Attention Comardes! Official Pride of Mikoyan-Gurevich GB Launches....

Well, I've been planning my AMT MiG-27D build a bit more.  If I go "whole hog" and buy the 4 available sets of Eduard PE;  interior, exterior, exhaust and FOD, it will cost more than $80.   Yeah.  

I now find myself impaled of the horns of a dilemma.   I know all that PE will certainly make it look much better, but it will further slow down the slowest builder on Earth (that would be me!), not to mention adding $85 bucks cost to a kit I paid $8 for in the late-80s.

What to do, what to do?!?  I'm now really inclined (leaning towards?) doing it OOB...well, with minor scratch-building too I guess (ie, seat belts, brake lines, etc).   I've also thought about just buying the interior set only.  That would dress up that really bare kit 'pit and certainly help that pitiful kit seat.

Advice, suggestions, comments??   I could sure use some!  Thanks, Gary

Tons of good looking work going on here. Here is a photo of my progress on my Tamiya MiG 15. No fancy cockpit work here--it will be closed.

I was surprised to see two different colors of plastic under the chrome plating. And boy was that chrome a hassle to remove!

Thanks Modelcrazy, so far so good! The cockpit literally clicked together.

That looks real Dean.

The cockpit is ready for full assembly this is the last time I'll see this much of it I think.

Good luck!

Dre

You could always draw the panel lines back in with a pencil after all the painting...  might be easier than rescribing?

Well yeah, that's my usual MO, and I've found that it looks pretty good too.  But, I'm determined to give rescribing a try.  This old kit has a bunch of inaccurate panel I'm sure, and very few access panels so I'm thinking it might a good one to try.  We're sure gonna find out! 

You could always draw the panel lines back in with a pencil after all the painting...  might be easier than rescribing?

Dre

I'm looking forward to seeing the MiG-27, Tex.

Thanks Dre.  The AMT MiG-27 kit has recessed lines on the wings and raised lines on the fuselage.  I've always said I'd rather poke my eye with a hot needle than re-scribe an entire kit.  But, never say never I guess.  I've decided to try my hand at scribing those fuselage lines.  I figure that having to only do half the plane should make the task easier.  I did the entire lower rear section the other evening but I don't think I've got them deep enough; I tried a bit of Flory wash on the lines and some were barely there it seems.  I think I need a better scribing tool.   I'll be back with an update before too long.

Gary

Cockpit looks really good.

Looking good in there, Dean.   I have to say that this is one of Trumpeter's easier cockpits...

Been doing all the detail painting in the cockpit so far and it's looking not bad in my estimation.

The photos turned out pretty bad actually I'm just realising but nothing new there! You should see just enough though.

I'm looking forward to seeing the MiG-27, Tex.

Porkbits

Hey, Gary:

Let's just say that at this point, the closing date is "fluid." :-)

Gotcha!     I'm gonna get 'er done!

Hey, Gary:

Let's just say that at this point, the closing date is "fluid." :-)

Hey, I haven't abandoned the GB either!     I am the world's slowest modeler of course, but I will be starting that MiG-27 before too long...say, what's the closing date for this GB?   

I still need to decide on whether I'll buy the PE sets from Eduard or just scratch my way along.  Those detail sets do look good though!  But maybe that's like putting lipstick on a pig...after all, it is the AMT/Esci kit we're dealing with here.

Gary

Dean, that seat is great-  really nice work adding the extra elements.   I have the decals to make that green/blue NorK MiG, but it isn't a M so I'll probably just use the kit decals to make it a grey/green Russian.

I wouldn't say that this GB has been abandoned, just that us Russophiles don't get the same amount of traffic as others- remember how slow the Big Russian Jet GB was?   The holiday work schedule has been brutal, but it should return to normal soon enough.

Too bad we can't get that guy with the totally reworked 1/32 MiG-23 Flogger to join in...

I'm here! As I mentioned a while back, imminent house renovations have thrown (or will throw) a wrench in my building plans (literally). :-( So I'll just have to spectate for now.

Dean, seat looks awesome, and Steve, I've always been a jet guy, but I really like your MiG-3.

Dre here's some pictures for your mig 29 I saw in a newspaper online.

Looks like a two tone grey and a green/blue, I prefer the grey though.

Thanks Steve! It took 5 hours no less to complete.

Dean,

Fantastic! that's WAY beyond my best effort.

Steve

I'm beginning to think this GB has been abandoned! I know we all had a slow start but come on people, is anybody making anything on here? I have only started I know so I can't say anything, but it's not really taking off (excuse the pun) anyway rant over, so I have been making the KM-1 seat, initially I though about buying a resin one, but the cost is just not justifiable as the seats looked a bit on the crude side so I decided to do what I almost always do, which is enjoyable, reference photos and scratch materials, on a seat it's pretty easy to make though and the results to me were better than I had thought, see what you think! If anyones actually looking!

After

I personally am proud of this one, I think it's my best effort yet.

Well I have officially started my mig, I have assembled the ejection seat which seems pretty adequately detailed, also the cockpit itself seems pretty well detailed, I was going to add more detail myself but I think I would be wasting my time as there does not seem to be any room for any more detail, plus I don't think I would get any within the space I have. 

This is the worktop, my kitchen table, I decided to get a new cutting mat, as you can see space is limited but I need this large scale Mig in my life lol.

I decided to use a tip from the magazine about sketching parts that I could scratchbuild so I looked online at an Eduard resin part and copied it sort of.

Seemed like a good idea, but I have no room for any of this, plus I am thinking it's the wrong shape anyway, probably something else on line mislabelled. 

Still it seems like a good idea for later in the build.

The moulded on detail seems pretty good.

I would have done more but I realised at this point that I need liquid mask for the instrument panel, I will leave the seat a little while and probably paint it tonight. The build will have my full attention as this is a kit I must have owned for about 5 years or so, so a few more days to wait for the liquid mask wont hurt, plus it means I can start other areas of the aircraft. 

Yeah,  the MiG 3 is a really sleek looking fighter.

Fantastic looking build, I really like it, and being a mig fan I have to admit I had never given this aircraft a second glance before now.

Finished it, Black 7 is done!

This is a very nice kit, and I would recommend it to anyone. It has a decent parts count, is very detailed, and comes with options for 3 different markings. My only caution is the wing attachment. Dry fit before gluing! The parts fit was superb with little to no flashing.

Well here it is, and as always, Comments and critiques welcome.

Thanks in advance my friends.

Steve 

Very nice!

Yes, I'm very impressed with this kit it as well.

I'm really liking this MiG-3.

Ok, now I've got all the fiddly bits on and ready for the future, decals, and weathering.