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1/48 AMK MiG-31B/BS Foxhound, my first venture in this scale!


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Thanks, fellas. 

 

I too like the contrast between the pink and the turquoise. I'll probably add some for the front gear well too, which actually gets me to another front gear part: the mudguard.

 

The kit mudguard looks very plain even though its shape is pretty accurate. I added the prominent strengthening strips for the sides, some rows of rivets and engraved details. Should do it.

 

e391NhJ.jpg

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The wings and the fuselage were joined two days ago. Since I've been a hardcore 1/72 builder, I didn't have big enough clamps for a model this thick. Suitable were found from my son's toys: I ended up using screw clamps from a Hot Wheels car track. Their strength was just enough for this job. The fit was quite okay although I did several dry-fitting exercises to get them right. 

 

I also assembled the intakes. With the interior painted the fit was very snug. I didn't glue them with fuselage yet but just wanted them to dry in to the right shape while being dry-fitted with it. I can already see some fit issues but I'm hoping to solve them with a design knife and some sanding before glueing.

 

The vertical tails were another story. I still have a major issue on the left side where the leading edge extension (which were heavily bent but were solved with hot water) just doesn't meet with the top fuselage. I sanded and carved out plastic here and there, added strips of plastic on other places and still the fit is poor. Luckily the problem isn't on the side fuselage - especially if you take care of it before hand with careful dry-fitting.

 

Both the vertical tails and the stabilators have smaller inserts on the "less important" side. The problem is - just like with the wings - that these inserts sink too deep inside their respective recesses creating visible steps (along panel lines). On the stabilators it's actually vice versa but the vertical tails have small but annoying steps on the inner sides which I didn't notice while dry-fitting them. Given the exquisite engraved and raised details on the vertical fins I'm inclined to leave them be... It wasn't clearly visible when trying them on but it could be that clamping them worsened the situation. 

 

There's also something with the wings. I noticed some bending before glueing them but it didn't appear that serious. Now the left side has a Concorde-like droop near the tip while the right side seems to be rising up just a bit. Oh crap. They too clearly need some hot water!

 

HNrweOL.jpg

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The total lack of piano hinges on this kit bothers me. It's especially evident on the nose area, where they are very visible, but on the real aircraft they are found also on the rear fuselage sides. 

 

It's hard to represent them as they should be but even a simpler version clearly enhances the look.

 

v3Pl4VC.jpg

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I find the front cockpit instrument panel coaming a bit too simplistic - no HUD lense is even provided. I drilled a hole for the lense, shaved off the mold-in two dimensional piping and substituted it with wire, drilled some lightening holes and added some details from styrene and scrap PE metal. I still have some ideas for further detailing.

 

1B2kavA.jpg

 

 

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So nice. Went on a business trip two weeks ago and discovered my very soon to be ex-wife threw away some of my kits, including this one. And I just got it like a month ago! 

 

Still following your build as it's great to see it coming together. Keep up the good work!

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22 hours ago, Curt B said:

Wow, you are doing GREAT work!   I hope your son won’t miss his Hot Wheels track pieces.  I remember mine and I wouldn’t have been happy if they were gone  😪

 

Duly returned! 

16 hours ago, Whiskey said:

So nice. Went on a business trip two weeks ago and discovered my very soon to be ex-wife threw away some of my kits, including this one. And I just got it like a month ago! 

 

No wonder she's your soon to be ex-wife! That's mean! Hopefully you'll be able to get another one cause despite of the some slightly negative surprises, it's a nice kit.

 

Thanks for your kind comments both and thanks for watching!

 

The nicest thing in this kit has arguably been the cockpit. I've really loved making it. The seats are very nice too and although some resin seats with beautifully molded belts can offer a bit more details, I happily settled with these. 

 

The harnesses and the ejection handles come from the kit's PE sheet. The white text on the seat pan was my own addition and is just white paint applied with a tooth pick. No real Cyrillic letters there.

