Firefox MIG-31 movie aircraft

I don't remember who made the resin model I tossed out. It was about 2 feet long and the body was cast in solid resin. Heavy! I got it in the early 90's, like 1990-91. Was that Studio 2 kit around back then?

Sounds like a different one, got mine about 2006 and don't think it had been available that long.

Jon, the 3M Acryl White Glazing putty is the best for this application as it is finer and tougher than the 'red'; it allows for an extremely fine feather and a great polish if desired. Used to be 'Acryl-Blue' but for some reason they left out the pigment and discontinued the blue formula... but same stuff otherwise. Granted, the formulas you have available to you in the UK may be different... I just found the red I could get here in the US to be a poor product for modeling work.

The red stuff is ok for testing and sands fast without taking off any more plastic, but yes it is soft and certainly not ideal. I was thinking of trying flexible bumper filler as it seems to have a similar makeup to the plastic I am using.

What is the price of the white acryl over there can only find it at an absurd price on amazon.
 
I made my (Studio 2 models) crap Firefox kit 1/48 scale in the very late 90s,Granted it wasn't the most accurate kit ever but I didn't have the luxury of screen grabbing etc, I released the larger one (1/24) in the mid naughties ish, which I think is mildly better lol.
 
Sorry no offence meant, I think it was the fact the pic on the box was a movie still if I am remembering right, but it did not match what was inside, that I found annoying.

Yes you are right there were no great resources back then to work from, in fact what was there?
 
Sorry no offence meant, I think it was the fact the pic on the box was a movie still if I am remembering right, but it did not match what was inside, that I found annoying.

Yes you are right there were no great resources back then to work from, in fact what was there?

Yep I can understand that. Like when they say contents may vary (Slightly) lol. Anyway I used to long for a VCR that had a really good pause button alas they were beyond my reach.
 
Yep Anyway I used to long for a VCR that had a really good pause button alas they were beyond my reach.

That just revived a memory of me tracing the outline of the plane off the TV, did have a decent VCR but it kept dropping out of pause to save the tape!

Love your Jerry Anderson work by the way, the Skydiver and Stingray are works of art.
 
Sounds like a different one, got mine about 2006 and don't think it had been available that long.



The red stuff is ok for testing and sands fast without taking off any more plastic, but yes it is soft and certainly not ideal. I was thinking of trying flexible bumper filler as it seems to have a similar makeup to the plastic I am using.

What is the price of the white acryl over there can only find it at an absurd price on amazon.

I got my latest tubes from Amazon. Perhaps an auto paints supplier that has 3M products may have it for better... Although I paid something like $15 a tube, it lasts a long time (for a modeler; I imagine it goes quick if your doing auto body work!)

Regards, Robert
 
Adventures in 3D printing part 3

Ok it's official I'm a moron, I was convinced hotter temps didn't improve things, I was wrong. I was trying not to go too hot as I could see the panel lines getting feint at the top of the middle section, but realised if the speed is higher it still works.

The nose at a 30 degree higher temp printing a bit faster almost completely cured the edge problems I was having on 90 degree or more turns. Also realised orientating the part so when a turn is made it's not all X or Y axis movement seems to help.

Also discovered running the bed very hot for the first layer then actually turning it off so it cools gradually while printing makes the parts stick like a limpet. I could nearly pick the printer up by the nose part about 6 hours after it had finished!

The tip of the nose is a bit melted as I forgot to set a temp drop at about 1cm left. In the software you specify a minimum layer time, and if it goes below that it slows the print down, but more heat at slower speed equals slightly gooey mess. Think I need to design and print something to force the head cooling fan exhaust so it tracks behind the head as a bit of forced cooling should stop this.

2015-11-10 23.41.48.jpg2015-11-10 23.40.25.jpg2015-11-10 23.43.42.jpg

Considerably cleaner looking with just a small amount of edge build up, this is untouched straight off the printer. I can fix the nose tip by manually melting plastic onto the part then re-shaping it. Canards are virtually perfect and the 0.12mm layer steps are hardly visible on the leading edges. Bit moot that as the canards will be done as hi-res print masters for the kit as panel lines on them are nearly impossible.
2015-11-11 00.38.52.jpg2015-11-11 00.39.28.jpg2015-11-11 00.40.12.jpg2015-11-11 00.41.06.jpg

Quickly put it together, the nose shape does look odd from slightly underneath as there is a bit of lens bend going from my phone camera.

