opus999 Posted December 29, 2020 Posted December 29, 2020 My wife chose my next build for me. This Hasegawa MiG-23 has been in the stash for only about a year. I bought it with the intention of doing an East German MiG. I saw one at the Evergreen museum in Oregon and for some reason the colors in the camouflage really appealed to me. I can't say that this is the correct version of the MiG-23 to match what was in the museum, but I think it is. The decals are not entirely correct either, so this will be a somewhat-less-than-exact build. I've wanted to do a MiG-23 for a long time now. I had done one when I was in 8th grade. It was the MPC boxing of the Airfix mold and it is also one of two models I don't have here or at my parents' house and the only one I can't remember for the life of me what it's fate was. It was a "bare metal" (Hand painted silver... 😕 ) Soviet build and I loved it, but I just can't remember what became of it. It had to be something tragic, because I tend to keep everything, even for spare parts. Weird. The other funny story about the old MiG model was how I got it. It was hard to find any models in my town back then (or now, really...) and it was especially hard to find models of Soviet aircraft. So when I saw it, you can imagine how badly I wanted it. Being an 8th grader with no income, I was at the mercy of my parents. Standing there in the store, I remembered that I had a "how-to" presentation coming up at school (my English class was doing a unit on speeches, which included a formal speech, a demonstration ("how-to") speech and so on), and I decided on the spot that I could do my presentation on how to put a decal on. So, suddenly, I needed to have that model for School! ("but mom, it's for school! I don't really want it that bad... but I want to get a good grade, so....") I'm pretty sure my mom could see right through it, but indulged me anyway. Back to today... Here's the parts shot: I thought the cockpit would be pretty straightforward, but after some dry fitting and looking at several cockpit pictures, I realized that the seat is way too low. Hasegawa made the cockpit floor and the front wheel-bay ceiling (?) the same part. Unfortunately, the cockpit floor needed to be much higher. I added spacers on the bottom to get it to the correct height. Much better. The cockpit is the usual late 80's, early 90's affair with no detail at all. Not even a stick. I found an F/A-18 stick in the spares box, so that will have to do. Once I had that, I realized the floor needed to come up. There we go. There was a ton of room between the seat and the sidewalls, so I pushed the sidewalls in with some styrene, basing it on the pictures I have of the cockpit. It's not perfect because the seat is too wide to have the correct side consoles, but at least it gives the illusion of a more cramped cockpit. I probably won't be able to see much detail through the canopy when its finished anyway. And so to the paint booth. Afterwards, I used a tooth pick to add some black and red "buttons" and "switches" that are only slightly correct. It really just to provide some visual interest through the canopy when it's finished. Having a seat inside a turquoise box to look at wouldn't be that realistic. Not that this is much better, but at least it's something. I also painted the seat, but no pictures because, well, it's just a gray seat right now. I did make some ejection pull handles for it though, out of some very small gauge wire: I think I've got all the external colors nailed down, except for the light green... that is proving to be difficult. there are a half dozen suggestions from about a half dozen model and decal manufacturers and they all look wrong. My wife is a painter and has a good eye for color, and she gave me a couple ideas for mixing my own, so I'm confident I can get it. Hope you're intrigued enough to follow along... I think this will be fun. Maybe not too accurate, but fun. 16
opus999 Posted December 30, 2020 Author Posted December 30, 2020 (edited) Not a lot of tangible progress today. I spent most of my time sanding because I am going to remove the raised detail and pencil in the lines at the end. I did get the cockpit compartment together, though. First, here's the seat after I finished it. I dirtied it up a bit, added seatbelts and glued on the ejection pull handles: MiG-23 ejection seat colors seem to vary, so going with the kir instructions was safe, since I'd seen that combination of colors a a couple of times. The seatbelts may be a little simplistic... it seemed like the harness system was fairly complicated. You'll notice the F/A-18 control column is installed. Fits the bill!. the instrument panel came out nice, even if it isn't terribly accurate. Doesn't matter too much, because when installed, it's practically impossible to see. Here's a photo after the cockpit compartment was completed. I put tape on the canopy where the paint will go. Looks like I got the height of the seat right! What you'll see through the canopy after painting: ...and where it's at right now: Like I mentioned before, I did a fair amount of sanding, both on the seams of the cockpit compartment and also to remove the panel lines (which is only about half done). Haste makes waste. ALWAYS. I'd thought I'd learned that by now, but I thought "I'll bet this will go faster if I cut off the panel lines and then sand it". Except that the knife blade gouged the plastic and now I've got some repair to do tomorrow. well, at least I was smart enough to only do a couple pieces and not everything all at once. Edited December 30, 2020 by opus999 15
