MiG-17 PF 'Radar Fresco' - Airfix / MisterCraft kitbash

I will use the Airfix MiG-17 kit ... 

... together with the MisterCraft MiG-17 kit to build a decent replica of the MiG-17PF! 

The main differences are around the nose: The MiG-17F (on the left) has a plain intake, while the MiG-17PF has a radar dome in the center, plus a protruding "lip" above the intake. To accommodate the new radar, the 37mm cannon on F-version was replaced with a 23 mm cannon for the PF. There are some differences in the cockpit as well, and the windscreen has a different design. 

The Airfix parts are really nice and crisp, and also pretty accurate ... 

... which is more than can be said about the MisterCraft kit. The parts are coarse, rough, have an abysmal fit and are in some places completely inaccurate. Good thing that I will only use like 3% of this kit! OK, let's begin! 

In the MisterCraft kit, the radome nose ring is just a blind stub, which really doesn't look good. Let's fix this! 

I opened up the intake duct openings and also removed about 8 mm of material from the back to allow the Airfix cockpit tub to fit in behind it. Unfortunately the nose is still a bit wrong, but it is quite a complex part, so I cannot just craft a new one from a block of plastic (although the idea crossed my mind). 

The inside of the radome nose is routed out with the Dremel to mate to the Airfix cockpit tub ... 

... also the front of the Airfix cockpit tub needs to be filed down to a more blunt shape using a sanding stick. 

With some careful sanding, the two parts can be made to fit together just nicely. The openings of the radome nose continue straight to the intake ducts of the Airfix part, which is a huge improvement over the blind face of the original MisterCraft part. Now we can start building the cockpit! 

PE details added to the cockpit parts. The seat will be replaced with a correct resin KK-2 seat (in the mail from Russia, so it may take some time). The dashboard is sanded completely smooth to be equipped with the pre-painted PE parts after priming. 

It is worth comparing the MisterCraft cockpit and seats (to the left) with the Airfix equivalents (to the right). In comparison, the MisterCraft looks like it is carved from soap by an 8 year old. Just terrible. 

Cockpit assembled with some scratch-built details, painted and weathered. Fishing weights superglued into the nose tub, and more flattened lead weights added behind the dashboard, to the sides and under the cockpit. All to avoid a tail-sitter model. The seat is just there for the photo, it will be replaced with a resin one. 

Holes need to be drilled in the bottom wing halves for the external fuel tanks - clearly marked on the inside of the wings, so no problems. 

And yes, let's not forget that tiny clear landing light before cementing together the wing halves! 

As I was assembling the wings, I thought it could be interesting to compare the Airfix wing and stabilizer with the MisterCraft parts. As you can see, the MisterCraft wing is much too narrow and too rounded. Also, the ailerons don't end in the traling end of the wing, which looks bizarre. But the real horror is the stabilizer: it is grossly out of scale and looks like it belongs to a different aircraft.  

Now for the most critical step - to splice the two fuselages together! Let's first figure out the splice line between the two parts. It is not easy because the MisterCraft kit has a significantly wider nose section, so the join line needs to be where the two fuselages have the same diameter, and preferably along a panel line. As you can see, very little of the MisterCraft kit will be left: everything behind the nose will be put in the bin (where it belongs). 

By cutting just in front of the cockpit, I can use the cockpit tub and nose gear bay from the Airfix kit - the MisterCraft has no cockpit detail whatsoever and the nose gear bay is just a scribed rectangle with a hole for the nose gear strutl  

The Airfix kit loses its nose section to the razor saw ... 

... and the MisterCraft kit loses everything except its nose! The cuts are pretty rough at this time to provide some leeway for error. Now time for detail work! 

An hour of cutting and sanding, and the two parts can be mated up almost perfectly! 

Nose ring joined and the landing gear opening cut out 

Iterative dry fitting and sanding of the MasterCraft nose with the Airfix fuselage to achieve the best fit I possibly can. Disregard the panel lines on the MisterCraft nose; they will soon be filled in and rescribed, as they are completely wrong. 

