Dazzled's Big Mig Build

[Dazzled]

I tried building the Dragon -17 about 17 years ago (oh man, I was so young and full of hope then). I recall fit issues, but again, I was young and full of it back then


That MiG-19 looks pretty sad. The instructions are comical.

I'm going into both builds without huge expectations. I'm certainly not expecting a box shaker. The -19 might look a little basic but it's a huge improvement over the original KP boxing that I built years ago. I received a resin cockpit for it today so I should be getting started in the next couple of days.

[Marek]

That 19 by Master ... hmmmm ... Craft of my home country is basically a copy of KP which was put through grandma's kitchen knife to scribe random panels. I hope it wont be a mojo-killer.

[Dazzled]

Time for some more Migginess.

I've opened the Pandora's box on the Mig-19. It's not the kit that it promises to be in the box. I'm aware of it's lineage as one of KP's kits but Mistercraft did make it look good by getting rid of the raised detail and giving it engraved panel lines. I thought that this was quite a lot of work but what they appear to have done is carved out the moulds and created an enlarged model. I came to this conclusion after comparison with an original KP Mig-19 that I had kicking around.





I built it many years ago and it's been languishing in the loft fro quite a while. Last year I took it down to look at the potential for refurbishment. Then I lost the noseleg. Not just the wheel but the entire leg

Anyhow, today it came in handy for a bit of comparison using the trusty digital Vernier. It turns out that the wings on the Mistercraft kit are about 0.8mm thicker than on the KP kit. I thought they looked a little chunky. The answer? Use the KP wings from my now donor model.




So I rescribed the KP wings and sanded back the surface detail.. Good idea ,eh?

Except that now the wing to fuselage fairings were much too deep for the wings

So These were scraped and sanded back All the removed material was on the underside where it'll be less noticeable but there's still some sanding and filling (and sanding and filling) to be done.

The Pavla cockpit also looked nice in it's packaging....and that's where it should have stayed.

I know the fit of a/m resin inserts isn't always the best but this is definitely one of Pavla's less inspiring efforts. Lot's of fettling was required before fitting including cutting a big chunk out of the forward coaming. It did go in finally though and with a lump of roofing lead glued to the back of it.






And there's a seat ready to go in too (apologies for the poor picture)




Plus, there have been some mods at the other end. The jet exhausts are boring so I thought some pipes would make them look a little better.



Some 1/4" plastic tube and a little drilling/carving will make quite some difference to the finished model. All I need now are some turbines at the forward ends.


And while the -19 was drying/resting/recovering I made some headway with the -17. It's another kit that looks nice in the box. It's not as bad as the -19 but it does have it's issues.

The cockpit is pretty good though. Quite acceptable for the scale with canopy closed.








I just painted and added some generic etched seat belts.

There are however some sink marks evident in the forward fuselage and there's precious little room to put any noseweight in there. I got some in under the cockpit floor beneath the gun tray panel. If it's not enough it's going to be keyhole surgery to get more in. The wings though went together and on quite nicely with the slight anhedral, characteristic of the type, built in.

The rear fuselage also fitted together nicely, clamping it's jet pipe which was painted using Humbrol Metalcote polished steel.




Unfortunately......




A short-shot and yet more sink marks


Seems like Dragon were having trouble putting enough plastic in

[iggie]

Blimey; you're being put through the wringer with these two! I admire your perseverance though; I'd have binned them by now

[Old_Tonto]

No don't bin the MiG-19 Dazzled. I need to see if the kit is worth sticking with.

Is it possible to thin down the wings on the inside?

[Stuart]

I gave up on Pavla cockpits - I've got one to fit. It makes you wonder if they ever see a copy of a kit it's designed for.

Sounds lime you're having fun with these two Darryl - I think I might leave my -19 in the stash.

[ShaunW]

Bit of a fight on your hands with these two by the looks Daz and hopefully it will all be worth it as IMHO the MiG 17 and 19 are worthy types to have in a collection of Cold War aircraft. I have one or two 1/48th Neomega cockpit sets in my stash which also look great in their packaging, certainly the resin holds wonderful detail. I've seen modellers struggle to fit AM cockpit sets before, so when I come to use them I'm not expecting miracles!

[Dazzled]

No don't bin the MiG-19 Dazzled. I need to see if the kit is worth sticking with.

Is it possible to thin down the wings on the inside?

That might be possible OT but it would start to eat into the trailing edge, and there would still be the wing to fuselage fairings to deal with.

[skypirate]

Looks like very rewarding fun under way here!
I am sure the results will be dazzling.

Cheers,

David

[TeeELL]

Daz,
This is brilliant. Your builds of these MiGs will serve as a reference for me when I start my builds of Cuban post-Revolutionary aircraft. They flew/fly a variant or variants of each type of MiG from '15 to '29, excepting the '25 and '27. Not at home so I cannot check to see which '17 and '19 I have (or even IF I have both?).

[MarkyM607]

Am I right in saying the Big MIG Build is five years and one month old tomorrow!

[dollar19]

Wow Daz this inspiring me to go out and start building every MIG. I can find. Of course I'd have to get a new display case.

[Dazzled]

Am I right in saying the Big MIG Build is five years and one month old tomorrow!

It is indeed. I did say at the start that this would be a long term project

And it goes on.


The -19 is giving me much of what I expected, a fair bit of work to get a result but I am rather enjoying it. I am glad though that I had the old KP kit to plunder for parts.

The latest improvements are at each end....

Some intake trunking made from rolled up thin plasticard.




And the exhausts with jetpipes are painted and installed.




I found some leftover wheel hubs in the spares box that look good enough for turbines, especially when viewed down a dark tube


It doesn't mean to say that the parts fit has remarkably improved though.






Still, as I said, nothing unexpected and I haven't really got to the filler stage yet.


The -17 is being unexpected. I've found more sink marks and poor seams plus the fit of the intake ring is pretty much on a par with the old -19.




Altogether a little disappointing though not insurmountable. I just think that Dragon could have done so much better.


So here's where they are now.




I have to let the liquid cement have time to fully set then it'll be first round of filler time.

[ShaunW]

Great improvement work Daz. These two kits have their faults but fill that gap in a line up of MiGs 15 to 29! Anybody kitted a 17 or 19 in 1/48th?

[Dazzled]

Great improvement work Daz. These two kits have their faults but fill that gap in a line up of MiGs 15 to 29! Anybody kitted a 17 or 19 in 1/48th?

HobbyBoss and Trumpeter respectively Shaun, both gunfighter and missile armed versions. I've built the -17PFU missile interceptor and have just acquired the Trumpeter -19S gunfighter to plug a gap in my 1/48th line up.