tomthounaojam Posted December 30, 2020 Posted December 30, 2020 Nice, which marking you gonna built? 1
Jochen Barett Posted December 30, 2020 Posted December 30, 2020 8 hours ago, opus999 said: *** Like I mentioned before, I did a fair amount of sanding, both on the seams of the cockpit compartment and also to remove the panel lines (which is only about half done). Haste makes waste. ALWAYS. I'd thought I'd learned that by now, but I thought "I'll bet this will go faster if I cut off the panel lines and then sand it". Except that the knife blade gouged the plastic and now I've got some repair to do tomorrow. well, at least I was smart enough to only do a couple pieces and not everything all at once. That was just a neccessary step to reproduce the much desired stressed-skin-effect. (I'll be preparing the excuse for the paints chosen in the meantime. It seems to be a bit hard to find anything official on NVA Luftstreitkräfte camo and even if, the Chlorbuna paint seems to have faded/shifted/changed fast. The museum's piece lacks all the patches real world NVA gear had after a few weeks of use and the underside "RLM 76" lacks the strange tone other samples often sported (looks better than new)) 2
2996 Victor Posted December 30, 2020 Posted December 30, 2020 On 29/12/2020 at 01:40, opus999 said: I've wanted to do a MiG-23 for a long time now. I had done one when I was in 8th grade. It was the MPC boxing of the Airfix mold and it is also one of two models I don't have here or at my parents' house and the only one I can't remember for the life of me what it's fate was. It was a "bare metal" (Hand painted silver... 😕 ) Soviet build and I loved it, but I just can't remember what became of it. It had to be something tragic, because I tend to keep everything, even for spare parts. Weird. I had one of these, too, as a youngster of about 11 or 12, Airfix boxing of course. Hand painted silver, I remember using the blue code numbers rather than the red ones shown on the box art, and how thrilled I was when I actually got the swing wings to swing! You've made a good start, and I'm looking forward to seeing how this one comes together. Kind regards, Mark 1
opus999 Posted December 30, 2020 Author Posted December 30, 2020 16 hours ago, tomthounaojam said: Nice, which marking you gonna built? Thanks! I'm planning on the East German markings. I'm going to try to match the aircraft in the museum photos I posted as best I can. 7 hours ago, Jochen Barett said: That was just a neccessary step to reproduce the much desired stressed-skin-effect. I like your thinking! 7 hours ago, Jochen Barett said: It seems to be a bit hard to find anything official on NVA Luftstreitkräfte camo and even if, the Chlorbuna paint seems to have faded/shifted/changed fast. Yes, it has been very hard to find consistent paint recommendations. I've found plenty of photos of East German birds in service, and they all seem to have slightly different colors, which may also have to do with the age of the photos and all the other pitfalls of working with film... I'm not sure I'm going to replicate the patchwork repairs, mainly because I haven't found any good closeup photos of in-service machines. The pictures I have are from a distance. 7 hours ago, HOUSTON said: Brilliant start. Thank you sir! 3 hours ago, 2996 Victor said: I had one of these, too, as a youngster of about 11 or 12, Airfix boxing of course. Hand painted silver, I remember using the blue code numbers rather than the red ones shown on the box art, and how thrilled I was when I actually got the swing wings to swing! Nice! I remember the feeling -- having a model with working swing wings... Wow! 3 hours ago, 2996 Victor said: You've made a good start, and I'm looking forward to seeing how this one comes together. Thanks! I'm pretty excited about this one... probably because I haven't done a jet in a while. 2
opus999 Posted December 30, 2020 Author Posted December 30, 2020 Also, I've noticed that the camouflage pattern seems different between photos. It looks like there were at least 3 different patterns. 3
Jabba Posted December 30, 2020 Posted December 30, 2020 A very nice start with the added detail in the cockpit. A quick one though the MiG-23 in the picture is the ML version whist the kit is the MF one. The leading edge of the fin is different and the main U/C stands a bit taller so the engine exhaust is not so close to the ground. There are other differences but these are the major ones. Also the decals that you have are for the ground attack version of the MiG-23/27. Some mixing and matching maybe in order. Hope that this is of some help. 2
