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1/48 Mig-23 'White 211' Bulgarian AF. Finished 19/01.


DaveJL

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Hello all,

 

Here is my next project, 1/48 Trumpeter Mig-23ML Flogger G, marked as an MLD 'White 211' of the 1st Air Squadron, Bulgarian Air Force in 1999. This airframe, although built later than the Soviet re-manufactured MLDs, does not incorporate some of the aerodynamic changes, such as the 'dog tooth' wing root and wing fences so the ML boxing suffices. I recently visited Sofia and was able to see a few Floggers up close at the Military museum in the city.

 

Kit:

 

49133291933_248768a774_b.jpg

49133972807_e0ed8ca287_b.jpg

 

Extras:

 

49133972517_1f2853f82a_b.jpg

 

I'll be using a set of Eduard etch, Pavla seat, Aires corrected intakes, Master pitot tube, Pavla KM-1 ejection seat, New Ware masks and Linden Hill decals.

 

Colour scheme and markings:

 

49133972257_8dba7bd720_b.jpg

 

Seen here looking a bit worse for wear.

 

The Akan paints called out in the Linden Hill booklet were also ordered, along with some thinner:

 

49133780456_cfd267a02e_b.jpg

 

Will make a start after the Flanker is finished.

 

Dave

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14 minutes ago, exdraken said:

very nice!

great choice :popcorn:

 

I am missing some NICE R-23 or even R-24 though!

would be perfect, no?

 

Will be using kit weapons mate!

 

This is the configuration I'm going for: 

 

mig23_50.jpg

 

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Oh, a Bulgarian bird - and one of the coolest ones to serve in our Air Force, many lovely liveries on the -23s! Looks like you've done quite a bit of research already and are aware of the differences in the construction of Bulgarian MLDs (although they did possess the full suite of Soviet avionics unlike other export version MLDs).  I will be following this build, good luck!

 

Some information with nice photos of Bulgarian MiG-23MLDs, including the white "211" that you'll be building, in better times.

 

The End of the Interceptor MiG-23, Part I

The End of the Interceptor MiG-23, Part II

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43 minutes ago, Ventsislav Gramatski said:

Oh, a Bulgarian bird - and one of the coolest ones to serve in our Air Force, many lovely liveries on the -23s! Looks like you've done quite a bit of research already and are aware of the differences in the construction of Bulgarian MLDs (although they did possess the full suite of Soviet avionics unlike other export version MLDs).  I will be following this build, good luck!

 

Some information with nice photos of Bulgarian MiG-23MLDs, including the white "211" that you'll be building, in better times.

 

The End of the Interceptor MiG-23, Part I

The End of the Interceptor MiG-23, Part II

Здравей Ventsislav!

 

Do you know which FS, RAL or BS colours or Gunze paints would match the Bulgarian colours?

 

Alex 

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On 11/29/2019 at 4:31 PM, moaning dolphin said:

Looking forward to it!

Bob

Thanks Bob

4 hours ago, Ventsislav Gramatski said:

Oh, a Bulgarian bird - and one of the coolest ones to serve in our Air Force, many lovely liveries on the -23s! Looks like you've done quite a bit of research already and are aware of the differences in the construction of Bulgarian MLDs (although they did possess the full suite of Soviet avionics unlike other export version MLDs).  I will be following this build, good luck!

 

Some information with nice photos of Bulgarian MiG-23MLDs, including the white "211" that you'll be building, in better times.

 

The End of the Interceptor MiG-23, Part I

The End of the Interceptor MiG-23, Part II

Thanks for the links mate, some great pictures there. A question for you if I may; what colour would the landing gear legs be? They look metallic in some pictures and dark grey in others.

3 hours ago, coneheadff said:

Здравей Ventsislav!

 

Do you know which FS, RAL or BS colours or Gunze paints would match the Bulgarian colours?

 

Alex 

Alex, according to the Linden Hill instructions, the AKAN colour call outs have been matched to their research from pictures of the individual jets on the decal sheet.

 

73098 - brown

73055 - light green

73007 -  green

73008 - light blue

 

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On 12/2/2019 at 4:28 PM, coneheadff said:

Thanks Dave!

I know, but unfortunately there's no reference to any other colour brand.

I was hoping to use Mr Paint myself but had no luck matching the colours.

 

AKAN paints are apparently good to use so shouldn't be too much of a heartache.

