rom Posted November 22, 2015 Share Posted November 22, 2015 (edited) Hello there! it's been awhile since my last WIP here. I want now to share some pictures of my current build. A few weeks before AMK announced a new Mig-25 kit, I decided to start my Kitty hawk kit. And this, because of my friend Christophe who did a nice job on his own build: http://fighters.forumactif.com/t75195-mig-25-foxbat-kitty-hawk-1-48 I want to depict an Iraqi fighters from the first Gulf War: http://www.aviationgraphic.com/airplanes/335-mig-25pds-foxbat-25211-iraf-tc-206.html So, maybe you know that this kit is controversial because of its many flaws: http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234950939-kitty-hawk-mig-25pdpds-detailing-corrections/ Some of them are not that serious and easily fixable, others won't be treated at all... But, to my eyes there are some points that need serious work in order to depict the correct rendering of this brutal plane. Radome and exhausts are the most critical to me. I will start with the radome. Kitty hawk totally botched this area. The radome section is weird shaped, with a "square rounded" cross section instead of a perfectly round one. Also, the cross section at its base is more wide than high. Moreover, the profile is not symmetrical, and the radome seems to be "down curved ". So, based on scale drawing, I CAD designed a nose cone. While being maybe not 100% accurate, it will be more convincing. And perfectly round :rolleyes:/>/> Then, thanks to "Shapeways" https://www.shapeways.com/ I ordered a 3D printed sample: The surface is pretty rough, and need some Surfacer to get smooth: Because of the weird cross section of the kit, I had to add material on top of the fuselage in order to get a circle section. Sanding is also needed to smooth down some angles. After sanding and surfacing: Some work is also needed here, in order to get a good fit to the cockpit section: Edited March 13, 2018 by rom Quote Link to post Share on other sites
rom Posted November 22, 2015 Author Share Posted November 22, 2015 After more scribing and cleaning job, the parts are ready for casting: Et voilĂ ! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Laurent Posted November 22, 2015 Share Posted November 22, 2015 Rho la vache, ça déchire grave ! Great work ! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Uncle Uncool Posted November 22, 2015 Share Posted November 22, 2015 Hi, Romain! I wholly agree with yer French partner above; ya simply rock! It's an awesome correction ya've just made to the KH kit radome. It's almost spot-on! I might go further back with makin' the fuselage round on mine, to where the windshiled base meets the forward fuselaje, as it's shown on the BM thread. Will be eagerly followin' this build, rom. Keep up the good work, mate. Cheers, UncÂČ Quote Link to post Share on other sites
rom Posted November 22, 2015 Author Share Posted November 22, 2015 Thanks guys! I might go further back with makin' the fuselage round on mine, to where the windshiled base meets the forward fuselaje, as it's shown on the BM thread. You're right Uncle. I did not have the courage to go that far :unsure: It means making a whole new half of the total length of the plane... Cheers!! Romain Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Shorty84 Posted November 23, 2015 Share Posted November 23, 2015 (edited) Hi Rom, as I have the Kitty Hawk MiG-25 in my stash too I'll follow your build with great interest. It is a pity that one doesn't see many builds of this kit so I'm glad you decided to share it with us. I already scratched my head about how to improve the nose section on the kit. Is there any chance that you would sell some copies of your nose correction to interested modellers? I guess quite a few guys (including myself of course B)) would be very interested. Cheers, Markus Edited November 23, 2015 by Shorty84 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
rom Posted November 23, 2015 Author Share Posted November 23, 2015 Halo Markus, Thank you. But for now, I dont have spare castings.I'm sorry Romain Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Pep Posted November 23, 2015 Share Posted November 23, 2015 Great work Romain! any chance that these would be available for sale? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
GazzaS Posted November 24, 2015 Share Posted November 24, 2015 Love what you're doing with the Mig! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
rom Posted November 24, 2015 Author Share Posted November 24, 2015 (edited) Hi guys, thanks for your words. Pep, for now it is not planned to sell these parts. Romain Edited November 24, 2015 by rom Quote Link to post Share on other sites