opus999 Posted December 31, 2020 Author Posted December 31, 2020 (edited) More sanding today. I finished removing all of the raised detail and then set out to get the bulk of the fuselage together. There were the usual trouble areas that I find with jet kits: the seam where the cockpit compartment mates with the rest of the fuselage and the seam where the top and bottom halves of the fuselage meet. The seam between the top and bottom was actually very good, with no overlap, so all I had to do was fill the gap. The other seam where the cockpit meets the rest of the fuselage wasn't terrible. I've had worse. I think I have it all whipped into shape though: And here's where it's at tonight. I'd hoped to be at the painting stage by tomorrow, but I guess not. I settled on the the colors: The underside blue I'm not sure about, I used the Mr. Color light blue shown above on my Su-15, shown below. I could go RLM 76 too. Does it look about right? I went to the hobby store to see if there was a Vallejo color that would be close to the light green. I was shocked to find they had some Mr. Color on the shelves! The store owner said he hoped to expand the line. That also means that I can special order them from him and not have to pay for shipping anymore! Hooray! I found a couple greens that looked like they might work and brought them home only to find that one of the greens I got recently had somehow been pushed back on the shelf where I couldn't see it and it was the best match of all. Figures. At least I now I can get Mr. Color locally! Edited December 31, 2020 by opus999 12
opus999 Posted December 31, 2020 Author Posted December 31, 2020 8 hours ago, Jabba said: A very nice start with the added detail in the cockpit. A quick one though the MiG-23 in the picture is the ML version whist the kit is the MF one. The leading edge of the fin is different and the main U/C stands a bit taller so the engine exhaust is not so close to the ground. There are other differences but these are the major ones. Also the decals that you have are for the ground attack version of the MiG-23/27. Some mixing and matching maybe in order. Hope that this is of some help. I was afraid that I'd gotten the wrong kit... I don't know my MiG-23's as much as I would like to and I don't have a resource book that shows the major differences. I have found pictures of East German MiG-23 MFs with the same colors so I will proceed with the kit as is... it won't be the plane in the museum (I didn't have the numbers anyway). I knew that the decals were for the ground attack version, but they were the only East German MiG-23 decals I could find. While there are East German markings and numbers available on other sheets, this one had the stencils, which look to be mostly (if not completely) the same. The one drawback is that the sheet I have doesn't have the blue and yellow insignia on the nose (NVA symbol?), which the Mig-27/23BN probably didn't have room for on the nose. Thanks for letting me know about these things though! Now I'm off to educate myself about the different MiG-23 variants... 3
Corsairfoxfouruncle Posted December 31, 2020 Posted December 31, 2020 12 minutes ago, opus999 said: I was shocked to find they had some Mr. Color on the shelves! The store owner said he hoped to expand the line. That also means that I can special order them from him and not have to pay for shipping anymore! Hooray! I found a couple greens that looked like they might work and brought them home only to find that one of the greens I got recently had somehow been pushed back on the shelf where I couldn't see it and it was the best match of all. Figures. At least I now I can get Mr. Color locally! I found the same last year, Ive been ecstatic that I can use Gunze again. 3
opus999 Posted December 31, 2020 Author Posted December 31, 2020 Yeah, I've been ordering it. I have to plan 5-6 builds ahead and order enough paint in one go to maximize the amount of paint I get for the ridiculous shipping costs these days. 2
Corsairfoxfouruncle Posted December 31, 2020 Posted December 31, 2020 Im always looking for decal sheets but not necessarily the whole ones. If you ever see a sheet of decals you only want one-two or three subjects off of let me know. Maybe we could go in on it together ? 1
opus999 Posted December 31, 2020 Author Posted December 31, 2020 12 hours ago, Corsairfoxfouruncle said: Im always looking for decal sheets but not necessarily the whole ones. If you ever see a sheet of decals you only want one-two or three subjects off of let me know. Maybe we could go in on it together ? I'm certainly game for that! I hate seeing the other subjects on a sheet go to waste. Which reminds me... I need to offer up some of the ones I have left over on the trade forum so that I might provide some help to someone! 4
opus999 Posted January 8, 2021 Author Posted January 8, 2021 Wow, I haven't been on here for days! I somehow have not had the time. I was able to get some modeling in though! New years eve (day) found me... you guessed it... sanding! The first order of business was to get the intakes on, and I've never known a jet intake that fit perfectly. Still, I had it ready to primer by early afternoon. You'll notice that the seams seem to have wider than normal gaps. The fit was good in the sense that there were no steps any where, but not so good in the sense that there were some fairly wide gaps. They filled OK, so its not a problem. On the bottom of the intakes there were some lights. I couldn't figure out a way to install them later, so I painted and installed them and then, after the following picture was