Hi all

in support to the Merdeka Group Build, here is my WIP thread for TUDM MIG-29NUB - Early scheme (green-grey camo)

and this will be build OOB :D just to get the momentum going..
as usual.. any comment are welcomed.. :D

================================================

Here is what i plan to paint this MIG :D

or something like it according tot he ScaleNutz suggested
the picture is from Russia Aircraft Camo Color
=================================================

Here is the kits i'll be using


and the decals will be from ScaleNutz

- As alerted by masterqq i didnt follow the instruction exactly since he mentioned that i need to attach the front-upper part to the back-upper fuselage before attaching it to the lower counterparts (hope that is understandable:D )

- even by following his guide i also bumped onto a few problem fitting the front-upper to the back upper fuselage :angry:
- after a fewdays of curses and bad words ( :D ), here is the result... i also use the Surfacer 1000 to check the join to see if there's any more holes/seamlines that i'll need to fill...




the same goes for the below-front and below-back fuselage join, although not as bad..



=================

in next installment i'll try to tackle the intake seam-lines!!

enjoy
kuman

yeh... kuman.. you really need to get your hand dirty on this one... putty... putty... sand...sand.. :D

So which color it gonna be.. 2 tone or single tone?

Hehehehe... finally this is revealed. Hope this will make it in time for the 50th Merdeka event.

Masterqq, I think Kuman has mentioned that he will be painting this in the two tone green-grey scheme.

I have this kit too, so will follow your build.

Thx kuman for your WIP.

hi all..

first post updated with the intended camo (at least that is what i hope to achieve in time for the Merdeka):D

aiseh malu already someone want to follow my WIP :wub: :wub:

will update a lil bit more.. :))

kuman

Good news indeed to hear you've started on your contribution to the Merdeka Group Build, Kuman. From Masterqq's description looks like there maybe a fair bit of work ahead. No need to malu lah as every modeler approaches a kit in a different way even if its the same kit and its always good to see and hear a different approach.

Good luck and do keep us posted.

Kuman,
you mean there is no conversion neccessary for this academy kit?

Thx, Loo.

I wanted to ask this question too.

For 2 seater.. AFAIK, no conversion neccessary for the academy kit
For single seater, need to add the refuel probe, and loop antenna..


Kuman,
This baby is a heavy tail seater... make sure you add some weight to the nose..

What decal sets are available out there for a TUDM Mig29N UB?

Good to see this project taking off, Kuman.

I don't remember the pattern shown in the Scalenutz sheet (which I think should be correct) but the pattern in the drawing you posted is a bit off. My Illustrator problem is still unsolved, so I'll draw something for you an post a scan in a day or two.

And Kuman, the fun really begins when you start joining the 2-part under side of the nose... :lol:

Loo,

The NUB can be built out of box, with no mods necessary. The single seat can also be built with minimum mods if finished in the initial scheme, without the cobra/bat tail art.

PoohBear,

There are 3 decal sheets out for this MiG, 2 from VFA Productions (old scheme - 48/72VFA01 and new scheme - 48/72VFA08) and the Scalenutz sheet for the old scheme.

Many thx, aidy. That gives me another option other than the kit decals. I only have to find the decals for it. :D

PoohBear,

Last I checked, HHQ had stock of all 3 sheets.

Aidy, much appreciated on the heads up. Will plan a visit there soon.

Kuman, sorry for the hijack. On with your show!

loo CK

thanks masterqq.... i also wondering abt it.. :D
and thanks for the heads-up on the tail-seater... will use a lot of those "timah" with this one.. :D

Aidy

- There's one patter in the ScaleNutz sheet... i'll try to post in here tomorrow.. need to scan it first.. D
- Well thanks for the cautionary reminder there Aidy since tonite will be the nite i'll put the cockpit in the fuselage and join the 2 parts together.. :)) (hopefully..)


poohbear
- i'll be using the ScaleNUtz decal for 1 simple reason.. they come with the "hypothetical" TUDM Sukhoi SU-30MKM as a bonus... so i can "kill 2 birds with 1 decals" so to speak....
- the Bonus decal will be usefull for my next bird ;) (again.. hopefully) :D

- :D no problem there poohbear... all discussion is welcomed... since we can learn from others thought as well.. :))

will update alil bit more tomorrow...

kuman

As promised yesterday..

the Scanned of the scheme from the ScaleNutz decal taken from ARC Review site..


today is the continuation of the build..

the intake need to be sand and putty and i'm beginning to feel the pain described by aidy and masterqq :((

Before


After


and the final result for both of them..


