Looking for a book

I am looking for Famous Aircraft of the World(FAOW) #97, The MiG-15/MiG-17.  The cover looks like this:

FAOW #97

If you know of a bookstore of hobby shop that has one, let me know.    I have found some on eBay but I am trying to avoid that route.

Great Me-163 site

This just proves that everything is on the net.  The last model I finished was in late 2007.  (I hope to change that soon as the Hunter is all but done.)  It was Academy’s Me-163B.  It was a lovely kit.  I recently came across this site, that is a great Me-163 resource.  I hope to build another Me-163 someday soon, so I have bookmarked the site.

Here is a photo of my 163:

Me-163B

A new decal company

The other day in a post on ARC, I ran across a new decal company.  El-Presidente Decals.  Now, I have more decals than I will ever use.  Yet, that doesn’t stop me from buying more.  In fact, at this years Nats, I walked away from the vendor room with more decals than kits.  I love small air force subjects and Russian and Chinese aircraft.  This new company’s first two sheets combine those two areas, so I couldn’t resist.  I’ll let you know more when I get the sheets.

In the dark

Its been a rough few days at the model manse.  The storms that passed thru Louisville on Sunday not only took down a number of big limbs from the stately maple trees on the grounds of the manse, they also took the lights, the air conditioning, the heat…pretty much everything that made modern life so easy.  You can read more here.

As you can imagine, no modeling was accomplished for the last few days.  However, I did get some magazines read by flashlight.  I guess that is modeling the way our ancestors did it.   The good news is that thanks to the wonderful workers at LG & E, we have power again as of late this morning.  We are hoping it stays on.  Cross your fingers.

My favorite modeling tools: Tamiya Tape

I was all set to write this post a week of so ago, when I happened to be over at the Obscureco blog and noticed this post.  I won’t say that great minds think alike, but I do think posting about one’s favorite modeling tools or techniques ought to be a big part of what a modeling blog ought to be about.  I’ll admit that I had never heard of Chris’ Silver Sharpie technique before and it inspired me to go out and get one to try out.

I’ve recently been using on of my favorite modeling tools, Tamiya Masking Tape. 

Tamiya Masking Tape

I’ve been using this a lot as I have been masking the hard edge paint scheme on the Hunter and masking the canopy.  This stuff is great.  Its biggest advantage is its thinness.  It is much thinner that regular masking tape or 3M blue masking tape.   IF you get some, get it in the dispenser, as that keeps fuzz off the edge of the tape prior to use. (HT to Chris at CRM in St. Louis)

Give this stuff a try and check back here in the future for further posts on my favorite modeling tools.

Restaurant Review Lemongrass Restaurant

Well, time to bust out another quick restaurant review.  Actually I have several of these in the pipeline, as the modelwife, modelchild and I eat out a fair amount.  As two working parents of a small child this is to be expected, I guess.

Lemongrass is a restaurant serving Thai, Chinese and Vietnamese cuisine.  We like it due to the proximity to the model manse.  Actually that sells it short.  We like the place because it serves good food at a good price and is close to where we live.

The menu at Lemongrass has a variety of foods from all three of its ethnic cuisines.  The modelwife tends toward the Thai dishes, while I mostly eat mainline Chinese.  The modelchild will eat anything with noodles or rice so we all get what we want.  I highly recommend the Hacked Chicken appetizer.  It is spicy, but never fails to please.  When we go we get appetizers, main courses and sometimes a dessert or glass of wine and the bill is rarely over $25, and we almost always have leftovers.  That is a rare deal these days.

The Lemongrass website is here.  It could really use an upgrade, but it does supply you with all the info you will need.  I highly recommend the place.

MiG-17 Research help

Guys,

 

I need some help.  I love the MiG-17.  I build in 72^nd scale.  If any of you have built the DML MiG-17 or J-5 kit you know that the nose is not correct.  The top of it has a lump on it that bears no resemblance to reality.

 

In doing research to correct the kit I came across something that I can’t explain and that none of my reference mentions.  I am posting here in hopes that someone has an answer.

 

I have used the following books as reference for the following.

OKB MiG by Butowski and Miller

Aerofax MiG-17 by Gordon

The MiG-17 Fresco in Detail and Scale by Slatton

Squadron/Signal MiG-17 in Action

Squadron/Signal MiG-17 Walkaround

Kagero MiG-17/Lim-5

 

 

All of the reference drawings in all of these books depict the curve on the top of the nose from the intake to the windscreen as a single radius curve.  This is true no matter what version they are depicting. 

 

MiG-17 drawings

 

 

 

This is true whether or not the SRD-1M radar rangefinder is present.

 

 

However, from photographs and personal inspection of two separate MiG-17s, I have found two different distinct nose profiles.  One is the constant curve depicted in the drawings and illustrated in the photo below.

 

 

This is a Chinese J-5

 

This is a Mig-17 Fresco-A

 

But there is another nose profile.  It rises higher than the ones above and then flattens out prior to the end of the nose panel in front of the windscreen

 

This is a MiG-17 Fresco-C at Nellis AFB

 

This is a Czech MiG-17 Fresco-C

The bump is present on some aircraft whether or not the SRD-1M antenna is present.  It can be seen on some MiG-17 Fresco-A & Cs, some Lim-5/6 and some Chinese J-5.  It is not present on any MiG-17 Fresco-D that I have seen.  The nose profile on the aircraft with the alternate nose is also different when viewed from head on, but I don’t think that makes any difference for the purposes of this discussion.

 

Now can anyone tell me, for sure, anything about this alternate nose profile?  Is it peculiar to a particular variant?  Why do none of the mainstream western publications on the MiG-17 even mention it, much less illustrate it?  I’d appreciate any accurate information on this issue.  Thanks.

 

 

 

Another modeling blog

Was on ARC today and came across a thread asking about modeling blogs.  The guy who started the thread has a blog that you can see here.