1/48 Trumpeter MiG-21F-13 - 4/10 Update - Struts Installed

[doogsatx]

After bailing on the F-4G as my first 1/48 jet build since my childhood, I've landed on a simpler kit that should (hopefully) get me into paint faster and thus increase my chances of actually finishing the build.

Trumpeter's MiG-21F-13.



Overall, it's simpler but not as well though-out as Eduard's later-model Fishbeds. Case in point - the wings mount to the fuselage with two little pins. That's it.

But, despite some weird choices along those lines, the kit fits up rather well.





The plan is to do it out of the box, and go with this battered but still awesomely-camoflaged Polish example. Probably somewhere between the still in service image, and the abandoned derelict.





Stay tuned!

[TRM]

Another fine plane I see tonight!! Have at it!! Love that second pic!!

[tigrazor]

Hell yeah, mighty fine choice! If you need original pics, I got tons of one here.

[MOOSE]

Nice choice! Sure you'll make it look amazing in no time

[doogsatx]

Feb 14, 2014 19:27:00 GMT -5 tigrazor said:

Hell yeah, mighty fine choice! If you need original pics, I got tons of one here.

Thanks! I'm pretty good on references, except for 2015 in particular. Seems like this was the only angle it was ever photographed from! That and running down the paint codes for the colors. Assuming I'll be eyeballing quite a bit...

[tigrazor]

[venom1]

Sweet! Tuning in for this one.....

Cheers,

Sam

[doogsatx]

Since I'll be doing this one canopy closed, I figured I should check to make sure that would work out. I know some aircraft create a lot more headaches if you try to close the canopy - not the case here.



I figured since I'll be doing it closed up, why not go ahead and mask the canopy so I could paint it at the same time as the cockpit. Fortunately this was a case where Eduard's masks fit perfectly.



It was getting late, but I went ahead and sprayed some Mr Surfacer 1500 to prime everything ahead of the color going down. I've read and seen pictures indicating that the 9-13's cockpit was anything from black to a sort of medium gray to that barf turquoise color (but that seems to be restored jobs or upgraded MiGs, not initial production). I'm going to go with a medium gray to match the gear bays and struts.

[venom1]

Paint on already! Love yer work!!

Cheers,

Sam

[dupes]

Nice!

Man, that one you have a pic of above sure has taken a beating.

[doogsatx]

Got some good bit of work done yesterday.

During a very rare daytime bench session, I painted the cockpit a medium gray (Tamiya Dark Sea Gray).



Then last night I went back with some detail painting, and drybrushing with MM Dunkelgrau and Aluminum. Belts by Eduard are going in...still more to do there. I've also got the IP that needs to be sorted. I'm contemplating punching out the individual gauges from the provided decal, but laziness may take over.

[doogsatx]

Cockpit is really coming together now. Last night I went at it with Vallejo Game Color Umber and Black washes to really dirty up the cockpit to "rode hard, put up wet, left in a field for years" status.



Still have some details to pick out, and the instrument panel gauges to take care of, then I'll be moving on to the engine and shock cone.

[venom1]

Superb!

Cheers,

Sam

[doogsatx]

Bit more detail work tonight - mix of kit and Mike Grant gauge decals and tedious use of the punch-and-die set, plus detail painting of various knobs and switches. Should be done with the cockpit tomorrow.

[doogsatx]

The cockpit's nearly wrapped...just some finishing touches needed on the HUD deck.



In the meantime, before I can close up the fuselage, I have to deal with the front and aft ends...beginning with the shock cone. On #2015, it clearly shows the red and green worn down to show metal underneath.

To replicate that, I used salt.









Next comes the intake surround. Which will be an interesting color to isolate.

[doogsatx]

Got the insides of the intake painted last night. A weird mix of Tamiya Interior Green and XF-26 Deep Green. Should probably be able to close the fuselage tonight.

[deafpanzer]

Excellent work on the nose!!! Just like in the picture... impressive!

[venom1]

Magic work on the shock cone Doogs, looks the bees knees!

Any thoughts on the plan of attack for the fading of the paintwork? Would be keen to know how you plan to replicate the look of the real thing....

Cheers,

Sam

[JimD]

Too bad you bailed on the Weasl for now. That was the first kit I managed to actually get to 100% completion years ago. I've always loved SEAD aircraft so I look forward to when you do get to it.

