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Minion's Mongol B, Trumpeter Mig-21UM 1/48.


modelling minion

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Well a bit later than planned its time to get my thread up and running and also to make an overdue start on my build.

The Mig-21 has long been a favourite of mine and I have a few Eduard kits in the stash but thought I would do something different and build a 2 seater from the Trumpeter 1/48 Mig-21UM Mongol B kit. It looks to be quite a nice kit and Glynn ( @Hewy ) is already showing what is possible with his excellent build of the same kit, like Glynn I had planned on replacing the kit seats with some aftermarket ones but as he has shown that the do not fit the Trumpeter cockpit I shall have to either use a mix of kit and aftermarket bits for the seats or just use the kit ones, I have yet to decide which route to take. Shall we start with the obligatory box top and contents shots then?

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Pretty decent box art from Trumpeter and I remember seeing both the aircraft featured on it air shows in the UK. The contents;

 

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All present and correct, although as you can see I did some pre-emptive spraying of the cockpit colour a few years ago, in fact I sprayed all the cockpits of my Mig-21's at the same time, for which I used Akan's Soviet cockpit colour which is a good match for a lot of the cockpits of Mig's that I have seen, though there have been a lot of variations.

 

Next up are the options available from the kit (not including the aircraft on the box art);

 

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Some quite nice options there, but I also have these to choose from on a HAD decal sheet that I have got;

 

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Some more very nice options to choose from there, I won't be doing the Croatian one in red and white (Glynn has that covered) and don't fancy the post WARPAC Hungarian or Bulgarian ones or the Vietnamese (wrongly called Chinese on the instructions) one so that leaves the WARPAC era Hungarian and Soviet options. I do like the Soviet one and also the Soviet one on the kit decal sheet but don't know how I feel about building one in their markings at the minute, now if I could find some pictures of ex-Soviet ones in Ukranian markings other than ones in a museum then I know exactly what I would do!

 

Right then, best go off and make a start hadn't I. Thanks for looking in and as usual all comments and criticisms are always welcome, especially as far as the markings of this one go.

 

Craig.

 

🇺🇦

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2 hours ago, franky boy said:

Better late than never Craig😀. Only joking!

 

Looking forward to this one. Going by Glynns build this looks to be a good kit. 
 

James

Cheers James, yes better late than never.😄

It does look to be a nice kit and quite well detailed too.

 

🇺🇦

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Great choice, and some cracking schemes on the sheet, i have taken a shine to the 165 croatian camo one , I'm  guessing its the same one I'm doing (165) prior to the cheque job, this will sail together craig, such a nice fit , only area to look out for is the top panel on the nose in front of the cockpit ,after close examination of photos  the real deal these things really are a bit  ropey build wise ,so we dont have to get em bang on this time 😋, I'm with you on the russian schemes, I'm waiting patiently  for a ghost of kyiv decal set 🤗   ( propaganda or not)

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4 hours ago, PattheCat said:

Hi Craig.

A two seater eh? Nice choice.

Seat taken.

 

I wish you a fun build.

Pat

Thanks Pat, good to have you onboard mate.

Yes I fancied a 2 seater as there aren't that many of them built and I like 2 seat versions of single seat fighters, would love a Mig-23UB in 1/48.

 

2 hours ago, Hewy said:

Great choice, and some cracking schemes on the sheet, i have taken a shine to the 165 croatian camo one , I'm  guessing its the same one I'm doing (165) prior to the cheque job, this will sail together craig, such a nice fit , only area to look out for is the top panel on the nose in front of the cockpit ,after close examination of photos  the real deal these things really are a bit  ropey build wise ,so we dont have to get em bang on this time 😋, I'm with you on the russian schemes, I'm waiting patiently  for a ghost of kyiv decal set 🤗   ( propaganda or not)

Cheers mate, thought you might approve of the UM.

The Croatian cano one does look nice doesn't it, and yes I am sure its the same airframe as your build just either before or after the checks were painted on. And yes you're right about the build quality of some of these aircraft, certainly wouldn't get CAA approval!

It took me a while to decide to actually build this as the thought of most things to do with the Russian military leaves a bad taste in the mouth at the minute, even though I know very well that they were long out of service before Adolf Putin came to power, as I am sure you can imagine this has cheesed me off too as you know I like my Russian/Soviet subjects. And yes, propaganda or not a Mig-29 as the ghost of Kyiv would be a great subject, and very popular too I should think.

 

🇺🇦

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35 minutes ago, modelling minion said:

Mig-29 as the ghost of Kyiv would be a great subject, and very popular too I should think.

👍 Won't be long,  whif or not 

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Update time!

