1/48 MiG-21PF - VPAF, No. 4326, 921th Fighter Regiment, Noi Bai AB - ***FINISHED***

[Ray_W]

Another Eduard 1/48 MiG-21. Excellent. This time a Vietnamese People's Air Force (VPAF) subject in NMF. 

 

 

This build will be largely OOB portrayed as one of the kit supplied subjects:

 

 

Great opportunity to again use AK Xtreme Metal and I can keep my Vietnam theme that I seem to have going at the moment with Tamiya's F-4B completed, the ICM OV-10A Bronco waiting on decals and a Thud planned for the Century Fighters GB.

 

A little resin to be added:

 

 

On my MiG-21bis build I used the Eduard Brassin cockpit. What a delight. I would be very tempted if Eduard had a Brassin "PF" cockpit. This time around I'll use the kit plastic and their supplied PE.

 

I think I will order a Master brass pitot tube.

 

Should be fun.

 

Ray

 

 

[Wings unlevel]

Great subject and theme! Enjoy

[Corsairfoxfouruncle]

Ok Ray … Bringing the PF to the party, looking forward to this. 

[modelling minion]

Welcome to the GB Ray, and good to see you keeping your mini Vietnam theme going.

Eduard might not do a Brassin cockpit for this but they do produce a Space 3D set.

Either way I am really looking forward to seeing this come together, especially considering how good your Bulgarian bis was.

 

[Ray_W]

10 hours ago, modelling minion said:

Eduard might not do a Brassin cockpit for this but they do produce a Space 3D set.

I note that Eduard did produce, since discontinued, a resin cockpit for the PF. Their code 648144.

 

These resin (with a little PE) cockpits do come up nice.  Here's my Brassin MiG-21bis cockpit with the 'Look' IP. 

 

 

 

Aviation Megastore has the Eduard PF resin cockpit in stock. However, delivery costs from the Netherlands to Bulgaria are a killer.

 

Frankly, the kit PE looks pretty good. Usual vinyl speckle that tones down with a wash. A good basis to work with.

 

 

 

Not a big jump up with the slightly more 3D Space set, though that harness would be nice. 

 

 

I decided to go with the kit PE with some enhancement that being the "Look" IP, now on its way.

 

 

 

 

Ray

[modelling minion]

Your earlier Brassin bis cockpit really is a work of art Ray.

The harness on the 3D Space set really does look good doesn't it, I might need to invest in a set for a future build.

 

[Ray_W]

30 minutes ago, modelling minion said:

The harness on the 3D Space set really does look good doesn't it, I might need to invest in a set for a future build.

 

The harness in the Space set still looks to be PE. So no 3D benefits.  In terms of detail and appearance it does appear to be a step up from the 2014 PE rendition as supplied in the ProfiPACK kit. 

[franky boy]

Nice choice of kit and markings Ray. 
 

It’s a shame there’s no Brassin cockpit for this one but I’m sure the kit supplied one will turn out very well. 
 

Look forward to some pics. 
 

James 

[Ray_W]

With the EA-18G getting close to finished, I decided it was time to get into the MiG and cut some plastic. Started with the usual parts preparation, cockpit sidewalls and sub-assemblies.

 

 

I'll be using the PE supplied for the sidewalls, as previously mentioned, with an added 'look' panel.

 

 

I was hoping to use the spare KM ejection seat that I built for another MiG-21.

 

 

Not to be. The PF had the earlier SK seat. The kit plastic will need to come into play. Nicely complicated. Should be fun.

 

 

Started cutting resin with the Eduard Brassin jet exhaust. Lovely! Beautifully fine flame holder that I now realise has a broken arm. Only just happened.

 

 

We modellers like to promote our skills in research, assembly, painting and weathering. Wrong! The true kill is finding lost micro parts. Now this arm will be a serious challenge.  Second skill is fabricating replacements. Time to sign off and start crawling around the floor. Bye for now.

 

Ray

 

PS: Found it. The secondary benefit is I now have an immaculate floor.

 

 

 

[Corsairfoxfouruncle]

49 minutes ago, Ray_W said:

I was hoping to use the spare KM ejection seat that I built for another MiG-21.

