When my son's Godfather, Hubert (dewertus here on Modelers' Alliance) informed me that he was about to make the jump from 1/72nd scale to 1/48th, I smiled and offered him a few kits I could spare that fit his Korean War interest.
Aside from a Revell T-6G Texan and a Hobbycraft Sea Fury, there was one Tamiya MiG-15bis that I could spare. However, this Tamiya kit was the limited edition clear version for which I had bought two expensive detail and correction sets from Ciro Models.
Knowing that Hubert builds out of the box, I explained that I would send the kit but he had to use the resin as I don't want it going to waste. While the cockpit set replaces kit parts, the tail correction did require surgery and he waffled a bit. I then offered to put the tail on and he agreed. I IMMEDIATELY left the chat and went to the work bench and cut off the tail.
Not surprisingly, minutes after I left, I received an e-mail from Hubert that he could live with the incorrect tail swept angles.
To that I responded: Too Late!
:evil:
Well, adding a resin tail does increase the likelihood that the model will be a tail sitter. The clear version of the Tamiya kit does not come with the cylindrical weight but with three ball bearings and a new sprue in which to hide them:
In order to increase the weight within these parts, I decided to forgo the ball bearings and add BBs instead. This allowed far more to be added and cyano-acrylate glue was used to secure them.
Here we see that I cut off the tail from the Tamiya kit and then glued the rear fuselage together. In the background, you can see the resin cockpit tub and the plastic one (which wasn't packed up for Hubert). To the right of that is the nose cone. I found this a convenient place to add more BBs. On the left side, there are two resin vertical tails. The one above has had the sprue gate cut to allow it to slot into the rear fuselage opening after cutting off the tail. To the right one can see the resin seat with the Tamiya headrest and the Tamiya seat it replaced. In the lower center one can compare the leading edge angles of the incorrect Tamiya parts to the resin ones.
Here, the resin tail has been glued on. Buffing the joint will allow for a shiny NMF. The horizontal tail surface mounting slots have been opened. The resin horizontal tails have had the tabs cut to size and they are marked "Lewej" (Left) and "Prawej" (Right). The weighted nose cone was glued to the secondary intake piece shown on the sprue before. In untypical Tamiya fashion, the new piece did not allow the lower gun panel to fit properly and the opening on this piece was widened a bit and the inner side of the gun panel trimmed (see the gun panel to the right).
Checking the fit showed me that the Ciro Models cockpit was designed for the regular Tamiya kit without the secondary intake piece. As such, it has an extended floor which must be cut to allow it to fit. The Ciro Model cockpit also required trimming of the mounting slots offered by the Tamiya cockpit sides.
After a bit of trimming and filing, I got a nice fit of the gun panel. This is just held in place and gluing will close any gaps seen.
After polishing the joints and seams, this model will be packed with the others to be sent to Hubert.
Regards,
Aside from a Revell T-6G Texan and a Hobbycraft Sea Fury, there was one Tamiya MiG-15bis that I could spare. However, this Tamiya kit was the limited edition clear version for which I had bought two expensive detail and correction sets from Ciro Models.
Knowing that Hubert builds out of the box, I explained that I would send the kit but he had to use the resin as I don't want it going to waste. While the cockpit set replaces kit parts, the tail correction did require surgery and he waffled a bit. I then offered to put the tail on and he agreed. I IMMEDIATELY left the chat and went to the work bench and cut off the tail.
Not surprisingly, minutes after I left, I received an e-mail from Hubert that he could live with the incorrect tail swept angles.
To that I responded: Too Late!
:evil:
Well, adding a resin tail does increase the likelihood that the model will be a tail sitter. The clear version of the Tamiya kit does not come with the cylindrical weight but with three ball bearings and a new sprue in which to hide them:
In order to increase the weight within these parts, I decided to forgo the ball bearings and add BBs instead. This allowed far more to be added and cyano-acrylate glue was used to secure them.
Here we see that I cut off the tail from the Tamiya kit and then glued the rear fuselage together. In the background, you can see the resin cockpit tub and the plastic one (which wasn't packed up for Hubert). To the right of that is the nose cone. I found this a convenient place to add more BBs. On the left side, there are two resin vertical tails. The one above has had the sprue gate cut to allow it to slot into the rear fuselage opening after cutting off the tail. To the right one can see the resin seat with the Tamiya headrest and the Tamiya seat it replaced. In the lower center one can compare the leading edge angles of the incorrect Tamiya parts to the resin ones.
Here, the resin tail has been glued on. Buffing the joint will allow for a shiny NMF. The horizontal tail surface mounting slots have been opened. The resin horizontal tails have had the tabs cut to size and they are marked "Lewej" (Left) and "Prawej" (Right). The weighted nose cone was glued to the secondary intake piece shown on the sprue before. In untypical Tamiya fashion, the new piece did not allow the lower gun panel to fit properly and the opening on this piece was widened a bit and the inner side of the gun panel trimmed (see the gun panel to the right).
Checking the fit showed me that the Ciro Models cockpit was designed for the regular Tamiya kit without the secondary intake piece. As such, it has an extended floor which must be cut to allow it to fit. The Ciro Model cockpit also required trimming of the mounting slots offered by the Tamiya cockpit sides.
After a bit of trimming and filing, I got a nice fit of the gun panel. This is just held in place and gluing will close any gaps seen.
After polishing the joints and seams, this model will be packed with the others to be sent to Hubert.
Regards,
When i get it i will open new topic.
