**** DONE: GB-38 1:48 MiG-3 (early) - Axis A/C

[Airframes]

Good stuff Geo.

 

[parsifal]

Nice looking kit IMO. Doing well Geo.

 

[fubar57]

Thanks guys. Got the tail wheel fit sorted out and by sorted out I mean as I was removing the last little bit of plastic, the wheel/strut disappeared. I followed its flight all the way down to the sprue grey colored rug and that was it. The good new is it's an easy scratch build, the gooder news is I fixed the fit issue. Now we come to the next fit issue I read about online, the placement of the radio deck which according to the instructions is really really wrong. The other builder said he fiddled about until he found the solution but never said what exactly it was. When I started test fitting the innards I kept trying to figure out what the little protrusions marked "A" and "B" were for.

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...ta-dah.......

 

[Wurger]

 

[CATCH 22]

Hi Geo!
One of the reasons I never build models of Japanese or Italian airplanes (O.K. I've done a few "Italians") is, because I don't speak the language. There is still an enormous quantity of a/cs, manufactured by the British, Americans, Germans and French (and in Canada of course) I can start with whenever I want though. It is my understanding that our modern world might be so interconnected, but the best information we can get is still the one in the respective native language. Not from foreign sources.
I don't speak Russian, but I have somebody to help me with this language. You might go and check some of the Russian builds of MiG-3 using any of the electronic translators (do not trust Google, IMHO AltaVista/Babelfish is one of the better).
Here is a detailed WIP of the same model you're building:
МИГ-3 и И-16 1/48 Служили два товарища в однем и тем полке... — Каропка.ру — стендовые модели, военная миниатюра
And here is the full collection of all MiG-3 builds and WIPs from the same modeler's site called "karopka.ru":
Результаты поиска — Каропка.ру — стендовые модели, военная миниатюра
I hope you'll find a lot of information there. Be careful with the photos: some of them show details of modern replicas, not original a/cs.
Cheers!
Yves

 

[fubar57]

Many thanks Yves

 

[Crimea_River]

Challenging kit Geo. Odd that the wing holes are there. Most manufacturers would have you drill them out which is much easier than having to fill them.

 

[fubar57]

I guess they figure everyone likes things under wings but a pain in the keester none the less. Test fitted upper cowl piece, a great fit on one side, a bit wider than the fuselage on tother...

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...added a spacer behind the I.P.,....

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....much better...

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For some reason that tail wheel I found in the spares box looks huge in the photos. It is a bit bigger than the kit one but I can make it smaller

 

[Airframes]

Nice fix on the cowl overlap.

 

[Wurger]

 

[fubar57]

Thanks Terry and Wojtek. Before the cowl piece can be installed one must insert the guns. One went out of ones mind trying to clean up said guns without loss of said guns or blood. One then blew a gasket trying to insert said guns into place, the center gun having none of it insisting on trying to find the floor instead. I had to widen the hole without destroying the integrity of the surrounding area. In the end the battle was one. To be sure they stayed in place during handling, a schwack of CA was poured on.

 

[Wurger]

I'm afraid the protruding MG barrels and the bulges above them are incorrect. Not sure but Trumpeter could made them oversized. The MiG-3 had the barrel endings within thermal sleeves to avoid icing Their endings were cut diagonally. The bulges above the outlets were quite small. The gutters for the MG outlets were much deeper in order to hide them there.. See pics..

 

[fubar57]

Have to live with it I guess, maybe try to thin the bulges a bit

 

[Wurger]

I see.

 

[parsifal]

at least the correct knowledge is there, though it comes at your cost Geo.

 

[fubar57]

C'est la vie. Did a bit more test fitting, this time with the wing/fuselage fit. There is a minor indent on the left upper wing piece, it starts at the same place a lip is (see lower photo). I'll add some plastic card here. The right upper also has an indent but it is only the length of the lip.

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On top of the indent issue I couldn't get the upper right wing to sit flush with the wing filet. The culprit turned out to be that plastic sticky uppy thing (B). I clipped it off and got a flush fit. You can still see it on the left (A).

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Some minor sanding here to get a good fit...

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....also notice the filled in holes, thank you very much Trumpeter

 

[Wurger]

 

[fubar57]

Bondage isn't really necessary but when one has the tools...

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This actually fits better than it looks...

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...I'm going to add some plastic card to the inside to ensure a good hold and then flood it with CA to make sure t doesn't come apart from further handling

 

[Wurger]

 

[Crimea_River]

Wrestle that beast Geo. Looking good.