Next will be the landing gear

kuman

kuman,

can you check the position of your intake cover, the angle look abit off la..

ok found a reference in one of my pictures...


i'll check bak the position base on these pictures and will update accordingly in here also :D

thanks for the head-ups Thomas..

kuman

kuman

nice progress.....looking nice

r u planning to change the bang seats?

good to hear u are on the merdeka build

rgds
mr b

Kuman,

I looked at the Scalenutz NUB pattern in the ARC review and found, as expected, that they got it right. The one you posted, however, was for the single-seat and is much, much simpler that the NUB camo.

I assume that you'll be using the open auxiliary intakes, since you closed off the main intakes. If not, I have also seen pics of MiG-29N's on the ground with both closed so whatever it is should be ok.

Ordinarily, I'd recommend at least replacing the seats with resin (or scratchbuilt) ones as the kit gives you something more of an 'ejection sofa' than an ejection seat. Be advised that only the True Details seats will fit unmodified as it's undersized. Other seats need more work as Academy's pit is a tad shallow. Posing the canopy open will also help though.

Progress so far looks good. If you're OK with enamels, send me a PM so we can work out some paints for the camo.

- i'll try at least to follow this schema dna modified it for the NUB version... hopefully it will be of minor modification..

- yup... but that was not intentional.... since at first i wanted to make a closed aux intake... but the parts wasnt fitting very well.. so i opt to use the open ones...since the fit is better...:)
- and i would figure if somehow if i pose both intake open it should be ok as well right?

- well this is going to be my last step... IF i'm getting a new bang seat which would be better? i'm torn between Zvezda and Pavla Model seat? since i could find the True Details or NeoMega ones anywhere.. and remember that i need to get 2 of the seat...
- i also will try my best in modifying the "ejection sofa" that came with the kit... will post it here also once i'm confident with it :D

- i got the color scheme for Tamiya Paint already.. i'll try to use that one first basically i'll be using
XF25 Light Sea Grey & XF65 Field Grey (Green)
will see how that fits the bill..



===========================================

Progress..

Last nite i modified the intake cover as pointed out by masterqq but i forgot to take picture of it.. maybe next week i'll post some shot of the intake..

Below is the pictures of the instrument panels... i did try drybrushing but the result is not as good... but hopefully this is ok.. since it already in the cockpit in the fuselage :((




thats it for now

thanks guys and keep the comments coming

kuman

The panel looks nice from here. Too late now, but some oil wash would have made the moulded detail pop out even more. Well, there's always next time, no?

They do have a scan of the NUB pattern on ARC's review. It's in image 5 on the 2nd March 2005 review. That pattern is accurate.

I don't know about both intakes being open, maybe someone here has seen it so.

I'm not sure about the Zvezda seat, but IIRC some of Pavla's stuff are recasts of NeOmegas. Might be the way to go since NeOmega's seats are nice. Thought I had some I could spare you but a rummage through the stash shows that all I have left are 1/72 ones. Squadron has plenty of True Details seats (they should, it's their product :rolleyes: ), not expensive IIRC.

From what I was able to eyeball, the pigments of those 2 Tamiya colours matches ok with the actual paints. Hope it comes out nicely!

- yea.. i know i should have ask here first... oil wash... :ph43r:
- next time hopefully.... hmmm or maybe i can try to have the wash while the panel is "in " the cockpit.. hmmm :huh:

as for the NUB pattern, i'll check the instruction that came with my decals also... i believe its the same one..

