1/48 HobbyBoss MiG-31B/BM Foxhound

[IanG]

My next build, the 1/48 HobbyBoss MiG-31B/BM Foxhound.
There's a lot of plastic in that box!
Cockpit started, and seats assembled. Seat detail is pretty good for kit seats.

image by ian gaskell, on Flickr

image by ian gaskell, on Flickr

image by ian gaskell, on Flickr

[IanG]

I've started to put together a few of the sub assemblies.
Cockpit is nicely detailed, as are the seats.
Intakes, exhausts, wheel bays, and undercarriage legs went together well.
Not sure I'm keen on the metal parts for the undercarriage, though. Detail isn't all that crisp, and there was horrendous seam line to file away.
Also the wing control surfaces are done.
The lower wings were fitted to the single piece top fuselage/top wing, and the vertical stabilisers are together.
All in all, a good start.

DSC_0188 by ian gaskell, on Flickr

DSC_0188 by ian gaskell, on Flickr

DSC_0188 by ian gaskell, on Flickr

[IanG]

Cockpit now assembled, with just the side panels to glue in place.
Painted the usual MiG green. This is the Ammo for Mig paint.
Instruments are the kit's decals. They conformed very well, with some Micro Sol used to soften the decals. After a couple of hours, I applied some more Sol, and used short bristled paint brush, to stipple the decals into place. Worked a treat. Lastly, some gloss painted on to the MFD's and dials.
I gave everything the lightest of washes, then a matt coat. Once that dried, I used some Ak pigments (asphalt grey and dark earth), and gave the tub a light brush with these. Finished off with Tamiya's weathering silver to pick out the highlights.
Ejection seats are the kit ones, with added extras. All brush painted with Hataka Blue Line Jet Black, and Polish Khaki, with Vallejo chrome for the buckles. Tamiya weathering silver for highlights.It's now ready to go into the nose section.

DSC_0194 by ian gaskell, on Flickr

DSC_0194 by ian gaskell, on Flickr

DSC_0194 by ian gaskell, on Flickr

DSC_0194 by ian gaskell, on Flickr

DSC_0194 by ian gaskell, on Flickr

DSC_0194 by ian gaskell, on Flickr

[mick]

good work on the pit

[IanG]

good work on the pit

Thank you Mick.

[IanG]

Cockpit is now installed into the nose section. The fit is very good, and no sanding was necessary. I did put some weight in the nose, to be on the safe side.
I decided to build this with the canopies in the closed position, a change from several of my last builds. Again, the canopy fit is very good, but the rear canopy has a very small step on the left hand, front edge, despite trying to "persuade" it dry in the correct position. With the end of a round needle file, I've managed to correct it. Once painted and weathered, it won't be noticable. The masking was straightforward, the front of the windshield has had a very thin coat of Tamiya Clear Blue for the tint, and some maskol used on the front of the refuel probe cover.

DSC_0203 by ian gaskell, on Flickr

DSC_0203 by ian gaskell, on Flickr

[matto21]

Lovely work - the Ammo cockpit green colour looks good.

[IanG]

Lovely work - the Ammo cockpit green colour looks good.

Thank you.
Yeah, there a number of paint manufacturers who do a MiG cockpit green. I just happen to have the Ammo one, as I bought there Russian colours set a while back.

[IanG]

Got the main fuselage together. Went together without too much fuss. Intakes trunking sat inside very well, with a bit of clamping necessary, with the intakes themselves, while the glue was setting.
The same was also true of the rear end of the fuselage, getting the top and bottom to mate up.
A little bit of Vallejo plastic putty hear and there, then sanded once dry dry.
Exhausts are done. Painted with Vallejo Metal Colour Gunmetal, and weathered with Tamiya Weather Master Burnt Blue and Burnt Red.
The next job will be to start fixing the various antenna and probes.
I have also made up the pylons, and prepped all the wheelbase doors, ready for priming.
One thing I have realised now........this is a huge beast!!

