BIG Russian Jet Groupie GB

Trey, nice save!   I'd have been tempted to test its 'structural integrity' at that point...

Yeah, nice save, and I really like the back-up scheme you picked. I'm with Dre, probably would've trashed the whole thing.

Thanks Fellas,was very tempted to return it to kit form indeed!

Some dis-assembly required?

I have to say that seeing that heavy sanding and the effect it had on your paint left me with some "ideas" to test in the future....

I have been adding detail around the canopy and the images no matter how hard I try always seem to be blurry, I think thats what I get for buying  a cheap camera, but hopefully you will be able to see some of the work I have done, I have set the canopy over the cockpit resting on a piece of sprue so it's not finished yet but soon enough it will be done, I am still considering adding missiles.You should see the pink sealant I added which is visible on almost all mig 29 canopy's, both single and two seat versions. I deliberately let it look slightly rough as close up they are never done neatly, if you see any of them you will see the migs have quite a sloppy job of the sealant applied, but I think I managed to get the colour right. I hope these pictures turn out well enough to see.

Here is a video of an aircraft I think we will see from trumpeter soon in 1/32 scale as China has started making squadrons of them for their new carriers, I wonder if China will give them nice blue camouflage patterns like Russia does?

Great work continuing on that canopy, Dean.   That pink looks the part.

I'd be OK with a Su-33 in 1/32....

Looking good, Dean! 1/32 Su-33 would be awesome (and a Su-34, cough, cough).

Oh, yeah- that one too!

Lurking!

Thanks, I will borrow a better camera for the final pictures, as mine is not great for detail, I have just finished the mirrors, where I superglued tiny pieces of plastic to the dull side of tinfoil then cut around it in the shape of the mirrors carefully and I now have mirrors! I have to paint the other sides of them but for now they're as good as finished. Still have to do the rudders as I cut them off and I was going to use the Revell decals for it, but the fact that Revell supplies decals thicker than most carpet they were impossible to stick down, so I am just painting the Russian flag on the side of the rudders instead. I want it to look weary anyway and the decals were making it look brand new.

In my ever-expanding quest for good prices, I found this on Amazon.com...

http://www.amazon.com/02239-Russian-MiG-29K-Fulcrum-Fighter/dp/B000GL1FQG/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1365022469&sr=8-4&keywords=MiG-29K

A Trumpy 1/32 MiG-29K for $46.00 .....   buyer beware as there's no indication to what one would be purchasing.

Lol, look at the price of it on Amazon UK lol, no such thing as a good deal here Dre! It is usually £79.99

look at how much this seller is selling it for.

ref=sr1fkmr02?ie=UTF8&qid=1365022854&sr=8 2 fkmr0

That's just wrong....   in any currency.

Inside canopy detail looks great Dean! I always dread doing that area myself. Looking forward to seeing more pics!

Dre thats great ,glad I did'nt bin it just hearing you say you got an idea from it. Makes the save that much more rewarding,cheers !

OK, quick update and a sneak peak...! Making good progress. Finished decals and weathering, flat coat, now turning my attention to the canopy. Then attach landing gear, ordnance, and fiddly bits. Currently pondering whether or not to buy Two Mike's resin FOD covers.

I can almost see the light at the end of the tunnel....almost. :-)

Hope you guys are well.

PB

Looks fantastic, but personally I wouldn't put FOD covers over the intakes, they look great! The paintwork also looks brilliant, nicely done there porkbits.

Thanks, Dean! Appreciate the compliments. You guys have been great motivators :-)

Hmmmmm. Maybe I won't get the covers, then.

That's looking better and better, Porkbits.   Personally, i would not add FOD covers unless the intake trunking seams are just hideous.   Otherwise I'd leave off the covers to show off those ridiculously long intakes.

If I ever do another Su-25 (and I probably will) I'm definitely going to spray happy faces on the engine face plates so that if anyone shines a judge's light down there they'll get a laugh.  

I have a local contest on the 20th. so I'm going to bring my own Frogfoot back to the bench for completion...   I doubt that I can finish the Su-27C in time. (unless I get off my #@! right now and resume work).

LOL, Dre! I like the happy face idea. :-)

The other issue is that the internal "engine" parts in the OEZ/Kopro kit (on which the Eduard re-release is based) are not great, as noted in this review of the covers:

web.ipmsusa3.org/.../su-25-intake-exhaust-covers-late

But I have no intention of entering this one in a contest or having it otherwise scrutinized by anyone but me and the occasional house spider, so no FOD covers it is.

In any event, thanks for the compliments. I grind onward towards the finish....!

PB

PS--Did I mention I hate working with canopies? Agh.

Porkbits

PS--Did I mention I hate working with canopies? Agh.

Me too- that's pretty much all I have left to do on mine.   Dean's work in the MiG's cockpit and canopy section is inspiring, but ultimately I'm really lazy when it comes to those final fiddly bits.  

Hi guys, well I was going to post some really good detailed pictures, because I have now got hold of a camera which shows everything in sharp detail, and guess what? The USB I have is the wrong fit for the camera lol, I will get it right one day, having said that I should be able to put them up in a few days, I have also got a base for this Mig, as I want to set it in a scene.

Yeah, Dre, that last 2% of a build is always the hardest and I suspect is why many projects never get finished.

Dean, looking forward to pics as soon as you get your tech issues sorted out. Ah, technology....!

Happy to announce that my frogfoot finally has legs. Man, that gear assembly was a mess. Did my best with it but didn't obsess since it's all underneath and will be mostly hidden.

It does get a little busy down there in the main gear wells with all the struts, braces and actuators.

Looks like an incredibly robust system too...

"unimproved runway"

!!!!!

That's definitely a little on the swampy side. :-) :-)

And the worst part of assembling all those bits is that most of them are then hidden by the doors. Ah, well.

Doors can hide errors (ask me how I know!).   I broke one of the struts and its in there, broken.

That'll work!

Well, the struts and actuators weren't too bad, the problem I have is that the outer doors won't completely close because the main gear struts are in the way. And I have no idea what I did wrong during assembly to cause that issue. I did add some wire to the struts to simulate hydraulic lines, but that shouldn't account for all of the blockage.

The maddening thing is that all the builds I've seen online don't have that problem. Who knows? Maybe the trick is to shave the doors or something.

Looking great PB!

Thanks!

I don't know how to help on that, PB.   Trumpeter has all three doors open with the gear extended....I'm starting to question their research.