VPAF MiG's, Part 3: MiG-21PFL 'Fishbed-D' (Eduard 1:72)

[reini]

VPAF MiG's, Part 3: MiG-21PFL 'Fishbed-D' (Eduard 1:72)

MiG-21PFL 'Fishbed-D', '4127', pilot Dong Van Song, 921st FR, Noi Bai, 1966

 

Dong Van Song flew this plane often on the first part of 1966 - and two kills were confirmed by Noi Bai pilots with this airframe. On july 14th 1966 '4127' was shot down by F-4C (flown by Capt W J Swendner and 1Lt D A Buttell) using an Aim-9B missile. Pilot Ta Van Thanh was killed as the plane disintegrated over Hanoi, while he was chasing F-105s.  

 

 

The kit, new Eduard Profipack edition of the MiG-21PF. To my knowledge, difference between PF and PFL was just some of the equipment, PFL had some Vietnam specific stuff. So model wise, they should be identical (correct me if I am wrong).

 

 

 

What's in the kit. Being a Profipack, contents are already pretty good with the canopy masks and color PE set (not to mention high quality Eduard plastic parts in the first place) - but I'm using some aftermarket in the form of decals by Print Scale.

 

 

 

Some of the details. Really nice kit, the Eduard MiG-21. I've built MiG-21MF earlier and is one of my favourite kits.

 

 

 

Kit comes with North Vietnamese decals, but I chose something else.

 

 

 

I found this from Osprey's 'MiG-21 Aces of the Vietnam War' by Istvan Toperczer - looks to be some hastily applied camo job over metal finish. I'm using the numbers from Print Scale sheet - but the insignia from Eduard, as the Print Scale insignia is just way off shape wise. And yeah, the number is '4721' and not '4127' - but it's easy enough to change the place of the numbers

 

BTW has anyone knowledge about the insignia on the wings - whether VPAF MiG's had them or not? I remember reading somewhere that they were not necessarily used, especially not on camo'ed aircraft?

 

My other MiG's:

VPAF MiG's, Part 1: MiG-17 'Fresco-A' (Zvezda 1:72)

VPAF MiG's, Part 2: MiG-17PF 'Fresco-D' (AZ Model 1:72)

VPAF MiG's, Part 4: MiG-19S 'Farmer-C' (KP 1:72)

VPAF MiG's, Part 5: MiG-21F-13 'Fishbed-C' (Modelsvit 1:72)

 

[modelling minion]

Another fantastic choice Reini, the Fishbed is a true icon of military aviation and another favourite of mine.

Looks like a great kit too.

[trickyrich]

welcome along blah blah blah............. 

 

I see you've saved the best for last, or first, or wherever...... gee this is a nice model, it's pretty much a scaled down 1/48th model which is superb!!! 

 

I like the choice of scheme you can have a bit of fun with this one.

 

again good luck etc with this one...

[reini]

On 15/08/2020 at 01:46, trickyrich said:

welcome along blah blah blah............. 

...

again good luck etc with this one...

@trickyrich Judging from your 'tone' - one would assume that this GB has been running for months with a never-ending stream of new WIP threads - while in fact it hasn't even started yet

 

But then again, im not sure it has ever ended for you, it's probably just that you haven't quite recovered from the Nordic GB. It's okay Rich, I'm sure this won't be as popular GB...

 

Im just bit worried about your well being   .... say,  are you suffering from  flashbacks... Nordic flashbacks? Be honest

[RidgeRunner]

Oooo, I missed this, Reini! I will look forward to following your progress . It is a great kit. Good luck! 

 

Martin

[trickyrich]

20 hours ago, reini said:

@trickyrich Judging from your 'tone' - one would assume that this GB has been running for months with a never-ending stream of new WIP threads - while in fact it hasn't even started yet

 

But then again, im not sure it has ever ended for you, it's probably just that you haven't quite recovered from the Nordic GB. It's okay Rich, I'm sure this won't be as popular GB...

 

Im just bit worried about your well being   .... say,  are you suffering from  flashbacks... Nordic flashbacks? Be honest

once you enter the jungle man you never really leave!!!!!  

 

I know I'm just a sucker for punishment! 

