Trumpeter 1/72 MiG-29 SMT Fulcrum [Izdeliye 9.19]

[TommyKillander]

Hello!

This will be my next big build that I will start soon.

Boxart:


Plastic parts:

Everything is individually packed in separate bags. Clear parts and wrapped in foam to avoid abbrasion - way to go Trumpeter





Assembly instructions, paint callouts and decals:

Trumpeter decals always seems to look a bit wierd, but the seem to perform well

Some aftermarket stuff



Tommy

[Tomcat64]

[Steve64]

Hi Tommy,

I'm building GWH's 1/48 scale version of the same aircraft, It'll be exciting to see how you get on in the scale, and if you want some good references, try here:

https://russianplanes.net/id260733

Happy modelling, I hope it's a fun build.

[RangerNeil]

Nice choice!!! (but then I am biased towards Soviet aviation They don't seem to believe in rule books - if it don't work they seem to have three principles - make it bigger, make it more powerful, make it look like nothing else in the air - sometimes using all 3... )
I look forwards to seeing how the build progresses and how the 1/72 stacks against the 1/48 version.

[TommyKillander]

, mate!

Hi Tommy,

I'm building GWH's 1/48 scale version of the same aircraft, It'll be exciting to see how you get on in the scale, and if you want some good references, try here:

https://russianplanes.net/id260733

Happy modelling, I hope it's a fun build.

Thanks for the link, much appreciated!
I got the GWH kit in my stash, so I'm curious about the differences between the two scales as well

Nice choice!!! (but then I am biased towards Soviet aviation They don't seem to believe in rule books - if it don't work they seem to have three principles - make it bigger, make it more powerful, make it look like nothing else in the air - sometimes using all 3... )
I look forwards to seeing how the build progresses and how the 1/72 stacks against the 1/48 version.

My main focus in scalemodelling is Cold War aircrafts, so now and then I need to build something Russian


Tommy

[digger303]

, mate!

Hi Tommy,

I'm building GWH's 1/48 scale version of the same aircraft, It'll be exciting to see how you get on in the scale, and if you want some good references, try here:

https://russianplanes.net/id260733

Happy modelling, I hope it's a fun build.

Thanks for the link, much appreciated!
I got the GWH kit in my stash, so I'm curious about the differences between the two scales as well

Nice choice!!! (but then I am biased towards Soviet aviation They don't seem to believe in rule books - if it don't work they seem to have three principles - make it bigger, make it more powerful, make it look like nothing else in the air - sometimes using all 3... )
I look forwards to seeing how the build progresses and how the 1/72 stacks against the 1/48 version.

My main focus in scalemodelling is Cold War aircrafts, so now and then I need to build something Russian


Tommy

Go for it !
I'd like to do the Mig 25 as in Fireox movie with Clint Eastwood....ON my maybe to do list.

[TommyKillander]

Okay.... we are "airborne" !

Well... not really - we are just starting to pick up the pieces in the hangar and make a fighter aircraft out of it



The plastic parts looks really nice, perfectly moulded without any flash - but they literally have no details


So it seems that the choice between decal or PE IPs will be easy... The PE will add a little bit of depth.


So let's get kick this build into motion

[RangerNeil]

For the interior - have you seen the Quinta Studio range of 3D interior decals? They do a set for the 1/72 Mig-29.
I have the 1/72 and 1/48 sets for the Mi-24V and they are incredibly good. They also do vac-formed canopies that are the correct profile.

https://www.scalemates.com/kits/quinta- ... l--1281878

[TommyKillander]

For the interior - have you seen the Quinta Studio range of 3D interior decals? They do a set for the 1/72 Mig-29.
I have the 1/72 and 1/48 sets for the Mi-24V and they are incredibly good. They also do vac-formed canopies that are the correct profile.

https://www.scalemates.com/kits/quinta- ... l--1281878

Thanks RangerNeil, that's a great advice - I didn't think they had 3D decals for 1/72!

I found a set for the Mig-29SMT that I have ordered. Hopefully it will arrive here soon


Tommy

[TommyKillander]

Hi all!

I'm still waiting for the Quinta 3D decals to arrive in my mailbox, but I keep myself busy with other parts of the kit...

