Planes of the Red Star Group Build (June 21, 2005- February 10, 2006)

I still need a...um...how do i say it...um...a....a kit. er, heh heh...Do helicopters count?

Helicopters don't fly. They beat the air into submission.

Does that answer the question?

I have:
1) a 1/72 F-105F partially decalled
2) a 1/48 F-105F ready for decals
3) a 1/32 F-105D in the paint shop
4) a 1/72 RF-4B in the paint shop
5) a 1/48 F-4J in the paint shop
I need to get at least some of these finished before I start anything else. The 3 F-105s were started over a year ago and two F-4s were started on June 1st.
Migs Are Next!

Darwin, O.F.

QUOTE: Originally posted by j.s.harrison John from what i can see you pit looks very nice looking forward to some better pics...........

Thanks. Assembled the fuselage halves and attached the wings on Monday night, assembled the engine cans and attached them last night. Hoping to start the seams either tonight or Sunday. Sorry, no pics yet...keep meaning to take them and I always forget. More this weekend, I promise.

Here's a bit of a visual from my end, the pretty much completed BI-1 interior:

[image]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v296/LHprs/BI1int.jpg[/image]

So far I can say the fit has been HORRIBLE! After several dry fits of the fuselage halves I had to carve off half of pretty much everything inside there. You won't be able to see it, but I only have one rudder pedal (the other being sacrificed so the fuselage can close). Hopefully you won't be able to see much through the think canopy.

Mike, Ouch. That's almost a third of the interior too wide to fit . I've had some stinkers but never that bad.

Regards, Rick

I think ill be in with a hurricane or P-51.Is that ok?

Sure nick, assuming you can find the accurate decals for it. I'll add you in.

Cockpit installed and ready to install canopy on the MiG-29:

Looking pretty darn good there! However, from what i can see, the academy kit looks better than the monogram one.

QUOTE: Originally posted by Tankmaster7 Looking pretty darn good there! However, from what i can see, the academy kit looks better than the monogram one.

Of that I have no doubt!

Looks like good progress John.

Regards, Rick

QUOTE: Originally posted by Tankmaster7 Sure nick, assuming you can find the accurate decals for it. I'll add you in.

Thanks Tanky,Maybe ill hand paint them

I have two Migs under construction for this GB. The gray one on the left is the Airfix 1/72 Mig-15 and the silver one on the right is the Hasegawa 1/72 Mig-17D. These are very simple models that have been sitting in my closet for a LOOOONG time. The Mig-17 kit had an LHS price tag of $1.40 on it! It had a rectangular box called a cockpit with a slab of plastic that was supposed to be a seat, no instrument panel or other detail at all. I scrounged a different seat and added a few basic details. The canopy is so small that you can't see much of anything anyway.
Normally, Airfix would be considered inferior to Hasegawa, but in this case it is better. The cockpit at least has primitive side panels, a moderately fair instrument panel and something that with some imagination could be called an ejection seat. The exterior panel lines and rivets are raised, but a reasonable size and accuracy. The landing gear on both planes looks like something off of a Piper Cub or Fiesler Storch. Oh well, for that price, what do you expect?

Darwin, O.F.

I'm still waiting for a squadron scribing tool to arrive in the mail before I can start on the panel lines for my Mig-25.

However I did have a cheap AA F-6 (Mig-19) in the closet and I figured.......what the heck. The rules say RED STAR....they didnt say anything about a Chinese symbol being in the middle of the star.

The AA kit quality is pretty low, but at least it does have recessed lines.
Cockpit is so-so, and the landing gear bays are non-existant.
However I plan to use the included FLight Display Stand so I'll be closing the gear doors anyway.
There are a few gaps to be filled, but thanks to swanny's articles I'm getting good at that.

Just two in-progress pics.

QUOTE: Originally posted by PakNicK-40 QUOTE: Originally posted by Tankmaster7 Sure nick, assuming you can find the accurate decals for it. I'll add you in. Thanks Tanky,Maybe ill hand paint them

Pak-Nik,

If you were to a 1/72 Hurricane in Soviet markings shoot me an e-mail, you may not need to hand paint anything...

