1/72 MiG-17F 'Fresco' (A03091)

[Ratch]

The Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-17 has the NATO reporting name ‘Fresco’ and is a high-subsonic fighter aircraft. While the MiG-15bis introduced swept wings to air combat over Korea, the Mikoyan-Gurevich design bureau had already begun work on its replacement in 1949 (originally the MiG-15bis45) in order to fix any problems found with the MiG-15 in combat. The result was one of the most successful transonic fighters introduced before the advent of true supersonic types such as the Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-19 and North American F-100 Super Sabre. The design would ultimately still prove effective into the 1960s when pressed into subsonic dogfights over Vietnam against much faster planes which were not optimized for manoeuvring in such slower speed, short-range engagements.
While the MiG-15 used a Mach sensor to deploy airbrakes because it could not safely exceed Mach 0.92, the MiG-17 was designed to be controllable at higher Mach numbers.
Though the MiG-17 still strongly resembles its forebear, it had an entirely new thinner and more highly swept wing and tail plane for speeds approaching Mach 1. While the F-86 introduced the "all-flying" tail plane which helped controllability near the speed of sound, this would not be adopted on MiGs until the fully supersonic MiG-19. The wing had a "sickle sweep" compound shape with a 45° angle like the U.S. F-100 Super Sabre near the fuselage (and tail plane), and a 42° angle for the outboard part of the wings. The stiffer wing resisted the tendency to bend its wingtips and lose aerodynamic symmetry unexpectedly at high speeds and wing loads.
Other easily visible differences to its predecessor were the addition of a third wing fence on each wing, the addition of a ventral fin and a longer and less tapered rear fuselage that added about one meter in length. The MiG-17 shared the same Klimov VK-1 engine, and much of the rest of its construction such as the forward fuselage, landing gear and gun installation was carried over. The first prototype, designated I-330 "SI" by the construction bureau, was flown on the 14 January 1950, piloted by Ivan Ivashchenko.
Ivashchenko was killed while testing when his aircraft developed flutter which tore off his horizontal tail. On 1 September 1951, the aircraft was accepted for production, and formally given its own MiG-17 designation after so many changes from the original MiG-15. It was estimated that with the same engine as the MiG-15's, the MiG-17's maximum speed is higher by 40–50 km/h, and the fighter has greater manoeuvrability at high altitude.
Serial production started in August 1951, but large quantity production was delayed in favour of producing more MiG-15s, so it was never introduced in the Korean War. It did not enter service until October 1952, when the MiG-19 was almost ready to be flight tested. During production, the aircraft was improved and modified several times.
In early 1953 the MiG-17F day fighter entered production. The "F" indicated it was fitted with the VK-1F engine with an afterburner by modifying the rear fuselage with a new convergent-divergent nozzle and fuel system. The afterburner doubled the rate of climb and greatly improved vertical manoeuvres. But while the plane was not designed to be supersonic, skilled pilots could just dash to supersonic speed in a shallow dive, although the aircraft would often pitch up just short of Mach 1. This became the most popular variant of the MiG-17. The next mass-produced variant, MiG-17PF ("Fresco D") incorporated a more powerful Izumrud RP-2 radar, though they were still dependent on Ground Control Interception to find and be directed to targets.
MiG-17s first saw combat in 1958 in the Second Taiwan Strait Crisis and later proved to be an effective threat against more modern supersonic fighters of the United States in the Vietnam War. It was also briefly known as the Type 38 by the USAF, a designation prior to the development of NATO code. It was operated by numerous air forces in many variants. 5,467 MiG-17, 1,685 MiG-17F, 225 MiG-17P and 668 MiG-17PF were built in the USSR by 1958. Over 2,600 were built under licence in China as the Shenyang J-5 and Poland as the PZL-Milec Lim-6.. To date it remains in limited service.
Description of the kit:
Scale 1:72
Dimensions 155mm x 134mm
Parts count 84 pieces

 

Skill Level 2

 

Detail quality appears to be state of the art
Flying Hours 1

 

Decals are by cartograf and the quality is excellent. Options are provided for:
(Option A) an aircraft flown by Le Hai, 932nd Fighter Regiment, Vietnam People’s Air Force, Tho Xuan, August 1969.
(Option B) Gosudarstvenny Nauchno-Ispytatel’ny Krasnoznamenny Institut Voyenno-Vozdushnye Sily, Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, 1970s.
There is no provision of reference material other than the painting illustrations.

