Dave Ws Trumpeter 1/48 Mig-21MF

[Dave Ward]

Having recently done some WWII Russian machines, I've decided to go on to some Cold War jets - this is going to be the first
[ATTACH]298517[/ATTACH]

This appeared on discount in quite a few shops, so it has ticked one of my boxes.
No sprue shots - I would say you can see these on the Trumpeter website, but it appears to be down at the moment.
Anyway construction started with the nice little ejection seat
[ATTACH]298518[/ATTACH]
Just added some seatbelts ( generic, from my spares box! )
And the cockpit in the horrible colour that the Soviets used ( relaxing - in a Mach 2 jet? ). I used Vallejo Model Color Emerald. The decals were applied using Humbrol Decalfix
[ATTACH]298519[/ATTACH]

There are a lot of colour variations on the Mig-21, the wheel wells/UC doors can be green, grey, blue - it doesn't seem to follow any pattern - I'm going to do mine in light grey.............. It's my intention to do an overall metal finish. I've never had much success with this, but with more modern paints - I'm giving it a go.
As a base, I've got ICM PAG-14 concrete slab runway parts
Dave

[papa 695]

A very nice start Nigel/Dave.
Not sure which name to use, and welcome to the forum.

[Guest]

Hi Dave good start, I'll keep an eye on your progress.
Pete

[rickoshea52]

Nice start, Russian turquoise is a lovely shade, right?

We had a Mig-21 GB/SIG in 2016 - take a look here fore some ideas and tips - http://www.scale-models.co.uk/forums...he-mig-21.282/

[PaulTRose]

Nice start, Russian turquoise is a lovely shade, right?

i did read somewhere they painted cockpits that colour cos after lots of research they found it was the most relaxing colour in a stressful environment

[rickoshea52]

i did read somewhere they painted cockpits that colour cos after lots of research they found it was the most relaxing colour in a stressful environment

Or disguised the puke!

[Fernando N]

Nice looking office Dave:thumb2:, I'll follow along too.
Fernando

[Dave Ward]

It was a toss up, whether I got the Eduard Mig-21, or the Trumpeter - at the time, the Trumpeter won ( by about £1, I think! ). I see that Revell are issuing a rebox of Eduards' Mig-21SMT it will be interesting to see the price compared to the Eduard 'Weekend' version.

[Dave Ward]

Fuselage closed up - no dramas, you just have ensure that all the tabs fit into the slots! I added the wings and tail - just a touch of filler....................[ATTACH]298786[/ATTACH]
You can see that all the control surfaces are separate, I'll leave those off until much later. Since I'm going to do a metal finish, joint preparation, and seam finish will be critical - as every flaw will be highlighted.
The model is going together quickly, a simple model of a simple Soviet jet - no gimmicks or frills!
Dave

[JR]

Nice Dave.
Office looks good.

Will follow from the back and let the wingie lovers in the front . John

[papa 695]

Looking very nice Dave.

[Dave Ward]

All the scoops, fences, pylons etc added, and primed with my new go-to primer, Grey Ultimate Primer................[ATTACH]299013[/ATTACH][ATTACH]299014[/ATTACH]
All apertures were filled with damp tissue paper, and masking fluid to give a seal. As was to be expected,the primer showed a few paces that need attention...........
Although the instructions don't say it - I added weight in the nose, using 5 min epoxy, and 4mm ball bearings. It may not need it, but I don't want a tail sitter.
The base is under way - The ICM 'PAG-14 Airfield Plates' gives you 32 tiles to be butt joined in any combination. This is 4 X 3, the MIg-21 isn't that big.
[ATTACH]299029[/ATTACH]
Overall primed, then the centres of each panel darkened, I'll run a few washes over the joint areas, and maybe a few oil stains
Dave

[JR]

Dave looking good with the primer.
What do you think to it,?
I only found it last month on the Ultimate site and the first time I used it was on the Kitten. Sprays beautifully, had to use a . 4 needle . There's a good artical on
https://www.scalemodellingnow.com/tb...ltimate-primer. Which you might have seen, for those that haven't it goes on to use the Black version and talks about using Alcad2 metallic finish .
John .

[Dave Ward]

John,
I had used Vallejo primer for years, but then had a/b problems with it, so gave Ultimate Primer a go - sprays beautifully, lovely fine, smooth finish. I'm not going to go down the gloss black primer route - that may be suitable for a showroom car, but not a Russian jet....
Dave

[Dave Ward]

Touched up a few seams, and reprimed - I'm going to leave the primer to really go off overnight before spraying the metallic.........
As an experiment, I took one of the distinctive supersonic Mig-21 fuel tanks ( you get two, but use only one ), primed it and used AK True Metal Silver. This is a waxy paste, that you apply thinly, allow to dry, then buff up with a soft cloth
[ATTACH]299248[/ATTACH]
It comes up very nicely - bit too shiny, in fact. It's easiest to apply thinly with a finger, but also easy to get ridges/lumps, which are then difficult to get rid of. I would say it's useful for small parts ( eg hydraulic rams ), or small areas, but covering an entire plane to a consistent finish, would be very difficult. ( I could see a Knights Armour done with this stuff ).
Being rather waxy, it doesn't take over painting easily, you would have to give a varnish overspray, which will dull down the metallic finish, rather defeating the whole point!
Dave