The other Tim's 1/72 Hasegawa MiG 23MF - planned to be DDR

[Tim Moff]

Well, I suppose, why not.......in the interests of balance I thought I would enter this MiG 23.

 

I know its not the most accurate rendition, but hey, it looks like the silhouettes we got during our aircraft recognition training in the British Army - thats enough for me! The box seems misleading, calling it a MiG23S, which I believe was the Flogger A? So I think it is a MiG 23M, Flogger B? Exports called Mig 23MF?

 

The big question is 1970s colour schemes.....I have been informed that DDR MiG23s delivered in the 70s came in the light grey scheme, but were later changed to the camo scheme. Later versions delivered in the 80s were delivered cammed up.

 

The big Q is do I go grey or camo for the 70s - does anyone have any dated references? I have trawled the net but only found the camo  painted airframes.....obviously data/pics are quite rare due to the Cold War.

 

I have looked at Hi-Decal decals, lots of sets for various Russian aircraft, exported, the MiG 23 decals are for later 80/90s aircraft, but emblems etc seem standard sizes etc - so I may buy something a bit older to reflect this.

 

Any advice welcome.

 

It does seem I have a lot of kits on my bench (against my own rules!) , with the Mozzie GB coming up too....however some are relatively straightforward simple 1/72 builds, so hopefully I will have a decent chance of getting hem done.

 

 

 

 

http://vignette4.wikia.nocookie.net/esm/images/a/a5/MH_136i-2.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20161227112147

 

Instructions via the web in the Minicraft guise!

Worse case I can build a Soviet version out of the box which I think falls into the 1970s - again please correct me if needed.

Edited February 14, 2017 by Tim Moff

[modelling minion]

Nice choice of aircraft Tim, can't have too many Migs on here.

I looked into the schemes for Mig-23's in the 70's and as far as I can tell the aircraft of the NVA/LSK (East Germans) were delivered in camo as I cannot find any pictures of them in grey. I know the Hungarian and Romanian ones were initially grey but I think the Czech and East German ones were in camo, their Mig-23BN's certainly were and they were delivered in the 70's.

You would also be correct in thinking you can build a Soviet one from the box, and they were either grey or camo.

Good luck with your build mate.

 

Craig.

[Tim Moff]

45 minutes ago, modelling minion said:

Nice choice of aircraft Tim, can't have too many Migs on here.

I looked into the schemes for Mig-23's in the 70's and as far as I can tell the aircraft of the NVA/LSK (East Germans) were delivered in camo as I cannot find any pictures of them in grey. I know the Hungarian and Romanian ones were initially grey but I think the Czech and East German ones were in camo, their Mig-23BN's certainly were and they were delivered in the 70's.

You would also be correct in thinking you can build a Soviet one from the box, and they were either grey or camo.

Good luck with your build mate.

 

Craig.

 

 

Thanks Craig - really useful!

[Col.]

12 hours ago, Tim Moff said:

Well, I suppose, why not.......in the interests of balance I thought I would enter this MiG 23.

 

I know its not the most accurate rendition, but hey, it looks like the silhouettes we got during our aircraft recognition training in the British Army - thats enough for me! The box seems misleading, calling it a MiG23S, which I believe was the Flogger A? So I think it is a MiG 23M, Flogger B? Exports called Mig 23MF?

 

The big question is 1970s colour schemes.....I have been informed that DDR MiG23s delivered in the 70s came in the light grey scheme, but were later changed to the camo scheme. Later versions delivered in the 80s were delivered cammed up.

 

The big Q is do I go grey or camo for the 70s - does anyone have any dated references? I have trawled the net but only found the camo  painted airframes.....obviously data/pics are quite rare due to the Cold War.

 

Worse case I can build a Soviet version out of the box which I think falls into the 1970s - again please correct me if needed.

Why not indeed  

Given this kit was released at a time when NATO still got the MiG-23 & -25 designations confused I suppose 'looks a bit like it' was good enough for the purpose. For camo schemes I'm tempted to say the same applies, an educated guess will do well enough in this case unless you can find information to the definate, Personally I can visualise the Soviet and Polish ones in overall grey but think of the East German machines as being tones of green and brown.

[Col.]

Had a dig through the reference stash last night for MiG-23 photos and came up with a Czechosolvakian example in tactical camouflage dated as 1980 which i'm happy to take as evidence thay were wearing the same scheme during the 70s. Then a look on Youtube yielded this footage from 1983;

 

 

...along with this undated inspiration for an East German MiG-23 along with several other types;

 

 

Then finally for the moment I'll offer up this painting guide for an East German 'Flogger B' using Humbrol colours;

 

[Jabba]

Tim, in answer to your PM, I have had a look through the books that I have and from what I can gather the MiG-23MFs were delivered to the DDR Air Force sometime in 1978 with a camo paint scheme. In some of the other books that I have printed around 1978, they do not mention the DDR air Force having any MiG-23s at that time. So I think that none of these MiGs were ever painted grey in colour, so the camo scheme is what your need. Hope this is of some help.

[Tim Moff]

12 hours ago, Jabba said:

Tim, in answer to your PM, I have had a look through the books that I have and from what I can gather the MiG-23MFs were delivered to the DDR Air Force sometime in 1978 with a camo paint scheme. In some of the other books that I have printed around 1978, they do not mention the DDR air Force having any MiG-23s at that time. So I think that none of these MiGs were ever painted grey in colour, so the camo scheme is what your need. Hope this is of some help.

Many thanks - appreciate your time!

[Tim Moff]

14 hours ago, Col. said:

Had a dig through the reference stash last night for MiG-23 photos and came up with a Czechosolvakian example in tactical camouflage dated as 1980 which i'm happy to take as evidence thay were wearing the same scheme during the 70s. Then a look on Youtube yielded this footage from 1983;

 

 

...along with this undated inspiration for an East German MiG-23 along with several other types;

 

 

Then finally for the moment I'll offer up this painting guide for an East German 'Flogger B' using Humbrol colours;

 

 

 

Many thanks for taking the time and trouble - mucho appreciated!

 

Really useful references.

[Tim Moff]

This aint gonna happen on this GB - trips to Mosul and Kabul plus maybe one build too many.....may transfer over to the 'From Russia with love build'....less than 25% done!

[Col.]

Sorry to hear you won't get this one done within the timescale Tim but will look out for your progress in the other GB when I get a chance.