I have done some detailing of the ejection seat using PE and some stretched sprue


Next up is the nose landing gear subassembly



There's a couple of really delicate parts there...

I haven't made up my mind if I should go for the kit "wheel basket" or the PE counterpart...

The plastic part looks more like the real thing shape-wise, but the PE is much more in scale I think

Nevermind, let's glue some stuff together and figure out what to do later....



Tommy

[TommyKillander]

Hey Guys,

Worked some more on the cockpit...

Painted the bangseat




I used tamiya tape for the seatbelts and the turnbuckles from the PE




Quinta stuff arrived!



This will be interesting

But first... the Zvezda K-36 ejection seat needs some stencils, but they were too big so I had to cut them in half


Painted the IP and cockpit tub





Tommy

[RangerNeil]

Looking good sir.
What are you thoughts on the Quinta decals? I have the Mi-24 set (for the Zvezda Mi-24 in 1/72) which is quite large as its both cockpits and the cabin doors inner's but haven't had a chance to build the Mi-24 and thus use the decals..

[BigWall]

Those decals look super nice

[TommyKillander]

Those decals look super nice

Thanks!

Looking good sir.
What are you thoughts on the Quinta decals? I have the Mi-24 set (for the Zvezda Mi-24 in 1/72) which is quite large as its both cockpits and the cabin doors inner's but haven't had a chance to build the Mi-24 and thus use the decals..

Ohhh.. the Zvezda 1/72 Hind is on my bucket list - if I'm only going to build one helo it will be that one


So it's time to apply the decals - I'm probably as excited about them as everyone else...

First; let's take a look at the instructions to figure out what this is all about

The placement guide (or decal callout) is a bit vague (understatement of the year). But on the other hand it's made for the Zvezda kit and I'm using it for a Trumpeter, so I had to improvise anyway...


The instructions are in Russian and English. The instructions are almost repeated twice, so it can be a bit confusing to read if you are in the middle of things....




I started with the IP and the first impression is that they look really crisp - almost too crisp if you compare it to the rest of the details in a normal plastic kit. The decal has matte and gloss surfaces (MFDs) which looks really nice. Unfortunately I didn't take any photos of the process, I was too busy trying not messing up

However, thay are quite thick. This might not be an issue so much in larger scales, but in 1/72 it is noticable. Stacked PE has the same problem (or even worse) and PE will not get even close in all the detail that these decals offer.

The decals seems to have adhesive (like regular decals) but they may need some extra glue to avoid releasing from the surface. The instruction recommends PVA or CA glue. I used Gators Grip PVA glue, which in retrospect might have been a bad choice - since it leaves a milky surface; it doesn't dry clear.


The result






So what are my thoughts?

The decals look fantastic. They win over photoetch every day of the week.
But they are a bit thick and a bit difficult to put on since you may have to glue them in place. I'm not sure how well they react to varnishes thinned with laquer-thinner or washes, so I haven't tried that. They are also a bit out of scale, but again; this is something that may have to do with the scale. Almost every detail in 1/72 is too big or too pronounced.
The instructions strongly advise against using decal softeners (and I really don't see the point using them).

I will definately choose them over PE if possible, for my future builds. And I will buy the correct decal for my project, since I had some fit issues. The completely flat sidepanels of the Trumpeter kit looked wierd when there are only a couple of parts that are high detail...
If the kit decals wasn't so messed up I would actually placed them first and added the Quinta details on top of that

[RangerNeil]

Glad to hear the worked well and that I hadn't given duff advice. Makes me a bit more confident for when I build the Hind. Probably by then they will have released the 1/32 scale set for the Trumpeter kit too (also in the stash - anyone care to guess I love Hinds?)
They do look good in the photos - will be interesting to see them in the built fuselage. Must be my old eyes but I don't see any milky side effects from the PVA you used....

[BigWall]

The cockpit is looking great! I really like the look of those decals.

[TommyKillander]

Glad to hear the worked well and that I hadn't given duff advice. Makes me a bit more confident for when I build the Hind. Probably by then they will have released the 1/32 scale set for the Trumpeter kit too (also in the stash - anyone care to guess I love Hinds?)

I'm sure they will do that! Every post I see on Facebork from Quinta Studios are filled with requests in the comments...

