Got a couple more photos taken of the MiG. I have been very happy with the Badger Patriot. The best aspect for me is the ability to create my own colors which I never had before, it's so cool and gives me many more options than I had with rattle cans. I will still use them as they are very convenient. I painted the canopy free hand so it's not quite as good as finish as I would have liked but overall I'm happy with this one. I did forget to put some weight up front & had to use the stand I'm so used to tail draggers! The three prongs on the fuselage just forward of the nose wheel is an IFF antenna, the NATO designator was "odd rod". I just thought that was a great name. Also I wonder who had to come up these names and how much did the government pay him?!!!

Very nice job on that MIG, Mike. As for the naming convention, here is a link to information on the method used by NATO to select names for Russian and Chinese aircraft:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NATO_reporting_name

There are also some links to US methods and lists.

Hey MikeM- she looks good!!!

kbuzz01

Really nice intricate work on that cockpit, Ken.  Looks great!!     

Kbuzz

Thank you Ken!  I appreciate it!

Ken

Hi Mike M.,

I updated the front page with this picture:

Nice work!  The finish looks real smooth.  What kind of paint did you use?  Did you gloss coat it before the decals then paint the flat finish over it?  The decals look like they are pretty smooth and even too.

Ken

Striker8241

Very nice job on that MIG, Mike. As for the naming convention, here is a link to information on the method used by NATO to select names for Russian and Chinese aircraft:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NATO_reporting_name

There are also some links to US methods and lists.

Hi Russ,

Very interesting read there at that link.  Thank you for providing that.  I always thought the names they came up for the Soviet and Chinese aircraft were funny, but now I understand why.

Ken

Hi Everyone,

I got a little bit done at the bench tonight.  I started to test fit the cockpit to the fuselage and realized that the braces molded into the fuselage had to go shown in this next photograph:

Here is a shot with them properly disposed of:

Next I trimmed off those ridges from the cockpit:

And here is the other side:

That is all I got done tonight.  I will chat with everyone later.

Ken

Hi Ken, thanks for the publicity. 3 pics in a row; I'm honored! LOL. As far as the paint ,I used MM Topside Green (Russian) and Underside Blue, also Russian. I did indeed use gloss coat before and dull after. The kit was the old Revell one circa 1977; I know this because it was printed on the horizontal stab that I had to sand off. That being said, the decals were not the greatest either but solvaset certainly helped . Then I dirtied them up as best I could as the color seemed a bit off (too bright). The other thing lacking in this kit was the cockpit. There was virtually no detail on the side consoles but as this was more or less a side project I wasn't real concerned. It was quick and relatively easy so I'm happy.

Also, I found the info on naming quite enjoyable as well so thanks Striker!

Nice work there, Mikey!

Ken, seeing all your doing there makes me wonder why we put ourselves through this madness! Oh, I suppose if it wasn't a challenge, we wouldn't do it! Great work there!

Still trying to find a minute or two here and there to work on the Corsair. Between extra hours at work and dealing with destructive arboreal rodents, Scirius Carolinensis, it's hard to find the time. I have been picking away at the landing gear:

The strut is just stuck in place for a test fit. I need to do a bit of a wash as it is a bit too plain. As you can see, many things are still needing to be done, such as the missing tail hook, weapons, gear, doors, avionics bay doors, etc., etc.,. At this rate, I may have no choice but to carry this project into the second build. I know it's all about participation, but it would have been nice to complete something for the first build.

In the meantime, it seems that my Corsair is about to gain a Naval brother. Squadron had the Hobbyboss A-7E sale priced for January. I kept trying to make up my mind, then I get this e-mail about taking an additional 30% off if ordered before 12 midnight on the 31st..... couldn't help myself. Added a cockpit detail set and the whole works with shipping came to less than 35 bucks! Dang! I needed another kit like I need.... well, another kit! Already had another Eduard avionics bay detail set, so I guess I had to justify having that by buying a kit for it!