 

 

Mmmmm Nordic flaskbacks!!!! 

[reini]

Right, one out of the way - time to concentrate on another MiG.

 

 

Cockpit first, what else. I've build one of these Eduard 1/72 MiG's and I instantly remembered again why it's one of my favourite kits. Such a nice design, great to build and looks awesome in the end. 

 

 

 

Cockpit assembled, IP is not yet glued. I get some paint down and start figuring out the PE. There are very good quality plastic options too if you prefer those, but the panels intended for PE parts have indents for the PE so they will fit nicely and look good.

 

 

 

Wheel well.

 

 

 

The business end of MiG. They story goes that they wanted to know the top speed of MiG-21 - so they sent out the pilot to fly it and call out the speeds... "mach 2... mach 2.1... mach 2.2...." and so on. Once the call outs ended, they used the last radio call as the top speed  But in reality, structural integrity was the limiting factor of MiG-21 top speed - it just kept accelerating beyond the point where it was in danger to start breaking into pieces.

 

 

 

The fuselage halves.

 

 

 

Wings. Also note the landing (?) lights as clear parts - that double up as a details in the wheel wells. I will paint the lights with silver, that will show up on the other side.

 

 

 

Part of the assembly process was one nosy cat. Batman always get anxious and noisy around 8 o'clock in the morning, which is breakfast time. Sometimes it can start even hour or half an hour before - and one way to silence the cat is to include it into the hobby  So I let her sit in my lap and watch what I am doing. You just have to be bit careful with dangerous liquids, small parts and sharp objects though 😺

 

 

 

Started the painting, I went with Vallejo Nato black first. Some parts were left black and for the other spots it will create little bit shadow.

 

 

 

Then some Vallejo 71.335 Flanker Light Gray for the wheel wells and cockpit. They're not really supposed to be the same color but I will create some dinstinction between them with washes and stuff. And I'm not too picky with my colors...

 

 

 

And then some washes. I will probably continue with the photo etch parts and finish the weathering.

 

[Vultures1]

Great progress!  Looking really good

[modelling minion]

That is really nice work on your Fishbed Reini.

You and Batman have done a great job on getting her to this stage so well.

[trickyrich]

gee she is just a scaled down version of their 1/48th model, very nice!! 

 

haha...our furry monsters morning food demands are jumping on the bed (or having slept there cause its cold) and either sits 1/2" from SWMBO face and meows.......lovely stinky breath...the cat that is!  Or just walks across our faces!  And to be particularly annoying does this at 5 in the morning!

[John Masters]

Another beautiful Eduard Fishbed coming in...

[reini]

 

Cockpit done, minus the bang seat, I managed to get the cockpit colour pretty close to the photo etch colour.

 

 

 

Wheel wells.

 

 

 

I glued most of the stuff onto the other side of the fuselage, all the time dry fitting them so that the overall fit was still good. And it was, it's almost perfect kit to put together, everything fits so nicely. I glued some nose weight too, I don't think it was mentioned in the instructions. I don't know if it was needed but better safe than sorry.

 

 

 

Fuselage together waiting for the spine.

 

 

 

Spine glued, hiding most of the seam on the upper surface. Not that there would have been much of an issue with it but still makes the job even easier and nicer.

 

 

 

You might have noted that there is pointy antenna attached on the spine. A thing that I usually dislike heavily, as they tend to break away - I like them being separate parts. But Eduard has thought about that too - it's even on the instructions - you can keep the original part, or cut it away and add a separate part from the sprue later on. And there's even two parts, just in case  Well, it's still in place, I think I will try my luck - but it's nice to know that I have a back up part if (when) I accidentally break it. There are also PE parts for the wing fences, but I think I will use the plastic parts already in place,.

 

 

 

I said the kit is almost perfect - but just almost. There is a seam on the wing to fuselage attachment. Tiny little gap across the fuselage in front of the wings, but still quite noticeable. Not thick enough to fill with plasticard so putty it is...

 

 

 

Trying to protect the details so I don't lose all of them. There is probably bit more putty than needed, but I glued the fuselage halves bit carelessly and managed to get the sides at a slightly different heights - so filler was needed. Nose ring was mostly a good fit but I put down some putty to get extra smooth fit.