- i think Scalenutz.com have the Zvezda seat for SGD8 approx RM18/pcs... hmm maybe i should get 1 from them ops.. 2
- also i'll try check over at Squadron(for the True Details) and Luckymodel (for the Pavla Models)
- no worries aidy... there's always next time :rolleyes:

yup.. hopefully all will be ok with the color.. :)

kuman

a lil more update,

the landing gear wire added although not as per my reference *yet* :D bit hopefully getting there...

Front Gear


i think i need to remove the "wing-thing" on the foot of the front landing gear above.. maybe need to replace it with a paperclip.. any suggestion guys?


Both gears


the same wire i use for rear gears as well..


panel in the cockpit


just to update how the panel is inside the cockpit and in the tube.. :D

more update once it is available..

now really feeling the paint of sanding and puttying the front-lower part to make it join properly with the rest of the body!!

aduh... aduh.

anyway enjoy and as usual.. comments are welcomed

kuman :D

Bro verry nice WIP, landing gears look good, keep it comming

Nice job with the LG's.

Looks like there's a small gap between front IP and the shroud. If you are still in dryfit mode, you could maybe do something about it before sealing it up?

Keep it up. :)

Kuman,

The old hard disk in the head just remembered this article. Have you seen this:

http://vodnik2.republika.pl/pages/mig29/mig29.htm

Very helpful for 'accurising' the Academy kit. Got a lot of helpful tips from him on my previous build.

Nice work on the gears! The panels and consoles in the pit can still be washed in place. Try it, you'll be amazed at how much better the cockpit can look.

About the wing-thingie on the nose gear, maybe stretched sprue would be easier to work with.

What should the wing-thingie be like?

Edit: nevermind - I found out that it should be two struts instead of wing thingies.

I think cutting it to shape is the easiest way to go.

Good luck.

:rolleyes:

thanks for the input guys...

it takes me a few minutes to try to figure out what the IP is and where is the "shroud" but finally i realized its the Instrument Panel :D

anyway i didnt notice abt the gap until you pint it our poohbear.. unfortunately i already fir this in the tube... any idea how "erpair" this in it current state? maybe i can mask the IP with a masking tape and apply a tiny bit of putty in place.. or maybe try to squeeze in a strip of plastic sheet in there ;) worth ty try i guess....

:D please do a scheduled defragmentation on ur Hard Disk aidy... you need to keep it running bcoz the link is [/b]awesome[/b]!!

as for washing the pit, also i'll try it next (or maybe tonite after i fill the gap poohbear mentioned above)

as for the landing gear, stretched sprue never crossed my mind and this is a good oppurtinity to try it :D

thanks for the info guys and keep them coming and thanks for the kind works Vince

kuman

Er..sorry..this was a presumption on my part that you would know what IP meant. My bad, buddy.

If the canopy is going to be closed, the gap might not be so obvious, so you might want to leave it at that. Saves you some work. :P
Or if its really bugging you now that you realise its there, you could maybe try to fill in the gap with some white glue. It should look just fine and dandy after touch up and a wash.

Kuman,

Can you nudge the panel a bit more into the coaming?

As Poohbear said, don't fuss too much about it if you're closing the canopy - it would be less obvious once the coaming is painted black.

:D
a lil update on my part...

First to update the gap near the IP :)

- to cover the gap i use a fine wire tucked in the gap there... seems ok to me :D

Joining
a gap from joining the intake to the fuselage.. quite big.. i try to use the "glue-overflow" mothod to lessen the gap but not very effective.. i guess its time for normal putty..



below is the completed repair the gap/correction i need to make on the kit especially on the joining parts :angry: :( very the pening already... and i think this is by far the most putty i used in a single kit...




this is where i used a plastics strip to fill in the gap before i use putty to cover it all..still need to clean-up a lil bit more


i dont know if i got this right for the intake... but i used plastics sheet instead since the original parts got broken-off as the result from "trying-to-move-when-the-glue-cured" effect.


and finally (for now), i attached all the pylons to the underwing.


