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1/48 MiG-21 LanceR Conversion Set by LCAerodesign


niki

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Hi there,

Some of you might remember LCAerodesign from their 1/48 IAR-81 and 1/32 Extra 300 kits.

They have now released a conversion set in 1/48th scale allowing you to turn the Eduard MiG-21MF into a LanceR upgrade. The set contains the necessary bits and pieces, starting with the cockpit (there's a complete cockpit supplied, minus the ejection seat, which apparently has nothing special in comparison to a standard KM-1 as found on the classic MiG-21 and found in the Eduard kit as such), continuing with the various antennae (comm, RWR), other lumps and bumps and finishing with a nice decal sheet and a painting mask (for the roundels and aircraft reg.) should you consider paint would look better than decals in this scale (?):

17196788721_6eae022449_z.jpg

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17011213839_4a424ce803_b.jpg

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17195700122_2f2561a101_b.jpg

16574916804_b7d6289ffb_b.jpg

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So, if you fancy, like every other item coming from LCAerodesign, this set can be purchased directly from the source.

I bought a couple of these thinking to build a LanceR C (as directly possible from this set) and a LanceR A (delete the right hand MFD from the instrument panel and get some decals from Linden Hill or Parcmodels).

Cheers,

Niki

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A very interesting product, thanks for sharing the info ! The Lancers are IMHO among the most interesting MiG-21s around.

There's one thing I noticed though: I always believed the Lancers had received reinforcements plates above and below the wings and I can't see anything like that in the set. Are the reinforcements not applied to all aircrafts ? Or has the set designers forgotten these ?

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very nice and very interesting set!

I will buy one for sure if available again!

one question though on the coat of armes [2] shouldn't it be dark blue as in the instructions and photos? look blackish here!

16989940147_2efd78f10d_b.jpg

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Giorgio, I really wouldn't know what to tell you regarding any reinforcement plates on the wings. From looking at pictures of the real thing...:

http://bias.aero/wp-content/gallery/airshow2011/mig-21-lancer-c_codrut-bratosin_170710_1.jpg

http://cdn1.airplane-pictures.net/images/uploaded-images/2012/4/1/199533.jpg

...I cannot notice anything else other than what is shown in the instructions:

16574916804_3848cca9db_k.jpg

There is that 'thing' [some sort of ducting] at the upper right wing root (which I now see as marked "Not included" :S ) but I am not aware of any other modifications (?).

As far as the colour of the coat of arms goes, it can get quite dark depending perhaps on lighting conditions and picture settings, but surely also because of a bit of a chaos concerning the use of paint in the Romanian military (have a look at the various schemes worn by LanceR A aircraft during their active time: "whatever was available"...):

10297499423_9367090ce9_b.jpg

source and other pics of the 71st AB: http://romanian-spotters.forumer.ro/t166p180-campia-turzii-baza-71-aeriana-lrct

That being said, even with the naked eye it is indeed very difficult to make out a difference on the decal sheet between the black digits and whatever the colour of the unit emblem is. However dark, it should in essence be a shade of blue... I don't know if the guys simply tried to use one less colour at the printer to save on costs or if this is precisely what they were going for and it all ended a bit too dark!?

Price wise, you're riight, Larry: it's not cheap. Some of you might be in a better position than me to judge if the whole package is its money worth or not. I am not accustomed to spending that much on aftermarket and committed to the purchase only because the LanceR is [somewhat, admittedly] Romanian and I also have this stupid idea of trying to motivate local model manufacturing initiatives by giving away my money :blush::) The two MiGs I have in mind would sometime in the future take center stage on my shelves, so...

On the issue of availability, do give the guys a buzz (there is a contact form on their webpage) to find out about specific time frames. It may very well be that the product is in stock and the webpage is not updated or that a new batch will be ready shortly...

Cheers,

Niki

Edited by niki
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expensive ... yes

exotic... yes!

interesting and finally a LanceR C... yes!

got one :)

I already searched for a Lncer conversion some time ago, with valuable input from you Niki :)

http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234944512-decals-for-romanian-mig-21-lancer/?hl=lancer

no excuses now!

I am still not really convinced by thedark color of the coat of arms though...

this twoseater I saw in Hungary 2 years ago... definitely not black the same on the photo above....

IMG_1949_1_zps54396840.jpg

here is still the options for the flower shield... (different squadron? different time?)

if successful , maybe they bring out a LanceR A and B conversion as well - with a blue coat of arms!

heads uo!

Edited by exdraken
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Yes, the badge of Flotila 86 at Borcea, Fetesti (currently detached at Mihail Kogalniceanu, on the Black Sea coast, whilst Borcea is being upgraded for F-16 use) was the first to adorn a line LanceR. Then came the blue Transylvania (Siebenbürgen - Seven Castles/ Towers/ Towns) badge of the 71st (!) AB. I would bet that there were in time variations of the exact shade of blue as the aircraft went through overhaul, with some shields painted in a brighter blue and others in a darker blue. What appears on the decal sheet is most likely a boo-boo, but I would very much like to be proven otherwise.

