Tamiya ( Italeri ) 1/72 Mig 29

[BaldyBuilderBoy]

Well I'm not exactly prolific with my workload, I've built three 1/72 kits in about as many years and put much more energy and cash into building my stash. Although in my defence I will say that I tend to keep my modelling activities to the dark winter nights and spend the summer cycling the beautiful roads around here.
Anyhoo, my last kit went quite well ( 1/72 Hasegawa F6 Hellcat ) before I totally lost my mojo on that dog of a kit that is the Revell 1/72 Albatros.

Time for a change me thinks! I'd picked up this Tamiya kit of the Mig 29 in Wonderland Models Edinburgh for about eight quid and when questioned about the bargain price they told me it's actually a re-boxing of an Italeri kit.
As is traditional I put it on top of my wardrobe for a few months along with the other "toy planes" that my partner finds so irritating before dragging it down and scouring the net for some goodies to spruce it up a bit. It was at this point that I found the Dream Models PE and resin set, and so the plan was born. I'd never used PE or resin before and , Oh my! , did this stuff look the business? It never once occurred to me that 1/72 is probably not the ideal scale on which to pop one's PE virginity. Well not until that little package arrived through the door.
So this is a journey into the unknown for me...... and could be an entertaining and informative example of how not to pursue this hobby for all of you.
First the box art, sprue shots and aftermarket set.








After a few days of cutting, filing and bending, punctuated by a liberal amount of swearing, I've managed to get the PE cockpit to a decent stage. One of the side panels has "set" in the wrong position but since it's fixed with cyanoacrylate glue I fear that removal will cause more damage than it's worth so I'll attempt some surgery with a set of cutters and files to make the panels flush for fitting to the model.
Next stage will be to prep the instrument panel and probably some of the landing gear and weapons pylons etc. so I've got a good amount of parts ready for priming.
Photo's show the PE cockpit alongside the kit supplied parts for reference.

[BaldyBuilderBoy]

A bit more progress to report today. I've mounted the cockpit parts onto sticks for easy handling during the painting process and primed them using black Vallejo polyurethane primer to give depth to the final paint job.
Also added the PE intake grilles for the upper jet intakes and primed them using the same product so that they give a natural shadow when the topcoat is applied. I'm hoping this will negate the need to pre-shade them although I intend to pre-shade panel lines anyway.



Thinking ahead to the camo scheme, the instructions suggest Tamiya paints ( obviously ) XF19 and XF22 but these don't seem to match the box artwork. I've looked at some online references but the colours that come up don't seem to have a match with any of the major manufacturers so I'm planning to get some of the AKAN paints like Paul used on his 1/48 Mig. I believe the source to be Linden Hill Imports?

Next steps will be to give these parts a few days to cure properly before moving on and in the mean time prep some of the other parts for assembly and practice my airbrushing skills on a scrap model.

[shortCummins]

I get my Akan paints from…
http://www.hobbycolours.com/index.php?cPath=305_132

they only take a few days to arrive and their customer service is first class

[BaldyBuilderBoy]

A bit more progress made on the Mig 29. I've got the cockpit mostly painted up now although I'm a little disappointed with the painting on the seat. Maybe it'll look better after a weathering wash to pick out some of the details and tone down some of the paint. I've also started to put together some of the other sub-assemblies like the engine intakes and the ordnance. Got the ordnance primed up ready for painting although it doesn't show that in these pictures.
As I progress with this kit it looks like there's going to be a few issues to resolve as I go along..... There's a great big chunk out of the intake which will need filling. Not sure about the best way to do that at this stage. I have a horrid feeling that the Vallejo putty that I normally use probably won't make a strong enough job with nothing to support it. Any suggestions will be gratefully received.
And then there's the fit issues where the intakes meet the engine bulges. That's gonna need a liberal amount of sanding and probably filler too.

