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Oh Albania, land of enchantment, land of mystery, and the occasional Mig-15


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Okey-dokey...I have had these Blue Rider decals in the files for I cannot remember how long and why, I do not know, because back then building a jet was not on the radar, but I am happy I have them.  In terms of when and where...well, we are dealing with Albania under the Hoxha rule, a time where no one knew what the heck was going on inside the borders; a place that had machine-gun pillboxes every 150m on the borders with the guns pointing in!  All I know is that these roundels were used post-war and up to 1960.  And they used the MIg-15.  This would have also been before Hoxha aligned with the Chinese, so it is a Soviet Mig and Albania was still a part of the Warsaw Pact.  Support would fizzle out 1961 and formally end in 1968...After that it became a satellite of China...in the middle of Europe!  Anyway...

 

I am aware of the rivet issue, having followed a recent build online.   I apologize...I cannot remember whose it was.

 

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A basic kit but there is some detail and some easily augmented parts.

 

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Quite a plain plane...roundels on the upper and lower wing surfaces only.  Red 14...

 

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--John

Edited by John D.C. Masters
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I have begun in the usual fashion: cockpit.  Decent moulding, a nice little tub ad some nice decals that help round it out.  The seat isn't perfect, but some masking tape harnesses will help.  I so wanted to use the interior turquoise, but alas, this colour dint come into vogue until the mod-1960s...so Proletariat Grey it is!

 

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While all this dried I assembled the wings.  Plenty of surface detail...too much really.  I am not going to spend the time filling all those holes as I have already seen done.  I will have to be gentle with my weathering.

 

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Here's a dilemma.  The forward section where one needs to insert the nose-wheel bay is moulded incorrectly.  The little shelf where this piece should sit is flush against the little support table for the bathtub (B).  If I are to assemble it thus, part 'A' would stick out (wrong).  So snipping and cutting I went.

 

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So...surgery completed, weights added to the nose section...maybe 5 gms.  Tomorrow I'll insert the cockpit and close it up.

 

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--John

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I imagine it'll come together well enough.  Thanks Col.

There was a thread not too long ago with this kit and the builder's attempt to fill in all the rivet holes on the wings and fuselage.  

I will not be doing that.

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The fuselage is now as one.  No fit issues and it all went together smoothly--exhaust port, cockpit, etc...

 

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I'll get the wings on today and mask the canopy sections.

One odd part...it seems that the canopy is interactive!  By that I mean that there i a part that slides back and forth on which the rear canopy section rests...does that make sense?

 

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Hmmm...To be honest I was expecting more from an ex-Dragon kit.  Better fit, better detail.  Oh well.  This will be work out fine and my next Mig-15 will be an Eduard anyway...😀

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Interesting reading about the Albanians. The decals do look out of registration in the posted picture. Would you be better off using RAF type B roundals?

 

Colin 

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5 hours ago, Colin W said:

The decals do look out of registration

Fortunately they are not.  Although Blue Rider might be  little thick sometimes, out of register is never an issue.  It might be the curve of the lens, the way the light falls, etc...

 

2 hours ago, Peter Lloyd said:

in need of filler.

We shall see.  The fuselage is pretty tight with only a small bit in the tail that will need a bit of putty.

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Some fitting issues with the intake/nose ring, etc...I had to really grind down both the inside of the ring and the areas of the intake piece (shown) with the Dremel and hand tools as well.

 

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I also removed the gimmicky canopy frame.  I have sealed up part of the 'slide' with some Evergreen and will attach the frame with the canopy in the 'open' position later.  As you see, the wings are on as well.  No surprises there.  The flight wings needed some filler at the wing roots but the stabilizers less so.

 

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--John

 

 

 

 

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Thanks Col.  As you see, I have fitted the nose and puttied/let dry/sanded down the irregularities.  At this point I am ready for a second round of primer.  I have switched to Vallejo Grey Primer which really does require 16-24 hours dry and set time.  That means I will have to start in on something else.  I see that Maritime Patrol is still chugging along.  Perhaps I will add something else to that GB.  Next weekend 'Trainers' begins...that'll be fun!

 

In the meantime, here is a pre-re-primed image...

 

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And with the new primer layer, still wet behind the ears...

 

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Looking Mig-15ish.  

 

 

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Ready for a bit of paint!  

 

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I have used the Vallejo White Aluminum as a base.  I will weather this and use some plain aluminum to pick out panels, etc...

I am going to have to fix that nose ring.  It looks a bit...hmm...not so great.  Too much sanding in the wrong places.  That's alright.  

Plenty of time and steps left to do it.

 

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--John

 

 

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A small issue with the landing gear...While the rear went on fine, with good length, etc...the nose gear was set too low.  If you look at images, the plane actually has its nose slightly in the air and the tail facing down a bit.  If the error os my fault or the maker, I am not sure.  In any case, I have made a small 'lift' for the nose.

 

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--John

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Given all the other issues you've had with this kit so far I'm sure we're on safe ground to blame the kit parts for this one as well. Smart fix John.

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Thank you Cliff, Col and all this following this build.  I am finished with it and will now assign it to the shelf and the gallery.  I as not impressed with the kit.  It had some interesting detail (cockpit, stencil decals) odd detail (all those rivets) and a surprising lack of detail (air brakes and panels?).  I have another one of these kits and will not be building it.  Plus, as you see in the photo below it is radically different from the Airfix and Eduard kits.  Funnily, Airfix is a better Mig-15 kit even though the nose intake is too large.  In any case...Look for yourselves.

The fuselage of the Zvezda kit is too short and not fat enough for one...

 

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The rest are in the gallery!

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Well done John. That's an interesting comparison photo for the three kits - I'm guessing the Airfix kit is the old issue rather than the latest one?

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Yes Col.  It is the old mould with the silver/grey plastic.  I am sure I logged a WiP thread here...

 

If you remember this was the kit that started off as a badly warped piece of plastic and I waited until Bay sent me a new kit of the same era...Fun!

 

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