They do look good in the photos - will be interesting to see them in the built fuselage. Must be my old eyes but I don't see any milky side effects from the PVA you used....

The camera doesn't seem to pick it up; but it's there. But it's not a bit issue...

The cockpit is looking great! I really like the look of those decals.

Thanks, yeah the decals turned out great!


Okey... let's turn our attention to the fuselage and the engines.

Drilling some holes for the pylons


Wheelbays...




I haven't made up my mind if I should go for PE or plasic parts for the intake doors... The PE looks so much better, but they don't fit (again, the PE set is for the Zvezda kit)...


Dryfitting... the engines doesn't really directly snapfit in place, the joint is really complex and needs some cleanup...

The kit lacks the air funnel, there is only a rounded shape around the wheelbays

I have to think for this for a while on how to approach it....


Tommy

[Gregovit]

Awesome job!

[ForeverPlasticKits]

Your MiG looks fantastic with the add on, the cockpit is really nice with Quinta stuff!

[TommyKillander]

Awesome job!

Thanks Gregovit!

Your MiG looks fantastic with the add on, the cockpit is really nice with Quinta stuff!

Thank you, ForeverPlasticKits!


Tommy

[Kevthemodeller]

[ForeverPlasticKits]

A great build on this "little" scale which became really impressive by the detail level year after year!

[TommyKillander]

Thanks!

Okey... it's been a while since I did something here....

When I "parked" this kit for a while I was struggling with myself if I shoule try to fit the photoetch doors in the air intakes. But they are for the Zvezda kit and they don't fit the Trumpter kit. And it can't be fixed because thay have a different shape.

So instead of losing sleep more over this; I just glued the plastic part in. This also means that the front turbine blades will never be seen, so I didn't even bother to attach them


Next step is to try to fix those air inlet louvres on the top of the wing; this is such a prominent feature for this aircraft that they just have to look decent


Left side cleaned up


Done.


..and I glued the air intake ducts in place.



Tommy

[BigWall]

The louvers came out absolutely excellent! You're right, they're an important part of the look of the plane and the kit parts make them almost disappear. Great job!

[ForeverPlasticKits]

Very nice work

[TommyKillander]

The louvers came out absolutely excellent! You're right, they're an important part of the look of the plane and the kit parts make them almost disappear. Great job!

Thanks Joe!
Thay are still way too thick, but it looks better for sure.

Very nice work

Thanks ForeverPlasticKits




Okey... I spent some time taking care of the seamline where the air-funnel meets the the front of the engine.


Next up is the cleanup of the exhaust subassembly. The afterburner section is a two piece part that needs to be glued together, filled, sanded and polished

I understand why they have done it like this (it's impossible to mould it in one piece) but it's annoying nevertheless...


Some photoetch for the combustion rings(?)


I also cleaned up the turkey-feathers... that took a while as well. I can understand why there is a market for resin exhausts...


All parts polished and prepped for Ultimate Gloss Black primer




Tommy

[ForeverPlasticKits]

A good work in progress , some add on are very useful when they are ready to use!

[TommyKillander]

A good work in progress , some add on are very useful when they are ready to use!

Thanks!

I have continued with the exhausts. There is a whole world of weathering and discoloration to consider here, but this is 1/72 so I will have to take some shortcuts.





Started by painting the engine parts with Ultimate Gloss Black primer.


Light metal shades as a base, used AK STainless Steel which has a blue tint


Some masking of the bands around the afterburner


Pale Burnt Metal


And I knocked down the sheen a bit with a filter made from IPA and XF-84


Now that needs to settle before I mask and continue with the other shades.


Tommy

[ForeverPlasticKits]

To paint with several shades is the "secret" to be as realistic as possible, Tommy!

[Tomcat64]

Great work and attention to detail as always Tommy

[TommyKillander]

To paint with several shades is the "secret" to be as realistic as possible, Tommy!

Thanks ForeverPlasticKits!
Indeed it is!

Great work and attention to detail as always Tommy

Thanks Neil!

I have darkened the exhaust a bit, since they seems to have a darker tone than the rest of the engine


...and I'm cleaning up all the small parts.