Jim

Son Of Medicine Man

Hi Everyone,

I got a little bit done at the bench tonight.  I started to test fit the cockpit to the fuselage and realized that the braces molded into the fuselage had to go shown in this next photograph:

Here is a shot with them properly disposed of:

 

Next I trimmed off those ridges from the cockpit:

And here is the other side:

 

That is all I got done tonight.  I will chat with everyone later.

Ken

You're making progress, Ken. Keep up the good work!

Russ

Ken: Nice work, looks like she's ready to pop into the fuselage now, shame about the missing handle but done that, been there, got the T-shirt myself!

Jim: Yeah almost there, I get really bogged down on adding the little stuff like that too. Still she's getting there. And gee you can't resist adding to the stash, believe me I'd tried!!! I've developed a recent obsession with US tanks/ tank destroyers- am resisting rushing out and buying a M18, M36, M4A3, M4A3E8 and a couple of other pieces of American heavy metal...

Russ: Interesing article, I'd always wondered if the Soviets came up with codewords for Western aircraft !  I had no idea about the using of one syllable words for props and two for jets.  

jimbot58

Nice work there, Mikey!

Ken, seeing all your doing there makes me wonder why we put ourselves through this madness! Oh, I suppose if it wasn't a challenge, we wouldn't do it! Great work there!

Still trying to find a minute or two here and there to work on the Corsair. Between extra hours at work and dealing with destructive arboreal rodents, Scirius Carolinensis, it's hard to find the time. I have been picking away at the landing gear:

The strut is just stuck in place for a test fit. I need to do a bit of a wash as it is a bit too plain. As you can see, many things are still needing to be done, such as the missing tail hook, weapons, gear, doors, avionics bay doors, etc., etc.,. At this rate, I may have no choice but to carry this project into the second build. I know it's all about participation, but it would have been nice to complete something for the first build.

In the meantime, it seems that my Corsair is about to gain a Naval brother. Squadron had the Hobbyboss A-7E sale priced for January. I kept trying to make up my mind, then I get this e-mail about taking an additional 30% off if ordered before 12 midnight on the 31st..... couldn't help myself. Added a cockpit detail set and the whole works with shipping came to less than 35 bucks! Dang! I needed another kit like I need.... well, another kit! Already had another Eduard avionics bay detail set, so I guess I had to justify having that by buying a kit for it!

Jim

Nice work once again JIm!!  You do amazing work with that wash!  And I still can't believe how you do it at 1/72 scale.

Hey, don't worry about not finishing before the end of this build.  What we can do is this.  If you don't get it done before the next one starts, just carry it over to the next one.  Then when you get it done, I will post the finished picture in this build and the second one.  That way you can have a finished build in this one and still be posting in the second build with the rest of us.

By the way, nice score on that A-7E!

Ken

mikeymize

Hi Ken, thanks for the publicity. 3 pics in a row; I'm honored! LOL. As far as the paint ,I used MM Topside Green (Russian) and Underside Blue, also Russian. I did indeed use gloss coat before and dull after. The kit was the old Revell one circa 1977; I know this because it was printed on the horizontal stab that I had to sand off. That being said, the decals were not the greatest either but solvaset certainly helped . Then I dirtied them up as best I could as the color seemed a bit off (too bright). The other thing lacking in this kit was the cockpit. There was virtually no detail on the side consoles but as this was more or less a side project I wasn't real concerned. It was quick and relatively easy so I'm happy.

Also, I found the info on naming quite enjoyable as well so thanks Striker!

Hi Mike,

Well you did a great job with the paint and the decals!  Kudos man!

Ken

Gamera

Ken: Nice work, looks like she's ready to pop into the fuselage now, shame about the missing handle but done that, been there, got the T-shirt myself!

Jim: Yeah almost there, I get really bogged down on adding the little stuff like that too. Still she's getting there. And gee you can't resist adding to the stash, believe me I'd tried!!! I've developed a recent obsession with US tanks/ tank destroyers- am resisting rushing out and buying a M18, M36, M4A3, M4A3E8 and a couple of other pieces of American heavy metal...

Russ: Interesing article, I'd always wondered if the Soviets came up with codewords for Western aircraft !  I had no idea about the using of one syllable words for props and two for jets.  

