Hey Scott  I will be hard pressed to get my MiG-3 finished by the end date so an extension would be a help to me, things were going pretty well up to the point of wing attachment, large gaps under the nose to take care of. I will post pictures of them later today. I also have an ICM Yak-7 I would like to build but wont be able to get to that build until close to the end of the year. So I am up for a rerun later in the year or even a long extension.

Vetteman: those figures are out of production? Wow, I'm glad I picked up mine when I did. One of the biggest excuses I have for maintaining a stash there- pick it up now since it might not be available tomorrow.

Scott: my Pe-2 is done more or less. I started to take photos over the weekend and the PE dive brakes on the portside wing fell off. I'll try to get her photographed and posted soonish.

Scott-

I say don't "extend" it, but people who aren't done can still finish. I'm all for doing this group again next year, though I'm not sure I will be able to partake as I will be gone until at least April.

Ok, she's done, aka I give up.

Sorry if I come off as complaining again but I wouldn't recommend this kit to anyone. I've built limited run kits by Classic Airframes and Azur but they're Cadillacs compared to this kit. I won't buy anything from Historic/Amodel again.

In fact I think if I randomly grabbed a couple of parts from each kit in my stash, tossed them all in a shoebox, and tried to assemble a Pe-2 from the results I'd have better luck.

1). Right fuselage warped. I tried to make them fit with putty and sanding but in person you can tell the fuselage is unsymmetrical.

2). Clear parts did not fit at all. I suppose this is partly my fault for not test fitting them before I painted the kit. Afterward there were several big gaps that I filled with Micro Krystal Kleer. I really didn't feel like putting and sanding off the paint scheme I'd applied.

3). Bombs were so poorly molded I didn't use them.

4). My fault here again that I lost the clear parts for the two oval windows in the rear fuselage. I'm just going to say that the maintenance crew removed them for some reason or the other. That's my story and I'm sticking to it!

Still I love the sleek look of the Pe-2 and the kit still looks the part. And I'm very happy with the way the paint turned out.

Close up of the ill fitting canopy:

Well, Gamera, for a kit that gave you a hernia to build, it doesn't look half bad! First impressions are the best, and the scheme, the finish, the diorama, have all come together to make this model really look the part. The weathering tricks are most effective, and the kit, for all it's undeniable drawbacks, has captured the aggressice stance of the aircraft. I say a big WELL DONE for sticking with a disheartening build and taming the beast in the end!

Cheers, Mike/TB379

Thunderbolt379

Well, Gamera, for a kit that gave you a hernia to build, it doesn't look half bad! First impressions are the best, and the scheme, the finish, the diorama, have all come together to make this model really look the part. The weathering tricks are most effective, and the kit, for all it's undeniable drawbacks, has captured the aggressice stance of the aircraft. I say a big WELL DONE for sticking with a disheartening build and taming the beast in the end!

Cheers, Mike/TB379

Thanks guys- despite my whining I was VERY happy with the way the paint came out.

And the Pe-2 is such an attractive plane even with a bad kit I think she looks sharp.

Gamera I cant say it anymore eloquently than what Thunderbolt has said. I am well aware of the frustrations of a rotten kit, however me thinks you are being too hard on yourself.  My hat is off to you for sticking to it and ending up with a build you can be proud of.  Yuh dun good son

Thanks Vetteman! Now that she's off the bench I have some time to work on a couple of natural metal subjects I promised you.

Gamera I am looking forward to seeing them

Hey

       Everyone

                      The builds have been and are looking great. I've decided to go ahead and close this GB on schedule which is June 30th. If you get a build entered before than or are currently on the list and working on a build you may complete it. But no NEW entries will be accepted after June 30th.

     Also, you will either have to get the badge from the first post or PM me if you finish after June 30th, as I will only check in about once a week or so probably.

Anyway, hope all your builds are going well.................

Scott

Uh, at last. My first day of my summer vacation

 Primed. 

 Painted.

 Needs, bit more painting and weathering. I think I can finish this in time...

And done!

Wow, quick build and she looks great!

Sorry I didn't get my Airacobra done. Life got in the way, and I figured now that I can build for a bit, I'll finish the F-4 GB entry first.

I'm still gonna build it as a P-39 in Soviet service, I'll just start a separate thread on it as work progresses.

Thanks all, and everyones work looks great!!!!

Ok, everyone. This GB is officially closed.

Noticed I said closed. If you have already started a project you may finish it. But I am not accepting any new entries.

So kustommodler1, you can still get your badge once your done.

You should finish your project before Oct. as I think I will do another one starting then.

The builds BTW have been really good to totally AWESOME!!!

One, last thing I'd love some feedback on how you feel this GB went? As it was my first one.

Anyway, that's it for now.

See ya

Scott

Hi Scott,

After months of being blocked, I have finally managed to get back to my ICM MiG-3. Earlier in the year I prepped the parts and assembled the wings and a couple of subassemblies associated with the engine, but wasn't able to resume. Does this count as enough of a start to continue with the GB?

I sprayed the cockpit and fuselage interior today, after some research on the web and in print. There is evidence that some MiG-3 cockpits were painted in Underside Blue, and the bird recently restored to flying status in Russia appears to have been finished this way, so that was my choice. I mixed the shade in Tamiya acrylics, 8 parts XF-2 Flat White to one part XF-54 Dark Sea Grey to one part X-14 Sky Blue.

I'll brush paint the seat backing in leather, there are some other items to paint such as the side panels and radio boxes in flat black, and the instrument panel, which is designed to accept a decal.

