The Trumpeter/Hobby Craft MiG-17 has the shapes for a Fresco, but the cockpit and intake may leave the more experienced modeler wanting a little more.
Cutting Edge has released this set and a companion splitter unit (CEC32052, MiG-15/17-compatible)for the Trumpeter kit that sharpen up the front end detail. Parts come on 12 casting blocks and include a cockpit tub, ejection seat and headrest, turtledeck, control stick, cockpit bulkhead, cockpit rails and consoles, multi-piece instrument panel with photo-film dials, gunsight and the ventral fin missing in the Trumpeter kit.
The Seat
The resin is bubble and pinhole-free, and detail is generally sharp. Even though the seat may look spartan, it's accurate according to some photos and much more detailed than the kit kit seat. A well-defined harness is molded into the seat.
The seat also comes on a rather complex casting block that will require some patience and delicate saw and file work to remove.
The Tub
The tub is a direct replacement for the kit tub, although instructions in this set and the splitter set advise you to remove all kit mounting flanges, ledges and lugs before installation.
This is not a conversion for the faint of heart, but the experienced modeler can turn the Trumpeter kit into an eye-puller with this as a start.
Mike Still
SUMMARY
Trumpeter has worked itself into a consistent routine of good, solid kits within the last year or two, but there is one early release that needs a bit of rework to make into a contest-level entry - the MiG-17.
About Mike Still (modelcitizen62) FROM: VIRGINIA, UNITED STATES
40-year model builder: big on RAF and USN, but will build just about anything that strikes my fancy. - given my past buying habits, Spitfires are striking my fancy like buckshot >B^D