Unfortunately Trumpeter have managed to place the sprue gates on the worst possible position



Tommy

[Twokidsnosleep]

Yay, Tommy’s building here too again

[Tomcat64]

Unfortunately Trumpeter have managed to place the sprue gates on the worst possible position

Yah - I've come across that with a couple of other manufacturers recently... I mean what's the point of all that superb detail if you're going to stick a lump of styrene in the middle of it??

Lovely work on the build though Tommy

[Kevthemodeller]

Lovely looking jet nozzles

[ForeverPlasticKits]

Everything is perfect, !

[TommyKillander]

Yay, Tommy’s building here too again

Cheers, Scott!

Unfortunately Trumpeter have managed to place the sprue gates on the worst possible position

Yah - I've come across that with a couple of other manufacturers recently... I mean what's the point of all that superb detail if you're going to stick a lump of styrene in the middle of it??

Lovely work on the build though Tommy

Thanks Neil
I will replace the messed up part of the oleo strut with some brass tubing.

Lovely looking jet nozzles

Thanks Kev!

Everything is perfect, !

Thanks ForeverPlasticKits


Okay.... Christmas Holiday.... lot's of time on my hand to waste - so let's get started

There are a couple of holes that needs to be drilled out for the outer pylons. The problem is that they needs to drilled just enough that they dont leave a mark on the upper side.... or go through


The avionics rack behind the headrest looks terrible (inaccurate) and the Quintas 3D decals does not fit...




Trying to scratchbuild something that looks better....



No this is not working.... Let's fire up Fusion 360 and draw something that I can 3D print instead


While the Anycubic Photon is doing it's thing in the background - let's tackle this PE. It's made for the Zvezda MiG-29 kit and it doesn't fit this Trumpeter kit.




...but we can fix that


And the 3D printed part was ready after 3 hours




Add some more PE - had to be trimmed as well...




Added some lead wires






Glued in the windcreen and masked it.





Tommy

[Kevthemodeller]

Lovely cockpit detailing

[BigWall]

Nice work with the cockpit!

[TommyKillander]

Lovely cockpit detailing

Thanks Kev

Nice work with the cockpit!

Thanks Joe

I started to fiddle with the landing gear a bit...

My approach to fix those ugly oleo cylinders was to replace them with a metal tube; I was going to remove the plastic torsion links anyway and use PE - so why not

Bending some PE


Now this turned out to be more difficult than I first anticipated...

The axle part is so small so I can't drill a hole with good precision I can only see two viable options here:

1) Scratchbuilt something from brass tubing to replace the axle


2) or draw a new axle in Fusion 360 and 3D print it


I will make a test-shot with the 3D printer today; if it works I will refine the design a little bit and add some details. If it turns out not to work I will scratchbuild something using brass tubes instead.


Tommy

[TommyKillander]

Short update:

I have done some 3D printing and test-fitting and the 3D printing approach seems to be the way forward..

3D printed part




Testfit. It's a bit crude and oversized but it seems very sturdy


The real thing looks like this


So I have slimmed down the design a bit and added a couple of features; a rib to align the PE torsion link and a small post to glue leadwire to. Yeah, I had to make a mirrored part also (almost forgot that)



Tommy

[ForeverPlasticKits]

Very good analysis about the details, you have always a solution with the new technology nowadays! Great work!

[BigWall]

Very nice. I really think 3D printing will be the future of modeling. It's a great technology.

[Kevthemodeller]

Lovely save on the undercarriage Tommy. I must agree 3D printing will most certainly have increasing levels of influence on our hobby. I must admit to knowing nothing about it beyond what it does, nothing about the actual hands on application or even where to start!

[TommyKillander]

Very good analysis about the details, you have always a solution with the new technology nowadays! Great work!

Very nice. I really think 3D printing will be the future of modeling. It's a great technology.

Lovely save on the undercarriage Tommy. I must agree 3D printing will most certainly have increasing levels of influence on our hobby. I must admit to knowing nothing about it beyond what it does, nothing about the actual hands on application or even where to start!

Thanks guys!

Yes, 3D printing is a really nice complement to traditional injection-moulded technology, resin casting and scratchbuiling.

A little less than 2 years ago I had no clue about 3D modelling and 3D printing... I stumbled on a YT video about mSLA printers and thought that ~600-700€ was a bit too much money to invest in something that I didn't really know if it was useful. At the same time a friend of me bought a FormLabs Form2 for his company (that's a 2500-3000€ piece of equipment) and he showed me what the prints looked like and I thought "wow, I wish I could afford one of those..."

