MiG-17PF Fresco D, 11 Fighter Aviation Regiment, Czechoslovak Air Force

1
May 30, 2021
Everything I need: some reference material, some replacement decals, some pretty old instructions in Czech, and old technology plastic. For the time I think it has some pretty good detail, but that detail is often inconsistent.
2
May 30, 2021
I'm building everything out of the box except the decals. I found a site that sells replacement decals that are essentially reproductions of the orginals. This cost less than $8 CAD including shipping which was reasonable.
3
May 30, 2021
This kit had been started. The work does not conform with all the cockpit images I have reviewed so I’m going to give it a try and redo the whole thing.
4
May 30, 2021
This is the previously assembled cockpit completely refinished. I think it look ok considering it’s my first cockpit in forty years ?
5
May 30, 2021
I thought the earlier work I did on the cockpit looked too clean so I weathered it a bit to show some wear and tear.
6
May 30, 2021
Here is another view of the reworked cockpit. Too bad it will barely be seen once the canopy is in place, because the canopy for this kit is terrible. ?
7
May 30, 2021
As mentioned previously, the canopy is terrible. It is foggy, warped, crazed, distorted.
8
May 30, 2021
A dip in Pledge (aka Future) cleared it up but…
9
May 30, 2021
The cloudiness and scratches are gone but nothing will help the bubbles in the plastic.
10
May 30, 2021
I like the light grey and smooth plastic but the raised panel lines are a mess. There are a few recessed lines, but the majority are rised...
11
May 30, 2021
This kit is rivet, rivet, rivet, rivet, rivet... A lot of them!. I'm not brave enough to sand them down and also rescribe panel lines. Maybe my next project.
12
May 30, 2021
I didn't like that the intake was not deep enough and didn't want to paint its black, so...
13
May 30, 2021
I drilled out the back of the intake and carved out what I think it probably should look like. None of my reference pictures give a good indication of shape, so its best guess.
14
May 30, 2021
I caught this little oddity during the dry fit...! The two halves of the empennage are not the same shape...!
15
May 30, 2021
Once again during the dry fit I see I will have my work cut out for me. Maybe this old kit wasn't a good choice to ease back into the hobby on 🙁
16
May 30, 2021
On with the build. First thing I did after a lot of clean up and sanding was glue some weight in the nose. However, later on I discovered the landing gear is crap so this bird will be a flyer (...and the weight is superfluous).
17
May 30, 2021
I was getting frustrate with the fitting so I washed the whole kit in panel liner to privde more contrast as I insppected all the oddities.
18
May 30, 2021
Wow is that ever a bad fit...!
19
May 30, 2021
The wings also have a bit of alignment issues, but what really puzzled me was that the little trim tab on the right wing does not exist on the wing on the left. Don't know if that's how the MiG-17 is design or an error in the kit...?
20
May 30, 2021
Even the bask is out of whack!
21
May 30, 2021
The detail looks ok, but I'm pretty sure it won't be visible.
22
May 30, 2021
Yup, that dashboard will never be seen again.
23
May 30, 2021
Another dip in the Pledge
24
May 30, 2021
Ok, fuselage glued together relatively.
25
May 30, 2021
Ok, wings on and look straight.
26
May 30, 2021
Yup...they look straight to me.
27
May 30, 2021
Well underway with the masking and painting after a coat of primer.
28
May 30, 2021
On such a small kit I found the masking difficult.
29
May 30, 2021
I had trouble with my airbrush and had to do another coat to even things out. Unfortunately, it obscured a lot of the pre-shading and dark aluminum I laid down earlier.
30
May 30, 2021
The decals we fairly easy and settled well.
31
May 30, 2021
Even though the decals settled well, I still hit them with some softener for an even better fit, and see if the carrier film would be less noticeable.
32
May 30, 2021
The only other decal type other than the roundels were the fuselage numbers. I think I got them placed pretty close to what I saw in the reference photos.
33
May 30, 2021
I completely forgot I had to pain the black step strips. Had to be careful where the masking went so as not to disturb the decals.
34
May 30, 2021
I think things look OK. There is some contrast between the dark and light aluminum panels here and there. The jet nozzle looks used to, but the decals are bugging me.
35
May 30, 2021
I tried the salt technique for the first time and I hate the result. The crystals are obviously too large and I think they dissolved into the paint.
36
June 2, 2021
I think I'm finished.
37
June 2, 2021
Yup... I'm finished. If I tinker with it anymore, I'm just going to mess it up like the last kit.
38
June 2, 2021
Not happy with how the walk strips turned out. My first attempt at 'salting' for chips and it looks like the salt reacted with the black paint 🙁
39
June 2, 2021
I do like the hack job I did drilling out the intakes. I don't think it would have looked good with black paint to simulate the tunnel.
40
June 2, 2021
At least I got the wings straight LOL
41
June 2, 2021
I have to study and learn my paints. The airbrakes were initially much lighter, but something went terribly wrong and they darkened considerably 🙁
42
June 2, 2021
Yup...do not like the dark airbrakes. Must resist trying to repaint them, because I'll mess something else up.
43
June 2, 2021
I think I got the right 'hang' on the drop tanks.
44
June 2, 2021
45
June 2, 2021
As mentioned in the earlier build pics, the canopy is garbage. The dip in Pledge/Future helps a lot, but as we can see in the close-up, not enough.
46
June 2, 2021
I'm fairly happy with the canopy frame paint. All brush painted and a lot of guessing as to where the frame actually was because the clear mould lines were non-existent in some areas.
47
June 2, 2021
48
June 2, 2021
49
June 2, 2021
50
June 2, 2021
Well that’s it.
51
December 5, 2021
52
December 5, 2021
53
December 5, 2021
54
December 5, 2021
55
December 5, 2021
56
December 5, 2021
57
December 5, 2021

