Mig 21 Bis and MF Colour questions

[franky boy]

Hello chaps

 

Im just narrowing down some options for the up coming Mig 21 STGB. I have a couple of Eduards kits in 1/48 to choose from. One being the MF Profi pack boxing and the other one the very nice Mig 21 Bis ‘Around the World’ boxing from 2019. 

 

My questions are regarding the paint work. For a silver aircraft were these actually in a form of silver paint or something similar to the RAF’s high speed silver or were they actually left unpainted. I ask as there was an interesting thread about Mig 15’s being painted silver rather than natural metal a while ago. 

 

And secondly, for export aircraft which went to Arab and African countries was there a standard camouflage pattern of of the production line. I ask as in photos I’ve found online different air forces a/c look quite similar or were they painted in theatre? If there was are there paints available in these shades from Akan or a similar producer?

 

Thanks

 

James

[Antti_K]

Hello James,

 

MiG-21s were never left unpainted. Usually there were panels that were painted with "silvery" aluminium colour and then there were panels (like those connected to SPS) that were manufactured of darker material and finished with a clear lacquer. Then there were areas where panels were finished with a clear lacquer mixed with aluminium powder. So all exterior surfaces were treated with either paint or lacquer. That's why you see differently coloured panels. And the planes may look different when compared with each other as the aluminium paint got darker and duller over time.

 

The Soviets also developed a light blue grey paint that was applied on all surfaces.

 

When MiG-21BIS aircraft were purchased for the Finnish Air Force, they all arrived in different paint schemes. On some examples the dark brown was darker than others. Maybe this shed some light on export aircraft.

 

Cheers,

Antti

[franky boy]

Hi Antti @Antti_K

 

Thanks for the reply. I had a feeling they might not have been natural metal. 

 

Thats interesting what what you say about the colour variations on Finnish Migs too. 

 

Thanks again

 

James

[Giorgio N]

My understanding on the schemes used on the aircraft exported to African and Middle East countries is that they were schemes that the factory used as standard but were not strictly regulated, reason why they look similar but are not all identical.

Look for example at the well known Angolan C340:

 

https://www.jetphotos.com/photo/6752075

 

This scheme is typical of that used on many export MiG-21 MF and a number of Bis, all built at the same factory (can't remember which one used this scheme). The "style" is always this but the shape of the various green areas is never really the same, for example most when seen from the side show 3 "blobs" on the central fuselage section (like C340) but some show 4.

 

Then there was the scheme used on many Bis in the '80s, like the one seen on 507 in the picture linked below:

 

https://aviationrainbows.com/img1011-mikoyan-gurevich-mig-21um-503-mig-21mf-521-507-congo-brazzaville-air-force-michel-anciaux/

 

Again it was a scheme applied at the factory and again while the style remained the same the shape of the bands could vary. This is generally seen on aircraft sold to Africa, not in the Middle East where the previous scheme was more common.

 

There were of course other schemes but these two styles are the ones most commonly seen on MF and Bis exported in those areas

 

 

[franky boy]

Thanks for the reply Giorgio. 

 

Those two photos certainly show the different schemes off well and that there’s a good bit of artistic license to be had with the variations in them. 

 

James