I'm building a 1/48 MiG-29UB using an FM Models cockpit resin and photoetch kit. The problem I'm experiencing is that the rear seat sits significantly higher and will not allow the canopy to close. We're talking a couple or more mm that need to go away somehow. I can't believe they would make such a mistake, but I need to get this fixed somehow. Both seats are the same size. Is my only option to cut a good piece off the bottom of the second seat?





Thanks!

Hi Ion

I was all set with some advice about how we often need to adjust the fit of canopies... until I saw your pictures!

Wow! So the canopy fits fine without the rear seat? Then, so long as you've got the cockpit tub lined up correctly in the fuselage (do check that...), I think you've little option but to do what you suggest and trim the bottom of the rear seat until you can close the canopy over it.

All the best

Rowan

Hey lon,
That's going to be your best option, trim down the seats bottom. But first as Rown suggested check the cockpits fit. You could also trace the seats postion with a pencil and trim out the cockpit floor some and then pick up the rest from the seat. I had a similar problem using a resin set for an Intruder kit. The instrument panel sat high and had to be trimmed down.

Trimming the seat down… I really don’t think you’ll notice it so much.

The MIG looks good so far, looking forward to seeing more.

Joe

Thanks for the help, Rowan. This is not a mistake in my alignment or anything else. If you look at the second picture behind the seat, you will see another piece that looks like the headrest on the seat. Well, the canopy continues the top line of that piece (the canopy has a slot in the middle so that piece actually come out and lines up with the canopy), so there is NO WAY it would ever fit without some milling. I would have to cut about half of the lower side of the seat for it to fit and also have a little bit of clearance left. The canopy does fit fine without the rear seat.

I have FM Model kits for several of my airplanes and I find them quite nice, but this completely surprised me, not to mention the seats are already painted short of a flat coat....

Hi again Ion

I've sometimes found resin sets a poor fit where they're scaled from real-life dimensions, not matched to kit dimensions, but this seems a pretty extreme case. Was the resin set designed to fit this particular MiG-29 kit?

All the best

Rowan

Yes, this kit was made for the Academy 1/48 kit as there were no other 1/48 MiG-29UB to my knowledge. Both the cockpit set and the academy kit are out of production now I think.

Here is how much I had to cut off the seat so far (approximately 2.2mm):



It is much better now, but it looks like it may still need a little more taken out (I cannot tell for sure since I also have to modify the canopy a bit. The piece behind the seat is wider than the original piece so I have to modify the canopy a bit as well). Surprisingly it doesn't look like it has been cut once it sits in the tub. I'll post updates later once I'm done with this. Thanks!

I have found on several kits once resin seats go into the cockpit, the canopy doesn't sit right. That's why most of my kits with A.M cockpits/seats (or even have pretty good detail) are modelled with the canopy open.
Does the kit give you the option of having the canopy open, might have been easier then cutting the seat up.
Andy

Well, that did the trick! The canopy now can be fully closed and it has just a bit of clearance with the seat. Hopefully there will be no more surprises. This cockpit kit was definetely a challenge, although it will be worth it once it's all in place.



PS. Yes, you can build it with an open canopy, but I wanted it closed.

Thanks again!

Hi again Ion

This actually looks like it could make for a great Review once you've got the conversion completed - I'm sure many people could benefit from your experiences in sorting out the fit.

All the best

Rowan

Good job Ion. Man that bites. I would hate to have to do that to such a detailed seat. I would model it with an open canopy. I guess a second choice would be to give the kit to the Grandkids though.

Just when I thought I might be able to finally put this cockpit together... I discover even more horrors...



Better view:



The canopy is supposed to fit over the module that you see in it. The canopy will NOT fit over it unless forced. It gets better.... see those two pieces above? They are supposed to go IN the canopy on each side. What kind of wacky stuff were the designers of this thing smoking?
What do I do now? Besides not using those two pieces (damn shame) I cannot really think of anything else...

From my experience with cockpit sets like this, they are designed in mind with the modeler wanting to have the canopy open. Personally if this is not the option you want then I would leave out the side rails and the etch details on the sides. But unfortunately I agree that this is a waste of the detail set

This is definetely a surprise to me. It's only my second aircraft and the first aftermarket kit I used to add detail to a kit. I tend to be a perfectionist and do not like things that "do not work". Even if I built this plane with an open canopy, these issues would have still bugged me.

Fortunately, I have a general photoetch kit for this plane (old 1993 eduard) and it includes those canopy rails (although with less detail). Still better than none at all and with a little adjustment on the internal parts I will probably make this work.