[BaldyBuilderBoy]

Further progress on this iconic aeroplane.
I've finally got most of the fuselage together and the pylons on. Some BluTack in the nose to help it sit right.
I've masked off the cockpit canopy and will glue it in place temporarily whilst I paint the exterior but I intend to have the canopy open on the completed model.
Look at some of those fit issues though....... I'm certain that it's not entirely down to my incapability as a modeller.
Liberal application of filler will, hopefully, cure some of them. It's little wonder, though,that Lee was so disparaging in his review video of the F16 from the same stable. Needless to say I won't be putting my "hard earned" into the F18 from the same group. I'll be looking for something rather better. Still, it's teaching me a lot and it's giving me my first go at using PE and resin.......

[Homerlovesbeer]

Wow I can't believe Tamiya put their name to this piece of ill fitting plastic! You're doing an excellent job so far especially considering what you are working with!

Top job!

[BaldyBuilderBoy]

Time for another update on this Mig build.
Styrene the Goddess of modellers smiled upon me the other day.... I needed to attach some of the fiddly little PE antennae and pitot tubes ready to start the painting job. Picking up the first piece ( about the size of a pin head ) PING!! it flew out of the tweezers. DAMN!! Much cursing and crawling about ( luckily we have a wood floor so no carpet monster ) for about 5 mins and I gave it up as lost and moved on to the next piece.........PING!! OH DAMN NOT AGAIN, so back to crawling around along with my partner Chenoa ( she's dedicated to the cause ) and eventually I did a thorough search of my work area when what should I find but the first missing piece. BRILLIANT!! closely followed by the second little escapee, FANTASTIC!! Then I heard the little voice of Styrene calling to me " I have helped you all I can Baldy, from now on you are on your own, good luck and may the Gods look upon you favourably"
With the antennae and pitot tubes attached and the metal nose antenna fitted I figured the model was ready for it's paint job.



I'm still using up my Vallejo Primer so I gave the Mig a coat of the Vallejo grey primer ready for the next steps.



For the main colour scheme I have invested in some Akan paints but first I intend to use this kit as a practice for a couple of other skills so it will be out with the Trumpeter riveting wheel to try and add some details and then I want to try to use the salt technique to give some weathered contrast in the paint work.

Meanwhile, I have also decided to try to make a base to display the model on.
Taking my lead from Carlos Mendes Youtube channel I am using a cheap photo frame to make the base.



Take it apart and put the glass to one side, then glue the back plate in place using PVA. My intention then is to line with clingfilm to use it as a mould and pour plaster into it so that hopefully I will get a smooth plaster surface to work with..........



That's all for tonight, more progress soon.

[BaldyBuilderBoy]

Well the plan for the smooth plaster surface didn't work out quite as I'd hoped so I need to sand the thing smooth before a little engraving and painting.
Meanwhile........ I've made some further progress on the aeroplane itself. I decided I wanted to add some rivet detail so out came the Trumpeter rivet wheel. Not as straightforward as I'd hoped, clearly that is a skill that will take some practice, and I also found that a major drawback of a rivet wheel is that it misses out great sections where there is an inside curve. Oh well.
That done it was time for some preshading. I didn't want to use black knowing that the main paints are quite light in colour so I used some Vallejo Dunkelgrau which seemed to work ok. This was also the first time using my new H&S Ultra airbrush so there were a few blobs and mistakes. It's a lovely piece of kit though especially compared to the cheap far eastern import that I have been using. after preshading I then laid down some Akan paint as a dark base for trying the salt weathering technique. The new airbrush also shows how much smoother that stuff is to use than the Vallejo. It laid down a treat and hardly gave any issues with drying on the tip. With the Vallejo I was constantly having to clear the needle.


After the preshade etc it was time to lay down a little salt and then spray the underside with Russian Light grey.



I like the way the Akan sprays and I like the slight satin finish that it gives. I guess that will go completely when I give the model a final matt varnish.

Gonna give a few hours for the paint to dry properly before rubbing off the salt and moving on to spraying the camo pattern on the upper surfaces.