Paints advised 11 Metallic Silver Fox, 33 Matt Black, 53 Metallc Gun Metal, 56 Metallic Aluminium, 85 Satin Coal Black, 125 Satin US Dark Grey, 164 Satin Dark Sea Grey, 168 Satin Hemp
105 Matt Marine Green, 116 Matt US Dark Green
26 Matt Khaki 34 Matt White, 61 Matt Flesh

[T2B]

Yes it looks a lovely kit. I have already read the build review in AMW. Mine is on order and should be delivered in the next day or 2. I expect you'll have yours finished by then Ratch? 

[Ratch]

The runners have been washed and are drying. I hope to make a start tomorrow.

[Ratch]

Firstly, I checked the runners before washing them in warm, soapy water, they were left overnight to dry. I checked the instructions for the paint callouts. I cannot find 125 specified on the instruction sheet though it is listed as a required paint on the box. I airbrushed the cockpit interior and picked out the moulded detail with a brush. I will model the aircraft in flight and display in on a stand, so the pilot will be in attendance. He was painted following the guide and after was given a wash with Vallejo Game Color 73203 Umber Wash to add variation. The cockpit interior was treated in the same fashion with Vallejo Game Color 73201 Black Wash.

[elkhart]

Nice write up, thanks!

Looks like a quality kit, standard Airfix. I know you plan on building it in flight, but how does the landing gear look? Does it have solid attachments, do you have to bend wheel covers? I couldn't enlarge the instructions enough to see the details. 

 

Is there an option for an open canopy?

Looking forward to your progress!

[Dark Earth]

Looking Good so far Ratch - appears to be a very nice kit.

Chris

[Ratch]

Thanks guys, I'll have a close look at the undercarriage later.

[Ratch]

Decals were applied to the cockpit interior using Humbrol DecalFix as the setting/softening solution.

The pilot fits very tightly into his seat, in fact I had to sand his hips. Stages 1 – 4 of the assembly were carried out. I airbrushed the jet pipes Gunmetal with a dash of Arctic Blue to represent heat discolouration.

 

At this time, I also airbrushed the jet intakes.

 

I used a 0.9mm drill (as instructed) in my pin vice to open the holes that accommodate the long-range tanks.

 

The ‘undercarriage lowered’ indicators on the upper wings were removed, as were the locking lugs in the wheel wells. Stage 5 (the jet pipe) was then constructed.

[Ratch]

Nice write up, thanks!

Looks like a quality kit, standard Airfix. I know you plan on building it in flight, but how does the landing gear look? Does it have solid attachments, do you have to bend wheel covers? I couldn't enlarge the instructions enough to see the details. 

 

Is there an option for an open canopy?

Looking forward to your progress!

The undercarriage struts do not have locating holes - the thinness of the wing and wheel well detail make that impossible to mould. But the struts stand on a flat 'foot' so should fix securely.

Not sure what you mean by 'bend whhel covers', everything looks very positive

The canopy comes in two parts with two rear/main sections; one with periscope and one without. I'm not sure how the canopy opens, but if it slides back it'll be OK.

HTH

[Ratch]

The ARK-5 radio compass transparency (D4) was fixed to the fuselage, as were the jet pipe and cockpit sub-assemblies. I painted the internal face of D4. Locating holes must be opened to display on a stand.

 

20g nose-weight is required for grounded models. In the event of tail-sitting a drum is provided for the tail to rest upon. Although the instructions would have the gun sight fitted at stage 1, I found it better to fix it after stage 7 when the fuselage was joined.

 

 

The nose panels were fitted next; stages 8 & 9.

I had already attended to stage 10 and moved on to the wing assembly, stages 12 & 13. The lens must be fitted before joining the upper and lower wings. Also, if modelling the undercarriage raised, the doors must be fitted before joining too. The wings are fixed at stage 14. I wiped a smidgeon of putty down the joints to ensure there was no gap.

The tail was fixed at stage15 and the rudder at stage 16.

I should acknowledge that some concern was expressed on another site regarding the leading edge of the wing.

On the real aircraft, it is thin and pointed from the wing root to the second wing fence, then the wing kinks and thickens to the wing tip. Airfix have copied the kink but the thickness remains constant along the leading edge.