taken, covered them with liquid masking. And... I'm hoping for the best. New year's day I primered with my usual Mr. Surfacer 1500 black, decanted into the airbrush. After that I closely examined all the seams: Except for around the lights on the bottom, I'd say the seams turned out OK! Sunday I had enough time to mask and spray the blue on the bottom, as well as the dark green and the light green. The light blue turned out great. The light green was exactly what I was looking for, but the dark green (which I'd gotten from the Trumpter East German MiG-23 profile at cybermodler) was just not right at all. It was too Emerald green. It didn't match any of the photos I had. So, I went with RLM 70 Dark Green and that looked just about right. Maybe a tad too dark, but there's so much variation in the paint colors in the real pictures that it's not outside the realm of possibility! Monday I had to work really late, but Tuesday I was able to do a little touch up. Last night I was distracted by current events. So, here's where it's at. The bottom is all masked, but I was able to get a picture of the wing to show the color: and the top, so far... The dark green is a little hard to see, but if you try really hard... i had complained earlier that there was no control stick for this model. Turns out I was wrong! It was molded to the top of the landing gear! Turns out you're supposed to push the stick through the hole for the alignment peg. Well, the stick I used was much better! So hopefully between tonight and tomorrow I can finish the light green on the sides and get the brown painted on! 13
Cuppa_joe Posted January 8, 2021 Posted January 8, 2021 I'm not surprised with the seams under the lights, tight spot to get right! Looking good though! 2
Andwil Posted January 8, 2021 Posted January 8, 2021 (edited) Looking good. Looks like for taxiing the Mig-23 had very direct steering 😁 AW Edited January 8, 2021 by Andwil 3
opus999 Posted January 8, 2021 Author Posted January 8, 2021 13 hours ago, Cuppa_joe said: I'm not surprised with the seams under the lights, tight spot to get right! yeah, it really was tough. I sort of wish I'd thought harder about how to add them at the end. Oh, well, you don't see the bottom much anyway. I guess I won't be doing a diorama of it crashed upside down in a field! 😆 13 hours ago, Cuppa_joe said: Looking good though! Thanks! after the touch-ups late last night I'm really happy with it. I can't wait to see what it looks like with the brown on it! 12 hours ago, Andwil said: Looking good. Looks like for taxiing the Mig-23 had very direct steering 😁 AW Kinda like a tricycle! 😆 2
opus999 Posted January 9, 2021 Author Posted January 9, 2021 Masked for the brown today. In the end masking was a waste of time because when I pulled the blue tak off, the camo lines were a little too sharp and I had to go over them with the airbrush with the protective nozzle cap off. That happened with the greens too. Oh, well, next time I'll do it differently. masking: and the end result: here, a little over exposed; and the bottom: One of the horizontal stabilizers came off, which is fine since I temporarily attached them using Mircro Crystal clear. I will be removing the vertical and horizontal stabilizers to make masking the exhaust nozzle easier. I have a little touch up for the blue on the bottom, and then I need to mask for the dark gray on the tail and nose cone. After that is the metal around the engine and the metal plating around the guns. Oh, and the wheel bays. Then it will be the various bits (u/c, wheels, etc.) while I gloss it up for decals. I'm really thrilled with how it looks! 11
Corsairfoxfouruncle Posted January 9, 2021 Posted January 9, 2021 (edited) She looks good ... Im not familiar enough with MiGs to say one way or the other on the colors. Edited January 9, 2021 by Corsairfoxfouruncle 2
2996 Victor Posted January 9, 2021 Posted January 9, 2021 Looking brilliant! The camo is stunning. Superb build, looking forward to seeing the next instalment. Kind regards, Mark 2
The Spadgent Posted January 9, 2021 Posted January 9, 2021 Just had a lovely catch up with your lovely mig. That Camo does look great. Excellent work all round. Love what you did in the office. 👏👏 I’ll tag along for the last few steps. Johnny 2
bigbadbadge Posted January 9, 2021 Posted January 9, 2021 Wow this went together quickly, great cockpit enhancements and great paint work. Chris 2
opus999 Posted January 10, 2021 Author Posted January 10, 2021 21 hours ago, Corsairfoxfouruncle said: She looks good ... Im not familiar enough with MiGs to say one way or the other on the colors. I think it matches the Mig in the Evergreen museum really closely (except for the dark green, which may be a little too dark). But when I look at the wide range of browns, dark greens and light greens, I think I'm pretty safe since each of these colors has been used at least once by the East German Air Force! 14 hours ago, 2996 Victor said: Looking brilliant! The camo is stunning. Thanks! I'm really happy with it so far. 1 hour ago, The Spadgent said: Love what you did in the office. 51 minutes ago, bigbadbadge said: great cockpit enhancements Thanks! It's not perfect but it's way, way better than it was! 3
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