[Smiffy]

Good looking Fulcrum so far

[BaldyBuilderBoy]

Well if you've seen any of my posts on facebook about this build then you'll already know that the salt weathering didn't work out as expected. Fear I'm afraid, so I wasn't brave enough with the contrast in shades of grey on the underside. The result.... when the salt was rubbed away you can't really see anything. The technique worked better on the upper surfaces as will be seen in the pictures here.
Loving the Akan paints and my new H&S Ultra airbrush though.
Got most of the painting done and am rather disappointed with it, but that's not unusual. I reckon that when I've got the decals on and the panel lines washes the plane will look very much better.
The Akan paint seems to have a decent satin sheen to it so I'm gonna try laying the decals straight onto it without a gloss coat first and hope to retain more panel detail as a result.
Anyway here are the photos of the progress so far.

[arilo76]

[BaldyBuilderBoy]

I'm steadily getting this model towards completion.
The Akan paints have a nice sheen so I figured I would try decaling straight onto the paint without glossing first, the fewer the number of layers the better I figured. All in all the decals are pretty ok for the kit and went down fine straight onto the paint, so, flushed with success, I figured I would use my Ultimate wash onto the un-glossed paint surface.
Actually it came out ok but it is definitely much harder to remove than if the model had been glossed first. The result is fine but it leaves too much dirt effect for my tastes so next time I'll gloss first. Nothing ventured......

I do like the way it brings out the panel lines and my low skilled attempt at adding rivet detail but it also shows up the variable depths of panel lines and dodgy moulding quality of this kit.
Next steps were to get on with the undercarriage and ordnance so I gave the legs and doors a coat of grey and sprayed the missiles white.
I also took the opportunity , whilst using the grey paint, to have a go at the mottled effect possible by "black basing". I used a test square that I've made up out of some scrap plastic sheet. The technique seems easy enough but like everything else in this hobby it will take plenty of practice to get it nailed down properly.


Meanwhile.... back at the base...... ( see what I did there? )
I lined the frame with cling film and poured in some plaster, let it set and removed carefully before letting it dry completely over a few days / weeks. My cunning plan for a smooth and level surface didn't work out so I had to sand smooth before using a scribe to cut some jointing for the concrete slabs and then priming.



Finally I fitted the undercarriage legs and doors to the model and it was time for the moment of truth.... Had I added enough weight to the nose?
A few strokes of a brush and the ordnance had some markings, so time to arrange everything on that primed base for a preliminary photo-call.

[arilo76]

Wow you nearly finished it, I even have to start it, by the way so far it looks awesome, the build is very nice and the paint work is super. well done.
Like you tread by the way.

[BaldyBuilderBoy]

It's been quite a while since I did anything to this model. I was supposed to be entering a T70 into the "Russia with Love" build so put this to one side.... Then life got in the way and I didn't complete the T70 either.
Anyway I figured that with a day off and loads of rain about I should get this out and make an effort to finish it.
The aeroplane is nearly there but the base needed lots more work.
I was wanting a concrete dispersal to display the Mig 29 on and have been giving it a lot of thought as well as looking at photo's online. I'd given it a black base so figured that some mottling and a light overspray to blend all together was definitely the way to go.
I reckon that concrete is not really just a grey colour but has nuances of browns and yellows in it so I used some of the said colours to give the base a mottling layer.


That completed I mixed up what I felt was a good concrete colour from light grey, white and dark yellow and misted it over the mottled layer to give the following result.


Followed this with some brown pigments from MIG, a yellow line and some model railway scatter grass to represent a few weeds coming through and I reckon I've got a pretty good representation of a battered Soviet airfield apron....



Just need to put the final touches to the Mig 29 itself and I think this project can be closed off.

[Zen]

Looking very good!

[BaldyBuilderBoy]

Thanks Zen,
I've not done any modelling for ages since posting this but we're getting around to winter again so maybe this and a couple of other projects will finally get finished.