Been plugging away at this one for the past couple of days and have done most of the work on the cockpit interior. The details from the kit are actually pretty good and I have decided to build it OOTB including the seats which I will try to tart up a bit with some more belts which are missing from the seat pan. I have used the kit decals for the instrument panels and have then given the IP's some detail painting and a bit of weathering much the same as the cockpit tub and side panels. Here are some pics of the cockpit parts as they stand at the minute starting with the cockpit tub;

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The two side panels;

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And the two instrument panels;

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I have also assembled both of the wings and tailplanes, the wings have an etched brass strake for the top;

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As you can see I have also drilled out the holes for the wing pylons, not sure what I will hang from them yet but most likely some rocket pods.

 

Thanks for looking in and as usual all comments and criticisms are gratefully received.

 

Craig.

 

🇺🇦

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18 minutes ago, Corsairfoxfouruncle said:

Looking good Craig, I wonder about your wing/fuselage join ? Those two pins will they be strong enough to support the weight or will you reinforce the join ? 

Cheers Dennis, the pins should be strong enough to support the weight, I built a J-7 a few years ago for the 80's Asian GB and that is still fine.

 

🇺🇦

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Can't believe its been nearly a week last I updated the post, bad Minion!

Well quite a bit has happened since the last update, the cockpit was finished off and assembled;

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And with the other side panel fitted it was fixed in place in the fuselage along with the wheel wells and some nose weight, and when that was all set and tidied up (just a bit of sanding, no filler at all) I was able to fit the already completed wings, tailplanes and vertical tail. Again these were a very good fit and any minor seams were easily taken care of with some PPP, the cooling scoops and vents on the rear fuselage were also added. The only piece that hasn't fitted very well is the panel in front of the canopy, I got the best fit I could and then sanded the front (it sat raised for no obvious reason) until it matched the contours of the fuselage, not a big issue and feeling brave or stupid (you decide) I fitted the pitots to the front fuselage and now we have an almost complete Mig-21;

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Looks like I need a bit more PPP on the seam between the stbd wing and lower fuselage, shouldn't be an issue.

 

You will also see that I have sprayed some metallic paint on some of the areas that get heavy wear, I actually like the way this paint looks and might do the whole airframe and see if I want to leave it in that finish or camouflage it, I have also done the green panels and cone. Next job is to finish painting the seats and then I can fit them and get the canopy in place. Like Glynn mine will have the canopy shut, on the real thing there should be piece of glass between the front and rear canopies which is very noticeable when they are open and Trumpeter don't provide this and it would be tricky to make so closed it will be.

 

Thats it for now so as usual thanks for looking and all comments and criticisms are gratefully received.

 

Craig.

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Not sure if there always was glass, at least when there were additional instruments for the backseater (THIS pic), Craig. I could very well be wrong, as I know nothing about Migs (even if I like them).

Pitot and probes before painting, let's say that's your remake of "Where eagles dare". I salute your bravery (and will later have to duly honour your skills, no doubt (**).

 

(**) but you'll have to share with Hewy this time 😉

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5 hours ago, PattheCat said:

Not sure if there always was glass, at least when there were additional instruments for the backseater (THIS pic)

Yes there was always glass fitted Pat, you can see it in the pic you linked, it has a curved edge in the cockpit colour.

5 hours ago, PattheCat said:

I salute your bravery

 

50 minutes ago, Corsairfoxfouruncle said:

Well thats a brave move for sure?

Don't know about brave, I wanted to achieve a good fit with them and not damage any paintwork.

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4 hours ago, modelling minion said:

Don't know about brave, I wanted to achieve a good fit with them and not damage any paintwork.

Always a dilemma isn’t it.  Do you leave them off until after painting and risk the paint job with glue or have obvious touching up on show, or put them on first and risk knocking them off and losing them.

 

AW

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Great work Craig

 

She’s really moving along now. This kit has never really been on my modelling radar but seeing what a great job you’re making of it I’ll have to give it a try sometime. 

 

James

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20 hours ago, Andwil said:

Always a dilemma isn’t it.  Do you leave them off until after painting and risk the paint job with glue or have obvious touching up on show, or put them on first and risk knocking them off and losing them.

 

AW

It is a risk either way, so far so good though as they are still in place!🤞

10 hours ago, franky boy said:

Great work Craig

 

She’s really moving along now. This kit has never really been on my modelling radar but seeing what a great job you’re making of it I’ll have to give it a try sometime. 

 

James

Thanks James, its a pretty nice kit actually, theres room for improvement (like most kits) but it all fits very nicely.

1 hour ago, Hewy said:

Nice  job mate, you've got that nose maintenance bay piece to fit better than i did on mine ,looks good

Cheers Glynn, it took some sanding but I got there in the end.

1 hour ago, Dansk said:

Looks like its coming together beautifully craig. great work on the pit.

Have you settled on the scheme now?

Thanks Paul, as I said its a pretty nice kit.

Scheme wise I think I have found a winner, Ukranian. There are some sites that say the Ukranians never flew the 21 after independence but others that say they did for a couple of years. I have found a picture in a book of a Ukranian UM being serviced prior to flight and thats good enough for me, it is painted in the Soviet 4 colour scheme which I really like.

 

🇺🇦

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