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AMK/SIO MODELS MiG-31 kits with extras


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From AMK boss Mr. Sio comes a new brand of products under SIO MODELS name. This includes individual aftermarket products but also cooperation with the original AMK brand kits like the two MiG-31 kits released under joint AMK/SIO MODELS name.

 

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The kits differ from previous releases in that they have a set of additional aftermarket 3D printed parts including jet engine exhaust, detailed ejection seats, landing gear and the on board gun which can be shown separately without its covers. They also include a set of painting masks.

My only question is how strong will the undercarriage legs be? We know that this 48 th kit is fairly heavy and there were problems with the plastic gear legs in the past. But we will see. . .

 

The 3D printed parts come in their own self containing “frames” for protection. In the future the Sio Models range is supposed to include aftermarket parts for both AMK kits but also for other manufacturers products. It is in some way a similar business model as that of Eduard where a plastic kit is produced and depending on individuals taste aftermarkets for extra detailing can be purchased.

 

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Here is a views of how the frame contains parts for another new set of 3D printed radar units of 3 versions for the AMK kit and other makers also.   

 

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As far as its is known these MiG-31 “special” kit boxings will be available in a limited 500 piece series.

 

Best regards

Gabor

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Looks amazing. 3D parts can be better than resin as KA Models proves for exhausts (Their F-15 exhausts are better than anyone else's offers). If these are at KA-Model quality/detail levels then this is very exciting. I am already building one Mig-31 and this is motivating me to build a second one. And by the by, 3D parts would be stronger than equally thick plastic or resin... 3D seems to be the future.  

Edited by foxmulder_ms
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11 hours ago, Specter1075 said:

Is this for sale anywhere yet? I saw he is also doing a radar set for the F-14, and I love to spend some money with him!

As far as I know the limited edition MiG-31 kits should be on sale at any moment. (I ma sure not in a way that Tomcat was in making . . .)

 

As for the 3D extras in Sio Models range like the Tomcat radar it is still a future release. Have to add that there will be 3 different versions of the F-14 radar, one for the AMK 14D kit, one AN/APG-71 for HB kit and also AN/AWG-9 for HB kit.

 

Best regards

Gabor

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I just wonder why the landing gear is not metal (maybe it is). I know on my Mig-31 build metal landing gear was used because I heard the plastic gear would give out. I hope the printed gear is strong enough because these parts look amazing! 

 

Dave

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4 hours ago, delide said:

Looks like it's already in sale in China, for 688 RMB or almost 90 EUR. Hope the printed parts would be available separately.

well the original kits were in the $67 dollar range, and with the add on parts it looks like a bargin. As for metal landing gear, there is an aftermarket set (can't remember who did it), and look for the AMK metal gear to appear again. The AMK metal gear in my kit was some of the best I've ever seen. I'll buy this kit (which one?) as soon as it hits the shelf knowing the quality of the other Mig31's they produced. 

gary

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54 minutes ago, flybywire said:

What? Sio Models? Are there no other prettier brand name that they could think of?

that's the guy that owns or run the company, so I'd guess he has the right to name it whatever he chooses. Plus in the Fakebook web site, they talk with him every now and then by that name. Of course you could just hunt down the Hobby Boss kit or some other off brand

gary

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13 hours ago, ChesshireCat said:

well the original kits were in the $67 dollar range, and with the add on parts it looks like a bargin. As for metal landing gear, there is an aftermarket set (can't remember who did it), and look for the AMK metal gear to appear again. The AMK metal gear in my kit was some of the best I've ever seen. I'll buy this kit (which one?) as soon as it hits the shelf knowing the quality of the other Mig31's they produced. 

gary

Yes, but I bought the original some months ago... The AMK metal gear has a small detail that is not correct though, probably a compromise of the manufacturing, the printed one should be better.

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Those parts look... terrible.  Wheels are supposed to be round, not covered in flat spots.  I really hope those aren't the finished, for-sale bits, because they desperately need to save and print their files at a higher resolution.  It's a really simple fix, and would get rid of the ludicrous facets on the wheels and exhausts (and everything else, but those are the most egregious), but this kind of strikes me as a really rookie mistake, which is worrying for scaling to mass production.

 

Basically, when you save a 3D file for printing, it converts the raw, mathematecal data into a series of points mapping the surface, and everything in between those points is a simple, flat triangle.  Fewer points = fewer triangles, so you can see flat faces on all the bits that are supposed to be curved.  More points = more triangles until those individual faces become so small as to be invisible.  In other words, they did the far right, but need to do the middle:

 

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28 minutes ago, ijozic said:

I'd say faceted wheels on the cart are a minor issue compared to the exhausts which should be rounded AFAIK.

 

Indeed, I just realised that the exhaust should be rounded, while the edge of the exhaust looks OK, the facets can be seen on the side.

