure yellow resin, some recessed panel detail, and generally accurate except for a number of annoyances. It's not very big, either, being about the size of a 1:72 F-15:

2rqmtyf.jpg

Work on this beast started in July, and it's been a fairly slow process for various reasons, not the least of which is modeling fatigue. At this point I've only concentrated on the forward fuselage and cockpit section, trying to hone the nose faceting and cockpit details.

The Anigrand kit is a bear if you want an accurate Firefox. The nose profile is fairly accurate per the full-scale mockup used in the movie, though Migmaker (William Babington) is busy working on a 1:48 resin kit based on the 63" flying miniatures used in the film. When viewed front-on, though, the center facet is too square when it should be tapered, with the bottom end wider than the top of the canopy. I'm ignoring this for the most part, as the effect isn't too bad. Instead I'll be more worried about the shape and build of the dorsal spine and upper nacelles.

Anyway, the most recent work involved the instrument panel, made using Evergreen sheet and strip, plus brass bezels from a 1:72 Tornado p/e sheet:

2ahdv8l.jpg

The ejection seat is a True Details 1:72 Escapac seat. The seat used for the airborne in-cockpit shots appeared to be some flavor of Escapac. The full mockup for the hangar and ice floe scenes, however, used a stripped-down MB Mk.7 seat. Either way, the seat I chose fits like a glove.

The overall cockpit OoB is useless. It goes from this:

2rfwsnp.jpg

to this:

15xa0xz.jpg

to this...

icpjte.jpg

ebf02w.jpg

34yvk3t.jpg

Side walls are completely scratch built using Evergreen styrene plus green floral wire.

The gun pack on the bottom of the fuselage also needs attention. The front end is too shallow, so I beefed it up using styrene strip:

35k3khx.jpg

Once finished with this forward fuselage assembly I'll start work on the main wheel wells and inlet rebates. At this rate I might have a finished Firefox come late next year.

I'm open to suggestions on how to tackle the canopy. The kit part not only has air bubbles, but it's unsuitable for my purposes because they neglected to notice that the center frame extends down and forward further than the side frames. I was thinking of building it from .015 clear styrene, but I think vacform would be optimal. Anyone interested?

Edited by MiG31
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