Russian MiG-31M Foxhound Hobby Boss 1/48

Well, I’ll try to build a modern jet fighter again. This time it’s the MiG-31M Foxhound from Hobby Boss. This is a kit I took the courage to buy a few years ago and occupied a storage space. I will try to make it a way of consuming the stockpile models. The box paintings are incredible.

There are a lot of big parts. At first glance, there seems to be no defect, such as the plastic not running. There are so many missile parts that I can’t check them out. This kind of check should have been done right after the purchase, but I had bought many plastic models then and forgot about it.

The cockpit seat has many parts, and the mold is fine and good. The seat belt is molded from the beginning.

I left the painting and put it all together. I guess I can airbrush it later. There are also many instrument panel molds.

The parts fit well, too.
(2023/06/21)

In particular, the assembly instructions did not mention weights. But I think it’s better to put it in because it’s this shaped jet. In the picture, there was only one weight for fishing, but it seems pretty heavy, so I think I’ll put another in. The superglue hardens quickly because of the high humidity these days, so the work goes faster.

It’s huge, as expected. This part of the nose alone is probably as big as a German type-III tank. I can tell by looking at the airframe, but this model is not only divided into left and right airframes like the F-15 and F-14. The air intake and various parts are separated, making it difficult to assemble.

The air intake was also assembled with many large parts glued together. There were some instructions to put the decal on the inside. It’s done after painting, so I have to remember.

The front landing gear is being assembled. The support is made of metal parts. It’s amazing. I was worried about the strength of the aircraft because it is large, but I think I can manage with this.

The landing gearbox has been assembled. I wonder if they are going to move on to assembling airframes.
(2023/06/23)

They are the nose and fuselage bonding and the wing and fuselage bonding. Each part is enormous. It has a few sharp points and will likely break quickly, so I must be careful. Once the parts that don’t have strength are glued together, there won’t be any problems.

It’s big and hard to handle, but I think I can somehow assemble it. I’m unsure how to fit the flaps on the main wing, so I’ll pass them around later.

The jet engine nozzles use a lot of parts. The inside has a fine mold for a realistic look.

It has become quite complete with the vertical and horizontal stabilizers. In areas with a slight gap, instant glue increases strength. It would be tragic if it broke from the middle just before completion. It would be nice if I could fix the shortage with putty after the superglue hardens.
(2023/06/26)

There are many types of military equipment. Besides the fuel tank, they are R-60, R-40T, R-40R, R-77, and R-73E. The R-40T and R-40R seem to be training shells, so this time, I am going to equip them with an R-77 medium-range air-to-air missile on both sides and six R-37 missiles on the lower part of the fuselage because they are military equipment. The R-77 has a range of 80 to 200 km, depending on the type, while the R-37 has a range of 200 km, and with a booster, it can reach 400 km.

I have finished assembling the R-37 missile. The part of the tail that hits the lower part of the aircraft is folded, which is interesting.

As the wheel supports under the nose, the landing gear in the middle of the fuselage is made of metal and wrapped around it with plastic parts. It’s pretty strong.

I put the landing gear together until the end. There are a lot of tires, and they don’t look good unless adequately grounded, so I’m adjusting them, and as usual, the leg area of the modern Russian airplane is quite complicated, assembling it once, taking it apart, painting it, and then assembling it again is a pain. I should put it all together, considering the paints. It has six tires and is very stiff and cool.

I also installed a pitot tube at the nose. When I put it together as much as possible and painted it, the order didn’t seem to change from AFV.

I want to make the uneven surface a little more clean with putty. If each part is large, it is hard to fix.
(2023/06/30)

There are six decals in total, so putting these on adds a lot of precision. After all, it’s hard to draw a meter needle with a brush.

It shines, but the side panel has a fine print, like switches and levers.

I was painting the cockpit, and it seems that the interior color of this aircraft is mostly light green. Some were actual machines with blue-gray tones. Hobby Boss’s paint instructions indicated gray as the interior color of the aircraft, so I followed it this time.

The clear panel of the sight was painted clear orange.

After installing the cockpit module, it is hard to paint fine details. The seatbelt mold is barely there, but it’s too shallow to paint fine details. Whenever I painted at a different angle, it was hard to hold the fuselage and turn it round and round, and I wondered if I should have painted it first in these areas.

There are two seats, so there are a lot of clear canopy parts. Moreover, the interior frame is separate and painted in dark green. I painted it with an airbrush and attached it from the inside. It is somewhat confusing. I wonder if the interior color of the aircraft should be gray, some parts dark green, and the cross-section of the canopy should be dark green.

What’s more, this has four parts, but little clear area exists. The backseat crew has a tiny window on whether it’s dedicated to electronic tactics, simultaneously keeping track of multiple targets, and dealing with various weapons and radars. Doesn’t this make him nervous?

When I noticed something, the ads on the site were peeled off… I thought it would help pay for the server, but why? I don’t know when it started, but it can’t be helped.
(2023/07/05)

I wasn’t sure what to do with the canopy this time, but I’ll open it. Last time I was a little disappointed that the inside of the canopy got dirty with mist, so I’m going to open the inside of the cockpit, although I haven’t done much to reproduce it. This kit may be hard to close because of the structure of the parts. So I mask them persistently.

