Eduard 1:48 Mikoyan MiG-21PFM - Vietnamese Peoples' Army Air Force

[Tiger331]

 

Hi Folks,

 

Finally spurred on by some kind comments in the RFI section regarding the presentational models that I have produced for others, I have decided to take the plunge and embark on posting a couple of my 'own' WIPs. The first is a Eduard Mikoyan MiG-21PFM from the 'Sound of Silence' package - a kind of 21st Century version of the old Airfix 'Dogfight Doubles'. I will be keeping the Hasegawa A-4E/F Skyhawk for a US Aggressor project but will finish the MiG-21PFM in the colour scheme depicted on the box top.

 

I'm hoping this will not take too long to complete, since I will also portray it in flight. I'm using a modest number of aftermarket sets. The most obvious is an Aerobonus (by Aires) MiG-21 Fighter pilot/KM-1 Ejection seat combo but I will also use the Barracuda resin Radome upgrade set together with a Master turned brass pitot probe and Quickboost air scoops, which although listed for the MF are largely applicable to any of the later MiG-21 airframes. The baseline Eduard kit is quite comprehensive since it is, in effect, the 'Profipack' version with a full colour photo-etched cockpit with many other photo-etched embellishments for the airframe. 

 

 

 

Before I started, I decided to tackle one of the first challenges....that is to match the turquoise green colour of the Eduard Photo-Etched. I had read elsewhere that there is some variance in the tone of green used by Eduard between kits and even within issues (early vs. late production kits of the Bis, for example). I have several types of Warpac Cockpit Green shades in my paint stock, including the Aeromaster and Xtracolor paints but elected to try a home made version using two of the Gunze Sanyo Aqueous Hobby Color range (H15 - Bright Blue and H-46 Emerald Green). I had read elsewhere the mixing the latter with another shade of blue from the range with a 50/50 mix ratio was the best solution but other online commentators disagreed. So, using H-46 as the primary, I continually added the H-15 in small quantities until I achieved as close a shade as possible to the pre-painted photo-etched included in this particular kit. I did not measure it out but I suspect the mix ratio was circa H-46 (85%) to H-15 (15%)....maybe even less of the latter. It took a while, as you will see from my trial palette.

 

 

 

Anyway, we'll see how good the match is in the next instalment.

 

Mark

 

[Tiger331]

OK,

 

A start made on the cockpit. As you can see my paint mix was a pretty good match with the Eduard colour photo-etch included in the kit and especially after I had blended everything together with a Flory clay-based wash, some tamiya weathering powders and the odd bit of dry brushing. These photos were taken outside with the net result that the green appears far lighter/brighter than it actually is.

 

 

 

 

 

A bit more to do on the cockpit interior although not much since the KM-1 seat and pilot will pretty much fill the void and it will all be closed up anyway.

[exdraken]

nice start!
 

I also have this boxing ... great value I think!

[Tiger331]

Next instalment....The wings....Needed a little more work than I had envisaged mainly due to the fact that the undercarriage doors are obviously designed to be fixed in the deployed position.

 

I used a number of plasticard inserts to hold the doors in place and some shims to fill in one or two of the gaps, before tidying up with some filler too I ended up also using some plasticard shims on the outer surfaces and I may well have made a mistake with one or two areas. There were gaps between the main gear fuselage doors and those that retract into the wing and yet more gaps at the top of the door where the undercarriage leg retracts into the wing. I filled all of these but a quick check of references suggests the gaps should be there !.....oh well. I'm not going to make a fuss over them.....

 

 

     

[pommie commie]

Nice start! I'm starting to think wheels up / cockpit closed modelling would halve build time and reduce stress by 90% !!

[Tiger331]

22 minutes ago, pommie commie said:

Nice start! I'm starting to think wheels up / cockpit closed modelling would halve build time and reduce stress by 90% !!

I think it can do

 

I tend to reserve my 'in flight' builds for those aircraft that benefit the most from providing an 'all round view'. For example, another of my future build projects is a Canadian Air Force CT-133A Shooting Star in a special scheme with a large red Maple Leaf motif on the underside. I know you can get mirrored bases these days to show off the undersurfaces of aircraft and that works too but there are defintely some subjects that lend themselves to being displayed in 'flight mode'. 

[Tiger331]

Thought I would get ahead whilst I am waiting for various fuselage parts to dry out and made a start on the fuselage spine/fin. It's proving quite tricky to assemble since the middle section, immediately in front of the fin, is ultra thin (unlike the MF and Bis variants) so I'm assembling it in stages to ensure it will not be distorted once I offer it up to the main fuselage section. Seems to be working out quite well, anyway. 

[Tiger331]

Short update....Got the mainplane together and all looking good. The flying control surfaces fit like a glove (unlike some that I have struggled with recently, particularly on the GWH MiG-29 and F-15 Eagle). You can just make out some of the plasticard inserts I used to shore up the undercarriage doors, which were clearly designed to be fitted in the deployed mode only.

 

 

 

I'm just about to zip up the main fuselage so a couple of photos to show the exhaust in place and the Barracuda resin nose ring. You will need to take care with the positioning of this item. The instruction sheet is well written but the reference photo is too small. The ring needs to sit behind the raised rim onside the forward fuselage and it needs to line up perfectly square otherwise the radome tip will not be properly aligned when it is finally added towards the end of the build. I did take care but, after some test fitting,  I will still need to insert a file (or similar) through the top of the fuselage to hold the ring in place when I bring the two fuselage halves together.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Mikey-1980]

Fantastic start so far!

 

Really looking forward to seeingit progress through the build too!

