ICM Mig-3...Finished!!!

I need to follow this along on this build... have one in my stash... 

stikpusher

I need to follow this along on this build... have one in my stash... 

 

 

Built a Hobby Boss 1/72 Mig-3 a few years back. Great looking plane. Many different pilots and color schemes to pick from. I chose the aircraft of Lidiya Vladimirovna Litvyak. She was the highest scoring Female Air Ace. A great book about her was "The White Rose of Stalingrad". 

 https://photos.app.goo.gl/hJhXwG1KcYoW5JBe7

I'll be following along with your build. 

Jim  

I finished the engine Sunday night and I am happy with it. Not bad detail. Somebody with skills could do alot more with it. Did learn not to watch TV and model while tired. Put the manifolds in upside-down, caught it the next morning. And the start of the CP. Brittle plastic and only broke one piece...I call that a win.

...and another photo.

fox

Built a Hobby Boss 1/72 Mig-3 a few years back. Great looking plane. Many different pilots and color schemes to pick from. I chose the aircraft of Lidiya Vladimirovna Litvyak. She was the highest scoring Female Air Ace. A great book about her was "The White Rose of Stalingrad". 

 https://photos.app.goo.gl/hJhXwG1KcYoW5JBe7

I'll be following along with your build. 

Jim  

 

I thought that Lilya flew a Yak-1, not a MiG-3.

Alexander Pokryskin (sp?), one of the top Allied aces, started his scoreboard in a MiG-3, then made most of his kills in a P-39! Two "dogs" of an aircraft according to many.

Engine looks great Beav!

The CP is finished. Nothing really stands out about it, WWII Soviet design. Now I wish I would of added some "flourish". It went together pretty easy. I have started working on the fuselage halves and have decided to leave the cowling off. Got to show off the engine and guns. Apparently there will be fit issues with the engine in and cowling glued on. A smart person would glue the cowling on and not put in the engine and other bits and slash off 35 parts off the 122 parts count! And don't get me started on the excessive mold release goo...

I know what you mean about the mold release goo... the oldest ICM kits that I bought and built were covered in the gunk... although it does rinse off. Lord knows what it does to the sewer system though, being Russian...

The cockpit looks fine though! 

I'm kicking myself for not ABing the engine and CP. I assumed this was just going to be another crappy Russian model I picked up from Ebay for $7. I did a so-so job of handbrushing and slapped it on a little thick. Beside all that, this kit is turning out way better than expected. In the right hands, (not mine) this ICM Mig would look really good. The fuselage glueing I did in stages. Just glued the tail first to get things square because there are no guide pins and halves were not completely straight. Just alittle wonky, but not too bad. Then glued the rest of the back half of the fuselage. Then put in the engine and glued the small front section together. Fit great but, again, I am leaving the cowling off. The CP I just slid in from the bottom. Warning! Not a kit for a first time modeller. Now to the the wing sections which reviews say can be a "Bear". 

Stay safe everybody and thanks for the kind comments!" target="">

Wing issue #1...pretty large gap. I was going to go with a hot water soak, but with a curve already molded into the wing root, I decided against it. I will be going with glue, muscle, and a little patience.

The wings have an interesting feature I have never seen before. The bottom half looks like it has been short shot but really is made to look like it flush. I was going to take a picture, but without the flaps on, it looks like a penis and I didn't want to get in trouble with the Forum Admin. I am on Double Secret probation. 

I also had a small fit issue with the MGs. Probably my fault. Easy fix by just trimming off some of the barrels to fit onto the flash hiders. " target="">

That wing root does look tough. You'll have to take some pics as you go so we can see how to handle it.

With the wings half glued I could do a prefit with the fuselage to see if I did it correctly. The answer is a very unconfident "yes"? I had to put the wing root at an angle to make it as flush as possible. To fix the gap I held the wing and wing root together and put low heat from a blow dryer on it. That closed the gap some. The rest was an old-fashion glue bomb while I held it together for 15 minutes while watching "The Office". It will stay clamped for day." target="">

Well, the glue bombs and clamps worked. The wings turned out pretty good, but still got some sanding to do. They fit the fuselage nicely....until..? While prefitting the front part of the wing root there is a noticeable gap between the two wing root parts. The exacto knife is kind of pointing toward it. It's on both sides of the wing. That will be tomorrows fix. I will use mostly a styrene patch and some filler. Hopefully, the wing assembly still fits the fuselage.

This went from a fun build to a horror fast! I tried heat and muscle to try and close the gap. Made a huge mess of things. After the fact I thought of taking a dremel and getting rid of some plastic to make it more flexible. Does anybody have any thoughts on how to do a fix on the gap...after the fact. MGs kind of got messed up also. May have to lose some engine parts and go with the cowling on." target="">

I took some time off of this beast and started to finish up some shelf queens and work on the SS66 Project. I fixed the gap between the lower cowling piece? and the side with heat and muscle. Did alot of damage to the engine so cowling will be glued. I wish I would have done some things differently like not glueing the front wing root pieces to the botom part of the wing before glueing everything together. It would have made "shaping" the wing root pieces much easier.

You have to glue the flaps in the up or down position. In the flush with the wing position they are too thick.

The tiny gap was an easy fill with a little styrene, Tamiya Extra Thin, and PPP.

...And here is what I thought was a short shot of the wing, but is actually intended so the wing halves do not appear too thick. Hope you can see it. Pretty much the same on the other wing, just a little different, which is why I thought it was a short shot. Now on to masking...

Looks like you are really fixing up that kit and learning at the same time. I think it's going to turn out OK. Looking forward to seeing the completion of it.

Keep up the good work.

Jim  

Stay Safe.

Things that only happen to me. I know my eyes are going and can no longer plumb putts like I used to. I know I need reading glasses, but I swear when I went to bed last night, those MG indentations on the cowlings were perfectly flush.

Drilled some holes for the MGs and had to do some sanding on the cowlings because they were not flush with the fuselage. A little overlap, not a big deal. Bye rivet detail, you will be missed.

Good news though. Just looked at the canopy pieces and they are probably going to be the easiest I have ever had to mask. Yeah Me!!!

Masking done! Pretty basic, with just a few curves. The 3 pieces of glass went together great with just a little sanding to get them to attach perfectly to the fuselage. Very pleased with the fit of the canopy. Tomorrow primer and finishing the landing gear. Next time you see the Mig it will be done. Hopefully, by next weekend.

Man, this little Mig sure looks to be fighting you at every step! But you’re wing those fights.

i can’t wait to see some paint on it. 

Great job! 

Jim  

Stay Safe.

You have persevered! The model is looking really good. Engine sure looks nice from here, Hope you're able to make the cowl work given all the other fixes I bet it comes out nicer than expected!

Thanks, Fox, Stick, and Goose for the kind comments.

Primed yesterday...re-priming today after I just fixed some spots. 

Primed is always a good point. That means painting is next!

Looks like it will take awhile to paint. Never painted this much white before and it's going to take a couple of coats. The rain in O-H-I-O is not helping. I was hoping to be done this weekend. Not going to happen.