Perfectionists may see this as a major flaw, others will not notice.

[Dominic Thomas]

This is one.of those very helpful builds that I really look forward to. Thank you.

As for the subject, I do have a desire to build the MiG 19, and hope, one day, it make appear on these pages. 

[T2B]

Good info so far Ratch. Mine arrived 2 days ago and upon checking the parts I did would about the oil drum in the last build stage 39. It seems an odd choice for supporting a tail sitter but presumably it was done somewhere at 1 time or another?? 

[Ratch]

When modelling the aircraft in flight stages 17 – 24 are irrelevant, so we move on to stages 25 & 26 where the guns are fitted.

Stages 26 & 27 see the air brakes fitted in the closed position. This is a tight fit, almost a snap fit not requiring glue. Stages 29 – 32 deal with the air brakes when modelled open. The canopy is fitted at stage 33.

[Ratch]

I masked the canopy, landing light and ARK-5 transparencies, also the intake and exhaust.

The aerial mast and wing-tip pitot tubes were fixed at stage 34. The long-range tanks are assembled over stages 35 – 37. These are handed so best to keep them identified while they are sprayed and until they are fitted.

[Ratch]

The tanks and lower surfaces of the wings and tail stabilizers were primed with Vallejo Acrylic 74660 Gloss Black Polyurethane Surface Primer. The canopy received a coat of Vallejo Model Air 71054 Dark Grey Blue to show as the interior colour.

I left this overnight to ensure the paint had fully dried. The under surfaces of the wings and horizontal stabilizers and the long-range tanks were airbrushed firstly with AK’s Dark Aluminium

and then certain areas were over sprayed with Aluminium.

Once again, the paint will be left to fully cure before I start masking. There is nothing more frustrating than thinking the paint has dried, masking up, spraying the new colour(s) and removing the masking, only to find the previous paint lifting with the masking tape.

[elkhart]

Ratch, she's looking great! 

I'm no MiG expert, have only built three of them, but they required the builder to bend the landing gear covers. I'm glad to see Airfix has taken care of this, I was never sure if the angle and placement was correct. 

[Ratch]

Cheers, Merry Christmas.

[Ratch]

Once again, the paint was left to fully cure before I started masking. There is nothing more frustrating than thinking the paint has dried, masking up, spraying the new colour(s) and removing the masking, only to find the previous paint lifting with the masking tape. First a coat of Vallejo Model Air 71014 Gunship Green over the upper surfaces, and then blotches of Vallejo Model Air 71013 Yellow Olive for the disruptive camouflage.

Then the big test; to remove the masking.

No need to worry, all is well.

[Ratch]

The masking was removed from the nose intake and jet exhaust, then the whole airframe was airbrushed with Klear in readiness for the decals.

The decals were applied with Humbrol DecalFix.

[T2B]

Looks another good build from you Ratch! And a difficult camo scheme? That's the 1 I intend to do when I get round to doing my Mig 17!

[Ratch]

Thank you. The camo really needs airbrushing on at low pressure. If the pressure is too high you'll end up with spiders instead of blotches. The other thing is trying to be random in their positioning and not ending up with rows of blobs across the airframe. I have three NMF Mustangs on the go so wanted a different finish for this build. And besides, the Vietnam scheme fits in with some other builds I have planned.

[aphilla]

This is fantastic!  I keep resisting the temptation to get into 'nam era planes.  Builds like this make it really appealing.

[Ratch]

I painted the aerial tips and navigation lights in silver and the gun barrels in gunmetal. I then used Vallejo Game Color 73201 Black Wash to accentuate the panel lines. The wing on the left is washed. the one on the right isn't.

I then touched in the port and starboard navigation lights.

The drop tanks were fixed before I airbrushed the whole model with matt varnish. When this was dry, I could remove the masking from the canopy and the two lenses.

To summarise, this is another cracking little kit from the Airfix stable. It goes together well it looks like a Fresco and will fill a gap in the collections of many. At £12.99 it is competitively priced. I predict many happy modellers with the issue of this kit.

[elkhart]

She turned out great! Thanks for posting the build log

[Ratch]

Thanks very much. More pictures.

The aircraft flown by Le Hai, 932^nd Fighter Regiment, Vietnam people’s Air Force, Tho Xuan, August 1969.