1/48 HobbyBoss MiG-17F, NVAF

[Rampage55]

Having built a 1/48 Hobbycraft MiG-17 many years ago I can remember the disappointment I felt at the result. In part due to my lack of modeling skills and in part due to the toy like features of the Hobbycraft kit. When I heard that someone was planning to release a new tool 1/48 MiG-17 my interest was piqued, even if it was Hobby Boss. Having completed a very satisfying build of their FJ-4 Fury combined with the AMS Resin detail set, I was interested in what the their MiG -17 kit had to offer.

After using the AMS Resin detail set on my Fury I was familiar with the outstanding quality of Harold Offield's work, so when he offered to send me a cockpit set for the the HobbyBoss MiG-17, I was excited to say the least. At the time I warned Harold I was an extremely slow builder, but apparently I failed to mention that I'm a slow starter as well. Harold sent me the resin over 8 months ago and I'm just now getting around to this project. My apologies to Harold for taking so long getting this build started.

Here's a break down of what the AMS cockpit set entails.

This cockpit detail set is comprised of five beautifully detailed and crisply cast resin parts.

The cockpit tub is full of fine detail.

Both side consuls are delicately recreated.

One of the things I like most about this set is the gun sight. Harold captured the look of the real thing very nicely here.

The gun sight is molded as a single piece with the instrument panel. I like the simplicity of this arraignment.

The seat is nicely done with the harnesses realistically captured. A little paint and this is sure to be an eye catcher.

Also included in this set are the two cockpit side panels. These add detail to a prominent area in the cockpit that the kit is lacking.

Well done Harold...

Edited March 10, 2010 by Rampage55

[Rampage55]

In addition to the AMS cockpit set I also have the Quickboost gun barrels to add to this project also. I plan to use the kit supplied decals. Not because I like them that much but there seems to be a distinct lack of aftermarket decals available for this particular subject. I plan to do a NVAF MiG-17F "2011". After opening the box and inspecting the parts I was a bit concerned about the parts break down, particularly about the four fuselage parts and how well they would all go together and then the intake and nose section looks a bit tricky as well.

I started by removing these shaded areas in order to fit the AMS cockpit.

The tabs to support the kit supplied cockpit parts need to be removed as well.

Here's the cockpit test fit. I perhaps removed a little too much plastic in a few spots, but overall I think the fit is quite good and will require just a bit of clean up. That detail in there is a vast improvement over the kit parts...

So, now to the area I've spent some time trying to figure out the best way to approach it. The fuselage assembly and wing join. First I'm going to deal with the fuselage assembly. The kit provides a beautiful engine, unfortunately once it's installed and the fuselage is buttoned up nothing much can be seen of it. So I'm not going to bother with all of the detail of the engine. One, It will save some weight in the tail and second, I won't have to deal with all of those little bits. I just assembled what was necessary to get the tail pipe in position because without it there's nothing to attach the exhaust to. The nose wheel bay has been assembled also so I can start dry fitting all theses parts so I can sort out my assembly sequence.

I'm considering gluing the front and rear fuselage parts together before joining the fuselage halves together. However there is a lot of stuff that needs to be crammed in there before I can do that.

Thanks for looking,

Mark

[twhite80]

looking great so far. Be sure to reinforce the landing gear. Great kit, but wobbly, very wobbly.

[Rampage55]

looking great so far. Be sure to reinforce the landing gear. Great kit, but wobbly, very wobbly.

Thanks dude. Your build was one of my inspirations... :P

Mark

[Harold]

Looks good, and good luck It looks like a Mig when done. However it is a bit tricky sometimes.

[Rampage55]

Looks good, and good luck It looks like a Mig when done. However it is a bit tricky sometimes.

Thanks Harold,

I just finished priming the resin parts and I hope to start painting them tomorrow. The details really pop once there's some paint on them...

Mark

[Netz]

You should always join the front fuselage half to the rear half first then adjoin the complete left and right assemblies together, this should be done on the Academy Mig-21 also.

I'm in the market for that kit also, I got the PF by accident,I did build the Smer kit a while back, best kit on the market at that time, way better than the Hobbcrap kit which I had one of each when they started coming out.

Curt

[Rampage55]

There hasn't been too much progress lately on this project but I'm getting back to it. So far I have painted the cockpit. I tried to keep it simple as most of the images I have seen of these aircraft seem to show a blue grey cockpit with black instruments and a few red knobs and buttons here and there. There's also a white stripe down the center of the instrument panel, from what I understand, it's there to remind the pilot where to put the stick during spin recovery...

The side panels have been painted and after a lot of dry fitting to make sure everything was going to fit together properly they were glued in place. This adds some nice detail to an area that HobbyBoss over looked.

