Was raining today, so I managed to complete quite a bit of work on my Mig V4M3e3.
I sanded and symmetrically tapered the leading and trailing edges of my elevons, vert stab and rudders as well as the trailing edge of the wing/ailerons and the front and back edge of the prop slot. It is a tedious, messy job, but well worth it in how slippery it makes the plane in the air.
I also cut out my KF airfoils from paperless dollar store foam. The wing plate and fuselage as you can see in the picture have also been joined and I will let the glue setup up over night as I think building is done for today.
While sanding, I cracked the foam in the small area of vertical stab shown below, so I have reinforced that on both sides and on both vert stabs using a small strip of drywall tape and Foam Tac glue, it should hold it good and strong and prevent too much flex. I also cut about 1/4" off the top of the vert stab, it was looking just a little too "pointy" for my liking as it was and I don't think that small amount will have too much impact on stability.
Nose glued and held together with masking tape. This will be left like that over night so that the glue sets up completely before removing the tape. I used Foam tac with a couple "spot welds" of hot glue to help hold things in place.
I definitely know it is time for a break when the big boss, my plane building partner Bently tells me it is time for a walk... :)
Although my plane will look more like the modern version of the Mig29M or Mig35, I found this really cool paint scheme from when the Romanian Air Force was working in conjunction with Daimler-Chrysler Aerospace of Germany, AEROSTAR of Romania and Elbit Systems Ltd. of Israel when they were working on the Mig29 "Sniper" program for the Romanian Air Force. Unfortunately it fell by the wayside due to financial constraints but at the time was considered to be one of the best Mig29 upgrades available and would have made the Romanian Mig29 far more compatible with NATO forces.
My painting skills probably will not allow for exact duplication and for contrast I will be leaving the bottom of my plane white, but I think it will look pretty cool when it is finished... :)
Cheers,
Scott
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