Another MiG! 1/48 Bulgarian MiG-21bis ***FINISHED***

[Ray_W]

A 1/48 Bulgarian MiG-21bis to be built from the exceedingly nice Eduard kit with a suitable interceptor loadout.

 

I have seen a variety of explanations for the "bis" - latin for "second", or other interpretations like "again", "encore", "another" and the list goes on, but the title of "Another MiG" is perfect for the "bis" with other MiG builds in this GB.

 

Also, seeing I am currently in Bulgaria a local subject seemed an ideal fit.  Suitably motivated by images like this:

 

 

And this great little video:

 

 

I am into it;

 

So first step, some excellent box art, it is some of the best I have seen, a beautiful rendition of a MiG-21 in zero visibility.

 

 

Sorry, I was getting excited with this build and just had to do the typical un-boxing where the reviewer always says "excellent box art".  I know you have guessed it already - Eduard Overtrees:

 

 

And a box full of plastic. 

 

 

I want to have some fun in the cockpit so thought I would blow the money I saved on overtrees with some upgrades. I just love that fidelity in jet turbines upgrades so hopefully I can also do this justice.

 

 

And for overkill went with the "Look" panel

 

 

The MiG-21bis has that deeper spine and a slightly reshaped nose. Eduard did not reshape the nose from their MF version and, yes, the variation is only fractions of a millimetre in 1/48, but once you see it you cannot unsee it. A modeller's curse for some of us. However, there is a correction kit from Cold War Studios and these guys are right here in Bulgaria. Within 24 hours I had the following and with a lovely embroidered patch included. Lucky me.

 

 

Castings look good.

 

 

I will be building a subject with the tri-color weathered upper camouflage. I have plenty of decals and more on order. Final subject is still to be chosen.

 

Looking forward to this build. My first MiG-21, but I suspect not the last. First build images very soon. 

 

Ray 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited January 1, 2021 by Ray_W
typo

[reini]

Nice! That is great looking camo - and offers nice opportunity for some weathering. 

[Ray_W]

1 minute ago, reini said:

Nice! That is great looking camo - and offers nice opportunity for some weathering. 

Yes, looking forward to the weathering and final finishing very much. I am still looking at photos to choose the subject. Some are just too beaten up. 261 looks a good candidate. 

 

Ray

[Col.]

Ooh this is going to be tasty!

[exdraken]

nice!

 

I like that you are going to use the CWS conversion!

🎩

[Ray_W]

8 hours ago, Col. said:

Ooh this is going to be tasty!

I plan to do it as a full build. Hopefully not too boring.

 

Ray

[Ray_W]

7 hours ago, exdraken said:

I like that you are going to use the CWS conversion!

Yes the parts look good. I have seen a build using this conversion and believe they do improve that look around the nose. Also, I am planning to do an earlier version sometime, maybe a Vietnam War era NMF PF, sitting the two together should nicely show the difference. 

 

Ray

[Col.]

4 hours ago, Ray_W said:

I plan to do it as a full build. Hopefully not too boring.

Ray

We want to see this take life in all its delicious detail!

[John Masters]

This'll be very nice.

[modelling minion]

A great choice Ray, the Mig-21 was on the short list of topics for me for this GB.

Looks like you have plenty of goodies to go with the kit which should make this a very comprehensive and interesting build.

I also like your choice of national markings too as I like to see aircraft finished in less common schemes or markings, one question though, will she be in the current roundels or the Cold War era stars?

[Ray_W]

15 hours ago, modelling minion said:

ne question though, will she be in the current roundels or the Cold War era stars?

 

Hi Craig,

 

I plan to do a post Cold War era aircraft so it will be the current roundels (i.e. missing the red star). Subject is most likely an early 2000's aircraft just to challenge myself with  some weathering and paint variation typical of the older aircraft. Yes, I am a sucker for punishment. 

 

I have decals for both types of roundels so you never know. I may change my mind when I get close to finishing. 

 

Cold War Era

 

 

And the current BG roundels and most likely for the subject:

 

 

 

And besides, they look pretty good on the MiG-21 coffee mug I purchased from the LHS yesterday.

 

 

Nice mug.

 

 

And you can see in the background my Grant in the MTO GB.  First day in 6 weeks I've been at the bench and hope to finish it this week and then into the MiG.

 

Ray 

[modelling minion]

I must admit that I prefer all the old style Warsaw Pact markings over the newer ones, and the Bulgarian ones are no different. But now I have mug envy!! Its great that your local hobby shop sells stuff like that, not seen anything like that over here or I would definitely have a Mig mug. Whereabouts are you staying in Bulgaria Ray?

[Ray_W]

43 minutes ago, modelling minion said:

Whereabouts are you staying in Bulgaria

 

Hi Craig,

 

In Sofia. I really like the LHS's the two best are within walking distance. They're like the good old days. Heaps of stock on display. I always walk out with something extra,  unplanned. 

 

The mug came from HobbyCult. They also do on-line orders and keep an up-to-date English site. Drop them a line.

 

http://hobbycult.com/

 

Ray

 

[modelling minion]

17 minutes ago, Ray_W said:

In Sofia

A nice city, though it was a bit run down in places when I visited, though that was in 1991! The communist party HQ was still black from where it had been burnt by some very angry locals. Is there still the Mig-19 on a plinth by one of the main roads into the city?

Thanks for the link, I'm off to check them out now.

[Ray_W]

18 minutes ago, modelling minion said:

A nice city, though it was a bit run down in places when I visited, though that was in 1991! The communist party HQ was still black from where it had been burnt by some very angry locals. Is there still the Mig-19 on a plinth by one of the main roads into the city?

Thanks for the link, I'm off to check them out now.

