RidgeRunner Posted February 3, 2020 Share Posted February 3, 2020 (edited) Hi all, I’ve mentioned her in a number of posts as a parallel to my many Mustangs and finally I have got her to the RFI stage 😊. It hasn’t been through any difficulty - although I had a couple of accidents - but simply because I built up too much of a pipeline of builds, with four or five models sitting part built. As a result, my enthusiasm waned for this and a couple of others, sadly. Anyway, enough of all that, here she is. As you can see, she is a UTI MiG-15 “NATO: Midget” (CS-102?) as operated by the Force Aerienne de la Republique du Mali (the Mali Air Force). Reports state that she was the only one delivered as part of the Mali MiG-17F acquisition in the mid/late-1960s. The UTI (probably Czech-built), which seems to have arrived in the early 1970s, and the Frescos equipped the Escadrille de Chasse (Fighter Squadron) based at Senou Air Base, Bamako. Eventually this fleet was replaced by the MiG-21bis/UMs and they were all put out to “grass” (more like sand) at Severe Air base, near Mopti in the early 1990s. With reports of only one UTI delivery it seems that “TZ-366” still survives as a gate guard at Senou, now marked "TZ-001" I built her straight out of the box apart from the decals. I elected to guess how she was when operational. She was a pleasure to build, despite the multitude of small parts to remember and then install! In the process of getting her to together I forgot the nose weight and despite dripping in as many small fishing weights as I could after fuselage assembly she still sits on her tail. I have therefore had to resort to a rod support. I opted for Blue Rider Bolivian decals as they were much better than the kit offerings that I had from the old AZ MiG-17F kit. The tail roundel, however, needed some surgery as the green centre was proportionally larger on the real aircraft (see below). I therefore used the centres from larger roundels and overlaid them. The paints are a complete guess. I trawled paint charts and finally decided on a mix of Colourcoats, which gave me (I feel) the right balance of colour. (Credit: Jacques Guillem) So, what did I use? Well: 1. Kit – Eduard UTI MiG-15 (Profipack 7705) 1/72 2. Decals – Blue Rider Bolivian roundels from the Chaco War set, stencils from the ArmyCast set and home printed serial adapted from the AZ MiG-17F decals. 3. Paints (all enamels) – Colourcoats Pale Blue Grey (ACSM01), LVA Camouflage Beige Sand (ACD03), KLu Whisky Four Aquablauw (ACD09), Gris Blue Fonce (ACF05), and MiG cockpit blue mixed with greys, plus Humbrol Silver (11) and a variety of other Humbrol enamels. Finished with Humbrol Satincote. 4. Weathering and Washes – Flory Sand, Prismacolor Silver pencil and Tamiya Weathering Powders. 5. Aftermarket – Uschi standard line for the wire aerial I hope you like her. Martin Edited February 3, 2020 by RidgeRunner 64 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fewr9fkr9595 Posted February 3, 2020 Share Posted February 3, 2020 That is splendid mate, very colourful and interesting scheme! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Brantley Posted February 3, 2020 Share Posted February 3, 2020 Oh man, that is beautiful! I love it! (rod and all 😉) Thanks for sharing this cool build RR. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ignacio Posted February 3, 2020 Share Posted February 3, 2020 Amazing beauty! Ignacio Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Courageous Posted February 3, 2020 Share Posted February 3, 2020 With a low mojo, you've done a good job and an interesting scheme of the exotic. Keep whittling down those builds mate. Stuart Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John_W Posted February 3, 2020 Share Posted February 3, 2020 Very nice. Looks like one of those moths with a false eye on the tail to scare off predators. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wez Posted February 3, 2020 Share Posted February 3, 2020 Very nice Martin as usual, very nice indeed! Well done Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ForestFan Posted February 3, 2020 Share Posted February 3, 2020 Very nice indeed Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TANK63 Posted February 3, 2020 Share Posted February 3, 2020 Superb MiG love the scheme Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
72modeler Posted February 3, 2020 Share Posted February 3, 2020 My goodness! That's a very unusual but attractive scheme, Martin! I think yours is the first Eduard Midget UTI I have seen built. 👍 If you really want it to sit on its undercart, you could put some bb's in the nose and then slap a FOD cover over them! Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevej60 Posted February 3, 2020 Share Posted February 3, 2020 Beautiful build and finish Martin,love the unusual scheme. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