SERNAK Posted November 27, 2015 Share Posted November 27, 2015 Those resin parts look top-notch!!! Can't wait to see the next steps of your build Rom!!! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Aigore Posted November 29, 2015 Share Posted November 29, 2015 Ooooh, impressive! :D Perhaps a aftermarket maker would buy that plug off you to make it available to the masses? I know Maestro does that, had a mate make plugs for the Gripen BOL-pylons for instance. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Uncle Uncool Posted November 29, 2015 Share Posted November 29, 2015 Hi rom! How're ya doin,' bud? Y'know I've started goin' yer way on modifyin' my KH kit; just found out the L&M nose cone correction for the Academy Su-27 to be such close match for the Foxbat as well. Would ya say the shape of the radomes on both aircraft look quite the same? Y'see I've got some scaled-up plans of the MiG-25P which come on Piotr Butowski's book on the Foxbat, matchin' the L&M radome rather spot on, but then again, dunno whether anyone could trust printed plans... Just don't know. Will see if I can get to post a coupla piccies of my mods. Cheers, rom Hope to see more progress on yer build very soon. UncÂČ Quote Link to post Share on other sites
jenshb Posted November 30, 2015 Share Posted November 30, 2015 I believe you can allow Shapeways to sell your 3D printed part, and you will get some money out of it too for each part sold. That way people can benefit from your CAD work, although they will have to do the same amount of work to smooth and match the part to the inaccurate nose. Jens Quote Link to post Share on other sites
rom Posted November 30, 2015 Author Share Posted November 30, 2015 hello guys, Thank you for your comments! Perhaps a aftermarket maker would buy that plug off you to make it available to the masses? I know Maestro does that, had a mate make plugs for the Gripen BOL-pylons for instance. Hi aigore nice to see you here! thank you for the idea. I'll keep it in mind. just found out the L&M nose cone correction for the Academy Su-27 to be such close match for the Foxbat as well. Would ya say the shape of the radomes on both aircraft look quite the same? Y'see I've got some scaled-up plans of the MiG-25P which come on Piotr Butowski's book on the Foxbat, matchin' the L&M radome rather spot on, but then again, dunno whether anyone could trust printed plans... Just don't know. Will see if I can get to post a coupla piccies of my mods. hi Uncle! In fact, this was my first idea too!! Butt according to the plans I got, the Flanker nose was a bit tighter in diameter and shorter in length than a Foxbat nose. But, like, you, I think the shapes are quite the same. Nevertheless, it will require some adjusting work to match the round cross section to the "square like" KittyWok fuselage plug. Do not hesitate to post picture of your dry fit tests! I believe you can allow Shapeways to sell your 3D printed part, and you will get some money out of it too for each part sold. That way people can benefit from your CAD work, although they will have to do the same amount of work to smooth and match the part to the inaccurate nose. Jens Hi Jens, yes you are right. But as you said, my corrected radome will only fit to my corrected fuselage plug... Well, be advised that I keep in mind you suggestions. Thank you guys! So now, here is some update! Lets start with the cockpit. Two years ago I found a neomega resin cockpit by a polish seller on a Model Show. It was what we can call a real bargain as I paid it 2⏠:)/> KittyHawk plastic parts are pretty good, but resin offers more relief. The lateral consoles were glued with just a drop of instant glue, and then I started dryfitting tests into the front fuselage. It will require some sanding to fit the resin cockpit (wich was released for the Revell Foxbat) into KH plastic. Then I made my own mix to get this particular Russian Interior Blue/green: I tried some zenithal effect by spraying lighter shade vertically. it will enlighten the top surfaces and details. Then I applied an oil wash: Details are painted with acrylics and a fin brush: Instruments on the front panel are decals cut in the Revell Foxbat decal sheet. Lighter wash and some drybrushing are also applied. Ejector handles are cut in masking tape and painted red. Final assembly: See you soon for wheel bays. Romain Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Shorty84 Posted November 30, 2015 Share Posted November 30, 2015 Hi Rom, nice work on the cockpit. Do you have a mixture ratio for the "Russian blue" colour? hi Uncle! In fact, this was my first idea too!! Butt according to the plans I got, the Flanker nose was a bit tighter in diameter and shorter in length than a Foxbat nose. But, like, you, I think the shapes are quite the same. Nevertheless, it will require some adjusting work to match the round cross section to the "square like" KittyWok fuselage plug. Do not hesitate to post picture of your dry fit tests! Last week when I saw your nose mod I decided to crack open my kit and played around with an unused Quickboost Su-27 radome. The fit is actually quite close. I had to reshape the curvature of the nose cone and the front fuselage a bit. All remaining steps were then filled with 2 component epoxy putty and now I'm in the process of restoring all lost panel lines. And it looks so much better now... If you don't mind I can post a pic of my mod later. Cheers Markus Quote Link to post Share on other sites
rom Posted November 30, 2015 Author Share Posted November 30, 2015 (edited) Hi Markus! sadly I cant remember the ratio very well.. But I guess I started with light blue an d then added deep blue and green. As uncle above, I am pretty curious to see both of you posting your nose correction. feel free to do so :)/> Romain Edited November 30, 2015 by rom Quote Link to post Share on other sites
