1/48 MiG-25 Foxbat PDS

[dsahling]

Last night the finishing touches went on the Foxbat and I hope you enjoy checking it out. So I know this kit was talked about rather negatively for quite a while, overall though (FROM SOMEONE WHO ACTUALLY DECIDED TO BUILD IT) it was a fun build and the detail is really good and comes out respectable in the end. There are some "mentally ill modelers" (You know who you are :) on this site who absolutely hated this thing and would say something to the extent of "this tiny little hole is 0.00034mm out of place and therefore its worthless and unbuildable." I'm not one of those people, and hope some of you seek help :). Overall, the kit is pretty good, its got some awkward assembly and overly-engineered areas, such as the wing tips and fuselage construction. I do agree that for the price, Kittyhawk should've researched the MiG-25 a little better and at least gotten the exhausts right considering its such a noticeable feature of the MiG-25.

If some companie(s) made at set of exhausts, "weighted landing gear," or new sprue for the more pointed nose of the BM/recce version, it could really give this kit some extra mileage. I finished this OOB, with the exception of the Eduard photoetch exhaust set. Since the engines are a key feature to the MiG-25 I spent a bit of time making this area look interesting. First, I sawed off a little less than half the exhaust petals from the kit piece (to make the PDS version), then filed them down, and used most of the photoetch as the interior to the exhaust areas, I also did a little scratch building in this area by putting a ring of wire around/behind the inner petals (hard to see if at all from the photos). There are Click2Detail exhausts and some other aftermarket items available but I didn't feel like dropping $50+ for a set of exhausts on this one.

The main landing gear didn't turn out that great, apparently the kit piece depicts the main gear fully extended, and I decided to modify it in a more bent position, using a paperclip as an internal support, the whole thing leans a little to the left but no big deal. I added some lead wire for break/hydraulic lines on the gear, and did some light scratch building like putting a new bar to the front wheel cover as the other was over-scale. I used Mr. Color paints, and must say the mix they give you in the instructions is pretty spot on for the MiG-25 grey color 90% C308 and 10% C337. Part of the reason for this uniform color for so many of the Foxbats is that is a special heat proof paint (I things heat up around Mach 3). I then used a variety of whites, greys, browns, etc. to give the paint job a weathered and "Russian Winter" look. I find its really important to do this kind of finish on these one-color paint jobs as it breaks up the monotony and keeps it interesting to the eye. I then used an oil wash for subtle streaking/detail highlighting. The kit decals work pretty good, but can be a little "sticky" once you lay them down.

As a final result, the kit can really come together well with some elbow grease and ingenuity, it does require some mid-advanced level modeling skills to pull it together. The detail is really good once it comes together and is a good choice for a rather rare subject. Enjoy!

[falcon20driver]

It looks darn good to me, something to be proud of.

[Exhausted]

Some people take a kit and never take a break between their complaints to actually build it. You did, and you have an awesome looking model. I love the presentation, gr8 work m8.

[Crazy Snap Captain]

What a beast! Nice work mate.

[Aigore]

Gorgeous brute! Really like the worn look :D

[Ryan Hothersall]

Ike it a lot looks good.

[Sebastijan]

Nicely done! Exhausts really stand out!

[Lyash Igor]

Congrats! Great result! Really as alive!

[Vultures1]

Looks good to me! Nice work (especially liked the shot of the exhausts)

[beingthehero]

Excellent work, damn!

[fulcrum1]

Looks like a keeper. Was your fuselage warped? I'm trying to figure out how to do mine and am about to throw in the towel.

[dsahling]

The fuselage might have been been a little warped, theres an article on a Foxbat 'E' on scalespot.com. The article shows how to place some "alignment" tabs made from plastic card/styrene to help with assembling the fuselage and other assemblies.

[balls47]

You did a great job on your Foxbat!!! If you would like to read a great book about the MiG-25 Foxbat and the Soviet military, read a book (if you can still find it) titled, "The Final Escape of Lieutenant Bilenko." You'll really learn a lot about the history of the MiG-25 and the Soviet military. Again, great job.

Edited May 7, 2015 by balls47

[dsahling]

Here's the link, if you're thinking of doing this kit, this article is really helpful.

http://www.scalespot.com/onthebench/mig25/build.htm

[kike]

Awesome!!!

[mimis]

Fantastic!

[compressorman]

That shot of the exhaust cans is fabulouso!!

[jgrease]

Great work. I'm always happy to see a kit finished well after being condemned by the usual suspects.

[Viper316]

Nice build, thanks for sharing.

Rod

[SERNAK]

Very nice finish!!!

[K5054NZ]

This is supposed to be a Foxbat? If you hadn't told me I would never have guessed, it looks nothing like one! The kit is truly fatally flawed.

Congratulations, this is a great model and you should be proud of the end result. A 1/72 MiG-25 is big enough for me, so I'm happy to enjoy the builds of others...and this is surely one of the best I've seen. To my eye your landing gear mods really make the model look as though it's heavy, which to me is a must for such a big plane. I also like the open canopy and the FOD covers in the intakes

Bravo my friend!

[dsahling]

Thanks for all the kind words everybody. Yes, this thing is HUGE in 1/48th scale. I feel like I recently saw a picture comparing the MiG-25 and MiG-31 next to one another, and the Foxbat is dwarfed in comparison. I'm looking forward to the new MiG-31 thats supposed to come out soon. Now if only GWH will do a 1/48th or 1/32 Su-34 Fullback, they are the PERFECT company to do such a project, as their MiG-29 series was phenomenal.

[Joel_W]

I yet to model any Russian aircraft from any period, so it's fair to say that I know nothing of what they should or shouldn't look like. To this end I view a model from a modelers perspective. And your build is quite an achievement. No major issues with the build, consistent application of paint & decals, and your weathering ties everything together very nicely. Well done, very well done.

Joel

[Der Grüne Punkt]

Lovely Foxbat!, the weathering makes it really really interesting what otherwise a flying gray brick, a mean looking gray flying brick but a flying brick in the end.

I agree on your disliking for those persons with a ruler in the hand like to criticize this kit saying this is worthless, but if you start to dig up on their profiles don't usually show what they do.

Personally I think this kit is a mix of good and bad things, detail-wise it's pretty lovely, even when some detail is wrong, fictitious or in the incorrect place, at some places it's really idiotic, some times I think they have an infiltrate from Kinetic or Trumpeter making crazy suggestions :P/>, like the wingtips who in the hell thinks that's a good idea, I know you can make many versions form the same molds, but to what price!.

As proof that I have suffered this kit, doh, it's not finished, it was abandoned when my Kinetic's mirages arrived:

Just show how small this is :P

Once again, good job!

Edited May 1, 2015 by Der Grüne Punkt

[dsahling]

I think you're right that Kittyhawk did the wing tips that way for other versions, I think I read something about the interceptor version having different wing tips, but maybe they could've done that on a panel line. That jigsaw pattern was a pain to fill, sand, and smooth.