The AMS ejection seat is exceptionally nice. Harold did a beautiful job with this one, I just wish my painting skills could do it justice.

The detail in this cockpit is what really makes this model come alive for me...

I'm going back and forth with my assembly sequence on this one though, if I glue the front fuselage halves together first it will make it easier to fit the intake parts, align the nose gear well and get the cockpit in position properly, but the join at the front and rear fuselage halves will be more difficult to deal with...

I'm hoping to get this thing buttoned up by the end of the week so I'll let you know in my next up date which way I decided to go with it.

Thanks for looking,

Mark

[Rampage55]

I've come up with my plan of attack for assembling this one and I've decided to not to glue the front and rear fuselage halves together first for several reasons;

It will make attaching the cockpit assembly much easier and ensure that I get a good fit here. The cockpit has been test fit and I'm pleased with how it fits.

There's also a seam at the intake where the mouth attaches and will be very difficult to get to at once all of the other parts are in place so I decided to glue this piece in place first so I can deal with this seam, then I'll attach the rest of the intake assembly.

I also think getting the nose gear well in place properly and aligned correctly will be more tricky if I try to attach it to one side then glue the fuselage halves together. The part that fits over this area that holds the cannon will be a bit more tricky to get on cleanly as well

When it comes to attaching the engine I think the instructions are misleading. The instructions would have you attach the completed engine assembly to the tail section then attach that assembly to the forward fuselage section. However I think it should be attached to the forward section and there's even a raised lip around the inside rear of the front fuselage halves that fit the engine mount just perfectly. I think the kit was designed to be assembled this way but the instructions got it wrong. After test fitting the fuselage halves together with the engine in this position, they do seem to fit together pretty well. I have also heard that some builders of this kit have found the exhaust sticks out a bit too far and I think this may be why.

So I committed myself to this plan of action by gluing the forward fuselage parts together along with the intake mouth. Once I get that seam around the intake cleaned up I can attach the rest of the intake assembly and the cockpit.

So I figure that I'd rather deal with one seam at the join between the front and rear fuselage sections than have to deal with fit issues on these other areas. This kit sort of reminds me of the Hasegawa Harrier kit in that the fit isn't too bad, but it's quite fiddely in places and needs a lot massaging and test fitting to understand how the parts relate to each other to ensure the best fit. It's certainly no shake and bake that's for sure, but I'm enjoying it so far.

Thanks for looking,

Mark

[Aigore]

Great work, Mark! that resin pit really looks awesome!

Cheers!

[Rampage55]

Great work, Mark! that resin pit really looks awesome!

Thanks!... :(

[Rampage55]

This week I was able to get a some work done on the forward fuselage section...

After I glued the two front fuselage halve together, attached the intake mouth and cleaned up that seam inside the intake, I added the upper and lower access panels.

It seemed to me that putting the intake splitter and the cockpit in place before the access panels were attached changed the shape of the fuselage just enough so that when the access panels are added the fit is off a bit. There're a few minor seams that will need some attention but I'm pleased with the fit so far.

I let the glue joins on the access panels cure overnight and the next day I slid the intake splitter into position and glued it in place, but before I did that I attached the nose gear leg to assist me in assuring the alignment was correct with this part.

Before I glued the cockpit in place I added some weight to the nose just to be sure I wasn't going to have a tail sitter. I think that and the weight of the resin cockpit should be enough to keep her on her toes.

The next step after gluing the cockpit in place will be to attach the engine to the forward fuselage section. Here you can see the lip on the inside of the forward fuselage section that I think was intended for attaching the engine mount to, however the instructions would have you attach it to the tail section. I believe this is a mistake.

The engine mount fit perfectly in there and this also provides much needed support for the join between these two sections and makes it easier to align the two correctly.

The plan is to have the fuselage buttoned up this weekend, I hope to make another update soon. Once that's done I can tackle the last significant hurdle with this kit and that's attaching the wings without a big gap at the wing root... But I think getting a good join between the two fuselage sections will be the key to getting a good join at the wing root...

Thanks for looking,

Mark

[Aigore]

I have a Fresco in my stash as well so I´m prettty keen on how it behaves

You´re making great progress so far.

Cheers!

[Rampage55]

Thanks Aigore!...I have to say I quite like this kit and the fit isn't too bad.

The fuselage went together without to much fuss.

While I definitely have some seams to clean up that will require some filler it's not as bad as I thought it might be.

The bottom seam is a little worse off than the top, but again not too bad.

Here's the AMS Resin cockpit in place.

The horizontal stabilizers have been attached, the fit here is quite good. Hobby Boss has provided the control surface as separate pieces which is nice.