Thank you Cliff for the kind words.  Yes, that handle is so small and like I said, I didn't even see when it took flight so I really have no clue which direction it went.  I will try Russ's idea with the magnet.  If I don't find it, I will scrounge something else up.  It won't look as pretty but I am not going to worry about it.  I need to get this thing moving.

Ken

Hi Everyone,

Well I made a score finally.  I have been waiting for Sprue Brothers to finally get it in stock.  As soon as they notified me they had it, I ordered it.  It is a set of decals for several different aircraft from Zotz.  They are in 1/32 scale and are labeled "The F-105F/G in Vietnam; Wild Weasels II at War".  It has decals for eight different aircraft including the EF-105F.  Here is a link:

http://www.zotz-decals.com/decals/zotz-32055.shtml 

Ken

Oh Ken, Zotz decals are great! You're going to love them.

Well, tonight was not good. I received email notification that Mom's marker finally came in. It kind of caught me off guard, and I sort of just lost it. Who knows what kind of reaction I will have when I finally see her name there....

jimbot58

Well, tonight was not good. I received email notification that Mom's marker finally came in. It kind of caught me off guard, and I sort of just lost it. Who knows what kind of reaction I will have when I finally see her name there....

At least it will be done and you won't have to be anticipating it anymore.  That will be the good thing about it.  I always thought it was bad that it takes so long to get that part taken care of.

Ken

  I know what you mean; it didn't hit me completely until I received my dad's death certificate 3 weeks ago. It makes it all so final and I don't know why but it  was difficult for me as well. It does get better, that I know; not easier, just better.....

Ouch I'm sorry to hear that Jim, I'm not looking forward to going though the same thing...

On good news I did snap a few photos of the A-20 so I guess she's done. I need to glue the nose wheel to the strut it looks like. And I carefully weighted her out and then added a little extra weight and she's STILL a tailsitter... grrrrrrrrrrrr... I started to snow on me so I'll try to get some more photos later.

Nice job on the A-20 Havoc Cliff!  It looks outstanding!      The wash is great!  Paint looks fabulous!  Decals are nice and smooth.  Masking on the canopy looks really nice.

If you want to wait for better pictures, just let me know and then I will post it on the front page.  Great job Cliff!

Ken

mikeymize

  I know what you mean; it didn't hit me completely until I received my dad's death certificate 3 weeks ago. It makes it all so final and I don't know why but it  was difficult for me as well. It does get better, that I know; not easier, just better.....

Yes, it is coming up on three years since my Dad's death.  I still miss him terribly.  I just don't think about it as much as I used to until I get reminded of it by little things.  Like icy driveways.  He slipped and fell on the ice and broke his hip which started his downward spiral.  I think of it as more like getting used to it.

Ken

Son Of Medicine Man

mikeymize

  I know what you mean; it didn't hit me completely until I received my dad's death certificate 3 weeks ago. It makes it all so final and I don't know why but it  was difficult for me as well. It does get better, that I know; not easier, just better.....

Yes, it is coming up on three years since my Dad's death.  I still miss him terribly.  I just don't think about it as much as I used to until I get reminded of it by little things.  Like icy driveways.  He slipped and fell on the ice and broke his hip which started his downward spiral.  I think of it as more like getting used to it.

Ken

If you can believe this: I still find it hard to shop at Walmart! Mom was an avid Walmart shopper, and used to make trips all the time to the store, and often I would go with her. Even when she began to decline, I did most of her shopping for her there. After she passed, my first couple of trips in there had me abandoning my cart and leaving the store as I would break down.

Gamera

On good news I did snap a few photos of the A-20 so I guess she's done. I need to glue the nose wheel to the strut it looks like. And I carefully weighted her out and then added a little extra weight and she's STILL a tailsitter... grrrrrrrrrrrr... I started to snow on me so I'll try to get some more photos later.

Beautiful job, Cliff! The A20 is my favorite WWII twin-engine bomber. I fly it in IL2 and it's a blast! (NPI ).