Suddenly there was a number of competitors on the mSLA market and the Anycubic Photon dropped to 250€ (!) - so I grabbed one, really without knowing how I should use it
I got the advice from my friend (with the Form2) that I should look into Fusion360, because that was a good 3D modelling software and it was free to use. I had no experience whatsoever of a 3D modelling software, so I went "M'kay... I'll give it a try".
So I started to watch videos about F360 and 3D printing on the Anycubic Photon.... It took me one week to draw the first design and figure out how to get it to print properly
But I'm convinced that anyone can learn this and be able to draw simple parts and print them after a week or two.


Tommy

[TommyKillander]

It's been a good weekend at the bench!

I have assembled the main gear legs




After that I added the headlights to the bay gear doors




Added some wiring as well


Ready for primer...


...and some paint






Some masking before I gloss with GX-100 to prepare for weathering



Tommy

[ForeverPlasticKits]

always a great work with a lot of explanation, very pleasant to follow.

[Kevthemodeller]

Yes, 3D printing is a really nice complement to traditional injection-moulded technology, resin casting and scratchbuiling.

A little less than 2 years ago I had no clue about 3D modelling and 3D printing... I stumbled on a YT video about mSLA printers and thought that ~600-700€ was a bit too much money to invest in something that I didn't really know if it was useful. At the same time a friend of me bought a FormLabs Form2 for his company (that's a 2500-3000€ piece of equipment) and he showed me what the prints looked like and I thought "wow, I wish I could afford one of those..."

Suddenly there was a number of competitors on the mSLA market and the Anycubic Photon dropped to 250€ (!) - so I grabbed one, really without knowing how I should use it
I got the advice from my friend (with the Form2) that I should look into Fusion360, because that was a good 3D modelling software and it was free to use. I had no experience whatsoever of a 3D modelling software, so I went "M'kay... I'll give it a try".
So I started to watch videos about F360 and 3D printing on the Anycubic Photon.... It took me one week to draw the first design and figure out how to get it to print properly
But I'm convinced that anyone can learn this and be able to draw simple parts and print them after a week or two.


Tommy

I will have to take a look at this for the future

[Tomcat64]

Great progress Tommy - the extra details are really eye-catching!

Lovely stuff

[TommyKillander]

Great progress Tommy - the extra details are really eye-catching!

Lovely stuff

Thanks Neil

The wheels have red markers on the sides. I looked around in my decal "junk-yard" and I found something that I can use for that




Weathering using Tamiya Black Panel Line Wash and Enamel Thinner for cleanup




The parts for the undercarriage is finished


And I have started to work on the fuel-tank(s)... I haven't made up my mind yet, but a MiG-29 needs atleast a PTB-1500 centerline fueltank

...maybe two additional PTB-1150


Tommy

[TommyKillander]

Okay... last day of my Christmas vacation, so I have been busy at the bench

I have continued with the payload, it will be the PTB-1500 and 2 x R-27R, 2 x R-77, 2 x R-73E:





The centerline fuel tank needed some love for sure...


Strange sinkmark (or short-mould) that need some filling


I had to sand down the raised details to get rid of the seams. So I had to do some "old-school" restoration of raised panel lines.... I'm using stretched sprue for this.


2 down, three to go...


Done! I'm quite pleased with that result


Next step is to mask all the painted and weathered areas. I decided to do this before I glue the fuselages halves together.








Time to mate the fuselage halves!


Okay... it's time to start thinking more seriously about what subject to build and the paintjob

I have decided to make a "what-if"; it's not completely made up, but here's the story:
Algerian Air Force bought 34 MiG-29SMTs from Russia in 2006, after the first batch of 12 aircrafts where delivered Algeria discovered quality issues with these aircrafts and they promptly returned all of them, cancelled the order and replaced them with 16 Su-30MKAs. Four of the SMTs where painted in Pale Blue and Grey cammo (same that was used on the Su-30MKAs).

I think these paints will work:


And I have this decal-sheet from Begemot, which has Algerian decals and the decal callout for "FC-14", pictured above



Tommy