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Made a brief start today. Spayed the cockpit with MRPs Russian Cockpit green. Definitely the best match the pre painted Eduard etch! A quick wash and we have this:

 

49174208786_1871d5aeba_b.jpg

49174425867_68271e195f_b.jpg

 

Dry brushed some silver onto the floor and control column to replicate paint chipping. Exhaust and intakes made up, then added to fuselage:

 

49173721928_09f8838929_b.jpg

 

Fuselage closed up:

 

49174425022_54e74ce179_b.jpg

 

No issues at all with the fit. I'm glad the intake trunking is well hidden as there are sink marks and seam lines galore that would be an absolute pain to remove on a more visible part. Ordnance also made up:

 

49174207951_7b365c9e06_b.jpg

 

Hoping to get the intakes sorted next.

 

Dave

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On 12/2/2019 at 5:15 PM, DaveJL said:

 

Thanks for the links mate, some great pictures there. A question for you if I may; what colour would the landing gear legs be? They look metallic in some pictures and dark grey in others.

 

 

Hey Dave,

 

Unfortunately, I am not completely sure but I believe it's a very light metalizer paint over dark gray metallic surface. You can see it clearly on one of the few "preserved" MiG-23s in Bulgaria:

 

spacer.png 

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15 hours ago, exdraken said:

Very nice start!

Hope the Aires intakes hold their promise!

Thanks mate, to be honest I can't see too much difference in the intakes :lol:

6 hours ago, Ventsislav Gramatski said:

 

Hey Dave,

 

Unfortunately, I am not completely sure but I believe it's a very light metalizer paint over dark gray metallic surface. You can see it clearly on one of the few "preserved" MiG-23s in Bulgaria:

 

spacer.png 

Thanks! I had a good look at the few jets in Sofia, I thought at the time the 'metallic' was just weathering from them sitting outside!

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A bit more done. Intakes made up. No issues with the Aires ones. I'm not overly sure on the differences, perhaps the resin have more accurate angles etc. Judge for yourself:

 

49179279642_93e08b6860_b.jpg

 

The etch you can see is from the kit. I popped the intakes on along with the nose cone. Some filler needed for both these areas. Main landing gear bay also fitted:

 

49179279282_07464ce0bc_b.jpg

49179278952_efd214591b_b.jpg

 

The wings and upper fuselage assembled next. No issues and quite a simple set up:

 

49179278612_9608bf5825_b.jpg

49179278347_54379b2d61_b.jpg

 

Hoping to get the upper fuselage/wings attached to the lower fuselage and clean up some of the filler over the weekend.

 

More soon.

 

Dave

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5 hours ago, DaveJL said:

Thanks mate, to be honest I can't see too much difference in the intakes :lol:

Thanks! I had a good look at the few jets in Sofia, I thought at the time the 'metallic' was just weathering from them sitting outside!

Great progress Dave!!

I saw a couple of Russian jets at the German Air Force museum in Gatow and I also thought that the gear legs are grey.

 

Unbelievable...seems that everyone has been to my old hometown Sofia except me :(

 

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58 minutes ago, coneheadff said:

Great progress Dave!!

I saw a couple of Russian jets at the German Air Force museum in Gatow and I also thought that the gear legs are grey.

 

Unbelievable...seems that everyone has been to my old hometown Sofia except me :(

 

Thanks Alex.

 

I have MRPs 'Light Grey Blue' which states it is specifically for Russian wheel wells, seats etc from the '60s to the present. I'll give that a go. I'm also debating whether to use Eduard's etch FOD guards, might give a bit of colour to the brown and greens.

 

Sofia, very nice place!

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  • 2 weeks later...

Bit of an update from the last couple of days. Added the wing section to the fuselage. Wasn't too bad a fit although some filler was needed around the intakes and the fuselage join both here and just in front of the stabiliser section. Nothing too drastic. 23mm cannon housing was added along with the tail fin and dual pylons for the AA-8 (R-60) missiles.

 

49238742358_7f0eb780a8_b.jpg

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49238741833_891074a75e_b.jpg

 

As I'm not adding the wing tanks, I had to fill in the locating holes. I also could not find any clear images of Bulgarian MLDs with a centre line fuel tank and as Trumpeter only provides this pylon attached to the tank, I've filled in their respective holes too, just aft of the cannon. I also popped on the clear part for the, what I assume is some sort of IRST/tracker/camera. The new Ware mask has parts to cover up the small lenses at the front; the rest will be painted.

 

49239222341_85ece2131f_b.jpg

49239222201_8546527810_b.jpg

 

A bit of filler was needed for the join of the fuselage missile pylons, the fit was a bit odd. In reality, the launchers are at a slightly outward angle; see the second image down in the below link:

 

http://www.aerospaceweb.org/aircraft/fighter/mig23/pics05.shtml

 

It looks like Trumpeters were designed to sit straight so slight adjusting was needed. I also ordered a set of Eduard FOD guards:

 

49238741313_038fc91b91_b.jpg

 

That's the majority of the airframe complete. A few small bits to add and then just some tidying up to do before priming.

 

More soon.

 

Dave

 

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