DSC_0207 by ian gaskell, on Flickr

DSC_0207 by ian gaskell, on Flickr

DSC_0207 by ian gaskell, on Flickr

DSC_0207 by ian gaskell, on Flickr

[IanG]

Pylons and missiles assembled. I'm using R-33, R-73, and R-77 missiles. The R-77's are from the KH Su-17 kit, as I felt they had better detail than the HB ones.
The wheels are also finished, and will be put by for later. The tyres are rubber/vinyl, and aren't as bad as I thought they'd be. I used an AK Dark Earth pigment on the tyres, and they've come up pretty well, and ill finish them off with a couple of light coats of matt.

DSC_0212 by ian gaskell, on Flickr

DSC_0212 by ian gaskell, on Flickr

DSC_0212 by ian gaskell, on Flickr

[IanG]

The priming is done, using Ultimate's black primer.
After allowing the primer to cure for a day, I moved on to doing the marbling.
For this I used Hataka's Insignia White. I didn't have any Red, or Orange Line Insignia White, but did have some of the brushable Blue Line acrylic. This was thinned out a bit more, than I would with the Red Line paints. It has airbrushed very well.
Once that was done, I used some Hataka Orange Line Gunship Grey on the nosecone.

DSC_0219 by ian gaskell, on Flickr

DSC_0219 by ian gaskell, on Flickr

DSC_0225 by ian gaskell, on Flickr

DSC_0225 by ian gaskell, on Flickr

[IanG]

On with the paint.
For this I used Hataka Orange Line HTK-C045 Air Defence Grey, which seems the closest to the 31's grey. Several light light coats applied, and built the colour up.
The finish is very smooth, and the sheen is probably enough that I can decal, without applying any gloss coat.

DSC_0236 by ian gaskell, on Flickr

DSC_0236 by ian gaskell, on Flickr

DSC_0236 by ian gaskell, on Flickr

[GMahaffey]

Pretty cool build working on the amk mig-31 bm/BSM and the landing gear aren't metal. The metal gear does make a difference. As for the paints call-out for my kit they are federal standard colors as well as basic red, white, black, light gray. When I did my cockpit it was the emerald green.

[IanG]

Pretty cool build working on the amk mig-31 bm/BSM and the landing gear aren't metal. The metal gear does make a difference. As for the paints call-out for my kit they are federal standard colors as well as basic red, white, black, light gray. When I did my cockpit it was the emerald green.

Thank you.
I've got the AMK kit too, but the Limited Edition version which has metal undercarriage.

[IanG]

I've been masking off some areas for detailing. The anti-glare panel is done in Hataka Red Line Jet Black.
The nosecone is Ammo Gunship Grey, and the Leading edges of the vertical stabilisers are Hataka's Orange Line Gunship grey. There is a difference in these two paints, the Hataka version having a slight purple hue to it.
Also masked off some access panels, and they were painted Gunship grey too.
Lights and antenna have also been painted.
The missiles have been decaled and weathered, and have been completed.
I have also made a start applying the main decals and stencils.

DSC_0240 by ian gaskell, on Flickr

DSC_0240 by ian gaskell, on Flickr

DSC_0240 by ian gaskell, on Flickr

DSC_0240 by ian gaskell, on Flickr

DSC_0240 by ian gaskell, on Flickr

DSC_0240 by ian gaskell, on Flickr

fullsizeoutput_9cf by ian gaskell, on Flickr

[GMahaffey]

After digging around for paint conversions on the AMK Mig-31 I found that hellblau rlm color is the closest to the overall light gray.

[IanG]

Decals done, and an Aqua Gloss coat applied.
Now ready for putting the wash on.

DSC_0248 by ian gaskell, on Flickr

DSC_0248 by ian gaskell, on Flickr

DSC_0248 by ian gaskell, on Flickr

[IanG]

All finished! You'll find more photo's here:-

viewtopic.php?f=45&t=24025

Ian G-2 by ian gaskell, on Flickr

[mick]

great work

[IanG]

great work

Thanks Mick.