Comments

47 30 May 2021, 04:16

30 May 2021, 06:04

Łukasz Gliński
Love the pic #37. Really brave choice for a return to the hobby, though I love these vintage kits. You'd better pick the new Airfix Fresco to enjoy the building next time 😉

2 June 2021, 07:21

Rui
Thanks Lukasz. My first kit was that Lindberg Do 335. Not a great kit but I was doing well with it and then disaster struck when the flat varnish I used reacted with the paint. I got a little discourage and decided to try this kit. I learned a lot. I do have my eye on that new Airfix Fresco but recently it became hard to find. Anyway, I'm working through my duplicate kits in my stash and the next one might be a Starfighter in Canadian livery.

3 June 2021, 04:26

Gordon Sørensen
Looks good, Rui! Nice NMF, what did you use? When you said there was a lot of oversized rivets, you weren't kidding...

3 June 2021, 08:41

Łukasz Gliński
Airfix released rebox recently (with Polish silver-blue livery) which might explain the availability issues

3 June 2021, 10:11

Rui
Thanks Gordon. I used Vallejo Air Aluminium and Dark Aluminium. First time using Vallejo paints. The metal ended up looking textured which didn't show in my test sprays so I think it was the Stynylrez white primer.

4 June 2021, 05:53

Johan DN
Nice result with an old kit.
I had this kit and several others from KP in my stash. I sold them all. Instead I have build the Airfix and Hasegawa Mig-17. More fun.
Only brave men or women are able to build the old KP kits 🙂

4 June 2021, 07:37

Rui
Thank Johan, I figured that if I can do a half decent job on a old difficult kit like this, then I should be able to a reasonably good job on a modern quality kit.

5 June 2021, 06:02

Charlie Spitfire
i have a airfix mig and am exited about building in in the future after my Blenheim is done

6 February 2022, 04:57

Rui
If, the Airfix MiG you have is the latest one, then you're in for a sweet build, because I have it and it looks great...Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-17F 'Fr..g J-5) (Airfix A03091, 1:72)

6 February 2022, 05:03

Charlie Spitfire
that same one i have i got it for my 15th birthday but i think airfix have another one to come i think it is a mig 15

6 February 2022, 07:05

Charlie Spitfire
cheek out my albums as we have a mig 17 at our air museum here in Ashburton i was allowed to stand on it so i could get inspiration

6 February 2022, 07:06

Rui
That's pretty cool Charlie. We have some air museums near me, but I don't recall any MiGs or that anyone is allowed to stand on the planes.

I have the Airfix box set of a Sabre and a MiG 15. It looks very good in the box so I think it will build up nicely. I did the KP kit as part of redeveloping my skills to return to the hobby. Saving the better kits until I learn a few more skills.
North American F-86F Sabre & MiG 15 (Airfix A82011, 1:72)

The only thing I really didn't like about the KP MiG 17 was the raised panel lines and the rivets. The fit wasn't too bad and it has some good detail, but the detail is a little soft. I really built this kit to develop techniques for painting metal finishes and trying panel variation. Learned a lot: especially about how metallic paints mess up the airbrush 😜

6 February 2022, 17:53

Robert Podkoński
Really good work on this "rivet monster", Rui!