The canopy was also masked from the outside and inside. The pitot tube at the tip came off as expected. I think I will reattach it after reinforcing it with metal wire.

I also masked the radome and air intake.

I blew on the panel line in black, thinking it would be helpful in fading expression in basic painting. I finally started painting in full swing.

The landing gear is light gray. It was easier to paint with an airbrush than with a brush because there were more complicated areas. Missiles are also used in many colors, so I am masking them as I proceed.
(2023/07/11)

I masked the landing gear compartment and the inside of the air intake. I feel like I’m only doing masking these days.

It’s painted in basic colors. It’s light gray. The assigned color is light gray. Interestingly, it has the same color tone as the old Imperial Navy Japanese plane.

I forgot to mask the black area on the front of the cockpit. It’s been a double or triple effort. I use a lot of paint because the gray area is most of the fuselage. I think I spent 2/3 on a regular bottle of Mr. Color.

I will put the decal on top, then on the side, then on the bottom. It’s so detailed I can’t help it. Wouldn’t it be nice to look cool at a glance? I will follow the instructions as much as possible and try not to mistake the number and the location, but some instructions are vague and difficult to understand. Well, I hope the big decals stick correctly. After this, it will take a little more time to paint the fine areas. Honestly, I’m getting a little tired of it. I get bored quickly when I only play with the same models and games.
(2023/07/14)

The MiG-31M is finally complete. The MiG-31M is a supersonic high-altitude interceptor developed by the Soviet Union and its successor, the Russian Federation. It improved the MiG-31 and was developed in the early 1990s. The engine has been improved, and the CRT in the cockpit seems to have been improved. It has the characteristic of not responding unless you think in Russian for some reason.

The MiG-31M is designed primarily for intercepting enemy strategic bombers and cruise missiles. Its most distinctive features are its high speed and ability to fly at high altitudes in the atmosphere. The aircraft can fly over 3,000 km/h (1,860 mph) and at altitudes above 20,000 m (65,600 ft). It also has a large radar and an excellent radar tracking system that can track targets from a distance and intercept multiple targets simultaneously.

The MiG-31M’s armament includes a long-range air-to-air missile called the R-37 (NATO code name: AA-13 Arrow). The R-37 reaches a maximum range of more than 400 km (250 miles) and has excellent interception capabilities against high-speed, high-maneuver targets. In addition, the MiG-31M can carry a variety of weapons, including the R-33 (NATO codename: AA-9 Amos), a medium-range air-to-air missile, and air-to-ground missiles.

I first wanted to shoot with a black background, but the backscreen wasn’t big enough, so it was a bit difficult. As it always is, I thought the color of the body would be calmer with a grayback. This one fits better if the plane is too big and the back breaks.

There is a shallow part of the panel line, and it was re-carved. Since there is a large area to work on a fairly large airframe, I divided the areas into vertical and horizontal stabilizers, left and right main wings, front of the fuselage, and rear of the fuselage, and I worked when I felt like it. When the panel line of the body is dug again, there is a lot of work to do, such as filling the gap and improving the level difference in parallel. In the case of model tanks, the main task is to glue together a large number of small parts, but this kind of modification sometimes occurs in the case of an airplane model.

Thanks to the re-digging of the panel line, the paint flowed smoothly with the pouring of paint, and I think the monotonous color of the fuselage was a little sharp.

The canopy has a thin red frame on the outside and some dark green areas on the inside, which makes painting quite tricky. In addition, I have to attach a rearview mirror with small etched parts. This mirror is chrome silver on the mirror and semi-gloss black on the outer side.

It is a rare example for me to open the canopy. I don’t always do detailed work on the inside of the cockpit, so I think the closed condition is better. I haven’t made it particularly well this time, too, but the process of making it somehow opened up.

Paint the light area with clear orange, clear red, etc., in white first to improve the color.

I tried to take a photo of the cockpit panel at various angles, but the canopy was in the way and didn’t feel right.

Personally, a fighter plane with a lot of missiles looks cool.

The landing gear structure looks quite complicated. Metal parts are used for the core, so it is durable.

Russia had planned to operate this MiG-31M, but subsequent budget constraints and priorities for other aircraft projects prevented mass production. Instead, a program to modernize and refurbish the existing MiG-31 is underway, operating as a MiG-31BM.

Somehow, the panel line of the lower part of the main wing in the center of the fuselage is a raised mold.

I like this landing gear because it feels massive.

Caution mark decals are not something that you can put all the fine seals often seen on Hasegawa and so on together, and it was necessary to put small ones one by one. To be honest, this task was hard. I haven’t made a kit with this many decals lately.

Now that it has taken shape in a big kit, there are quite a few things to consider, such as securing the workspace and setting up the assembly and painting. It was difficult to put the nose and body together. Some parts have become sloppy, but I am relieved it is finished anyway. I think I can do better if I make the same one again. But for now, I don’t think taking a break from plastic models of large airplanes would be a good idea. It was an exciting kit to make, even though it was not something I could touch lightly.
(2023/07/18)