 

 

[Col.]

Tidy work there fella. I'm enjoying your MiG menagerie.

[modelling minion]

Your Fishbed is looking great Reini, it really does look like a very nice kit and you have got it together very well indeed.

I like that Eduard have included replacement aerials for when the inevitable happens and one gets broken off.

[trickyrich]

the interior looks nice and its good to see some clever work done by the manufacturer........an awful lot of other manufacturers could learn a thing or 2 from Eduard!!!

 

Prob a good idea to leave the wing fences alone........can imagine the Nordic Carpet monster was already eyeing them off!

 

Stretched plastic sprue would have done the trick with those gap.

 

This one is edging to the finish line as well....keep up the great work! 

[reini]

This MiG moving ahead too.

 

 

Ejection seat without the PE parts.

 

 

 

And with the belts and other PE parts added.

 

 

 

Canopy masked. It's actually the second canopy in the kit, I managed to break the first one when masking it. Yeah, it seems I am bit rough with them... but good thing Eduard had a canopy for both open and closed option. I was gonna put it open first but then I decided otherwise. Well, easy choice after the broken canopy  

 

 

 

I painted the canopy area gray first and then went over the whole plane with gloss black.

 

 

 

And then picked up the couple different green spots in the plane, antennas etc. with Vallejo Flat Green.

[modelling minion]

That is a seriously nice ejection seat Reini, absolutely superb.

The gloss black has given a really good finish and will make a great undercoat for the metallic paint.

[reini]

 

 

Silver is on. I used Vallejo Metal Color Semi Matte Aluminium.

 

 

 

Some Tamiya Black Green, painted pretty lightly to create a hastily painted camo look that has been done in the field.

 

[modelling minion]

Ooh I like that, a lot!

The metallic finish is superb and the mottled camouflage is really good. Not that far from being finished now. 

[reini]

 

... and decals are done. I'm keeping this fairly basic decals wise, practically no stencils to keep it in line with my other North Vietnamese builds. 

 

The build looks to be in a good place now - but it's maybe not as ready as it looks. Soo many little things yet to be done and some tidying up to do after the decalling. For some reason the Vallejo paint reacted to the decal setting solution so I need to touch up few places. But we are getting there

[Vultures1]

Looking good @reini!

[modelling minion]

Looks really good Reini, as with your Mig-17 the national markings really stand out against the camouflage scheme.

All those little bits such as aerials take me a long time to get done too and can seem like a lot of work for very little gain but they do make a big difference to the look of the finished model.

[reini]

 

Like I said, the decalling wasn't as smooth as it could have been. The silver paint reacted bad with the decal setting solution (basically just lifted off right away) and left some not-so-pretty blackened areas. And the paint that got lifted actually floated under the decal onto the green. So, not optimal - but I tried to keep my cool.

 

 

 

First I touched up the silver, masked the decal with blu-tack and sprayed some silver.

 

 

 

And with a brush, between the decals and the green. I'ts not perfect by any strech of imagination - but I guess it has a patched worn out look that works ok? I added some chipping onto the numbers later on to further enhance the worn out effect. I hope the wash & rest of the weathering will tie it all down little bit better.

 

 

 

 

Speaking of chipping, I went little crazy with it. But like I said, washes & rest of weathering to be done still, it will tone it all down quite a bit. 

 

 

 

[modelling minion]

Thats a great recovery on the paint around the decals Reini, excellent work.

The chipping looks good, these aircraft were sprayed in a hurry with little or no preparation so the paint finish weathered very quickly and the wash and other weathering will really help achieve the correct heavily used look.

[trickyrich]

I agree with the comments about the ejections seat, it looks great, nice work on it.

 

I do like the paint job, it really looks the part, it's a shame about the decals and the reaction with the decals solution.  I really do like the finish you're getting! 

 

I have had similar issues when I have used Vallejo paints before (and similar). I personally don't like them at all and have just about gotten rid of all this type of paint I have. 

 

Will be giving away all my Vallejo stuff today at my club meet (through out all my Life Color paints forgot to give them away). I've just had too many issues when using them and they don't really work for me with my style of painting. I pretty much solely use lacquer based paints now, I find they now cause me a lot less issues.