John Masters Posted August 26, 2018 Share Posted August 26, 2018 Ah yes...50 years ago...and I'll leave politics out of it! Next up, Kovozávody Prostejov Model's Mig-21SM, aka, Red 26, August 1968, Milada Airfield. Once question...were the Mig pilots also from outside of Europe, as so many of the ground troops were? Could this have been a Mongolian pilot? In any case...This will be OOB as the level of detail looks to be quite fine. The instructions do not give me any idea about underwing armaments, however, so any info would be very helpful. I am offered a full compliment of fuel tanks and rockets. If someone else is building this particular bird, I apologize. The other options offered in the kit are after the 1960s. First glance... Thanks, John 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Col. Posted August 26, 2018 Share Posted August 26, 2018 Excellent subject choice commrade Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Masters Posted August 26, 2018 Author Share Posted August 26, 2018 It's nice to back in the Motherland...even if it is only Bohemia! Nice looking detail and very new matt... I decided to clean and reorganize the bench since I have the new matt. Reorganized the colour rack too! I'll start in on it tonight! -John 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Col. Posted August 26, 2018 Share Posted August 26, 2018 Looks all pristine and fresh John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aardvark Posted August 26, 2018 Share Posted August 26, 2018 10 hours ago, John D.C. Masters said: Once question...were the Mig pilots also from outside of Europe, as so many of the ground troops were? Could this have been a Mongolian pilot? Relaxing: As I see, all fighter unit's Soviet Union during in operations "Danube" was from European territory Warsaw Pact country. If you are interested, could a Mongol be a pilot of this plane by nationality? Theoretically, the pilot of this aircraft could be a representative of any of the over then 140 https://ru.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Перепись_населения_СССР_(1970) nationalities inhabiting the USSR. Almost such a probability is very small ..... however, given the Mongol-Tatar invasion of the territory of Ancient Rus probably in many of us there is a piece of Mongolian blood. B.R. Serge 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Masters Posted August 27, 2018 Author Share Posted August 27, 2018 4 hours ago, Aardvark said: in many of us there is a piece of Mongolian blood. Too true! 7 hours ago, Col. said: Looks all pristine and fresh We'll see how long it lasts! Thanks! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Masters Posted August 27, 2018 Author Share Posted August 27, 2018 Cockpit, nose and exhaust... Nice looking little cockpit that comes in 6 pieces. Hmmm...The paint job is a little more turquoise than it looks here. I desaturated some to improve the white balance. Nose and exhaust...I'll paint the nose green this afternoon. There is about 3gms of lead inside the cone and the piece that is attached to the inside is the nose-wheel bay. It attaches in a very odd way that you swear is wring, but it is not. Very strange. And the fuselage, rings, etc... One nice thing about this kit are the wings. They are each a solid piece, no halves needing to be glued together. The same for the rudder, as you can view above. A test fit showed a very clean and tight fit with minimal lines or gaps (if any). This afternoon I'll paint the nose, assemble the two or three interior pieces, add the exhaust to the rear end and close it up. Eduard, this is not, even though the detail is very nice. --John 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Masters Posted August 27, 2018 Author Share Posted August 27, 2018 (edited) This is not how these two pieces fit together. I blame the poorly drawn instructions and not-quite-so-well-engineered-as-I-thought parts. The oblong bit on the left is the nose-wheel bay; the piece forward is the cone. There is no way to fit this combo together that it will also fit neatly in the fuselage. Not as long as they are fused thusly. The solution is simple. Take them apart, Treat as two separate pieces. First, attach the wheel-well to the opening where it should be. I am not sure what the little flange sticking out is supposed to do. There is one on the other side too. I think it is to support the nose cone, but for the life of me, I am not sure how. I had to basically re-build the cockpit to fit it properly into the fuselage. The sides of the tub were removed and re-glued in a position flush with the interior sides. The dashboard was "adjusted" so it fit beneath where it should be. A test fit proved me right. The halves fit together snugly. Note that I have added even more weight to the inside, not just in the nose cone. That's about 8 gms in there now. Oh yes...exhaust system, in soft focus in the rear? Basically glue it on one side and hope that you have enough sense to get it right because there is no actual guide, flange, groove, etc...that shows you the way. The two fuselage halves are not identical regarding this. Like I said, Eduard this is not. Finally...some green paint. It might be a bit light. Maybe not. I like it. I'm going to put this together, close it up and browse amongst the Spitfires... --John Edited August 27, 2018 by John D.C. Masters 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Masters Posted August 27, 2018 Author Share Posted August 27, 2018 I woke up after only two hours of sleep. It must be the moon... First off, the nose cone in place and aligned. Now here is something really fun...spot the discrepancy... Sprue map with pieces marked 'not to use'... ..and, just for fun, the instructions a page later... Ha! --John 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corsairfoxfouruncle Posted August 27, 2018 Share Posted August 27, 2018 4 hours ago, John D.C. Masters said: I am not sure what the little flange sticking out is supposed to do. There is one on the other side too. I think it is to support the nose cone, but for the life of me, I am not sure how. They could be just simple spacers to keep the cone centered in the opening ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Masters Posted August 28, 2018 Author Share Posted August 28, 2018 Yes...I think you are right Corsair, however, wouldn't it be sensible to have matching divots on the nose cone barrel to really line it up? 