 

Not interested in the cart at all, but the wheels look funny with those polygons/facets.

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To be fair and without taking sides here is a 3D print from a well know aftermarket and plastic kit manufacture from the Czech Republic. No prizes for naming it.

Same 48th scale but of course a different subject. The faceted nature of the print is clearly visible on it also. There are hundreds of similar products. There were no complaints about this product. 

 

 

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Best regards

Gabor

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There should be difference between part which is made by 3D printer, and pattern for making molds, which is made by 3D printer. That Czech company made patterns by 3D printer, and for one piece body missiles are OK, but when body is from two and more parts, there is problem with difference in diameters.

Sio parts are made by 3d printing on machine, not casted resin into molds.

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The end result is exactly the same no matter which way the final product is produced, be it:

 

3D print - - - >  product  - - - >  surface facets

 

or one extra step on the way:

 

3D print - - - > resin copy of the 3D print  - - - >  product  - - - >  surface facets

 

Best regards

Gabor

 

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24 minutes ago, ya-gabor said:

The end result is exactly the same no matter which way the final product is produced, be it:

 

 

I would presume that if you 3D print something to make a master, you can further process it by hand to fix any 3D printing issues (by filling, sanding, etc.) before you create resin molds.

 

Edited by ijozic
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1 minute ago, ijozic said:

 

I would presume that if you 3D print something to make a master, you can further process it by hand to fix any 3D printing issues before you create resin molds.

 

Yes! Exactly. But in the above shown example the maker did not do any additional work what so ever. Simply put the 3D printed "master" into silicon rubber and started producing thousands of copies. 

 

In principle 3D printed "masters" can serve as a very good starting point for a almost perfect product if additional work is invested!

 

Producing 3D printed end products is not so easy and cheap but it also has its advantages with superior details and parts break down which would not be possible or extractable from a rubber mold. 

 

Personaly I look forward to the Sio produced parts. Love the gun on the cart!!!

 

Best regards

Gabor

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Have no idea. Havent had a look at them. Most producers (there is a perfect reason from them) ONLY show CAD images of resin products to hide any mistakes and imperfections of the actual resin product!

 

I know ResKit is (of course) using 3D printing for "masters" but it is a question of what kind of printer do you invest in. There are very cheap ones and extremely expensive versions. The second can produce an almost 100% product or "master" but to use it as a continuous 3D printed product maker would be uneconomical. But with very fast development in 3D printing quality who knows what tomorrow will bring and in this case tomorrow is virtually tomorrow and not years! 

A look at the latest Eduard INFO publication shows that Mr. Sulc in the editorial  is considering this year to go into direct 3D printed aftermarket product making. 

 

Best regards

Gabor

Edited by ya-gabor
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That's really not the same thing, and you know it, Gabor.  There's a huge difference between print lines that are only noticeable under magnification and something that's supposed to be round being visibly polygonal.  Between needing to give a missile a coat of primer and needing to file all of the flat spots on the exhaust into round.  You're pulling the same logical fallacy that you hate so much: who cares if something is clearly inaccurate, because no kit is ever 100% correct.  Eduard's problem is a minor annoyance; Sio's is a major goof.

 

More to the point, they're actually not the same thing.

 

The problem with the Eduard missiles is that you can see the layer lines in the cast part.  They neglected to prime or sand the part after printing, and just cast it directly out of the printer, so the resin has copied the faint but still-visible lines created by the print process.  Each step is probably .02 mm high or so, and is the result of a technological limitation - yes, they should have added more craft to the part to improve them, but the raw part is about as good as you can expect given the current state of the art.  Human input could improve it but human error isn't at fault

 

The problem with Sio's parts is that he's saved the file at a low resolution.  When his CAD software coverted the raw data into a printable, triangulated volume, he told it to use big triangles, which = fewer triangles, which = visible triangles.  Instead of turning the circles into 360-sided polygons by having a triangle every 1 degree, which would make them functionally invisible just as they are on the Eduard missile, they've got a triangle every 13 degrees or so, so you can SEE the ridges because it's visibly icosahedral.  It's a silly human error, and handwaving it away is nuts because it's REALLY, REALLY easy to fix; it's not even a question of "they can fix it in CAD"...  they don't even have to touch the CAD, just bump up a slider in the 'Save As' menu.  And because they're production 3D printing, they can do it right this very second, and start making newer, better iterations of the same parts, which is the whole point of 3D printing.

 

Look, I get that not everyone is into CAD or 3D printing, so the background, technical reasons for why the parts are screwed up won't make sense to everyone.  As an analogy that might make the problem (and the solution) easier to understand, basically, he did this:

 

resolution

 

And the fix is just as easy - just go back and re-save it at a higher res.  It's, like, a five minute job.

Edited by MoFo
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