Next stop/task to attache the tail fins and paint the nozzle with first layer of gloss black! :D

enjoy and as usual comment accepted at no charge.. :D

kuman

Waliao eh...looks like I'll be in for a fun time with the fitting when I start on mine. :blink:

Switching back to observation mode...

hee hee.. told you.. it is a putty party kit... :D

Keep it up man...

:D :D

just to add something to the "quite forum" :D

last couple of nights i attached the tail fin to the fuselage.
going to addthe tail rudder next after i clean the putty at the base there...


picture will follow tomorrow, since the battery just decided to quit on me.

its hard to explain with no picture ;)

NEXT
- will dry fir the nosecone to check for balance.. dont want to have a tail sitter..
- will proceed to painting the engine nozzle and panel lines during the weekend (if my daughters dont drag me to play lego with them again :D )

kuman

yr putty work looks good ...

tamiya basic type?

tracking progress

rgds
mr b

yup Mr B.. basic type putty... although i just bought some Green Putty, will try that Green Putty once i got the nerve to do so... :)

- and as Master Thom said.... Putty Party and i think with this kits i tried a lot of sanding technique already including normal sanding, wet sanding, dilute with NPR, clean with NPR,make-shift-sanding stick but the combination of all makes the kit as what it stand ATM... no one sanding style is prefered here :D


Updates:
- As promised yesterday.. here is a single shot of the tail fin. actually i snapped a few picture but when i load it in the PC just now.. it come out very blur.... so only 1 survives the "blurness"

here it is...



all i can say for the tail-fin portion of this kit... it fits like a charm.... :D

Problems
- i was inspecting the wheel bay doors, i noticed they have the ejection mark on the inside of the door and in between the panel details....
how do you guys fix this? i put putty in there .. but sanding is out of the questions since it would destroy all the raised rivet lines in there... i'll snap picture and post it here Monday..

NEXT
- as i said earlier, will try to panel lines the craft
- paint the nozzle.
till next week

thanks guys keep the comment coming

kuman

Maybe you could try this - take a toothpick and slice the ends into a sharp flat chiseled edge. Wide or narrow edge will depend on your needs. Take your favourite grit sandpaper, cut it into thin strips and CA it to conform to your new fangled chisel tool and wet sand away. If your chisel sander gets worn out or clogged up, just rip it off and CA another strip on.

Hope that made sense. :blink:

Poohbear

thanks... make a lot of sense :D
so first apply the putty as normal, and use ur method to sand the place... :D

will try it later....

thanks a lot

kuman

Updates

This would be the last update until i got back my digicam from the shop... somehow the "shutter" is not working.. so i send to Canon service center to get it fixed.. maybe will take around a couple of weeks :((

on to the updates...

===========
Parachute brake housing --> is this what its called?

Anyway.. i try to make the housing in open position.. but unlucky me one of the part decide to broke-off during cuttingsession.. so me and my "un-resourcefulness" try to use a wire to replace it.. so below is the result together with the rest of the parts....




and during construction of the fuselage i terforgot to put the housing in the fuselage (housing of the parachute-that long cylindrical thing).. resulted i need to cut the base and glue it to the fuselage..

aiyaaakkk!!! forgot to take picture pulak

Whell bay cover
as i highlited in the previous update.. the ejection mark on the inside of the cover is very visible.. so (thanks to all the suggestions) i filled it with putty and start the tedious job of micro-sanding the thing and also i use NPR to level it...

i dunno if you guys can see from the picture below... but here goes..




Balancing
- i attached the landing strut to test the balancing... and it works perfectly eventhough i have attach the nozzle to it...




now the fun section!!
Questions

1. SHould i paint the burners/engine nozzle/tempat-keluar-asap BEFORE attach to fuselage.... or after ?
- would it be trouble some to paint it after attach to the fuselage?
2. What can be use to replace the pitot in front of the craft since i notice this MIG got a few "step" in the pitot..

thanks guys and all suggestion and critique is apperciated

kuman