Soviet Jets! I'm In! Mad About Migs Pt.1

Okay, William - back at ya! I'm into this Soviet Jets Mini Group Build with a Hasegawa Mig17 makeover and a KP Mig19. First, the HG Mig17. It was originally built as the cannon-armed Fresco D version. This kit was crushed in The Great Move Disaster Of '92, but I salvaged what I could:

This makeover is going to be the missile-armed Fresco E version, so after removing the paint with an application of Easy Off oven cleaner spray, I have hacked away the cannon mounts and proceeded to fill and cleanup all the various holes and crack damage from the move disaster:


One of the starboard wing fences was damaged as well, so I sliced it off and replaced it with a section of .20 thou plastic card:

The upper nose section took quite a hit, with a large gap of missing plastic. I laid in more plastic sheet underneath, and I'll fill that hole once the fuselage is closed up:

The original kit canopy is, well, a disaster on its own. Luckily, New Zealand's finest son, Ross McArthur, generously supplied me with a home-made vac replacement canopy which I am happy to say will occupy a place of honour atop this Mig!:

Okay, let's move on to the Kopro Mig19. This is a kit I purchased in 1987 and it has languished in the stash ever since:

Work has started by sanding away the raised details on the wings and filling in soft spots on the moldings:


Now, the funny thing is, when I turned to the fuselage to sand away the raised detail, I had a moment that gave me pause. I suddenly saw the raised detail is actually quite good; delicate and well-realized. I have this obsession with removing raised panel lines, etc, and regretted removing it from the wings:

Crap - too late now! It got sanded off with the rest, but I now see why William is keeping that detail on his KP Mig15 UTI. Canopy: once again, the Right Honourable Ross McArthur came through with a vac canopy substitute for the somewhat questionable kit original:

Whew! I finally have a start at getting some Soviet jets into my collection. More Migs soon!
Best...Ted...





Current Build:
Matilda Makeover Pt.1; Matilda Makeover Pt.2; Matilda Makeover Pt.3; Matilda Makeover Finish;

Tall Tales:
Kanal Kampf: A Spitfire Story
Cold War Incident
The Lucky Mig

Previous WIP Builds:
The Big Spit Pt.1; The Big Spit Pt.2; The Big Spit Pt.3; The Big Spit Pt.4; The Big Spit Pt.5; The Big Spit Pt.6;
The Big Spit Pt.7; The Big Spit Pt.8; The Big Spit Pt.9; The Big Spit Pt.10; The Big Spit Pt.11; The Big Spit Finish;

Me109 Pt.1; Me109 Pt.2; Me109 Pt.3; Me109 Finish;

Vickers Tank Pt.1; Vickers Tank Pt.2; Vickers Tank Pt.3; Vickers Tank Pt.4; Vickers Tank Pt.5; Vickers Tank Pt.6; Vickers Tank Finish;

Connies Pt.1; Connies Pt.2; Connies Pt.3; Connies Pt.4; Connies Pt.5; Connies Pt.6; Connies Pt.7; Connies Finish