Sofia has improved dramatically. Very nice and comfortable place to live and work. Still shows some old regime heritage which adds some flavour, but you will find a big difference to 1991! The last year of the old style roundels. I've been here regularly since 2011 and in the past decade have seen some major changes.

 

Regarding the Mig-19, yes, still there, although it's sitting down from the major highway into Sofia so not as obvious.

 

There are still plenty of interesting "relics" around the place. Good Air Museum in Plovdiv (I would like to see someone get the Arado Ar-196 flying) and a great display of military hardware outdoors (sadly) at the National Museum of Military History in Sofia. The indoor exhibition is also very well done. I plan to walk there (again) and take some photos of their MiG-21bis for this build. I think they have 4 or 5 MiG-21's on display. 

 

You can see why I have chosen the subject.

[modelling minion]

27 minutes ago, Ray_W said:

Good Air Museum in Plovdiv

I flew into and out of Plovdiv (was skiing in Borovets) and my eyes popped out of my head when I saw what we were passing by the side of the runway! I distinctly remember the Il-28 and early Migs. I would very much like to return and actually visit the museum one day.

[Ray_W]

A short post celebrating the official construction start date for my MiG. 

 

First step was to do that part I enjoy - dry fitting - and planning any strategies to eliminate gaps or fit issues. 

 

This  kit is well reported as going together nicely. I had read that people usually have a small gap at the wing root. So I assembled a few pieces to see what is going on. Nothing much there that the slightest downward pressure will not close. Doing so will not introduce adverse wing anhedral or dihedral. I'll check what the wheel well might do and plan to ensure a slight positive engagement at the root. All should be good.

 

Importantly, I am using the Eduard Brassin cockpit so checked the fit of the resin tub. It fits beautifully, no shaving and wall thinning necessary.

 

 

You'll rarely see clamps on my builds. I like them for flat surfaces and generally find they open up joint gaps with round surfaces so prefer rubber bands and tape. 

 

Eduard did not change the nose shape when they did the "bis".  Their argument is that the difference is negligible. Fact is, as I mentioned before, once you see it you cannot unsee it, the bis having that thick dorsal spine and the heavier looking nose making it more brutish. 

 

Here is Eduard as supplied at the top and the Cold War Studios (CWS) correction part at the bottom.  

 

 

 

So time to leave the kit and wait for good light, clean up the CWS parts and then cut the nose. The next job.

 

By the way, I have chosen to do the around 2000 weathered scheme just no final number yet. Hopefully find everything I need within this lot.

 

 

Ray 

 

[modelling minion]

Off to a good start Ray, looks like she should go together without any dramas.

When you put the replacement nose next to the kit one you can really see the difference and why Cold War Studios bothered to make a replacement, a pity that the cut doesn't seem to be on a panel line.

Nice selection of decals, I haven't seen the sheet in the middle before, is it by a local manufacturer?

[Ray_W]

8 hours ago, modelling minion said:

a pity that the cut doesn't seem to be on a panel line

 

Hi Craig,

 

This should not be a problem. I expect some filling and sanding will be needed on that cut-line anyway. The cut is also angled.

 

 

9 hours ago, modelling minion said:

I haven't seen the sheet in the middle before, is it by a local manufacturer?

 

Yes, they're local supply from that same hobby shop.

 

In terms of the quality of the decals, I like the Linden Hill. Good colour density and nicely printed. "345" would be an excellent option and fits well with what I want to portray. However, there is a significant difference in the ID number size when comparing the 3 sheets. ModelMaker and the LHS are a scale 100 mm (1/48 2 mm) taller. Here's an image comparing the three number representations - Linden Hill (left), LHS (centre), ModelMaker (right).

 

 

Difficult to tell with real "345". Scaling a side image seems to fit between the two.

 

 

Hopefully the local military park is open in these COVID times. Then I can visit and measure the real thing. See who got it right.

 

I do like the narrow red number surround on the LHS decals, thought it appears that with these decals that the red surround is applied separately over the white number decal. The white is coloured almost the same as the backing paper so I am hoping it is printed with the border. We will see.  

 

Ray

[modelling minion]

The difference between the numbers on the sheets is interesting, I don't know about the size of them but the ones from the LHS and Modelmaker seem to be the closest in style with more rounded corners rather than the angled corners of the Linden Hill sheet.

[Ray_W]

Seeing I was up early, I thought I would crack on and cut the nose.

 

Usual tools of trade. Double thickness of electrical tape to act as a guide. Dividers to measure and check dimensions. Angled cut per the instructions.

 

 

Provide a cut guide using a scriber.

 

 

And cut off with a micro saw.

 

 

The replacement nose is a little crude but has the right shape. It will blend in nicely with some CA. It will need filling and re-scribing to add a touch more fidelity and cleaning up in some areas.

All-in-all it's OK. 👍

 

 

Taped the nose to the fuselage to make sure the alignment was good using the cutting mat as a guide aligning the fuselage joint, mat grid and humble eyeball. A little adjustment when finally glued in place and all will be good. Looks OK in elevation too. 

 

 

Next into the cockpit.

 

Ray

[Ray_W]

55 minutes ago, modelling minion said:

seem to be the closest in style with more rounded corners

 

Well picked up. I do like the local decals. 

[Col.]

That CWS part really does illustrate the different profile of the two types to great effect. As you say it then becomes unmissable once seen and understood. Also, as Craig points out, the different font used by Linden Hill for their nose number is unmistakably wrong so hopefully your LHS and Modelmaker decals have their proportions correct.

[modelling minion]

Well done on getting the nose cut off Ray, I have to say that I would have been very cautious about such drastic surgery but you have got a very neat line. 

[Ray_W]

4 hours ago, modelling minion said:

cautious about such drastic surgery

 

Not too bad as there is very little in the way of detail that can be lost and with the magic of CA/Talc still to come.