Excellent butchery going on here steve , all the more impressive in the tiny scale
Chris's 1/144 Ye-2 Conversion
- Thread starter Steve-the-Duck
- Start date
Hang on to your hats folks. I'm almost finished. Though I may regret a step too far
So, as I've got so many of these F7-IIs to make into prototypes, I've had to come up with a repeatable method for the shorter, thinner, nose, and so...
I've cut the nose back a little further, and used the kit nose cone, then done some judicious filing and sanding to get it to shape. The Ye-2 and Ye-4 noses are the shortest of them all, by about 20 cm, 1.5 mm in scale, so the others, like the Ye-6, should be easier
Should be.
If I'd been able to get a whole box of F-Toys MiG-21 Fs, I'd be laughing. But then I'd have half-a-dozen A-6 Corsairs to get rid of... Currently, the few F / F-13s individually on eBay go for about 13 quid each, four times the price of the F7-II. Still, they're nice, an d accurate, little models...
So, as I've got so many of these F7-IIs to make into prototypes, I've had to come up with a repeatable method for the shorter, thinner, nose, and so...
I've cut the nose back a little further, and used the kit nose cone, then done some judicious filing and sanding to get it to shape. The Ye-2 and Ye-4 noses are the shortest of them all, by about 20 cm, 1.5 mm in scale, so the others, like the Ye-6, should be easier
Should be.
If I'd been able to get a whole box of F-Toys MiG-21 Fs, I'd be laughing. But then I'd have half-a-dozen A-6 Corsairs to get rid of... Currently, the few F / F-13s individually on eBay go for about 13 quid each, four times the price of the F7-II. Still, they're nice, an d accurate, little models...
And so, it now looks like a 'plane, rather than an all aluminium death tube!
What it actually looks like is a Sukhoi-7! Well, at the 1954 Victory parade flypast, it was mistaken for a Sukhoi (not that there any Sukhois of that layout even in service at the time!)
The advantage of the MiG-21 for re-shaping, is the early versions aren't effected by the 'area rule' that lead to trans- and supersonic 'planes being 'coke bottle' shape in the fusealge
Without too much alteration, except to angle the root, the tail surfaces are on. Hmm, need to fill that gap in the tail, which is invisible in real life!
So, I do adhere to the tenet of 'build as much as possible before painting', but by the same token 'fiddly little bits will get knocked off, so adding the undercarriage doors may have been a mistake. The nose wheel bay had to be moved back about 5mm, and the main wheel doors reshaped, as per a photo of the Ye-2 that actually shows the underside! Also added some strip extensions to the wing roots.
And I haven't added the twin dorsal strakes yet either
Now, do I risk it and add the undercarriage now? Come painting, it'll be an all over silver spray, then panels picked out with the many many many shades of aluminium, silver, polished metal etc I have
Well, the pitot needed a new hole to mount it, but what the hell
So, just for my own level of masochism, I've already started work on another MiG, converting the Area 88 F, as seen at the start of the build here, as the Ye-4 delta-prototype to be a comnpanion piece for this. But I will finish this one before posting anything else
Excepting two other 1/72 (not MiG) rapidly approaching completion. Just need another 1/72 Highland terrier...
What it actually looks like is a Sukhoi-7! Well, at the 1954 Victory parade flypast, it was mistaken for a Sukhoi (not that there any Sukhois of that layout even in service at the time!)
The advantage of the MiG-21 for re-shaping, is the early versions aren't effected by the 'area rule' that lead to trans- and supersonic 'planes being 'coke bottle' shape in the fusealge
Without too much alteration, except to angle the root, the tail surfaces are on. Hmm, need to fill that gap in the tail, which is invisible in real life!
So, I do adhere to the tenet of 'build as much as possible before painting', but by the same token 'fiddly little bits will get knocked off, so adding the undercarriage doors may have been a mistake. The nose wheel bay had to be moved back about 5mm, and the main wheel doors reshaped, as per a photo of the Ye-2 that actually shows the underside! Also added some strip extensions to the wing roots.
And I haven't added the twin dorsal strakes yet either
Now, do I risk it and add the undercarriage now? Come painting, it'll be an all over silver spray, then panels picked out with the many many many shades of aluminium, silver, polished metal etc I have
Well, the pitot needed a new hole to mount it, but what the hell
So, just for my own level of masochism, I've already started work on another MiG, converting the Area 88 F, as seen at the start of the build here, as the Ye-4 delta-prototype to be a comnpanion piece for this. But I will finish this one before posting anything else
Excepting two other 1/72 (not MiG) rapidly approaching completion. Just need another 1/72 Highland terrier...
That is a nuts amount of work to go into a teeny-tiny model! You must be very scared of the carpet monster; if any bits fall there, you've no chance of finding them again. On the plus side, a lot less painting than a 1/48 or worse...
That's amazing. So much work on such a small model. It's coming on a treat.
Well now. The build is actually complete
The undercarriage legs needed to be shortened considerably to get the right height, and the actuators on the main legs, though nicely detailed, would sit too low, so rod replacements. I was going to paint the main wheels separate, but I needed to see that the 'ride height' was correct. I left off the main leg doors as the Ye-2 doesn't seem to have any
Now, I don't dare set it on it's wheels just yet
And lastly, the rear strakes. The ones I cut off from the fuselage halves are the wrong shape for this bird. Still debating putting on the air brakes, as a 5 thou cover
All that's left is the cockpit canopy. Do I use one of the F-13 canopies, or try to mock up a rear piece? We'll see
So many shades of silver to put on...
The undercarriage legs needed to be shortened considerably to get the right height, and the actuators on the main legs, though nicely detailed, would sit too low, so rod replacements. I was going to paint the main wheels separate, but I needed to see that the 'ride height' was correct. I left off the main leg doors as the Ye-2 doesn't seem to have any
Now, I don't dare set it on it's wheels just yet
And lastly, the rear strakes. The ones I cut off from the fuselage halves are the wrong shape for this bird. Still debating putting on the air brakes, as a 5 thou cover
All that's left is the cockpit canopy. Do I use one of the F-13 canopies, or try to mock up a rear piece? We'll see
So many shades of silver to put on...
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