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MiG-31BM (AMK AvantGarde 1/48)


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Don´t get me wrong Daniel is a high level modeler with great skills but in my opinion leads the "Spanish school" to the fullest. It is not a criticism but an observation. A matter of tastes.

Pacheco - I am not familiar with the "Spanish school". Can you help me to understand?

John

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One small problem with the ejection seat. The seats in the MiG-31BM series of aircraft have the new seat upholstery of greenish textile. It is a new fire resistant material which replaces all previous semigloss black artificial leather upholstery. On my visit to the manufacturing company, Zvezda they have admitted that the original black leather upholstery was of inferior quality and the greenish textile is far better in quality, in its resistance to fire, in its comfort to pilots and it takes more wear and tear without any visible damage. The black leather upholstery is/was continuously replaced by technicians from early in the last decade on all aircraft types which utilize the K-36DM series of seats. All new seats are manufactured with the greenish textile both on the headrest, back, seat bottom, deflector, knee raiser and side protector and leg restrains. So if you want to portray a MiG-31 BM, then the green upholstery should be replicated in your kit.

But of course if you are using the “Spanish School” then . . . :D :D :D

Something else. Most seats I have seen in BM’s have the version of the K-36DM Seria 2 seat which is equipped with the integral harness system. This means that all the straps of the harness system are actually on the seat. The pilot entering the cockpit has to strap in, usually with the help of the technician.

While this is true for most BM’s, many of the earlier MiG-31’s had a slightly different K-36DM Seria 2 seats. In those seats you only had the parachute attachments with a universal connector. Here the pilot is wearing the IPS 72 body harness well before entering the cockpit and to “strap into” the cockpit, into the seat is very simple and extremely fast with just few quick klicks after sitting down the in the ejection seat. In any form one would need to add either the integral harness or the simple straps for attaching to the IPS 72.

Best regards

Gabor

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Something else. Most seats I have seen in BM’s have the version of the K-36DM Seria 2 seat which is equipped with the integral harness system. This means that all the straps of the harness system are actually on the seat. The pilot entering the cockpit has to strap in, usually with the help of the technician.

Hallo Gabor, is this the "new" look of the bang seat?

k36d_3-5_0.jpg

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Hi Andrea,

As far as the colour of the upholstery goes, yes it is. But the seat on your photo is the modernized version of the K-36 family. As far as I can tell it is the K-36D 3.5. You will find it in the new built Suhoys. It has the same name (K-36) but it is essentially a brand new seat.

And yes, it has the integral harness system.

Best regards

Gabor

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Hi Andrea,

As far as the colour of the upholstery goes, yes it is. But the seat on your photo is the modernized version of the K-36 family. As far as I can tell it is the K-36D 3.5. You will find it in the new built Suhoys. It has the same name (K-36) but it is essentially a brand new seat.

And yes, it has the integral harness system.

Best regards

Gabor

So the MiG 31 seat should have the old upholstery shape with new material and the integral harness system of the K-36D 3.5?

And going slightly off topic, the new K-36D 3.5 should be found on which airplanes? Just the Su35 or also Su-30SM?

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Yes, the original K-36DM seat is the one used in the MiG-31, only the upholstery was changed on these seats. Well OK also some minor things too, but most of them are internal and not visible apart from the green textile.

Please note that the overall look of the original K-36DM seat and of the new 3.5 version is different in almost all details. The headrest is different, the housing of the stabilizing tubes on sides of the headrest, the back, the pan, the legrestrain, the ankle support . . .

The new Zvezda K-36 seats are used in almost all new Russian aircraft, not only Sukhoys, but including the Yak trainer or the MiG-AT. It is a Russian policy to have a unified ejection seat in all aircraft (which need one) and the choice of the K-36 is the best one around!

Please note that there are several versions of the new K-36 seats, it all depends on the needs of the given aircraft. Its like with the original K-36DM, there were many seat subtypes, like the seats for low speed aircraft the K-36L for the Su-25. The K-36 is a very versatile seat which can be modified depending on needs.

But I think more has been said of the seat and less of the MiG-31. So lets see what the "Spanish School" has for us. :D :D :D

Best regards

Gabor

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Not *all* MiG-31BM's have the green upholstery. The deliveries of the green upholstery started at some later point. I know for a fact that blue 93 has the black leather upholstery still. Same is true for example of the Monchegorsk birds, here are some recent pictures for example;

12142717_1492842904349006_1679174553_n.jpg

12120283_1676020892684425_808842786_n.jpg

So i wouldn't be as categorical as you are Gabor. Basically it depends what plane one is building in particular. Now, it seems Daniel has picked b/n 34 and that had in all likelyhood green seats. (Had because that frame is no more...) I think roughly the rule of thumb is that planes with blue bort numbers have the black upholstery (since these were delivered first) and red has green. Very rough thumb of law, one still should preferably check on frame basis.

While Spanish school is not my style, the build is excellent so far. Lovely cockpit. :thumbsup:/>

Edited by Berkut
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What's up with that yucky pink sealant everywhere in tbe cockpit?

Hi Janne,

The pink „thing” is a substance called „Germetika”. It’s a three part material which is mixed up based on the manufacturers recommendations but in actual life the precise ratio is rarely kept by the technicians, which results in variations of colour. It could be extreme pink all the way to almost brown. It is a rubber like, very strong material when cured.

Germetika is a sealer designed to provide a perfectly hermetic bond. You will find it all over the MiG-31. Not only on the canopy seals but also inside, on individual screw heads, all the way around the air intake supports, around open inspection/service panels, in the nose wheel bay . . .

This stuff has been used for ages by the Russian and it works perfectly so why change!

Best regards

Gabor

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Don´t get me wrong Daniel is a high level modeler with great skills but in my opinion leads the "Spanish school" to the fullest. It is not a criticism but an observation. A matter of tastes.

The spanish school of modelling is the thing that is slowly but surely turning this great and noble hobby into artistic non realistic and totally abstract painting competition.Like most of us forgot what is the essential purpose of this form of art(Scale modelling).It is not the overdone contrast and weathering effects but it is making realistic scale models,copies of real life objects in scale. In the past 10 + years it is all about the `make up` and none abut historical accuracy.

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