Beyond The Sprues
Current and Finished Projects => Physical Models => Aero-space => Topic started by: McGreig on January 16, 2012, 08:45:15 AM
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Well, posting on the nice, bright new forum (thanks for the invite, Greg) ought to start with a nice, bright new model. Except that January is the busiest time of my year in the Real World (what sadist decided that 31 January was an ideal filing deadline for UK tax returns!?!?!), so I've decided to something a bit less demanding and try to get some of my (many) unfinished builds completed. Expect a Jumo powered He-162, a Soviet Stuka, a Soviet Radial engined Hurricane and a Savoia S-21, among others, in the reasonably near future.
But before those, something older. As unmanned versions of the MiG-29 have appeared in Greg's “Uninhabited and Unafraid” thread and Stargazer's “Imaginary Aircraft” thread, I've been inspired to exhume this old whif from 2007 which I hope will be new to a few members.
This is a MiG-29 based reconnaissance UAV, with an extended wingspan and large external fuel tanks for long range, high altitude spy flights. The basic kit is the old 1/72 Revell/Tsukuda MiG-29, which has its problems but is about right in overall size and shape.
And now back to trying to get something actually finished - - - -
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Welcome aboard Gordon. It looks the part to be sure.
I'll be expecting a lot of Soviet-inspired goodness from you in the future!
And perhaps you'll get that ASh-82 Spit sorted without committing heresy ;D
Regards,
John
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Pretty... ;)
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Thats Hot! :-*
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McGroovy :-*
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Nice, really like the colors.
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Thanks for the positive comments - glad you liked the MiG.
John – it's good to see your profiles again. I'm tempted by the Finnish Tu-4 (but I'm still working on a Vietnamese Il-40 and a Pe-2 based on profiles that you did a couple of years ago - - -).
And, oddly enough, the Ash-82 Spitfire project is back on the agenda – I'm thinking of a re-engined PR XIX. >:D
Next up (and the first model that I've finished since the Soviet pulse-jet Spitfire in September 2010!) is a Jumo powered version of the He-162, based on the Hobby Boss kit. This was started in October 2007 and went quite quickly until the decal stage, when everything ground to a halt for four years.
Although not a clone of the Dragon kit, the Hobby Boss kit is clearly heavily influenced by it. However, it has some problems of its own - the canopy frame line is in the wrong place, the fit of the parts is not that good, and, on my example, the rear fuselage had suffered shrinkage to produce a slight banana shape and an angled join with the front part. Also, while the main undercarriage legs are copied from the Dragon kit, the wheel bay is shallower, resulting in a very odd sit if you don't shorten the u/c legs. However, all these problems, including the canopy, were corrected with a little filling, sanding and polishing as necessary and I would probably much rather work with this than the Dragon kit.
I've gone the lazy way of representing the Jumo engine by simply using an engine nacelle from a Matchbox Me-262. Although I've seen the Jumo powered He-162 drawn this way elsewhere, I suspect that, in real life, the Jumo would have been enclosed in a nacelle designed specifically to fit on top of an He-162 and not under the wing of an Me-262. On the other hand, using the Me-262 parts is quicker and does make the He-162 look a bit different.
The colour scheme represents a machine tested post war by the USSR which, in the Real World, did test fly at least two standard He-162s painted in an overall grey scheme with full Soviet markings.
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Nice work.
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Looking forward to them Gordon.
The Salamander does look odd with the engine that way. One could almost suggest turning it about and swapping the shock cone, etc for a more 'normal look'.
Regards,
John
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Could fool a JMN no doubt :)