That being said, this kit looks totally killer. I'm going to have to grab one. Spectacular work on the shock cone for sure.

[Deleted]

Great progress and detailing in the CP 
this one from Trumpy isn't too bad, they managed to get it roughly the right shape for a change 

[doogsatx]

Feb 25, 2014 0:08:00 GMT -5 venom1 said:

Any thoughts on the plan of attack for the fading of the paintwork? Would be keen to know how you plan to replicate the look of the real thing....

I've been giving this a lot of background thinking and I'm still not 100% on what I'm going to do, but for now I'm thinking:

- Paint the staining around forward access panel and mask it off
- Paint the bottom - black, then shading, then the top light blue coat
- Upper fuselage and surfaces - Bare metal base consisting of several Alclads
- Salt applied to selected upper sections (spine, tail, canopy)
- Black and gray base over the salt, ending with a heavily shaded gray "primer" base
- AK Chipping fluid
- Apply the various topside camo colors. Patchy application with a few different shades. Probably going to freehand it.
- Chip up the finish and remove salt.
- Use custom masks for the "2015" and either custom masks or straight-up masking for the Polish insignias
- Salt fading
- Approach the weathering from an almost armor mindset with heavy washes and streaking
- Light misting of something on the canopy...I used AK's Dust Effects on my 262, but may use good ol' Tamiya paint this time around

[doogsatx]

Got the fuselage closed up last night...but we'll get there. Few things to do first.

Noseweight. In the interest of keeping this one from being a tail-sitter, I had to do a kind-of thorough test fit to determine how much weight I needed to add. Fortunately a single 1/8 oz. lead sinker was all that was needed to provide an even keel.



To provide a little extra insurance, I also added some Liquid Gravity to the shock cone and locked it in place with CA.

Stabs. Trumpeter only gives you a friggin' butt joint. Lame. But in perhaps a moment of lucidity, they provided a raised ring inside the fuselage that acts as a drill guide. So I used it to drill out holes in the fuselage and then in the stabs themselves. 2015 sits with them canted forward, so using a pin or something here will make that easy.



Cockpit. STILL missing the HUD glass and one small piece on the HUD deck, but otherwise, here she is.





Joining Up. After everything was aligned within the fuselage halves (cockpit, rear deck, forward sensor deck, nose gear well, shock cone and engine...lots to keep straight!), the pointy sausage was taped up and gradually welded together with MEK. There will be some cleanup necessary, but probably minimal filler.

[venom1]

Cockpit look smashing, Doogs!

Plan of attack for the painting seems pretty sound to me. I will be watching along in earnest as I want to do something similar, so I'll leave it up to you to make all the mistakes that I can learn from!

I'm sure you'll nail it though!

Cheers,

Sam

[bbd468]

Daiumn Doogs, its a full time gig keepin up with you feller!   This is one cool Mig and your up to your high standards too. Looks awesome so far bro.

[JimD]

I have to say, I've not had a Trumpeter airplane kit, but I've got a couple of the Hobby Boss kits that are scaled down from 1/32 Trumpy kits. The OOB cockpit details on those are horrendous, and this one looks really nice. I think you've just made me want this kit.

[doogsatx]

Yeah, overall this is a really nice kit. IMO the only major shortcoming is the way the wings join to the fuselage. Eduard definitely has the better approach there.

[doogsatx]

Things stalled out a bit in the drive to finish the Challenger, but now the Fishbed is back on the front burner.

Last night I airbrushed the wing portion of the gear bays Dark Sea Gray, drilled out the appropriate holes, and got the wings glued and mounted to the fuselage.

Almost got into trouble with the PE wing fences. You have to open up a little slit in the wing and I only noticed thanks to a random glance at the wrong page of the instructions.



The wings are joined to the fuselage by two pins...weak...but at least the fit is good.

[doogsatx]

Construction continues. I should be out of the weeds tomorrow, and into the special hell that is filling and sanding.

[Deleted]

Looks to be comming together well Doogs. There seems to be a nasty joint on the front fuse but I'm sure you'll kick if into line 

[doogsatx]

Mar 10, 2014 3:02:50 GMT -5 @stevem said:

Looks to be comming together well Doogs. There seems to be a nasty joint on the front fuse but I'm sure you'll kick if into line 

The front fuse has some nastiness, but mostly on the bottom where it's not terribly visible...and I haven't glued down the avionics cover yet, so there's still some cleanup to do there to maximize the fit.