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


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

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


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.

 

[Deleted member 5819]

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/july-dec-2016-sig-the-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, 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....................
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................
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.

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/tbpainting-ultimate-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

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

 

[Fernando N]

Nice looking coat of primer Dave, hope the NMF goes ok.

Fernando

 

[Dave Ward]

Well, my first use of Vallejo Metal Color Aluminium has been instructive.....................


I reduced the air pressure to 1 bar ( 14.7psi! ), and tried to give thin, even misted coats. If you get it too thick, and it starts to run, you have problems - I did this on the stabilisers, and had to wipe/sand it back to the primer surface, before respraying.
The paint sprayed well, didn't need thinning, and seemed to dry very quickly. I'm going to leave it overnight to really harden, then start to strip away all the masking. I'm debating about whether to give it an overall gloss varnish spray, before I attempt any washes, or panel variations. I'll make a decision tomorrow.
Dave

 

[Mickc1440]

I used the same paint on my Sabre Dave, does come up nice if you take your time. Nice MiG
Mick

 

[RM6239]

Dave
The only thing I've built more than once, if memory serves, Egyptian, Russian and Polish and all the Eduard kits, good call on the nose weight it is needed, I put the biggest fishing weight I can fit in the pointy bit for all mine. Nice progress so far.
cheers
Ross

 

[Dave Ward]

Added the rudder, ailerons & flaps. I've removed all the masking, and given a light overall gloss varnish, to seal everything, before beginning washing/decalling

I've finished off the airfield base.....................
I've used 12 of the 32 plates, so there is a 5 X 4 base left, perhaps for my Mig-25, or Mig-29
Dave