Please let me know if it's okay to continue this build under the auspices of the GB.

Cheers, Mike/TB379

Yep. Go for it!!!

Thanks, Scott -- I'll try to get the cockpit painted and the main assembly along this week.

Randy -- did you make a final decision on markings for yours??? Sorry, I'm a bit out of touch here.

Cheers, Mike/TB379

Thunderbolt379 Mike ! glad to see you are going to finish the MiG The markings I will be using are on page 7 #10 the bottom of the page.

As for mine I ran into a problem spot that I think I will be filling with some plasticard and a bit of putty. I will post a picture of it later today, not sure if I created the trouble or if its the kit. And maybe you have a better idea of how to fix it.

Mike and Randy: looking forward to seeing more updates!

Scott: I joined late of course but I'll have to say I enjoyed the GB and thought it went quite well. Some great models came out of it.

Hi Randy, yes indeed, it'll be good to do something differnt, and this certainly is. Right, you're doing "For the Motherland," I'm thinking of doing "02" at the top of the same page. I was going to do a camo scheme but with all the masking I have to do on other projects I would welcome something simpler. "02" has the red tops of the wings and a natural metal engine cowling, so there's plenty of variety, plus she has the rigged antenna wires so I get to stretch some EZline.

I was spraying til 1am last night, shading and fading a tank and mixing a red for the tail of an F-4 and the spinner of my S-199. Should have undercoated in white for luminoscity. Still, that was valuable experience, it's the first time in 30 years I've sprayed primary red -- it used to jam my AB instantly when I was a teenager, no matter what kind of paint I was using, I used to think it was a synthetic pigment that had different characteristics to other colours...

Cheers, Mike/TB379

Gamera thanks for your comments, I am looking forward to round 2 of this group. For that one I hope not to be in too many groups as I am now.

Mike sounds like you are way too busy building, kind of like me I guess. I too really like the 02 scheme, that NMF nose looks really good to me too. Maybe I will do one with the second kit I now have in my grimy hands.

Red drove me crazy too clogging my airbrush too. What I finally did was thin it more than I do other colors by 10 to 15%, takes more coats to cover but my brush doesnt clog anymore.

Here are 2 pictures of my troubled spots I am not sure if I caused it or the kit has this problem. When I dry fitted parts C4 and C5 to the wing the fit at the leading edge was good, however when I dry fitted the wing to the fuselage I found some huge caps at the wing root and at the lower cowling. Now when I pulled C4 and C5 on the fuse so the gaps there were gone the leading edge had a humongous gap. I messed around with them and tried to balance out the gaps to no avail. Oh I did find that the gap  under the cockpit is suppose to be there from pictures I looked at.

Hi Randy,

Gadzooks, what gaps! Yikes... I think if mine lines up that way I'll let the curved contours line up, file the straight ones flush and shim them with strip plastic. Sheesh, why did they engineer the wing so complicated?

I checked the pics of the restored MiG-3 in Classic Wings and see no evidence of a gap below the cockpit -- a lateral strip where the subassemblies come together, but nothing resembling a gap. Hmmm, I always knew this would be a toughie to assemble, but I'm up for the challenge!

Hang in there, we'll have a strong pair of Arctic Hunters to defend the Motherland against the Facist Hordes.

Cheers, Mike/TB379

Alrighty then the Mig-3 is back on the bench and making headway, I hope to have some WIP pictures the first part of the week.

Thunderbolt I got out a magnifying glass and some good light to look at my pictures again, I guess I should have listened to my gut and not my eyes. I think you are right that gap should not be there  I think the shadows or the fact that the BW pictures are hard to decipher at times. Of course couldnt be my eyes could it ? With that said I prolly wouldnt have had the gaps as bad as they are had I done a bit more sanding to remove that gap.

Randy, as someone who can't look at a model without magnifying specs on anymore, I symapthise entirely! It'll be next week before I can do more than fiddle with models on an easiest-come first-dealt-with basis, as I'm snowed under with work and stuff for uni. But hopefully next week I'll get a couple of free afternoons and be able to make some real progress on several of the current bench-sitters.

Cheers, Mike/TB379

PS: The Early MiG Fighters In Action book arrived -- I love the colour in these books now!

Sorry I could not be more of a participant as life, health issues, etc took me away from the workbench for the better part of the Spring. Some great builds! I truly enjoyed browsing thru the build pages.

I never got going on my little soviet Alpha class sub (besides the proverbial sprue washing and planning), a shame since we needed more floaty thingies!

Let me know if I can continue by build; all in all was a very enjoyable GB. Many types of eras, vehicles and types (not to mention build techniques!). I would join in your next "soviet" GB and will really finish next time! LOL

Cheers!

Hey

      Jmart

     Since you really haven't started I'd say wait till the next GB in OCT. But if you had your heart set on this one then go ahead and build. Your choice.

See ya

Scott

So I just wanted to throw out there that if you happen to do this again and I'm around to do it, I know exactly what I want to do thanks to a trip to the hobby store: Trumpeter 1:72 TU160 Blackjack bomber. That thing is HUGE! $150, but man that would look awesome hanging from the ceiling!

M1 A1 A2 Tanker

Hey      Jmart

     Since you really haven't started I'd say wait till the next GB in OCT. But if you had your heart set on this one then go ahead and build. Your choice.

 See ya

Scott

 

Hi Scott - I will wait till October, time just flew this Spring for me. I have plenty of Soviet stuff in the stash. Next time I will start AND finish on time ;) cheers, James