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This will be a part of a diorama on a larger scale. I started my APA-5D in 1/35 scale about a year ago, and as comes to painting phase now, I decided to "stretch" it a bit. With MiG-21UMD in 1:32. This is a layout sketch cca. 55 x 40 cm. A is MiG-21UMD, bort no. 165 from Croatian Air Force, after overhaul in 2014. It's our solo display MiG, with red-white livery, called "little cube" or locally "Kockica". Or "flying ILS house", as some call it. B is APA-5D airfield starter, also from Croatian Air Force, currently in painting phase (below). Above is my first APA-5D, finished as example from Voronezh Air Base, Russia, here only for illustrative purposes. Whole WIP for starter is here: C should be a spotter figure from ReedOak. I just cleaned up the figure - removed support struts from 3D printing. All three together should be a nice airshow diorama or vignette. MiG-21 will be on asphalt and spotter and URAL on a grass, next to MiG. Note that display MiG is getting dirty with time, but it's also being freshly repainted, often than any other MiG in Croatian inventory. On the other side, this particular APA starter is more than 20 years old, never overhauled or re-painted, full of rust, paint chipping, etc... A big contrast to MiG on diorama base, for sure. OK, back to MiG. My shopping list. Single available Mongol kit in 1:32. Old mold, crude plastic, full of sink marks and pins.... Eduard PE for MF exterior. I know it's MF, but since there is no PE for UM, some parts can be upgrades with this set as well. Kuvalainen PE for Finnish Mongol cockpit. Finnish Mongols have different arrangement for instrument panels, but I think this could be useful. Eduard masks. Saved me a lot of time for single-seaters in 1:48. Icaerodesign upgrade for MiG-21MF engine - both MF and UM share R-13-300 engine. Begemot stencils. Mostly in Russian. We have mostly translated stencils to Croatian and they should be black for display MiG. For now I'll leave them. Ze-Ro Decals for Croatian UM, but from 90's livery. Both Croatian roundel and national coat of arms are 10-15% smaller than they should be for display MiG after overhaul in 2014. No bort number provided as decal. These were last two examples, I found on web. Master pitot tubes and static dischargers. Quickboost resins for MF, again useful for UM, as well. HAD wheels. HAD ground crew accessories. HAD ejection seats and control sticks. OK, that's all for now. Stay tuned.

Hi everyone, It's been a while since my last post on Britmodeller, so I'll to make it up to you. This time it's APA-5D, Soviet airfield starter on Ural 4320 chassis. I made my first APA a few years back and it was a lot of fun for 8 months to build and paint 600+ parts. Back then I started with Omega-K/ICM/Revell URAL4320, with Eduard PE, but finished with fresh moulded Trumpeter. There was too many errors in the casting and I decided to take another shot with Trumpeter instead. I gave my 2nd conversion set from HAD Models to a fellow modeler who cannot afford it. A few months back I started with 3rd set, and this is my current project. This is APA-5D from Croatian Air Force, during CIAV 2016 airshow, held in Varazdin. There are a few things to clear up, prior further reading: 1. HAD Models covers APA model as used in Hungary, Poland, USSR/Russia. Here in Croatia we have a slightly different APA, and I will scratch build those details. This set is OOP for a long time. 2. This particular APA-5D is normally based at 91st Air Force Base, Pleso, but it was transferred to Varazdin for airshow, because our solo display MiG-21UMD stayed overnight there. Back in the 90's we had 92nd AFB stationed in Pula, but it was closed and all equipment and vehicles were moved to Pleso. This is why it's still written "92 ZB" on the port door. 3. Note that port cables are wrapped in fire hose. This is normal, since port side is frequently used for MiGs. I'll try to recreate fire hose with satin ribbon. 4. Front and middle axles use Michelin XZL tires, while Semperit Gigant Steel tires are on rear axle. No Ruskiis. Croatia got armored vehicles as a donation from US a few years back (M-ATV, MRAP....). This is where Michelin tires came from. 5. If you google Pula, Croatia you will notice it's on the coastline. And while other APA trucks are well preserved despite their age, this one got a full hit from sun, rain, wind and salt. So, no weathering is too much for this APA: faded colors, paint chipping, and rust. A lot of rust. Since my local hobby shop just started to import Trumpeter, the only URAL they have is late BM-21. There are a few things I'm missing from ordinary URAL casting, yet muffler should be better, for example. HEMTT is donor for Michelin tires, but it's already reserved for another modeler. I shall also use some parts from Voyager PE set and blackout headlights from Northstar.