Depicted
here is a Polish Air Force MiG-29 with a special scheme to honour Polish WWII
pilots. The kit was an Academy 1/144 kit with Russian markings. I chance upon
this special Polish demo bird which debut at the RIAT 2012 at RAF Fairford in
Gloucestershire, UK. There were two demo birds at that event. I chose to build
the one bearing Red Bort 56 that featured famous WWII Polish fighter pilot Cdr
Marian Pisarek on the inner side of the vertical fins (he would have been 100
years of age in 2012). on the inner side of the vertical fins and had the big
and nice emblem of 303 Koscuiszko Squadron.
Click on
images below to see larger images
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For
the build. I had to scratch build the external sensors, blisters air data
sensor, IRST and IFF antenna in front of the cockpit to enhance its look as
found from the pictures of the demo bird. I had to discard the original missiles
that came with the kit and scratch build 2 x AA-8 Aphids and 2 x AA-11 Archers
missiles. Reshaped the pylons to make it looked more realistic too.
For
further realism, I added static dischargers on the trailing edges of the main
wing, stabs and fins. As the demo bird carried a centreline tank I added a
scratch built tank to go with it. The nose was improved by extending its length
and reshaping using putty and sanding it down. Lastly, had the original pitot
tube replaced with a metal pin.