MoFo Posted December 1, 2015 Share Posted December 1, 2015 (edited) FYI on the Shapeways option... I've just mocked up a replacement nose in CAD (basically, the four pieces from the windshield break forward, shapes based on the AiV drawings), and going with the minimum possible wall thickness and zero markup, you're looking at $15 for nylon (WSF), $30 for FUD, $50 for FXD and $25 for acrylic. On the plus side, it then becomes possible to do noses for both the P and PD, since they're wildly different in panel lines and details - the big IRST fairing being the most notable change. I haven't added anything more than the fuselage break lines to this model though (yet). Just doing the radome would probably be about 1/2 the price(?). I'd have to check the part volumes... Yeah, you're looking at a little more than 1/2 the price for just the radome. Oh, and as an aside, it's been a while since I handled the plastic in the kit and... geez. The radome in the kit really is laughably bad. Like, you can *see* the corners on it. How the hell do you screw up drawing a circle?!? Edited December 1, 2015 by MoFo Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Floyd S. Werner, Jr. Posted December 1, 2015 Share Posted December 1, 2015 (edited) see the post below. Edited December 1, 2015 by Floyd S. Werner, Jr. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Floyd S. Werner, Jr. Posted December 1, 2015 Share Posted December 1, 2015 Werner's Wings would love to produce this nose correction set. If you are interested contact me at fwernerjr@comcast.net Floyd Quote Link to post Share on other sites
rom Posted December 1, 2015 Author Share Posted December 1, 2015 I've just mocked up a replacement nose in CAD Wow! nice job mate! Have you pictures of the printed part? I was a bit disappointed by the surface roughness when I received my printed radome. So if I get it right, your part is printed without panel lines, and you have to scribe them? The radome in the kit really is laughably bad. Like, you can *see* the corners on it. How the hell do you screw up drawing a circle?!? Yep... that is a real shame. Could be useful to KH design team: http://www.wikihow.com/Draw-a-Circle Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Laurent Posted December 1, 2015 Share Posted December 1, 2015 How the hell do you screw up drawing a circle?!? "Song" came from Trumpyboss and I believe that Trumpyboss doesn't use cross-sectional data in drawings even if provided. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
MoFo Posted December 1, 2015 Share Posted December 1, 2015 I was a bit disappointed by the surface roughness when I received my printed radome. Yeah, it looks like you had it printed in White Strong & Flexible, which is a laser sintered nylon powder - basically, a laser is used to melt powder-fine granules of nylon together. It's (relatively) cheap and quite strong, but has a surface like a sugarcube and is a bugger to sand. Good for a lot of consumer products; a little limited for modelling purposes. As for mine... nothing printed yet - I'm just drafting it at the moment (I tossed it on Shapeways in case anybody's desperate for one; I'll update it when it's done, if there's interest). Panel lines... Just haven't finished them. Made some progress tonight though (logged on to check e-mail, then three hours later...) Shouldn't be hard to do a version with MiG-25P panel lines. They're a lot simpler than the PD. (/hijack) :) Quote Link to post Share on other sites
rom Posted December 1, 2015 Author Share Posted December 1, 2015 That is great! I treated the roughness with several brushed and sanded layers of mr surfacer. Then the smooth surface is obtained by spraying Alclad grey primer, smooth sanded again. So what material will you choose to print? Do you think your panel lines will be well rendered? May I ask you the diameter and length of your radome? Cheers Romain Quote Link to post Share on other sites
MoFo Posted December 2, 2015 Share Posted December 2, 2015 (edited) I'd go with either Acrylic detail or FUD/FXD. If I was doing it as a master for resin casting, I'd do FUD/FXD, depending on how much money I wanted to sink into it - it'll take some cleanup to remove the frosting and all traces of the mineral oil they clean the parts in, but the surfaces are much smoother and it holds detail nicely. If it was a one-off and I wanted to save some money but spend more time smoothing/re-scribing, I'd go Acrylic. WSF is best used on less detailed parts where you either don't need a great surface finish, or don't need great tolerances so can afford to have it polished (tumbled to smooth out the surfaces). IMO, anyway. Dimensions... The radome is 63.3mm long x 26.1mm diameter. (top line, and line bisecting the radome) The kit nose is about 106.5mm, by my measurement. (middle line, also showing extra length on my radome) My (full) nose is 109.5mm (109.51498462mm...) Basically, I just scaled the AiV drawings to match the kit nose height and width at the windscreen break, and went from there. It may not actually be perfectly 1/48, but I figured it would be proportionally closer. Edited December 2, 2015 by MoFo Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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