Dazzled's Late -17 **READY TO INTERCEPT**

[Dazzled]

Here's my entry for this auspicious GB.



This is HobbyBoss's 1/48th scale Mig-17PFU. A dedicated missile armed interceptor version of the highly successful Mig-17 dogfighter. Mig basically slapped an afterburner onto the Klimov VK-1 engine, replaced the guns with a radar system and added pylons for 4 AA-1 Alkali missiles, the predecessor of the much more capable (and widely used) Atoll AAM.

This kit was a bit of a bargain at the Yeovilton show back in February as it included an Eduard zoom set and a lovely Pavla resin ejector seat all for the pricely sum of £14. I really couldn't leave it there

I've got a couple of days off this weekend so there's going to be much modelling going on. Should get me off to a good start I hope

[Marek]

I have a popcorn and coffee ready. Gonna be interesting build.

[TomW]

I was wondering when this lucky find was going to find its way onto your workbench Darryl I have a feeling it'll come out looking awesome.

Regards

Tom

[Stuart]

Can't wait!

[Dazzled]

Right, let's have a look in the box.

First the main sprues.






One clear and seven medium grey styrene sprues, two of which are repeated. They seem to be in HB's typical quite hard styrene. This makes filling seams quite an interesting experience as most fillers seem to pull out of the joints as you sand. Never mind, I'm sure I can work around it. As you'd expect, given that HB produce other versions of the -17, there are some extra parts and some unique sprues, notably for the armament. Detail, I have to say, is extremely nice indeed.

Also in the box.



The gatefold instructions are nice and clear, giving Gunze paint references and a separate glossy colour sheet shows the colour options of which there are 3.....all Russian, all NMF. A bit of variety would have been nice!

Also in the picture are the nice little extras that came with the kit...a resin ejector seat and a printed detail set.

One interesting anomaly is that the instrument panel was in a separate bag, despite the fact that all the sprues were themselves still sealed in their bags. I think, perhaps, that the previous owner might have had to send off for a missing part.

Time to start building, I think.

[Dazzled]

So, in the beginning......

There are two main sub-assemblies to start with, the cockpit and the engine.


The cockpit tub consists of four parts and features some really nice detail, particularly on the sidewalls.



Before gluing these together however, I removed some of this detail to accommodate the etched parts. Hopefully these will be an improvement.

The ejector seat got a coat of matt black from a rattle can.



This part caused a little consternation at first as it seemed too big for the cockpit floor. Basically, it was too long to fit in behind the bump in the floor. This required the removal of some material at the centre front of the seat, between the stirrups. This then caused an issue with the joystick that was now too close to the seat. After much studying of pictures I concluded that HBs cockpit may not be 100% accurate and drilled a hole further forward to mount the joystick.


The engine is quite a nice feature of this model, particularly if you want to build the kit with the tail off or as a cutaway. If, however, you want to build it as a parked aircraft, as I do, then the engine, while being a nice model in it's own right, is just a pain in the proverbial. It's completely hidden inside the aircraft but, unfortunately, it has to be built to mount the jetpipe and you have no choice but to construct all 9 of the burner cans.



And then they have to be fiddled into place so they engage with the turbine housing. It's rather like trying to stick a bunch of bananas into a sock.



Finally, this structure is attached to the mounting frame using the mounting arms.



The potential for misalignment is huge. I've been very careful but it's still "fingers crossed" time. As it will be hidden, I haven't been too careful with the cleaning up and I've left a few parts off although the turbine parts have been painted and fitted as they will be visible, albeit not easily, through the rear of the jetpipe.

I have made a little more progress apart from this and I'll report on this soon, so long as my old camera holds out

[Stuart]

It's a shame you need to fit it, as it would have looked nice next to the jet on a stand...

Great work though!

[Dazzled]

I agree Stu but it's structally integral to the model. The rest of today's building has progressed things quite well. Unfortunately a dry fit of the forward fuselage has revealed a couple of issues that'll requure a bit of attention.

Tomorrow will involve some colourful Anglo-Saxon I think

[Gadfly]

Hi,

looks good so far.. I have sitting in my spares box the rear fuselage dolly, boarding ladder and pilot figure from the Tamiya 1/48th MiG 15. These might be of use to you if you wanted to display the engine open. Happy to send them to you if you want..

Just PM me you address and I'll post em off.

Cheers

GF

[Dazzled]

Thanks for the offer but I'm afraid that the engine is already fitted. It's been quite a productive day

[Gadfly]

No problem the dolly actually supports the rear fuselage section the whole rear apparently detached for major engine servicing.

If your interested it's yours...

cheers
GF

[Dazzled]

Tomorrow will involve some colourful Anglo-Saxon I think

And it did. Although not in the way I'd planned. The Anglo-Saxon occurred as I was running down the road after the idiot who had just smashed into my garden wall at 8:40 this morning.

[Stuart]

Arrrrggghhh that's bad - did you get him? And what's the damage?

[Dazzled]

The front wall is a write off. What wasn't knocked down by the car was cracked and unstable so had to be demolished. The police got them a couple of miles away. They weren't going to get far with no coolant in the engine. It turned out that the car was stolen and both occupants had drugs on them so they'll be eating prison food for a while and trying not to drop the soap in the shower.

On the upside, our insurance will pay for the wall, the police say that it's likely that the car insurance company will be liable for any excess (£150) and, most importantly, nobody was hurt. It's lucky it was so early as there are a few young children in the street that like to play in front of the house because it's quiet and safe at our end. The driver just hit the wall as if it wasn't there so anybody in front of it wouldn't have had a chance.

Also, there were 2 eye-witnesses; our next door neighbour whose computer desk is in her front window, and a friend of ours who was walking his dogs and was about 15 yards away. I got to the front of the house, sprinting like a white 47 year old Linford Christie, in time to see the car turning around dragging bits of plastic and leaking water, as did another of our neighbours who opened his front door as they were driving off. Another neighbour, at the top of the street, has security cameras at the back of his house and has given me a dvd of the car driving in undamaged and away with the front smashed up plus a few seconds of the passenger walking around where he can be clearly identified.

As criminals go these 2 weren't exactly masterminds. They were even asking for someone in the street by name and the local constabulary will be having words with him when he returns from holiday.

And it's usually such a quiet spot.

[Stuart]

Well glad it's all sorted and nobody was hurt - blooming annoying though - they sound a right couple of numptys (I'm being polite)...