BTW if I was using PLA filament this would be easier at it is a lot more forgiving of settings, however it doesn't produce as crisp a print and doesn't respond to sanding very well at all, as in it literally melts/rips if you put any heat into it.
 
Last edited:
Had a quote back for hi-res (0.016mm) printing of the defence pods, wingtips, tailplanes and exhaust, and it's not too scary at all, in fact pretty reasonable if you worked out the pounds per hour to make perfect masters by hand.

Realised it makes sense to get the other detail parts such as the triple exhaust section hi-res printed also. The surrounding frame needs to be down to about 0.3mm thick so it looks right. Also should be able to add the idea I have for stealthy intake features into the print job as I can add some interesting fine detail there.

Was working on adding accurate details to the exhausts last night as it will come out in a hi-res print no problem, in looking for inspiration realised they based the look on various bits from other real life aircraft like the F-4, F-14 and F-18.
 
Added the extra details to the exhausts, based on the original design but with some 3D relief to the pattern to make it more interesting, can't make my mind up if it looks a little overdone. Think it's because I have been looking at them plain for so long maybe. Tell me what you think.

Firefox exhaust render 01.jpgFirefox exhaust render 02.jpg

The width of the end of each facet is only about 3.5mm at 1/48th so they are not exactly big details!

Have wings printed and the engine section is in progress, about an 18 hour print job by the look of it.
 
Rear section done still needs cleaning up properly. As I suspected the raised detail on the exhaust shrouds are not very crisp, looking at it I think I will only be happy if the middle section of the rear is high res printed for a master along with the exhaust shrouds.

2015-11-15 21.46.27.jpg

Front of the engine section/fuselage is still printing hence the gap, but almost complete.

2015-11-15 21.49.49.jpg

Oh and the top of the tailplanes which might be a real bitch as they are pretty thin, find out tomorrow.
 
Last edited:
I'm guessing by the likes that the exhausts are a :thumbsup thanks guys.

Got most of it assembled but haven't had enough time this evening, and out tomorrow so will have to wait till Wednesday for the first complete plane shots, but I can say it looks real good and bigger than I imagined at 1/48th

Worked on a first draught for intake details based on a what could be a functional air splitter/compression intake which would be needed on a high mach aircraft, not quite there yet, but will look a lot better than just a black hole.

Firefox intake render 01.jpgFirefox intake render 02.jpg

These could easily be optional if you want a "screen correct" look.
 
Found some time to get it together less one tailfin top, wings held on by tape, but hey it's a Firefox!

2015-11-17 13.31.59.jpg2015-11-17 13.31.31.jpg2015-11-17 13.33.54.jpg2015-11-17 13.34.21.jpg

Weird was looking at it and thought something was off then realised I stuck the wingtips on too far back, the trailing edge should be midpoint of the wing aerilon, only held on with double sided tape so no biggie.

*edit* the pics with the wingtips wrong were bugging me so here's a couple with them where they should be

2015-11-17 19.48.56.jpg2015-11-17 19.49.44.jpg
 
Last edited:
Depending on what you call the end, as the part that sticks out at the back between the engines adds a bit - 16 inches.

Had a considerably cheaper quote for hi-res 3D printing parts at 25 micron resolution (around £100) which won't effect the quality by any significance and means I can add more parts without breaking the bank. Possibly the main wing sections as long thin parts when printed long side down curve due to thermal contraction when you take them off the bed.

Still got a fair amount of finishing work to do and will work out some of the panel lines on this 1st one.There will have to be a second actual casting master as I need to break it up differently.

Weird thing is having been so involved in the "manufacturing" process I haven't really enjoyed looking at it until tonight, with the "I made that" smug smile :D

This one is destined to have pride of place - until I get the 1/24th one done...

Realised I need a stand sooner rather than later as it's hard to get any cool angle shots without your hand being in the way!
 

Your message may be considered spam for the following reasons:

If you wish to reply despite these issues, check the box below before replying.
Be aware that malicious compliance may result in more severe penalties.
Back
Top