Well this Revell 1/32 kit is a beauty. Officially.
Its got its limitations, and its flaws, but there is a lot I like about it.
A hell of a lot [;)]
I’m using the Eduard etched metal cockpit set, and the CAM resin K-36 bang seat (which arrived today from Brookhurst hobbies, USA)
First thing I adressed was the ‘Oleks’ which are the main intake vents behind the cockpit. The mig cleverly avoids the issue of FOD damage via main engine intakes by simply shutting them off with large doors whilst the Mig is on the ground, the vents behind the cockpit open and this is how the engines breath!
The vents in the Mig kit are moulded open, not what I want for a static Mig as the vents are shut whent the engines are powered down. I opted to completely remove the section rather than try to fit individual plastic-card doors to each of the 5 vent openings on each fuselage side, (mainly because I was concened the doors would be irregularly sized and fiddly to fit)
I therefore replaced the whole sections with sheet styrene card and scribed the vents onto the surface with a steel rule and blunt scalpel - after considerable shaping , filling, sanding and scribing, job done.
Now the cockpit. it took me around 3 days solid to build the cockpit panel and sided from the eduard set, its a long way from finished but the look and colour is about there. I’ve added some pipework I saw in cockpit photos out of a length of solder wrapped in fusewire, looks nice washed and drybrushed up.
The dashboard is nearly done. I’m not going to add the HUD until final stages as this will only get damaged and bent out of shape during the rest of the build. I’ve added the HUD power cable - made from solder. The whole dash has had an extensive oil wash an subtle highlight with panzer grey.
Now onto the rest of the assembly. The engine exhausts are a tad on the small side on the kit, so I’ve increased the size by building up with styrene card, and heating the sections to become more circular . Also the Undercarriage legs have had extensive washing and highlighting, as well as wiring and cabling from fuse wire.
Finally the beautiful CAM seat fits like a glove, however I’ve sanded the base so that it sits at the correct height in the cockpit. Its a lovely piece of resin and I can’t wait to see it fully painted, (I do have a seat fetish when it comes to jets)
Very early painting stage - Also note the additional riveting and panel scribing on the fuselage side.
Right- I’m off for a cold beer
Cheers !