6 February 2022, 18:45

Rui
Thanks Robert. Sometime in the future I plan to build the new tool Airfix and then dare to compare side by side. If there is no improvement then we can only blame the builder because the new mig looks great in the box. 😁

6 February 2022, 21:28

Charlie Spitfire
i have i picture of me on the mig if you want to cheek it out i know Robert has

7 February 2022, 00:57

Rui
Hi Charlie. I saw the pic of you on the MiG. I mentioned that a few comments earlier that it look very cool.

9 February 2022, 04:34

Charlie Spitfire
in the picture you can see the nose of the harrier jump jet the only one in new zealand

9 February 2022, 04:52

Charlie Spitfire
the thing i dont like about the sabar in that club kit is the wait is visible sorry about the spelling

9 February 2022, 04:55

Thomas Kolb
Anybody who was ever able to build this kit is worthy an applause for sheer resilience! Well done and a nice MiG!

9 February 2022, 08:40

Łukasz Gliński
@Thomas: sounds like a challenge 😛

9 February 2022, 08:48

Thomas Kolb
Łukasz, I have already built the MisterCraft version: it is the same as the KoPro, only with removed rivets and instead panel lines carved in by a one-eyed chimpanzee with arthritis.

9 February 2022, 09:00

Łukasz Gliński
I have the KP kit on my to-do-list and I hope to get at least as decent result as Rui's got.

9 February 2022, 09:07

Mirko Römer
Great job on that old frigate!💪

19 July 2022, 20:34

Andy Ball
Great Fresco, flaps up too!

19 July 2022, 20:40

Rui
Thanks guys. This build was really to learn how to do a metal finish and try out a few techniques like chipping. I had no idea how poor the quality was so it also thought me a valuable lesson in filing gaps and sanding 😁.

20 July 2022, 00:10

Rui
Lt. Schaefer - I have that new tool Airfix MiG-17 in my stash and a very nice kit. The detail is great. I hope to build it some time soon.

8 September 2022, 02:02

Ludvík Kružík
It is nice to see that even outside the Czech Republic someone can build a machine with Czechoslovak markings.
For me this kit is also a nice memory of the time many years ago when I started modelling. Back then it was a great kit for me. I still remember how I built the model very quickly, without any puttying or painting the interior (I didn't do that as a kid). I painted the Egyptian camouflage on the model with a brush using regular water colors. You can imagine what the finished model looked like. But I was duly proud of it and very pleased when my friends admired and envied it.

Rui, your model is really nice considering what it was built from. Thank you for the fond memories of my modelling beginnings and I wish you a successful return to this beautiful hobby.

8 September 2022, 08:43

Rui
Thanks, Ludvik.

I had to order the markings from a company online that specializes in replacement decals, because the kit decals were nearly 50 years old.

I lived through that later half of the Cold War and generally ignored contemporary military topics (my interests was always the Second World War). However, in recent years I have taken an interest in post-second world war topics, with a keen focus on the 50s, 60s and 70s, hence the choice of Czechoslovak markings for an aircraft from the very early stages of the jet age.

Glad I could trigger some fond memories. 👍

9 September 2022, 02:17

Łukasz Gliński
You did indeed, from the very start 👍

9 September 2022, 07:51

Pierre Pierre
Just find your built thisbmorning. Indeed it was a courageous. I built one too. I was younger I was more impatien, i did not dare to go silver and used old decal...

20 August 2023, 05:27

Rui
Thanks Pierre. Yes it's a terrible kit, but My goal was practice. Only enough the fit wasn't too bad, but the plastic was terrible with poor details and so main rivets, and then more rivets, and they were not subtle rivets either LOL. The canopy was also a joke. Anyway, the object was achieved and I think it was a bad result considering I had never done a natural metal finish before.

20 August 2023, 08:33

Project info

Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-17PF Fresco-D | KP

57 images

1:72

Completed

1:72 MiG-17PF KP #7 (APC Decals APCR72006)

Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-17PF Fresco-D

Československé vojenské letectvo (Czechoslovak Air Force 1940-1993)
11 Stíhací Letecký Pluk 0201
1956 - Zatec
Silver

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