Mikoyan MiG-31BM/BSM Foxhound, AMK (AvantGarde Model Kits) 1/48

MiG-31BM/BSM is AMK’s newest release, awaited by modelers all over the world with anticipation. Thankfully it is a great kit, among the best in 1/48th scale, with lots of details, almost perfect fit and, as advertised by the company, it is really easy to build! Most parts almost snap together and stay in place even without glue! Currently, this is the best MiG-31 kit in any scale, and especially in 1/48 where there was only a resin kit by Collect-Aire. AMK is about to release and a new kit of the MiG-31B/BS version later.

Construction

We started building the kit from the landing gear bays and air intake trunks. These were all painted with Alclad’s dark aluminium, with some details being painted with other colours, based on photos of the real plane. The wonderful detail on these parts was enhanced with a dark gray wash with artist’s oils. The landing gear was painted with Gunze’s H311, and the wheel hubs with a mix of Humbrols No. 2 and 3 in 1:1 proportion. The exhausts were painted with a combination of Gunze H312 and various Metalizer shades, and were sprayed in the inside with a mix of black and red-brown to replicate the stains from the fumes. The exterior of the exhausts was painted with Metalizer Burnt metal and was drybrushed with steel. Next was the cockpit, with its characteristic blue green, which for the MiG-31 is a little more on the blue side than the older MiGs. We painted it with a mix of Gunze H25, H46 and white in 2:1:2 proportion. The cockpit was the only part of the kit that additions were made, with the seatbelts and rear canopy curtains added of aluminium foil. The instruments were painted black with white dials, and the details on the consoles with various colours according to our reference photos. The fuselage and wings fitted very nice, with just minor amounts of putty required in a couple of seams, and the big model, about 47 cm length was ready to be painted!

Painting

We chose White Ensign’s enamels for the main colours, as these were the only available at the time, and proved to be a very good choice, as they are very nice to work with! Their codes are acsm06 for the main colour and acsm08 for the radar cone and dihelectric surfaces at the small fins of the under fuselage. The dihelectric parts of the tail fins and small square ones all over the plane were painted with a darker tone mixed with gunze black and a little gray. We chose not to use preshading, but postshading instead. After the main colour was painted, darker tones were carefully applied over the panel lines, and shadows were done in some parts of the plane, like the wing and fin roots. After the gloss varnish we applied the decals, which set nicely on the engraved panels. Dip them in lukewarm water to save time! A second layer of gloss sealed everything, and a light gray wash was applied on all surfaces. The surface under fuselage was treated with raw umber oil to replicate oil leaks. The final varnish was Humbrol’s matt cote, and then we started putting smaller parts in place. The model took almost two months to finish, it was a really nice build and is definitely impressive with its size and amount of detail! Recommended to all!

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