Faust
Junior Member
Still building!
Posts: 89
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Post by Faust on Dec 5, 2019 1:38:23 GMT
A challenge is one thing, but sometimes you just run into something that’s just difficult for no reason, and it seems as if the designers can be heard sitting in their conference room snickering “Hah! Let them figure THIS out!” Sadly, the Zvezda Mig-29 SMT is one such kit. Don’t get me wrong; it’s a nice enough looking kit, and all the weapons and features it has still make it cool. However, there are some design choices that break the “questionable” boundary and spin off into the void of unnecessary complexity. A perfect example of this latter kind of design are the intakes on Zvezda’s lumpy Fulcrum. I know a lot of people were eager to see this one built, so I thought I’d best warn everyone that this is one Fulcrum that might push YOU past the tipping point! Check out my build report below, and don’t say I didn’t warn you about this one! adamrehorn.wordpress.com/2019/12/04/mig-29smt-update-more-work-than-it-ought-to-be/
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Post by chadacuda on Dec 5, 2019 4:11:41 GMT
A challenge is one thing, but sometimes you just run into something that’s just difficult for no reason, and it seems as if the designers can be heard sitting in their conference room snickering “Hah! Let them figure THIS out!”
I can relate with this one!!!
Hosted on Fotki
Hosted on Fotki
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Faust
Junior Member
Still building!
Posts: 89
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Post by Faust on Dec 6, 2019 23:10:25 GMT
Darn... never seen that one before. You'd think that a box would be easy, wouldn't you?
Well, the Airfix Trimotor and that bus seem to indicate otherwise. Sneaky buggers...
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Post by Firemist on Dec 7, 2019 19:09:52 GMT
I thoroughly enjoyed reading through Faust’s post on the Mig 29; which I found very informative and may offer some insight into what to expect from Zvezda kits in general. Not too long ago, I picked up a 1/72 scale MI-24A Hind gunship from the same manufacturer at ModelFest this past summer. After opening up the box and examining the kit I was really impressed with its high degree of detail and immediately came to the conclusion that kit would no doubt turn out to be a very challenging build; whenever I get to it. As for Russian weapons technology in general, I thoroughly agree with his assessment of how they designed equipment that was simple but highly effective. Two prime examples of this strategy are the Russian T34 medium tank of the 2nd World War and the Mig 17 fighter of the Vietnam war. Despite the fact that both of these platforms lacked sophistication they proved to be highly effective against their enemy counterparts. Perhaps the best evidence of this strategy or design philosophy was a phrase that Josef Stalin coined back in World War 2: “Quantity has quality all of its own!”. It all boils down to weapons systems that are produced in large numbers that can sometimes be considered crude in a number of ways, but still manage to get the job done. Moving on to the subject of building Zvezda’s Mig 29, I searched out instructions of the 1/72 scale kit to get a better idea how the parts went together. On the subject of the engine intakes or the shrouds I can see how the setup would be quite awkward to assemble. As best as I can describe it, the intakes consist of two pieces that are asymmetrical. After seeing this, I can think of two possible reasons why this was done. First of all, the designer may have had the idea that the smaller piece could have acted like a hinge to fit the bottom of fuselage better. Secondly, after noticing how tightly packed my Mi24 was packaged in the box with very little wasted space it might have been done to make the packaging smaller and more economical to ship. As to how I would have approached the problem, I may have taken a slightly different route by employing a combination of high viscosity crazy glue and some regular modeling cement. To be more specific, I would have used a small bead of the crazy glue on the ends and in the middle of the assembly, and then used regular styrene cement for the remainder of the bead joining the two parts together. The idea behind this is that the crazy glue would give a little more “open time” where you could position the intake on to the fuselage, yet dry fast enough so you wouldn’t have to hold the assembly in place to long. In addition, the styrene cement would have provided the majority of strength when dry. In this case, the crazy glue would have acted as a “positioning adhesive” to hold the assembly together until the styrene cement dried. I would have done the same for the nose cone and possibly the rear wing or elevator as well. As for my opinion on PlasticWeld, I feel it can be difficult to use because it has the viscosity of water, and has too much of tendency to run in certain cases. Another idea that has worked for me on one of my builds, is using pieces of silly putty to temporarily hold parts in place. Needless to say, I am not criticizing his method at all, just suggesting an alternate technique; which has worked for me in the past. One drawback to the method I am suggesting is you have to be careful when laying down the beads because the two adhesives don’t play nicely when mixed together. One other point is the lead shot that you added to the kit, and I am guessing its because the model needs some weight in the front because it’s unbalanced and will lean on its tail if not added. This is an excellent tip that they don’t mention in the instructions, and I have a Monogram A37 that I also plan to build with the same problem. Finally, I just like to say that posts like Faust’s are so valuable because they give insights into some builds that can really save time and avoid problems that may cause the build to be scrapped. In addition, they sometimes prove invaluable when choosing a kit in the first place. Also, I still want to attempt that MI-24A because I really like the subject, and I can be sucker for interior detail.
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Faust
Junior Member
Still building!
Posts: 89
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Post by Faust on Dec 13, 2019 21:07:30 GMT
Thanks for the compliments and taking the time to read the article, Firemist! I've not seen that Mi-24, but would definitely buy it if I did, even knowing Zvezda's penchant for ridiculous over-engineering! I love weird stuff, and the "Hind A" is one of the more bizarre flying machines of the last 50 years! I can see what you mean about using the thick CA almost like a tack weld. that's a good idea. I don't have any thick CA, only Loctite 401 (I think... it's really thin). I also wanted to make sure that, if I got the things glued, they'd fit to the body. If there had been some kind of locating pin somewhere, it would have helped immeasurably. I have their Su-33, and it has a similarly silly system BUT it does come in three pieces, with one piece being the "roof" and it looks like there's positive location there. That might help a bit. Now I know what to expect, I'm not going to be as put off as I was with this and the Yak-130; they look like Tamiyas but aren't viceless by any means! Good examples of Russian simplicity! Don't forget that world-renowned purveyor of terror and misery, the AK-47! I've heard a lot of tales about their ruggedness and ability to function under conditions that would make most weapons designers shrink in horror. I put nose weight in almost every plane I build. I've had lots of instructions fail to mention it and then "Plink! On my butt!" says my newly finished model. Grrr... So, if it's a tricycle-geared plane, it'll get a nose full of lead just to be safe!
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