 

d06wzde.jpg

 

51y5kbJ.jpg

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Beautiful work on the ejection seats!  And I’m glad you were able to return the borrowed toys 😊

 

@Whiskey: No matter how nasty a divorce may be, hurting a poor, innocent airplane just isn’t right.  Sorry to hear about your situation...and your models...

Edited by Curt B
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10 hours ago, Aigore said:

Ok, that is wicked bangseats! It's a delight seeing you work this kit 😄

This coming from a dedicated 1/48 builder probably tells I've done something right. 😀 

 

Yesterday when I was trying to find a suitable lense for the HUD from my spares box I bumped into a 1/72 K-36. How tiny it was! 😶

 

10 hours ago, Curt B said:

Beautiful work on the ejection seats!  And I’m glad you were able to return the borrowed toys 😊

Seems he didn't even notice. 🙂

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Despite of the IRST usually (meaning almost always) being retracted when on the ground, I decided to depict it in lowered position - which is entirely possible and makes the model a bit livelier. The kit IRST itself was a bit bland without any surface detail. It also needed a lot of sanding since the halves were quite irregular in shape. I engraved some panel lines and used just slightly pinkish white for the lense interior and mixed silver and brown for the ring. The shiny steel rings are from foil tape. Perhaps a bit too shiny at the moment.

 

jkHsmsS.jpg

 

 

The interior of the canopies has got green insulation material. On a model one could use for instance some wrinkled foil for the job, but I just scraped some wrinkles and dents into the first layer of paint when wet so it would not look too smooth. The rear cabin also needed black curtains which come from a Champagne bottle. The white placards are also a scratched item. 

 

The green colour looks way too light in these photos. It's really much darker.

 

qqJsG1N.jpg

 

 

 

Edited by janman
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  • 3 months later...

The winter (which actually never came) went by without updates. I've been (extremely) slowly working with this thing though. The missiles were painted, but I'm not happy with the end result so still more work there.

 

The intake sides have rivet lines which on some aircraft seem quite subtle while some other have a more pronounced pattern. I chose to add those rivets on mine. The even grid pattern is   complemented by bigger ones zigzagging it. 

 

A bit like here, from an operational a/c:

 

http://scalemodels.ru/modules/forum/img_1217189_1453173863_20.jpg.html

 

dlTJSDx.jpg

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Excellent work so far Jan! Wish i had added those rivets on the intakes too, but oh well, on a different build... (have 3 more kits) Personally, while the cockpit is excellent, my personal favorite is the whole intake/engine and landing gear assembly. Just like the real thing, and engineered really well in the kit!

 

PS; My build is progressing well and is in the finishing parts, but i am sure you will finish (no pun intended?) before me, despite the 5 year headstart.😅

Edited by Berkut
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  • 1 year later...

Not dead yet.

 

After finding some further reference material, the project is gathering pace again. I was concerned about certain panel lines on this kit and a couple of missing bumbs. I also realized there were more piano hinges missing, now on the top fuselage. 

 

Although a lot of fastener details are included with the kit, a lot is missing. In reality for instance the spine panels are full of them and these were duly added. They are rather visible in many photos.

 

And so are the piano hinges. It seems the kit designers have checked their references, but the execution has been left halfway. This was corrected.

 

I still have to correct the areas marked with yellow. There should be a small inspection hatch in the intersection of four panels. Hobby Boss has got this right - and even Trumpeter in 1/72 scale!

 

Then there are the bumbs that HB almost got right. AMK has nothing so these were scratch built. A good starting point can actually be found from the kit parts: you're supposed to use either C4&C5 or C16&C21 on the intakes, but the leftovers have a good profile for the outermost sloping bumbs, albeit after some cutting & shaping. They appear a bit pronounced, especially in this light, but I'll try to get them look smoother.

 

7OsiPWk.jpg

 

mAQxV2v.jpg

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The ventral fuselage is missing some details as well. I added some fasteners, drilled out some exhaust and added lines of rivets into the most visible areas. Due to soot and all kinds of streaks they become quite visible. I also engraved some details on the "keel" in the middle. 

 

FTrY7JB.jpg

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  • 3 weeks later...

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