luis pacheco Posted February 3, 2020 Share Posted February 3, 2020 Really nice. Good to see unusual schemes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sky Keg Posted February 4, 2020 Share Posted February 4, 2020 Martin, to quote you, “I hope you like her”. I don`t like her, but instead.............I LOVE HER!!!!!!!!! That`s a great subject in some very unique colors. Take a well deserved bow my friend!!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ryan Hothersall Posted February 4, 2020 Share Posted February 4, 2020 Interesting build. I know what you mean about MiG-15s being tail sitters. Built quite a few and there’s not much room for weight. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
F-32 Posted February 4, 2020 Share Posted February 4, 2020 Really love that, super cool!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RidgeRunner Posted February 4, 2020 Author Share Posted February 4, 2020 (edited) On 2/3/2020 at 1:39 PM, Tony Oliver said: That is splendid mate, very colourful and interesting scheme! Thanks Tony. I love the unusual. On 2/3/2020 at 1:40 PM, Gary Brantley said: Oh man, that is beautiful! I love it! (rod and all 😉) Thanks for sharing this cool build RR. Thanks Gary. Yes, the rod is a bit obvious On 2/3/2020 at 3:15 PM, Ignacio said: Amazing beauty! Ignacio As always, thank you Ignacio. I am closig in on the FAU Mustang RFI On 2/3/2020 at 3:29 PM, Courageous said: With a low mojo, you've done a good job and an interesting scheme of the exotic. Keep whittling down those builds mate. Stuart Thanks Stuart. The line is reducing. One more to go - probably on Friday - and I'm back to my normal output 21 hours ago, John_W said: Very nice. Looks like one of those moths with a false eye on the tail to scare off predators. Thanks John. Yes, I suppose it does a bit! 21 hours ago, Wez said: Very nice Martin as usual, very nice indeed! Well done Thanks kind of you to say so, Wez. 19 hours ago, ForestFan said: Very nice indeed Thanks mate 18 hours ago, TANK63 said: Superb MiG love the scheme Thanks also. Much appreciated 18 hours ago, 72modeler said: My goodness! That's a very unusual but attractive scheme, Martin! I think yours is the first Eduard Midget UTI I have seen built. 👍 If you really want it to sit on its undercart, you could put some bb's in the nose and then slap a FOD cover over them! Mike Thanks Mike. You know me ..... No dayglo, though! 17 hours ago, stevej60 said: Beautiful build and finish Martin,love the unusual scheme. Thanks Steve. Its just my cup of tea 17 hours ago, luis pacheco said: Really nice. Good to see unusual schemes. Thank you Luis. I love the unusual in all things. This one caught my eye a long time ago in one of Tom Cooper's books. 13 hours ago, Sky Keg said: Martin, to quote you, “I hope you like her”. I don`t like her, but instead.............I LOVE HER!!!!!!!!! That`s a great subject in some very unique colors. Take a well deserved bow my friend!!!!! Thank you Mike. 4 hours ago, Ryan Hothersall said: Interesting build. I know what you mean about MiG-15s being tail sitters. Built quite a few and there’s not much room for weight. Thank you Ryan. I kicked myself when I realised what I had done :(. It is a lovely kit. I have another in the pile that I will get to ... one day.... 3 hours ago, F-32 said: Really love that, super cool!! Thanks mate. Martin Edited February 4, 2020 by RidgeRunner 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Brantley Posted February 4, 2020 Share Posted February 4, 2020 Martin, that rod does not really detract much from the looks of the model. It's obvious but not intrusive if that makes sense. Still lovin' that plane! 😀 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
almac Posted February 4, 2020 Share Posted February 4, 2020 Absolutely splendid build. Very impressive. Cheers Allan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wulfman Posted February 4, 2020 Share Posted February 4, 2020 Fabulous build and finish, love those African MiGs ! Wulfman Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reini78 Posted February 4, 2020 Share Posted February 4, 2020 A rarely built scheme, I like it in those colours, something different 👏 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hobo Posted February 4, 2020 Share Posted February 4, 2020 Absolutely beautiful result; exotic and different. Love these small air forces schemes! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tomthounaojam Posted February 5, 2020 Share Posted February 5, 2020 Martin, that is an outstanding looking Mig, love it, and thank you for sharing it here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terry1954 Posted February 5, 2020 Share Posted February 5, 2020 Nice one Martin. She's really come out looking good. Your completion rate far exceeds mine! Terry Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stew Dapple Posted February 5, 2020 Share Posted February 5, 2020 She's an exotic little beauty Martin, nice work Cheers, Stew Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevehnz Posted February 5, 2020 Share Posted February 5, 2020 Now there's one to like, a lot. A stunning scheme & I think your interpretation does the job well. Such a pity that we only get to see them as in the photo you listed, ie, semi derelict, there are some great schemes among these smaller Africa air arms & their MIGs. Steve. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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