For the Airfix kit, you have the option to position the airbrakes in open or closed position and you need to pick the correct exhaust pipe for the version you intend to build. I decided to have them closed on the MiG-17PF. So the smooth pipe (the left one) it will be here. 

The cockpit assembly, the jet pipe, and the transparent parts for the radio compass are cemented to the left side of the the fuselage. Also a few more fishing weights were superglued to the back of the cockpit assembly, just in case. 

Finally the fuselage halves are joined and the nose part is added. The fit is not perfect, there are some gaps and steps that need to be taken care of. 

Contours sanded to correction. The gaps filled with 'Liquid Sprue' - a mixture of small pieces of plastic sprue and Tamiya Extra Thin Cement. Wait for a day and sand smooth. When completely dry throughout, after like another day or two, new panel lines can be scribed, just like into regular plastic. 

Wings attached, panel lines rescribed and the nose section is sprayed with gray primer to reveal any remaining sanding or filling issues. Scribing the MisterCraft part is tricky, the plastic has a strange consistency and crumbles like cookie dough. I only bother to scribe in the most obvious panel lines. 

MisterCraft represents the three 23 mm guns of the PF with shapeless blobs, so these were replaced with Master brass barrels and scratch made gun fairings. Also note the nose gear well, surgically implanted from the Airfix kit - the MisterCraft rendition is just a round hole in the fuselage for the gear strut. 

Main undercarriage and underwing pylons attached - just a few more minor details remaining. 

One piece canopy sawed in two - I only plan to keep the windshield part, the idea is to replace the sliding part with the Airfix canopy. But even the windshield part looks wrong, it is much too tall! 

The tidied up windshield cemented in place using Mig Acrylic Ultra Glue. Brass pitot tubes attached to the wings and the blade antennas added. 

Windscreen masked off with the Peewit masks and some foam, and then the model carefully primed with UMP Black (the old Badger Stynylrez primer, relabeled as "Ultimate Primer"). Now let's investigate the surfaces for tiny flaws and blemishes before the metalizer goes on. 

Painted with AK Xtreme Metal Matt Aluminum. H&S Evolution airbrush, 0.4 mm needle, 12 PSI, four or five wafer thin layers. This aircraft did not have a natural metal finish but was actually painted with a varnish, so it should not be shiny and chrome. 

Clear varnish applied with a brush (Tamiya HF 2) to protect the metalized surface.  

It is obvious that the Airfix canopy will not fit to the MisterCraft windscreen. A new canopy from Pavla is ordered from Hannants. 

Masking off for the black wing walk fields and the radome green nose. The masking tape pieces were carefully de-tacked by sticking them repeatedly to the back of my hand to remove most of the stickiness that might tear off the paint. A few gaps where the tapes meet were masked with masking fluid (green). 

Painted according to my own references. The nose color is a mix between Tamiya X-14 Sky Blue + XF-5 Flat Green. The radome inside the intake is glossy white. 

Decals being applied. It's really just eight stars and the side numbers at the front. Next: the resin ejection seat and the resin undercarriage. A bunch of detail painting remains too, like the red latches on the "hood", trim plates on the wings and stuff. I am still waiting for the replacement vac-formed canopy, but I am slowly getting there! 

Wheels, gear bay doors and external fuel tanks are being cemented in place. 

Finally - after several weeks of waiting, the package with the correct resin KK-2 ejection seats has arrived from Temp Models in Russia. Yay! Here painted, dry-brushed and ready to be cemented into the cockpit! 

All details in place and some gentle weathering applied. The panel lines are a little bit too heavy for my liking, but it is Airfix style. 

And at the same time I also received the new Pavla vac-formed canopy. It of course needs to be cleaned up ... 

... and grinded to the right shape using the Dremel with a grinder stone. I decided not to cut it into two pieces, but instead have a closed canopy. I am getting a bit lazy, I guess, and want to cross the finishing line!  

Finished! Still not 100% happy with the shape of the MisterCraft radome, but that's the best I can do. 

Finished. 

Finished. 

Finished. 

Finished. 

Finished. How can you not just love those wings? 

Lineup with a MiG-17F sister. 

In the hangar. 

The ubiquitous evening shot!