 

 

Not to be. The PF had the earlier SK seat. The kit plastic will need to come into play.

Have no fear sir, Im sure you will find a use for it in the near future. 

[Johnson]

Ejection seat looks wonderful Ray, I'm sure you'll do marvels with it.

 

Looking forward to seeing you work your usual magic with this. If it's anything like the Eduard 1/72 MiG-21MF I'm just finishing, you'll have a ball. Except possibly the decals, I hope yours are better than I got!

 

Cheers,

[PattheCat]

Good to see you have beaten the carpet monster.

A PF with PE, that looks promising.

 

[modelling minion]

Good to see this one underway Ray.

Very well done in finding the broken off piece of the flame holder, not something that happens very often.

I am sure that you will work your magic on the kit seat and  it will end up looking better than an aftermarket one.

 

[Ray_W]

19 hours ago, Corsairfoxfouruncle said:

Im sure you will find a use for it in the near future. 

 

Let's hope so! To think I had only to start from the MF era and all was good. 

 

18 hours ago, Johnson said:

Except possibly the decals, I hope yours are better than I got!

 

I am doing NMF with the kit decals so I trust their not only good, but exceptional. I have not had a good look at them, yet. I hope they're the peelable ones. I must check them out this evening.

 

16 hours ago, PattheCat said:

Good to see you have beaten the carpet monster.

 

Best way to beat the carpet monster. Don't have carpet.  I have not heard of a parquetry monster. I have decided smooth flooring is preferable where you do your modelling. Just don't drop the model. Don't ask me how I know ....

 

 

3 hours ago, modelling minion said:

Good to see this one underway

 

Should be a very enjoyable build.

 

I am still trying to decide whether the wheel wells should be grey or bare metal for a VPAF PF. I am leaning towards light grey blue using MRP-049 because I have some and seems right for the job. I do not know whether there has been any discussion already in the GB on this matter. My internet searches have not provided a suitable image or definite colour call-out for this period.

 

Ray

[modelling minion]

13 minutes ago, Ray_W said:

I am still trying to decide whether the wheel wells should be grey or bare metal for a VPAF PF. I am leaning towards light grey blue using MRP-049 because I have some and seems right for the job. I do not know whether there has been any discussion already in the GB on this matter. My internet searches have not provided a suitable image or definite colour call-out for this period.

Having looked at lots of pictures of Mig-21 wheel wells (and real ones) I think that there isn't a hard and fast rule as to what colour they should be. They can range from a variety of interior/zinc green to whatever colour the undersides of the aircraft are painted in  so your blue/grey is just as good a choice as anything else Ray.

 

[Ray_W]

Painted and assembled the jet exhaust. Really lovely detail. There is so much crazy stuff going on behind the flame holder. Looks cool. As usual most is hidden, but for me it's a part of jet modelling I like.

 

 

A little bit of external weathering and it should come up nice.

 

 

I did my usual of adding a few extra location tabs and started painting the cockpit and nose intake getting ready for cockpit, detail painting and joining the fuselage halves. The nose cone goes in when the fuselage halves are joined so I will need to play around with some weight and check balance before hand to ensure it is not a tail sitter.

 

 

Eduard call up Gunze and MMP versions of Light Ghost Grey for the cockpit area. It is not a good match for the PE so I chose a darker option in Dark Ghost Grey (both paints convenient on my bench due to my current Growler build), The final result is still a fraction light compared to the PE. Ghost Grey is a deceptive colour and varies tremendously depending on the viewing angle. After a little wash, detail painting and then largely hidden it should not be too noticeable. I think I can leave it.

 

 

Another challenging colour was the wheel wells with Eduard giving you the three options - interior green, bare metal, grey. I chose grey and went with MRP-049, described as "Light Grey-Blue Russian aircraft cockpit and wheel wells from 1960's to the present". It is similar to RLM-02, which is, in fact, what Eduard ask you to use from the Gunze or MMP range for their grey option.

 

 

Detail painting next and the cockpit should go together quickly.

 

Ray

[modelling minion]

Great work up to your usual high standard Ray.

The exhaust has come out very well. 

Looks like Eduard got the colour of their PE about right for once, and as you say after a wash and some weathering the paint should be a good match.

