Ryan Hothersall

The old 1:72 MiH-21MF kit from KP built in Hungarian markings. Build is what you expect from an older kit, fit isn't the best in places, and on this kit the canopy and a piece broken off, so the kit part was not usable and meant a dig around in the spares box... Ended up using a spare Eduard canopy, hence not the best fit. I did try a vacform canopy on something else a while ago and never ever again. The AA-2 missiles and rails are kit parts, the AA-1 missiles and rails are from Eduard. With Model Master now becoming hard to get here in Australia, I decided to try some locally made paint from SMS (Scale Modellers Supply) which in acrylic lacquer vs the enamel I'm more used to. I was surprised how easy this paint is to use, no thinning, quick drying, but I need to find a different way of masking as the blu tack sausage method did not always work as I wanted it to. Colours used were SMS PL-89 blue grey on the underside, SMS PL-32 brown and SMS PL-31 green on the upper side. Decals went on without any issues. A mix for modern KP stars and HAD Deca;s for the numbers from the spares file. Build Progress Video MiG-21MF-55 by Ryan Hothersall, on Flickr MiG-21MF-56 by Ryan Hothersall, on Flickr MiG-21MF-57 by Ryan Hothersall, on Flickr MiG-21MF-58 by Ryan Hothersall, on Flickr MiG-21MF-59 by Ryan Hothersall, on Flickr MiG-21MF-60 by Ryan Hothersall, on Flickr

Nice build.

Nice build.

Nice build. Nose weight is a problem with any MiG-17 kit (AZ Model, Dragon etc. MiG-15 is even worse).

Nice build.

Nice build.

Nice build.

It's that time of year again, the South Australian Plastic Modellers Association 'Secret Santa' aka 'build a bitch'. During the December meeting, members bring along an unwanted kit wrapped up and members take a number and the kit they end up with is to be hopefully built over the summer and proudly displayed at the first meeting of the new year in February. I ended up with a Mach 2 Seabee. I have heard about the reputation Mach 2 kits have, and I did not think it was that bad, although I probably was spoilt for bad kits by building the Red Hurricane Tu-14 Bosun. Build wise was a lot better than expected. Fit wasn't too bad and the Israeli one did not have the floats under the wings etc fitted. The propeller was not moulded that well, so had to raid a modelling friend's spares for one that looked about right. Colours used was overall SMS lacquer PL-32 brown and Tamiya XF-18 enamel blue for the camo pattern. Again had to ask a friend for some Israeli decals. Used some Xtradecal roundels off a Meteor sheet which went on without and issues. Build Progress Video RC-3-38 by Ryan Hothersall, on Flickr RC-3-39 by Ryan Hothersall, on Flickr RC-3-40 by Ryan Hothersall, on Flickr RC-3-41 by Ryan Hothersall, on Flickr RC-3-42 by Ryan Hothersall, on Flickr RC-3-43 by Ryan Hothersall, on Flickr RC-3-44 by Ryan Hothersall, on Flickr

Interesting build. I know what you mean about MiG-15s being tail sitters. Built quite a few and there’s not much room for weight.

Nice build.

Nice build.

Nice build.

Nice build.

Very nice build.

Those colours were fairly standard for the export MiG-21MFs to Africa and Middle East, although the actual pattern varied quite a bit.