As an aside: you noticed the different outline of shields between the 86th a the 71st. Well, after the appearance of the 71st badge, the 86th one - as featured on this sheet - kinda disappeared making way for another one, contoured just like the blue shield:

post-131-0-23473600-1381933720_thumb.jpg

Signs of conformity, although it tended to 'peel off' rather quickly from the planes and most pilots tending to go around their business still wearing the yellow-only badge:

Flotila-86-Aeriana-Fetesti-Aprilie-2013-

http://www.resboiu.ro/boboc-2013-mig-ul-21-lancer-numarul-6824/

Edited by niki
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thanks for the update!:

found some pretty nice LAceR C photos (also with 86th shield that is on the decals )

http://bias.aero/airshow-2011/?lang=en

mig-21-lancer-c_codrut-bratosin_nativ003

mig-21-lancer-c_codrut-bratosin_170710_1

another one:

http://www.airliners.net/photo/Romania---Air/Mikoyan-Gurevich-MiG-21-Lancer/1958716/L/

and here some intersing live weapon loadouts and discussion:

http://forum.keypublishing.com/showthread.php?132125-MiG-21-LanceR

looking forward to my set!

I think Eduard MF overtrees would be a perfect starting point, no?

Best regards and greetings to Romania!

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Yes, I have an Overtrees box myself and for the second example I shall most likely go for a Weekend Edition box. No more Overtrees available anymore from Eduard I reckon...

Cheers,

Niki

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Hi Niki,

the reinforcement plates I mentioned are above and below the wings near the tips-

I've taken the liberty to take Exdraken's nice picture and I've drawn a circle around one tip to show where they are on one wing (the other is the same position). You can see them in the picture, although being only plates they sometime don't show well under the camouflage

mig-21-lancer-c_codrut-bratosin_170710_1

They are actually very easy to make from plasticard using a template for the right shape

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Anyone have an idea what colours match for these please?

I'm going to try and build one when the set arrives but notice it just says "light blue, grey etc" in the instruction set

regards

Howard

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my set arrived today!

beautifully cast resin, with absolutely gorgeous detail in the cockpit!!

and yes the coat of arms of the 7 castles is black... :(

hope to start it soon!

Litening pod with LGBs, Matra 550 Magic IIs? R-73s? what would you suggest?

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For a MiG coming from the 86th, they fly mostly with Pyhton III or R-73. The Magic you can find most of the time hung under the jets of the 71st AB.

Of course, now that the LanceR A is out of service, an A2G load would do the trick as well, but for a dedicated [initially, at least] air defender... :fight::)

http://www.rumaniamilitary.ro/durata-de-viata-a-munitilor-si-rachetelor-din-dotarea-armatei-romane

http://www.rumaniamilitary.ro/mig-21-lancer-trageri-reale#prettyPhoto

http://www.resboiu.ro/trageri-reale-la-flotila-86/

http://www.resboiu.ro/mig-21-lancer-5724-peste-borcea/

http://tropasearmas.xpg.uol.com.br/mig-21-lancer-bulgaria-missil.jpg

Edited by niki
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For a MiG coming from the 86th, they fly mostly with Pyhton III or R-73. The Magic you can find most of the time hung under the jets of the 71st AB.

Of course, now that the LanceR A is out of service, an A2G load would do the trick as well, but for a dedicated [initially, at least] air defender... :fight::)

http://www.rumaniamilitary.ro/durata-de-viata-a-munitilor-si-rachetelor-din-dotarea-armatei-romane

http://www.rumaniamilitary.ro/mig-21-lancer-trageri-reale#prettyPhoto

http://www.resboiu.ro/trageri-reale-la-flotila-86/

http://www.resboiu.ro/mig-21-lancer-5724-peste-borcea/

http://tropasearmas.xpg.uol.com.br/mig-21-lancer-bulgaria-missil.jpg

thanks a lot, interesting info!

concerning the color again:

her on the soon defunct MP forums:

http://www.militaryphotos.net/forums/showthread.php?155123-Romanian-Armed-Forces-Photos/page78

credits to Bogdan Pop

Source: Fortele Aeriene Romane on Facebookbg2t1J0.jpgqBEpWJW.jpgthey look at least very very dark!

so the decals might be usable! :) :)

Edited by exdraken
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so the decals might be usable! :) :)

Yeah, I do try several times a day to convince myself of the same thing :doh::)

You've asked a bit further up about colours - I don't know if over the years they stuck with the same paints as originally applied, but given the variety of tones that appear in photographs I guess we're on our own here to go and mix whatever we think matches what we see :unsure: I'll keep looking about specific information and will check back in if there's anything new on this front.

Cheers,

Niki

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Yeah, I do try several times a day to convince myself of the same thing :doh::)

lol

Speaking of colours, what exactly is on the frame of the canopy? I mean the copper/rust like colour you can see on the pictures above. It`s not present on all aircraft (for some that frame is the colour of the fuselage). Is it rust, dark metal, paint? Seems pretty uniform in aspect.

Edited by Fin
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Metallic I would say it's not, by the look (and role) of it. Anyway, in that picture one can see how the sealant on the windscreen's side elements is painted over while the one on the canopy extends very much forward covering the entire front frame of the canopy's moving part. By contrast, on other birds all sealant is painted over.

So, in the end I guess it's down to the old adage of checking one's own references about a particular subject, in this case which plane you'll eventually build :)

By the way, a friend of mine has build up a considerable photographic archive on [nearly?] each LanceR, so once you have made up your mind you can PM me the bort number and an e-mail address of yours and I can send you a series of images, all open sourced but which wouldn't perhaps come up immediately on a casual www-search.

Cheers,

Niki

Edited by niki
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