Time for a new project! The kindly folks at Icaerodesign approached to review and build their recent conversion set that allows one to build a Romanian version of the famous MiG fighter. They gave me an Eduard "overtrees" kit, their resin conversion and and an extra baggie of resin treats. In case you missed my review, you can see it here: or here. Let's kick this off!

Chuck,
Another fantastic build coming our way. Not to mention your helper crew including Kapitan Andreea.

Joel

Nice start! That resin looks really nice. Are those circular marks the beading tool makes?

here we go. more months of pleasurable addiction.

This is going to be great! Looking forward to it!

Thanks, everyone! Eetu, yes- the beading tool makes perfect, circular domed rivets.

Friends, life has been really busy as of late- but good things are coming. This may be my last update for a couple of months- we'll have to see what happens. In the meantime, Kapitain Andreea is back to show you the latest. Cheers!

Beautiful work......and the MIG-21 is nice too!

Best wishes,

Ian

A much-belated thanks, Ian!

Kapitan Andrea and I are back in gear! The move went well, and we're adapting to our new lives in a new home and anew place. I won't say it was entirely easy, but we've persevered. I was able to get back to the bench in early December, but this is the first time I've been ready to post again- read on!

Quick question: Have I put this in the proper subforum?

Not sure that anybody cares about the sub-forum Chuk, we are all just gob-smacked once again by another masterpiece in the making.

We're not worthy!

Keep the updates coming, I'm loving this (even though there is not a spinner in sight )

Cheers, D

LOL- thanks, Damian! It's good to be back in the swing of it. Cheers, mate!

Thanks Chuk - my wife was checking out your update over my shoulder like usual, now I have the same nail polisher as you. Should come in handy for the Rufe.

What are the Curved lines on the inside of the Wing?

Those were made for a LED lighting system. Eduard had planned to release a Special Edition MiG-21 with LED lights, but scrapped those plans because the engineering of the mold tooling would have delayed the release of the MiG-21. As it was Eduard had initially planned to release their MiG-21MF in February 2011, hence the MiGuary name they gave to the release month for the kit. It was delayed to March 2011. This may explain why the released a video of the MiGuary March song?

https://youtu.be/h9yL1WxtlWQ

Thanks, Matt- that's a handy little gizmo, you'll like it. It turns too slowly to damage the plastic. Cheap, too, eh?

That's just fascinating, John- and would explain the odd little moldings on those two fuselage bulkheads. Battery and switch options, no doubt.

Another interesting tidbit: there is a bulkhead to mask off the front of the cockpit tub on the clear parts sprue! It's not mentioned in the instructions- a friend pointed that out.

Sneak peek:

Chuck,
Just a incredible build to date. Your ability to detail and enhance the detailing and AM parts is beyond words.

You mentioned really loving the new AK metalics, but have you ever tried the Alcad 2 metalics? I've found them nearly fool proof, and tough as nails once they dry.

BTW, love your sneak peak.

Joel

Life after a big move throws a lot of surprises at you, along with all of life's regular highs and lows. Just in modeling I've gone through periods of not even looking at the bench, to hours of studying the subject and subsequent squalls of charging ahead and then banging my against the table. It's been about 7 weeks since my last post, so here's a long one for you. Forgive me if I reiterate some basics- my original mission remains to instruct and entertain, and help grow our beloved hobby. Cheers!








































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Stellar update Chuk.


Your coworkers and mine share the same sense of humor, in the mens room above the toilet there's a "Shallow water, no diving." and being a proper OSHA decal, it even states on the bottom "Do not deface, paint of remove this decal" making it so perfect.

the mig-21 fishbed the most produced fighter in the world over 20,000 copies made the soviet union and the peoples republic of china. the chinese copy was given tne code name as f-7gm.

Thanks, Matt! Our bathrooms at work featured insane photoshops of all and sundry as well.

Thanks, Ulises! It's such a homely aircraft, but it has grown on me, as they say. Cheers!

Progress! Here's the latest from my bench- enjoy! It may be a while before the next update- I've got another project that will sideline the LanceR for a bit. I'll let you know more about that as soon as I can- cheers!

Chuck,

this built is simply outstanding! Great update! Are the AK Metal colors acrylic or enamel?

Thank´s a lot, and give my respects to Kapitan Andrea!

Oliver

Chuck,
What a fantastic update. Your detailing is not only amazing, but sets the standard bar a lot higher then I'll ever reach.

Those blade antennas really look as good if not better then the PE parts. I'm still amazed at how you went about instsalling those Strob for the defense system.

Your modifications to the front strut came out perfectly. How do you make those aluminum clamps? They sure look a lot better then my masking tape ones.

Joel

Many thanks, Oliver! The AK Extreme Metal paints are lacquers- very smelly but a dream to spray- and nearly bulletproof! I've always shied away from metallics, but these have changed all that.

Thanks, Joel! As usual, I've been torturing every little detail out of every part- it's a sickness! As for the front strut, the upper ring is a tiny PE part from the Eduard Brassin wheel set. It was quite a challenge to get it bent to fit in place- I had to glue one end, let it dry, then glue the other end and hold it until the glue set. I used thin strips of aluminum furnace tape (from Home Depot)- much easier- That's what you see in the pics above. But! The tape's adhesive is spread too thin for these tiny bits, and what's there prevents CA glue from penetrating under the tape. While working on other aspects of the strut (I've only just begun!), the tape came loose. This time I annealed the PE and managed to get the lowest ring on. Annealing the remaining part melted the PE! A light bulb went on, and I used wine bottle lead foil. This time it was "winner, winner, chicken dinner!" I'll be using this technique from here on out. Pardon my wordiness, my friend.

I'm still waiting for my "mystery project", so I've pressed on with the LanceR. You do a lot with scrap wire, brass tube and styrene if you put your mind to it!