QUOTE: Originally posted by cj95 However I did have a cheap AA F-6 (Mig-19) in the closet and I figured.......what the heck. Just two in-progress pics.

The quality of your Mig-19 looks about par with the 15 and 17 that I am working on. They are recognizable for what they are supposed to be, but lacking in basic detail. I guess that we cannot expect all kits to have a zillion and half pieces in them.

Darwin, O.F.

Darwin, looks like good progress. They are old kits & lack detail but they still build up pretty well.

cj95, Looking good also. I've never tried an AA kit.

Regards, Rick

Well AA is apprently the National Model company of Communist China.....or whatever passes for it.

I've seen a few kits on the local shelves consisting of mainly Chinese airplanes (obviously)

After I bought it I read a few pretty bad reviews of the kit, but I'm ok with it since Im just gettingbak into the hobby and am not a Realism Nazi....(yet.)

The photo I posted doesnt show up the panel lines too well, but they look ok to me.

Made some progress on the Mig 21 today. Moved the box from the storage shelf & onto the Bench. Hey, It's a start

Regards, Rick

Believe it or not it is also more than I have done.

Well, i got my scribing tool in the mail today, so I started in on the panel lines for the Mig-25.

This will be a LOOOONG process I can already tell.

I've never rescribed anything before, and I may have bitten off more than I can chew with re-doing the entire model.

I have a question for John Forster who is also doing the Revel Mig-25. How are you doing the panel lines sir?
Any ideas or insights?

still waiting on a clearing on my bench to start this one. Think that it might jump ahead of the 2nd F-14 that I have started. I think that i need to do something that doesnt require a ton of filling and sanding to relax!! Might get started this weekend!!!!

cj95, if you do not want to rescribe you can emphasize the raised panel lines with ppastel dust. I have done it before and it works well. check out Swanny's website for an excellent article on rescribing.

Oh no.....I think you misunderstood my post.

While rescribing the whole model may take a bit. It is definately something I want to do. I want to learn the process first of all, and secondly....I just think it looks better.

Actually, I spent most of last night scribing away, and while I am making a few boo-boo's, I think its going well.

I'd post some progress shots, but panel lines dont show up too well anyway.

I will begin folding PE cockpit tomorrow evening...hope to post some time on Monday...either a completed cockpit tub or the smoldering hole in my workbench where the .577 Ennfield solved the great PE instructions debate...When all else fails muzzle horsepower wins all arguments and clears away any confusion!

I've been gone a while, but the progress I've seen from everybody here looks great. Keep up the good work!

[image]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v296/LHprs/BI1front.jpg[/image]
I was able to get the BI-1 fuselage halves together. The fit was the same- terrible. The sides were warped, leaving gaps everywhere. Fortunately, becuase the kit is small, the gaps were small, too. It also let me use a great technique. Both sides were superglued, and the resulting seam was sanded with a coarse sanding stick while the glue was still wet. The plastic dust got in the seam and sealed it, giving me a flawless finish in seconds.

[image]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v296/LHprs/BI1back.jpg[/image]
The tailplane was added, and the interesting auxillary fins were added to the tips. Two more fins were included in the kit to be attached to the lower fuselage, which I did. I plan to depict the fifth prototype (as stated by the instructions), which operated with a summer camo scheme off of skis. Don't ask me why, I just plan to do it that way.

[image]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v296/LHprs/BI1top.jpg[/image]
This kit is tiny- four inches long, and a just a tad wider. It would be my smallest kit, but because I used the smaller wings, that title belongs to my little Me 328 parasite (for my Ju 290Z).

Hopefully I can paint it very soon.

good lookin.

DYT! I don't know what that was for, but I'm sure you deserve it.

Looking good Mike. Should be a nice little bird.

Regards, Rick

Great progress on the little bird. Keep us posted.

Darwin, O.F.