Before I can attach the wing I need to fill in these six holes on the bottom of the wing. There's no mention of this in the instructions but I figured these were for the rocket and missile pylons that I won't be using. I plugged the holes with some stretched sprue and liquid cement. Trim off the extra and sand smooth.

Thanks for looking,

Mark

[kurnass77]

Wow Mark,

fantastic job!

I've always been interested in the MiG-17 for my Nam collection.

The cockpit is a lil' gem!Follow with interest.

:D Gianni

P.S.The banners for the Desert Storm Group Build are already available ?

[Aigore]

Now that´s a rather nice fit even :D A little CA glue on a x-acto edge and it´s done!

Great that you´re going for a clean loadout... I think the early MiGs looks their best in clean configuration :D

Cheers!

[Rampage55]

Wow Mark,

fantastic job! :)

I've always been interested in the MiG-17 for my Nam collection.

The cockpit is a lil' gem!Follow with interest.

Gianni

P.S.The banners for the Desert Storm Group Build are already available ?

Thanks Gianni! The AMS cockpit set certainly is a real gem and it couldn't be easier to install, fit like dream.

Now that´s a rather nice fit even :D A little CA glue on a x-acto edge and it´s done!

Great that you´re going for a clean loadout... I think the early MiGs looks their best in clean configuration :D

Thanks Janne! The fit is much better than I expected, but like the HB FJ-4 Fury, with a little test fitting it goes together fairly well. I'll definitely be building a couple more of these kits. I agree with you though, I prefere the look of the MiG-17's clean lines without all of that stuff hanging under the wings. Having said that though, I think I'll need to do an Egyptian bird loaded with rocket pods one day.

Here's the progress I have since my last update;

The wings have been attached without too much issue. There were some small gaps that needed filling, but the fit was better than I expected.

But a little bit of white stuff putty and a Q-tip with nail polish remover on it and those gaps were sorted those out nicely.

I did have to rescribe the panel line along the right wing root as I removed most of of the detail here smoothing out the gap.

The seams around the cannon cover have been cleaned up and I'm now ready to attach the Quickboost cannon barrels that simply replace the kit parts.

The seam where the front and rear fuselage meet turned out pretty well I think and I didn't need any putty here, I just smoothed it out with a sanding stick and I'm good to go.

So far so good. Once I attach the cannon barrels and clean up a few more seams I think I'll be ready to start painting this Bandit.

Thanks for looking,

Mark

[mikeyc5usaf]

this looks amazing, great job cant wait to see more.

[Rampage55]

Thanks Mike!...

[Aigore]

LOL with the Kopro Su-7 fresh in mind I have to say that looks like easy peasy

Are you going to do a silver painted bird or a cammo painted?

Cheers!

[twhite80]

Looking great! I think that your construction is going great. All of that weight in the front will certainly help.

[olemanjoe]

Fantastic build so far! Learnt a lot from your construction method, will no doubt aid me when I start mine!

BTW where can I get an AMS Mig 17 cockpit set?? How much are they? Do they send to Australia?

Following this build with LOTS of interest!

:) Ol

[Rampage55]

LOL with the Kopro Su-7 fresh in mind I have to say that looks like easy peasy

Are you going to do a silver painted bird or a cammo painted?

With your skills Janne, it would definitely be an "easy peasy" build for you. I think I'm going to due a camo bird, but I'm going to paint it silver first so we'll see how that goes, I may go with it. Fortunately '2011' had a variety of schemes during the conflict.

Looking great! I think that your construction is going great. All of that weight in the front will certainly help.

Thanks, I may have over done it a bit, especially with the weight of the resin pit, but better safe than sorry.

Fantastic build so far! Learnt a lot from your construction method, will no doubt aid me when I start mine!

BTW where can I get an AMS Mig 17 cockpit set?? How much are they? Do they send to Australia?

Following this build with LOTS of interest!

B) Ol

Thanks Ol, Here is a link to the AMS site. If MidTenn Hobbies won't ship to Aus. I'm sure Harold will, he's a great guy to deal with and makes some great resin goodies for very reasonable prices.

Cheers,

Mark

[Rampage55]

The Quickboost cannon barrels have been attached. There was a few little seams that needed to be cleaned up but other than that they fit well.

The ailerons have been attached and the rest of the fuselage has been cleaned up ready for painting.

I have also attache the elevators in a slightly down position.

I hope to start painting sometime this week...

Thanks for looking,

Mark

[Aigore]

Neat! Looking forward to some paint!

Didn´t know quick boost had gun barrels for this MiG.... a thing to consider when I get around to my MiG

Cheers!