MiG-3 Late Trumpeter 1/48

[otto]

Hello Boys
After a four years stop I grabbed again the Trumpeter 1/48 MiG-3. I started with the cockpit by adding Eduard photoetched.
Massimo, is it possible to add pictures in the text? I tried pressing the button "insert image" but only the following statement appears: without allowing me loading a picture.

[otto]

I try to post the pictures now:

[otto]

No pictures shown  .
You can see the pictures here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/98044098@N04/sets/72157634337757632/
I took them four years ago, when I started the kit. I reduced the rivets depth with steel scourer and removed the back plate from the kit's cockpit frames, to use them coupled with Eduard photoetched parts.
I will add new pictures soon.

[B_Realistic]

Nice to see that you removed the plate.
The end result is much better.

[Massimo Tessitori]

Yes, it's an alternative to the complete rebuilding of the tube strut. Looks easier.
Regards
Massimo

[JP]

It would seem that if you had several of the old ICM kits laying around, it would be worth salvaging the cockpits out and using them in the Trumpeter kits.

[4bogreen]

Hi Otto 

Looks very promessing! The struts on top are actually to short, and the shelf for the radio is to long. add 3 mm to the top strut. Then cut the rear vertical strut out and replace it with a new evergreen rod on the right length. Don't forget to cut 3mm of the radioshelf 
or it won't fit... The trumpeter kit has some flaws, but you can detail this kit to absurd levels... There is plenty of info available here.

Regards,

Remco

[otto]

At the end I wasn't satisfied with my shortcut, so I decided to scratch-build the cockpit structure.
I have two ICM MiG-3s. I think they are good kits, so I will not cannibalize them.
4bogreen, if I understood what you mean, I don't think that the structure of the Trumpeter kit is too short: if you look at the drawings and pictures here
http://mig3.sovietwarplanes.com/mig3/cockpi.html
and here
http://mig3.sovietwarplanes.com/mig3/yuri-rr/canopy.htm
you can see that the structure does not reach the rear end of the metal side panels, and the rear horizontal tube is ahead of the radio shelf.
I used the Eduard photoetched structure, that match the Trumpeter parts, as a template.
I will add pictures soon.

[JP]

You may want carefully check your ICM kits.  Apparently, this early kit was a victim of Soviet-style quality control, and they threw whatever kind of plastic they could find into the moulds.  The one that I started didn't reveal this until I lightly sanded the wing trailing edges to thin them a little, and whole layers of plastic pulled up and peeled off like fine onion skin.  Upon closer examination, it seems there were different kinds of plastic used that did not fully mix with one another.  I tried covering it with liquid cement to make it chemically bond, but even that didn't fully stop it.  So I have a nicely constructed cockpit for my time, and a kit with wings that look like they had a bad sunburn.  As I now have some Trumpeter kits...

[otto]

Massimo, in your profiles of MiG-3s without sliding canopy there is a strut or something else connecting the top of the pilot's headrest with  the upper front edge of the rear fixed canopy. It's very difficult to see this detail in pictures, I only found something here: http://mig3.sovietwarplanes.com/mig3/white-5-outlined.htm. Are there pictures or drawings showing it?
Thank you.

[Massimo Tessitori]

Hi Otto,
I think it's the rail of the rear of the canopy. There is a thin slot on the rear longitudinal frame, it's a rail inserted in a sort of C-strut. It is bended downward at its front to allow the canopy to sit and adhere to the rear part. When opened, the sliding hood at first goes up, then back.
Regards
Massimo

[4bogreen]

Hi otto 

IMHO i think is a stiffener that counters drag. Because the lack of a canopy, vibrations wil go (maybe) through the seat and that is annoying for the pilot. By connecting the seat with the fixed canopy, the vibrations would be less... I also think its exclusive for the MiG-3 without the canopy. The reason behind this was that many pilots came from canopyless Polikarpovs and didn't like to be "confined" in the airplane, in case of a emergency to bail out. Sight also was better without canopy...I read this somewhere...

Regards,

Remco

[otto]

It seems that it is really an extension of the tubular rail, as shown here: https://plus.google.com/photos/104977000387940344883/albums/5633393064105837249/5855875212399880418?banner=pwa#photos/104977000387940344883/albums/5633393064105837249/5855875212399880418?banner=pwa&pid=5855875212399880418&oid=104977000387940344883.
I suppose it could have a rubber damper to soften the contact with the headrest.

[otto]

Hello
I made some progress (if I may say so) with the cockpit. I scratch built the frame and chose to use  a resin copy of the Classic Airframes I-153 seat, which seems more realistic to me. The frame under the seat has a hidden sleeve to accomodate the seat.
I also decided to reduce the thickness of the clear parts. I used sandpaper fixed on a brush handle and Tamiya compound for polishing. The rear fixed canopy has a line of rivets instead of the rail, so I scribed a recessed line to reproduce it properly.
You can see the pictures here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/98044098@N04/sets/72157634837916105/
Looking at the pictures of the rear fuselage preserved in Finland, it seems that the canopy inner side of the frames is painted green as the outer side. I would like to build a winter camouflage example, possibly the Black 36 with the star on the spinner. I think it had been painted white in the factory, so I supposed the rear canopy bay and the frames inside are also white. But the picture of the famous "Za stalina", "Za Rodinu"... with the red nose arrow seem to show dark inner frames and, maybe, also the rear bay. Any suggestion?

[B_Realistic]

That is very well done.