Kinetic 1/48 F-16I Sufa

 

Unlike Tamiya's F-16's, the Kinetic kit has been unnecessarily over engineered which makes its assembly somewhat complex and challenging. There were significant issues fitting the two fuselage halves together, the intake trunk to the intake lip and also with the fitment and alignment of the main wheel well, which could've all been avoided had the kit been better engineered.

Aside from these issues the rest of the kit went together without any problems and some improvements included a Quinta Studio Interior (QD48033), a set of Aires Aces II Ejection Seats Type A (Air 4141) and a replacement set of wheels from Wheelliant (WLT-148018). I'd also removed all of the plastic static wicks during construction and replaced these by first drilling out the housings and then adding some fine brass wire, which proved to be far more durable than the plastic ones.

Before painting I always prime my models with Tamiya Surface Primer L Gray from a spray can as I find this provides a good solid base for the main colours. For the main colours I used SMS Carc Middle Stone (FS33531), RAF Sky (FS34424), Camo Brown (FS30219) and US Medium Grey (FS356375). I then sprayed the model with Gunze Mr Hobby Mr. Super Clear UV Cut Gloss, then applied the decals and panel line washes, followed by a second coat of Gloss to seal everything in. The model was then spayed with Gunze Mr Hobby Mr. Super Clear UV Cut Matt (GX113) and once dry I then proceeded with the final assembly.

I only built this kit as it was for a customer and I doubt that I'd ever want to build another Kinetic kit ever again, as it wasn't particularly fun project, however I am happy with the finished outcome.

 

Railway Workshops (Newport)

 

Tamiya 1/48 Mig-15 bis

 

Some 15-20 years ago, a member of my local modelling club gifted his entire book and model collection to the club, which then held a special sale to dispose of it all, with the proceeds from this being retained by the club.

However, at the end of the day a few unsold items still remained and one of these was a Tamiya boxing of the Mig-15, which I was handed for helping out and gratefully accepted. However, it wasn't until I got home that I discovered the box contained not one, but three partially constructed Mig-15's as well as a multitude of resin and etch parts. Not knowing what to do with all at the time, I then just decided to put it in my stash and promptly forgot about it.

Some years later a friend of mine gave me a copy of the Midlands Publishing book on the Mig-15, which contained a photo of a North Korean Mig that had suffered combat damage during an attack on B-29's and was then parked up on the airfield with its wings and tailplane removed. This suddenly reminded me of the box siting in my stash and I decided it would be a good project to undertake rather than just building a whole bunch of standard Mig-15's.

My first task was to choose the best resin cockpit and ejection seat and to these I added a Quinta Studios 3D cockpit placard and seatbelt set (QD48160). With the interior finished and fuselage assembled I then had to rebuild the wing root areas - adding panels, spars and hydraulic lines - the upper fin area and also create the combat damage. I then had to take measurements and create a drawing of the fuselage dolly, which I used as a cutting and assembly guide. The dolly's were made from styrene rod and strip and proved to be surprisingly strong, with the wheels being a set of resin ones that I also found in the kit.

With assembly complete and the model masked, it was then primed with Gunze Mr Finishing Surfacer 1500 Black, which is an excellent base for a silver finish. The model was then sprayed with Tamiya Silver Leaf (TS-30), the speed brakes with AK Extreme Metal Dark Aluminium (AK 480) and the nose with Gunze Mr.Color Red FS11136 (327). Once dry the model was then sprayed with a coat of Gunze Mr.Hobby Mr.Super Clear UV Cut Gloss.

Unfortunately, other than the Korean roundels I didn't have the correct nose codes, but a Google search revealed that the Bronco Mig-15 had these on their decal sheet. So I put out a request on a number of Facebook pages and was duly rewarded for my efforts thanks to a fellow modeller, who came threw with the goods. The decals were then applied, the panel lines given a light grey wash and some minor weathering added to highlight a few panels. With that done the model was then sprayed with an overall coat of Gunze Mr.Hobby Mr.Super Clear Semi-Gloss.

This proved to be both a challenging and fun project and a unique way to present a model of the well known Mig-15 in a different light.

Tyabb Airshow