[skidmarksdiecast]

Surprisingly, this conversion was easier than the gear up conversion I did on the Witty Su-27 (which, by the way, is still not complete).

The gear doors came off farily easily and were not too far off as far as shape and size was concerned. Just a little filing and sanding was needed to get them to fit in the bay openings. I did have to do a bit of scratch building, however, but just a small square was needed between the middle door and rear door of the aft bay. I also had to grind down the mounting pin recepticle, for the rear-most door of the aft gear bay, with my Dremel.

There was a bit of a trick to removing the gear, though. The gear appears to be held in place with screws. However, the holes, for the screws, are not threaded. FM uses the screws as makeshift pins (glued into place with CA) to hold the gear in place. In order to remove the gear, you have to turn the screws several turns clockwise, then several turns counter clockwise, then several turns clockwise again-- back and forth and back and forth-- until the screw gets loose enough to wiggle the gear out.

The great thing about customizing an FM bird is that the fit and finish is so poor to begin with, you don't really have to put in a lot of work to make things completely gap free and perfectly lined up.

Just need to clean up a large gap or two and find some matching paint to finish it off.

[flyXwire]

Superb job as usual!

Have you thought about adding some missing minute details such as ODD IFF Rods, AOA Sensors, Static Dischargers etc., using some photo-etched metal parts?
I've been mulling about this for awhile because the Mig-29 just doesn't look right (read: incomplete) for me even though FM did a very wonderful job for this mould.

[hworth18]

I agree with FlyX.. Superb job!!!
I wished FM would come with gear up/down options as I think it would sell to a broader customer base..

[skidmarksdiecast]

Originally Posted by flyXwire

Superb job as usual!

Have you thought about adding some missing minute details such as ODD IFF Rods, AOA Sensors, Static Dischargers etc., using some photo-etched metal parts?
I've been mulling about this for awhile because the Mig-29 just doesn't look right (read: incomplete) for me even though FM did a very wonderful job for this mould.

Thanks! I am looking into adding all the forementioned items with the exception of the static wicks. The location of the discharge wicks just makes them much too easy to break off when handling the plane. I'm also going to be painting the radome and stabilizer tips the correct dark grey, adding detail to the missles & will make an attempt at weathering. I need to figure out a way to subdue the yellow band and sharksmouth as those decals are way too bold. Their bright colors take away from the plane's realism.

[flyXwire]

Originally Posted by skidmarksdiecast

Thanks! I am looking into adding all the forementioned items with the exception of the static wicks. The location of the discharge wicks just makes them much too easy to break off when handling the plane. I'm also going to be painting the radome and stabilizer tips the correct dark grey, adding detail to the missles & will make an attempt at weathering. I need to figure out a way to subdue the yellow band and sharksmouth as those decals are way too bold. Their bright colors take away from the plane's realism.

That's wonderful! I'll be looking forward to that and please post pictures. Thanks!

[mhackl]

That's outstanding! I'm a big fan of your "gear up" conversions.

[Armour Addict]

Hi,

very nicely done!

I did almost the same to an FM F-15 "Europe One" bird of mine.

I had to do it because it was not shipped in an FM box and was therefore damaged during transport.

All gears were broken or bend beyond repair.

The main gear of the FM F-15 is pretty thin so it was beyond any glueing anyways.

So instead of throwing the bird away I brute forced the gears off and closed the hatches.

Looks IMHO pretty decent.

If there is any interest I can up some pictures...

The only real problem I have with this bird is the missing display stand.

Skid, what kind of display stand did you use?

I am still looking for a suitable solution...

Regards,
Stephan

[skidmarksdiecast]

Originally Posted by Armour Addict

Hi,

very nicely done!

I did almost the same to an FM F-15 "Europe One" bird of mine.

I had to do it because it was not shipped in an FM box and was therefore damaged during transport.

All gears were broken or bend beyond repair.

The main gear of the FM F-15 is pretty thin so it was beyond any glueing anyways.

So instead of throwing the bird away I brute forced the gears off and closed the hatches.

Looks IMHO pretty decent.

If there is any interest I can up some pictures...

The only real problem I have with this bird is the missing display stand.

Skid, what kind of display stand did you use?

I am still looking for a suitable solution...

Regards,
Stephan

I used the standard display stand that comes with Corgi's 1/72 scale jet fighters.

[John Youngs]

Originally Posted by hworth18

I agree with FlyX.. Superb job!!!
I wished FM would come with gear up/down options as I think it would sell to a broader customer base..

I've been saying this (the issue of the retractable landing gear on Armour/FM's 1/48th scale models) for years!! Ok, so charge us another 5 or 10 bucks a pop for the bloody things - so what?? How hard can it be (except, perhaps, on models such as the Lockheed F-104 Starfighter series) to engineer retractable gear for these planes? What really frosts my tail end is a nicely done up swing-wing plane like the F-14, Tornado, etc; in 1/48th scale - and the wings DON'T swing!! That's garbage - no matter what a sweet paint scheme it's got - let's face it: most people would like to occasionally display a model like this with the wings swung out; occasionally with them swung in - how hard can THAT be to engineer?? Speaking only for myself, I will not buy a 1/48th scale model (or bigger) based upon a swing-wing design when the wings don't move!! John