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Masters Posted August 28, 2018 Author Share Posted August 28, 2018 In regards to the wing confusion...the page that shows the decals placement has the wings marked 46/47 on the plane and not the others, as do the instructions. So I will use the wings that are crossed off. I will assume it is a printing error on their part. Now...I closed up the fuselage last night and it looks very good. Tight, with very few seams at this point although a second primer will undoubtedly show a few more. I also attached the stabilizers. Some putty was needed on both sides of the stabilizers. I constructed the external fuel pods and painted the exhaust pipe and the nose ring. these will all be attached at the end of the build so I won't need to mask them. So far, so good! -John 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Col. Posted August 29, 2018 Share Posted August 29, 2018 So far so good indeed John. I'm getting tempted by this kit watching your progress. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Masters Posted August 29, 2018 Author Share Posted August 29, 2018 Thanks Col. I attached the wings last night and will upload some photos soon. Flickr is having issues... It really is a rocket-looking thing, worlds away from the 19. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Masters Posted August 29, 2018 Author Share Posted August 29, 2018 The wings are on! I have filled the wing root gaps with Vallejo putty... So exciting. The -21 is really a whole new design from the 15/17/19 drafting board. It is quite space-aged looking. By that I mean, like a rocket. The wide angle of the photo make the wings look smaller than they are, btw... --John 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jabba Posted August 29, 2018 Share Posted August 29, 2018 Looking good especially with the correct wings fitted. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Masters Posted August 29, 2018 Author Share Posted August 29, 2018 Thanks Jabba. I guess they're correct...They look good to me. Anyway...it's that time again. Time for paint. Since this bird has lovely red stripes, I figure I'll do that bit first, mask it correctly and silver it up upon the morrow. I have already gone through the sprues and hand painted all the louvres, flaps, add-ons, etc...plain aluminum. I'll spray the fuselage and wings more of a duraluminum to give some contrast. But I get ahead of myself...right. Red bit... I measured the whole of the red part---2.2cm. So my two stripe masks will be .73mm...what fun! With that green nose cone and the red paint, it looks very festive. of course, it wasn't. --John 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Masters Posted August 30, 2018 Author Share Posted August 30, 2018 Some work today, small bits, etc...it's shaping up! Re-masked the red in prep for the Duraluminum...I also gave it a little more primer. No pics of that. ..after the Duraluminum... Masks off... So...after a few hours (I did all that other work before 09:00) I sat down and began to attach some smaller pieces on the underside, masked and hand painted the green flashes, took care of the wheels, masked, primed and painted the canopy sections...I have also painted the interior of the wheel wells and backsides of the undercarriage doors, air brakes, etc...Ghost Grey. I'll give those a light aluminum dry-brush eventually, once they're dry. It's beginning to look the part, I must say. --John 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Col. Posted August 30, 2018 Share Posted August 30, 2018 It does indeed look the part John in a strangely inappropriate festive manner Nice work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Masters Posted August 30, 2018 Author Share Posted August 30, 2018 I thought the commies had outlawed St. Nick...Thanks Col. This is a fun kit, not without its issues, mainly the instruction sheet. It would be good of AZ to release a -19 with new moulds, not a re-issue. I'll leave the -21 for the night and press on with the Spitfire for the other GB. The photoshoot I had scheduled for today through Sunday has been pushed back until next week. My goal now is to finish both of these by Monday so I can venture into the Voisin I have thrown into the ring in the 11th Hour GB. Oh yes...and more foreign Spitfires to come...😉 One can never have too many Nieuports Spitfires... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Masters Posted August 31, 2018 Author Share Posted August 31, 2018 I had an oddly sleepless night last night, so I went over to the bench and managed to assemble pretty much all the small parts on the Mig. Undercarriage and wheel-bays; antennae; air brakes...I needed to use the internet for the placement of many of the very small pieces--the hydraulic systems, for example--as the instructions are also small, crammed together and not easily deciphered. So here it is...sans R-60 rockets, external fuel pods, stencils, decals, weathering...etc...this thing will be finished today, I hope. I'll also clean up that gap around the forward canopy section... The rear canopy section will be shown in an 'open' position... One of two R-60 rockets that will attach to the inner hard points... --John 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Masters Posted August 31, 2018 Author Share Posted August 31, 2018 Oops...just discovered that the R-60 didn't come in to service until the early 70s...so I guess it'll be a pair of K-13s (aka, Sidewinder)... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Masters Posted August 31, 2018 Author Share Posted August 31, 2018 The Sidewinders are ready and on their launch points; the fuel pods are ready; the canopy is ready...hmmm...what time is it? It's time for decals! --John 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Col. Posted August 31, 2018 Share Posted August 31, 2018 Your insomnia is doing this model wonders John. Nice work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
modelling minion Posted August 31, 2018 Share Posted August 31, 2018 A very nice build of what looks like a very nice kit John, a world away from KP's much earlier kit. A bit late but you might find this link interesting; http://www.easternorbat.com/html/soviet_4th_tactical_air_army_6.html Check out the rest of the site too as there is some seriously interesting info and pictures on there. Craig. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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