MiG-21 MF DONE!

[wing_nut]

No rest for the weary. With the Corsair on the shelf the tough decision of what’s next had to be made. I thought I had decided on a Tiger tank but when I looked down at my a bench a bit later to cockpit of MiG was almost done.  
 
The MiG-21MF limited edition kit #1199. The box has resin and color PE, instruction book, 3 sheets of decals of 39 markings options, a book of 4-view drawing of all 39 schemes, and a 128 page book with info and ref photos of all schemes as well. The book is in Czech. An English translation is on theirs site for download. A bit of AM stuff too. But this the same as a Playboy... I'm just lookin' at the pictures.







Started the MiG-21. The start of the build reminded me of how much I loved building my 1st one. What a great kit this is. High on the “1 Kit to build for the rest of your life” list.






I thought deciding the next project was tough. 39 MARKINGS OPTIONS??? It’s not so bad really. I have it narrowed down to 35 Kept coming back to this one so I'm going with it.

[Leon]

Off to a good start Marc! I like your choice on the markings.

[jpc1968]

Those markings are great! Love the white nose

[wbill76]

Looking forward to you sink your teeth into another one of these Marc! Nice choice on the marking scheme.

[dierk]

Love old MIGs! I'll be watching!

[wing_nut]

Thanks guys. Glad for the company. Bill, I have to say one of the things I liked best was that middle color against the whit and black/gray. In that drawing it's like a near match for Tamiya deck tan. On the real bird it's a light gray/blue. Still nice but I really liked the deck tan.

[wing_nut]

Airframe basically done. Soon the sweet smell of VOC’S.



I have the resin seat upgartde but since I am doing a closed canopy, virtual all the extradeatil will be unseen. Point of fact, most wouldn’t be visisble even open. And once the PE is added to the kity seat it’s pretty darn nice.





Bank seat installed and 1 last look before the lid is put on.




A guy on FB told me about putting a bit of clear blue/green on the edge of the HUD “plastic”. Really turns into HUD “glass”.

[dierk]

Office's looking good!
Although I struggle to understand what the smell of Very Old Co*ks has to do with modelling - must be a wingy thing

[wing_nut]

You sir are one depraved individual.... my kinda guy

[Leon]

ROFLMAO
Looking really good Marc! Bring on the paint.

[bbrowniii]

WOW! What a kit.

Jeepers, 39 markings!!! Eduard really does go above and beyond with some of their kits, don't they?

Love the build so far, Marc. And I agree (without seeing any of the other options), that scheme you picked is sahhhhhh-weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeet!!!

[panzerjager2]

OUTSTANDING detail 
PJ2

[wbill76]

Nice trick on the HUD, definitely adds a nice touch.

[thug626]

I'm a bit late to the dance. I am really liking what you're doing with this bird. I will be borrowing your HUD idea when I get around to my "couple" of MIGs in the stash.

[dierk]

Jul 11, 2017 7:26:30 GMT -5 wing_nut said:

You sir are one depraved individual.... my kinda guy

All I did was ask an innocent question - and now I'm branded 'depraved'...it's a cruel world

[dupes]

That HUD-glass trick is pretty nifty! Your "B-grade" ejection seat looks excellent. Saving the resin for another future Fishbed?

[wing_nut]

Thanks Marc. With 38 more sets of decals... I am thinking there may be another -21 one day.

[wing_nut]

No clue where I found the time between my busy season, daughter moving to her 1st apartment and her transmission literally exploding… but we have VOC application. Twice! The blue/gray I used was too green. A light overspray of MRP-112, Medium Sea Gray. The nice thing about MRP is that it’s is a nice thin mic so a light transparent coat can be done easily. In this case letting just enough of the 1st color to give it a bit of a tint. It doesn’t show as well in the pic but there is a blue cast to it.

I sucked it up and went freehand on the repaint. Where my soon to be 62 year old jittery hands colored out of the lines so to speak, I liked the effect it had on the black/gray which I felt was too black. Backed out the needle little a few more inches for a light dusting of the MSG over the dark areas.

I am happy with the results and consider paint to be at near full Viagra stage.

Before



After

[Leon]

Paint looks really good Marc!

[dupes]

62? Damn. I didn't think you were nearly that old.

Nice paint work, old guy!

[wing_nut]

Leon, Marc... hanks fellas.

Yeah Marc. Won;t be long before I am not allowed to be bothered if someone calls an an old codger

[wbill76]

Can see a big difference between those two shots for sure Marc, good choice on the second route.

[willc453]

You want to know when you're getting old? It's when the sales clerk asks if you want the seniors discount?! Ask me how I know. Your build is looking great.

There's a company at the Stead, Nevada airport which buys/sells MiG-15's, & 21's; both single & 2 seater versions. He's also got some MiG-17's, though I think they're just single seaters. 20 years or so ago when I was still building models, was also photographing all the ex-military stuff I could find, along with going to the air races every year. Happened to hit their hanger when they were doing a complete inspection of a MiG-21 2 seater for FAA inspection later on. Was able to photograph EVERYTHING on that bird which still had all the Russian maintenance/warning stickers on it. Took about 300+ photos and only half a dozen came out a little dark when shooting the nooks & crannies of the landing gear bay.

Some dentist owns a Saab Viggen which I was also able to shoot everything except for the cockpit. He wasn't around, so they couldn't give me the okay to do that. I have never seen it on display during the air races. A little bit after that shoot, found another dentist (maybe the same one?) who was building a full size MB-5 which to me looks like a P-51D on steroids. Think Air Classics magazine did an article later on about it.

I was always getting surprised at the number of warbirds in the Reno/Carson city airports...LB-39's, T-33's, F-86E's & D's, O-1's, O-2's, HU-16's, T-6's, T-28's, AN-2, F-105D (no engine), F-100D (with engine) and a B-25 which was used to carry witnesses during the Nuremberg war crime trials.

[wing_nut]

Thanks guys.



In the very few photos of this bird there doesn’t seem to have too much in the way of stenciling. I’ll save that sheet for a weekend version that doesn’t come with the kit. Decals applied, MiG PLW applied and wiped with a Magic Eraser, and legs added. Needs some flat coat and very mild weathering. Now to get to those under wing stores.

[Leon]

That looks pretty sharp!

[bbrowniii]

Well, dang!

Lovely!

[dierk]

Migtastic!

[dupes]

"Magic Eraser"?

Love that paint scheme.

[wing_nut]

Thanks a lot guys.

Yeah Marc, works great without any solvent or water. I hear it even has uses around the kitchen

[bbrowniii]

Say what now?

What are you using the Magic Eraser for??