Russ

jimbot58

Son Of Medicine Man

mikeymize

  I know what you mean; it didn't hit me completely until I received my dad's death certificate 3 weeks ago. It makes it all so final and I don't know why but it  was difficult for me as well. It does get better, that I know; not easier, just better.....

Yes, it is coming up on three years since my Dad's death.  I still miss him terribly.  I just don't think about it as much as I used to until I get reminded of it by little things.  Like icy driveways.  He slipped and fell on the ice and broke his hip which started his downward spiral.  I think of it as more like getting used to it.

Ken

If you can believe this: I still find it hard to shop at Walmart! Mom was an avid Walmart shopper, and used to make trips all the time to the store, and often I would go with her. Even when she began to decline, I did most of her shopping for her there. After she passed, my first couple of trips in there had me abandoning my cart and leaving the store as I would break down.

I guess we all have our "triggers"; life goes on but our memories remain.....

On another note, I love the A-20 as it's nowhere near as common a  model as say a P-51 or Bf-109 and that makes it all the better when one's done as well as that one. Great Job!

Hey thanks guys, I was very happy with how the paint turned out, not so happy to have a tail-sitter. Next time I'm going to load the @#$% thing up with about five times the necessary weight...

Ken: Um, if you can wait I'll try to get some more photos up next weekend. I don't think the light inside is as good and it was warmer but crazy windy outside today so I didn't even try for more photos.

Jim: I can understand where you're coming from there. Certain things just bring back memories- funny how our brains are wired that two things can be linked together so closely.

Russ: Cool, I've got to root out my copy of IL2 (think it's a much older edition though) and my flightstick. I remember flying the heck out of 'Aces Over The Pacific' and 'Aces Over Europe' on my first PC- a 485DX66. Dang game mechanics were crazy - with flaps all the way down a P-47 or P-38 could turn inside a Bf-109 or FW-190!

Gamera

Russ: Cool, I've got to root out my copy of IL2 (think it's a much older edition though) and my flightstick. I remember flying the heck out of 'Aces Over The Pacific' and 'Aces Over Europe' on my first PC- a 485DX66. Dang game mechanics were crazy - with flaps all the way down a P-47 or P-38 could turn inside a Bf-109 or FW-190!

Gamera

Hey thanks guys, I was very happy with how the paint turned out, not so happy to have a tail-sitter. Next time I'm going to load the @#$% thing up with about five times the necessary weight...

I hate when they turn out to be tail draggers. One of my first builds was an SR-71 (Revell, I think?) that was so barely balanced, that normally it sits nose down, but even the breeze and vibration when you walk past causes it to tip back onto it's tail.

You hate to overdo the weights, in case the gear won't hold up.

Russ; Thanks! I figured I'd just play around with it, I know it's way too old to add any of the cool new mods. I went ahead and ordered 1946, The Complete Series of older games, and Cliffs of Dover- heck they were only nine bucks a piece...

Jim: Lol, I carefully weighted the thing out and then added about a 1/3 more weight than I needed. I'm still not sure what happened here!  

Hi Everyone!

I am still plugging away at shoehorning the cockpit, avionics bay, and front wheel bay into the fuselage.  The main problem is that the Aires cockpit instructions are quite lacking in what needs to be done to make it fit!  They make great cockpits but they sure could make better instructions!

Today I discovered that the ledge built into the fuselage that is behind the rear seat needs to be removed shown here:

Here it is removed:

At this point I could finally get everything stuck into the fuselage and rubberband it together to get an idea how it was going to fit.  Here are a few shots:

 As you might suspect, it is a bit crowded in there!  But I am surprised that it almost fits together.  I am pretty sure I will be able to make it all fit.  It is going to take some careful work.

The biggest thing is the avionics bay is wanting the same space as the cockpit.  Here is a picture peeking inside and you can see them against each other:

 This next picture shows where I have marked off the area that needs to be filed down to make room:

I have been spending most of the evening filing, sanding, test fitting, repeat.  I have been also sanding on the inside of the fuselage.  It is getting pretty close but I am ready to call it a night.

Ken