RLM 02 is a very good match for a lot of Mig-21 wheel wells, I have used it myself before now.

 

[Ray_W]

8 hours ago, modelling minion said:

Looks like Eduard got the colour of their PE about right for once, and as you say after a wash and some weathering the paint should be a good match.

RLM 02 is a very good match for a lot of Mig-21 wheel wells, I have used it myself before now.

 

That's good to know. I found it difficult to find a good colour photo of this area on an aircraft of the period. Most later aircraft being repaint jobs. Some photos appear to show evidence of an original colour similar to RLM 02. In the end I went with Eduard and MRP research. 

[exdraken]

Great advancements!

 

Your shiny metal shades are stunning!!

 

[Ray_W]

1 hour ago, exdraken said:

Your shiny metal shades are stunning!!

 

Yes, come up nice. I am not as happy with the final exterior cone. The part you see most of. Not shiny/metal enough - needs a little bluing and black. I will come back to that.

 

I used Eduard's 'Look' IP. The vinyl look again subdued with Tamiya Black Panel Line Accent Color. Careful not to get in the dial faces although not a big problem if you do - easy to remove and you can then hit them with some X-22 or your favourite gloss clear. Yes, I did add the bicycle brake hand grip to the control column.

 

 

PE side panels subdued with Tamiya grey. Not quite as happy with those. Reality is in 1/48 they look OK. Nice detail and deceptively 3D be it the kit PE.

 

 

The kit supplied seat comes up real nice. Thinned a few areas and drilled some extra lightening holes where needed. I added the thin cushion as sewed into the harness from Tamiya tape scribed with a toothpick and painted up. Decided to pose the harness belts thrown up over the side arms. Eduard provide a decal for the nameplates/warning labels. These are blank so painted some of my best micro Cyrillic (or is it Vietnamese?) lettering. 

 

 

Looks OK with everything buried in a Mig-21 pit.

 

 

 

Wing insides also ready to join. 

 

 

Ditto the wheel wells. I do like the colour of that MRP-049.

 

 

 

Epoxied some chopped up lead shot in the nose cone. I added some very fine stuff in the pointy end and then ran out. No supply this weekend. Had to resort to the bigger stuff.

 

 

When I built my 'bis' last year, I used the Cold War Studios nose correction kit. The advantage of this was that you could slide it in at the end of painting so no worries getting the weight right to avoid a tail sitter. With the Eduard build you need to put the nose cone in before the fuselage halves are joined. So now it's time to play around to ensure I have the balance right before joining the fuselage halves. 

 

Next images and it should look like a MiG-21.

 

Ray

[Johnson]

Excellent cockpit Ray. Seat looks the bees knees! Nice thin cushion.

 

The 1/72 MF I've just finished looks like a 1/48 that's been shrunk, all the same detail, quite incredible (and challenging at 1/72).

 

I was worried that it might be a tail sitter. It just about balanced OK on it's u/c and when I added the nose pointy thing (radome, flow reducer) it was OK, so you should be fine.

[Ray_W]

39 minutes ago, Johnson said:

I was worried that it might be a tail sitter. It just about balanced OK on it's u/c and when I added the nose pointy thing (radome, flow reducer) it was OK, so you should be fine.

 

Thanks for the heads up Charlie. I finished my test and the nose weight I have added is plenty. 

 

I agree with your thoughts on the scales. Eduard have done an excellent job in both scales.

 

Ray

[modelling minion]

Really nice work Ray.

The cockpit  has turned out very well and the superb seat sets it off a treat, I especially like the way the belts are posed.

The detail painting of the wheel wells has brought out the details very well.

 

[Ray_W]

15 minutes ago, modelling minion said:

The detail painting of the wheel wells has brought out the details very well.

 

They're a lovely kit aren't they? It's great to be working on a jet build that doesn't take over the work bench.

[modelling minion]

18 minutes ago, Ray_W said:

They're a lovely kit aren't they?

You know, despite having 4 Eduard Mig-21's in the stash and being a big fan of the aircraft I still haven't built one. I did think about building one after my UM but I just can't get interested in building anything else Russian at the minute, and probably for a good while yet.