Jump to content

Scratchbuilt FIREFOX-MIG-31 master patterns


Recommended Posts

Hi again,

I posted this in jets forum too as not sure where it would best belong.

I've been a fan of this Plane a long time, so I'm scratchbuilding a model of the it. These are the master patterns for it.. lots to go on it, but you can get an idea of how it will look

William

Link to post
Share on other sites

monstersinmotion. com has both a 10 inch kit and either 16 or 18 inch kit.

ive got the 10 inch kit and oddly enough the one thats being scratch build and this one have the exact same demarcation lines, wonder if there from the same master or not. Looks good either way. Now if my 1/48th gunstar would hurry up and get here i can have some fun then

Link to post
Share on other sites

Howdy,

Nope, totally new master..wouldnt use those 2 as examples EVER to make a Firefox!!!, way too much work to get them even close to the Firefox from the film.

Did I mention I've been a professional model maker since 1993. Monsters in Motion was still a dream of Terry's when I was making models. both his Firefox models I have, the 16 "er and the 10"er, he gets them from Tony James of Comet Miniatures

Not sure what you meant by saying "the same demarcation lines", please elaborate.

I must tell you, I know this plane more than anyone else as i've studied it for over ten years thouroughly. When I do a model, I take all the necessary time to ensure I have enough information to do the plane justice. The master patterns you see at this point show the plane before the tons of panel lines which I will be scribing. The 10" Planet X kit is cute, but totally wrong in the nose, tail, intakes, and engines. Also the canopy is tappered the wrong direction, nose is way to short, I could go on for hours. I just will say it's not right. By the way, of the 2 kits mentioned the Plent X is closer,

The 16" model made by Studio 2 is also wrong wrong shape nose(neither have a 2 degree slant from the middle of the canards down to the tip of the nose bottom) and so on...

To date there is not an accurate model of the plane out there,I'm changing that for the fans. I've wanted one right for a long time, So i'm doing it..I'll tell you now, this plane matches nothing out there on the market....bottom line!, they don't nor have these guys ever possessed the studio drawings or 40 + photos of the "Hero" filming miniature that I have. It will indeed make all the difference in the world on the finished piece

Best,

William

Link to post
Share on other sites

Thanks for the pic there WBNemo1

What plans ya got for the cockpit and gear?

Would love to see more pics of that sweet bird for other angles as well.

Firefox was one of my favorite Techno Thriller books in the 80's as was Firefox Down.

Would love to see this one completed...

William G

:)

Link to post
Share on other sites

I should have been more descriptive when i made the post but here we go the the clarification. The demarcation lines I was referring to are the ones on the intakes and on the vert stabs, they are almost identical to the kit i have. As for the master kit, i was asking if its the same person or mold that the 10 and 16 inchers are made from and from the post you put on here it clarified my questions. If i offended you then please allow me to appologize, that was not my intention B)

Habu, yep mim is still open ..slow as usual but open none the less..

:cheers:

Link to post
Share on other sites

No problem here,

VF101 Guy, the 10"er you have is close to 1/72 scale,but as the Firefox full scale is 756" long 63ft, the model is off by a half an inch..that's alot for that scale...

PP1 should be exactly 10.5 inches for 1/72 scale. As for the intakes, those are not bad,but if viewed from the rear or front,don't have the top angle on em, the are parralel to the floor, the fox's intakes on the top side had an angle to them...

Here, let me back up my statement with one of my personal "hero" photos, only one I will show though, the rest is for build reference for the many,many panel lines I'll have to scribe..

William

Link to post
Share on other sites

Wow William

Nice Hero Shot...

Would love to see more of that beauty.

Will your kit include the variable sweep mechanics for the canard?

Well I went and did it

I went out bought the DVD and have to go find the second book Firefox Down...

Oh well the wife gave me the dirtiest look when I pulled that DVD out of the bag....

hehehe

William G

Link to post
Share on other sites

one more so you can see all the work i have to go paneling wise lol

As far as working canards, while they won't sweep as this would make a slot look unscale, it will have either version ,swept or unswept with the kit.

A better description of plans for this model are as follows:

I'm doing a 1/32 scale "film accurate" Firefox model to be made available for private commissioned kits, or buildups. I hope to get it done by end of May,as I want to debut it at Wonderfest, it's gonna be a close one. It will feature a hollow resin fuselage, solid resin wings, verts, ventral stabilators and canards, with full cockpit, photo-etched wing and airbrakes, and landing gear and accessories.

At 1/32 scale based on the "Hero"dimensions, It will be 23 5/8" long. There are two options I'm looking at right now and probably will be avialable with the commissioned kit. First, a mockup of the Turmansky engine turbines, if not a whole engine, then at least the turbine blade units for dramatic effect to go inside the intake nacells, or the intakes can be left closed like the filming hero. The detail that goes on each side of the air-splitters will be in brass.

Second, retracted canards as seen in the film, these will be an option to either add to the model or not. It's up to builder. Both versions in resin will be provided. I want to have certain accessories in brass and resin like the step ladder, the air and wing brakes, as well as cockpit details. As of now I'm not sure what the price for a commissioned kit will be ,but will let you know. Adam Leet has been assisting me a lot in researching out the details for the cockpit, undercarriage and missles/bays.

At this scale I will be able to use the 1/32 scaleTamiya F4E landing gear for accurate gear and will laser cut the gear doors and such. For the cockpit I want to either laser cut or photoetch the instruments, not sure which on that yet, I am open to sugestions. Looks like the engine turkey feathers will have all the detailed patterns of the "hero" molded in at this point, had thought of doing photoetched turkey feathers for the nozzels, but not too sure on how to accomplish this so that a novice model builder/assembler could get the right look after bending each feather correctly and attaching it to the next to form the nozzel.

Thanks for viewing,

William

Link to post
Share on other sites
at least the turbine blade units for dramatic effect to go inside the intake nacells, or the intakes can be left closed like the filming hero.

IMHO, The blades would be good, the whole engine would be cool, but overkill. Blocked off like the hero would be a bummer...

Great job William! :lol:

Thanks for posting the hero pics, they're Awesome. Hopefully when you near completion you'll share them all! :wave:

Chris ;)

Link to post
Share on other sites

good point on the engines, ok blades it is, also trying to get two Gants sculpted, one standing holding helmet and one sitting in cockpit with helmet on....got nice reference on the helmet, by the way:) i have one!... that should do it.... lol

William

Edited by Wbnemo1
Link to post
Share on other sites

William,

I think after seeing all that panel detail I feel you should have a new Nic

Wild Bill!!!!

Woof!!! Oh that much scribing hurts my eyes!!!

Cant wait to see the Gants as well.

What are you going to use for the molds?

William G still rubbing his eyes after seeing all the detail on the Hero

Link to post
Share on other sites

For molds, I will use RTV.... I like Rhodia RTV Visil 1065 Hypro green. I may do a fiberglass jacket for a RTV skin, we'll see. Got a spot of news, I lined up a company to source out my photoetching, working on the artwork for this now....

William

Link to post
Share on other sites
  • 1 month later...

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...