[Tiger331]

It's been a while since I last posted but I have moved on quite swiftly (well, for me, anyway !) and got most of the airframe now finished as you can see. It's been pretty good and the fit seems to have been slightly better than the Eduard MiG-21Bis I made a couple of years back - not sure if that's through experience or the kit.

 

 

Not too many issues with the undersurfaces. A dab of tamiya white filler here and there. I've posed the airbrake slightly open as if to suggest the pilot put in too much afterburner intercepting the A-4 or F-4 that he was chasing. That combined with a very slightly dropped aileron will add interest to the 'in flight' pose, I hope. The Quickboost air scoops were pretty easy to apply and make a vast difference to the appearance of the airframe - A very appropriate brand name !.

 

 

 

As I mentioned earlier, the only major issue I had faced (and its not really that bad) is the fit of the undercarriage doors and especially the forward bay doors. They have obviously been designed to be in the deployed position so I have had to use some plasticard to close up the gaps and re-scribe the panel lines. No big deal.

 

 

Rear fuselage view. More of those neat little Quickboost air intakes/scoops and you can see the minimal amount of filler I have had to use on the join between the main fuselage and the upper fillet. I just need to go around now and re-scribe some of the panel lines that got filled with minute quantities of the filler. Flaps and ailerons fitted like a dream (wish I could say the same for those on the GWH MiG-29 Fulcrum !)

 

 

Needed a little bit of filler for the fairing at the top of the fin and along the leading edge of the fin itself. Again, no big deal.

 

 

Slightly deflected aileron to add interest once the model is complete.

 

 

 

Finally, for now, a couple of photos of the forward fuselage, mainly to demonstrate once again the minimal use of filler. A bit on the main to upper fuselage fairing joins and then some to blend in the leading edge of the mainplane to fuselage join. I've got a bit more work to do on the cockpit coaming to blend it in with the rest of the cockpit, both in terms of overall colour and wear and tear, and in re-scribing panel liners or rivets obscured with filler.

 

The overall fit on this kit has been pretty good - maybe not quite on a par with Tamiya but running a close second for me. 

 

Next stage will probably be painting the Aerobonus KM-1 Ejection Seat/Pilot combo and buttoning up the cockpit ready for the application of the colour scheme. BTW, I'm going to keep you in suspense with the final scheme. Having originally planned to do '5015' as portrayed on the box lid, I am now toying with another jet sporting an overall (weathered) Dark Green 'Night Fighter' colour scheme. These North Vietnamese jets are quite fascinating to me so I have now decided to do several anyway !. 

 

Stay tuned   

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Col.]

Tidy work so far  I'm looking forward to seeing you render the pilot figure as too few models now feature one.

[Tiger331]

On 9/30/2018 at 12:01 AM, Col. said:

Tidy work so far  I'm looking forward to seeing you render the pilot figure as too few models now feature one.

I haven't managed to do very much work over the last few days but hope to make a start on the pilot figure in the next day or so....here's a teaser from another ongoing build (which is a bit far gone to be a WIP). A Mexican Air Force T-33 in special markings from the GWH kit. The pilot figures are the PJ Productions F-104 Starfighter pilots with some mixed and matched arms from the NATO 60's Pilot to provide two different poses. Whilst it has not come out well in the photo the pilot in the front seat is sporting a Helmet finished with Citadel Colour Scab Red which has given the helmet a really nice semi metallic sheen.  

 

 

 

 

 

[Col.]

Not just one pilot figure but two and both look great

[Tiger331]

One Step Forward....Two Steps Back.....

 

Getting on nicely with the remainder of the airframe and took some time over the weekend to try and get the resin pilot/ejection seat combo finished. Some final touches (more shading for the pilot and weathering for the seat) or so I thought !. Realised when I sat back to admire my work that this pilot is meant to be in air intercept mode. I can live with the position of the arms (momentarily adjusting the radar picture etc) but he is not wearing a oxygen mask !. So I'll need to get out the milliput and rob a spare Hasegawa hose before I go any further. Darn !

 

 

     

[Uncle Uncool]

Hi Mark!

Nice build so far! Interesting how I learnt about the Barracuda bit for the radome on the PFM. Does it come to correct a wrong shape on the Eduard kit, or is it just a more detailed one?

20 minutes ago, Tiger331 said:

Realised when I sat back to admire my work that this pilot is meant to be in air intercept mode. I can live with the position of the arms (momentarily adjusting the radar picture etc) but he is not wearing a oxygen mask !. So I'll need to get out the milliput and rob a spare Hasegawa hose before I go any further. Darn !    

Well, and judging by the demanding pose of the pilot's right hand - and perhaps his straight face also - it's either you rob a spare Hasegawa hose before going any further, or you simply add this word ballon (or speech ballon?), next to your pilot:

 

[Tiger331]

9 hours ago, Uncle Uncool said:

Hi Mark!

Nice build so far! Interesting how I learnt about the Barracuda bit for the radome on the PFM. Does it come to correct a wrong shape on the Eduard kit, or is it just a more detailed one?

Well, and judging by the demanding pose of the pilot's right hand - and perhaps his straight face also - it's either you rob a spare Hasegawa hose before going any further, or you simply add this word ballon (or speech ballon?), next to your pilot:

 

AFAIK, The Eduard radome is accurate but, as you probably know, it comes in one piece and has to be fitted before the fuselage halves are brought together. This then makes it difficult to mask/paint the cone at a later stage in construction. I also understand there can be alignment issues if it is not perfectly lined up, which are then very obvious given the orientation of the intake rim and the cone. The Barracuda set alleviates a lot of this issue since it is easier to align the inner ring during construction and then cone can then be added right at the end of construction, having been masked and painted. This procedure also avoids damage to the pointed end of the cone too.