ericg Posted May 22, 2012 Author Share Posted May 22, 2012 Hi Guys, Whilst taking a break from other projects (F-117: waiting for Caracal to release his decals, 3D printed flying bomb: waiting for the right reference photo, Mirage: major loss of Mojo) I decided to rescue this Mig-21 from the shelf of doom. Painted all over in floquil silver. I am trying to portray an aircraft that was painted silver overall, so it will be a fine balance between getting the airframe to look like it was painted rather than giving it a paintjob that was supposed to look like bare metal. I am going to do this in the Czech cold war scheme with the great nose art. Pardubice 1989. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LSP_Kevin Posted May 22, 2012 Share Posted May 22, 2012 Looking good mate! My favourite paint for representing a silver-painted finish is Tamiya's AS-12 (Bare Metal Silver) out of a rattle can. I usually decant it for airbrushing. Here's an example of what it looks like: Having said that, you'd be surprised how many compliments this model has received for its NM finish! Kev sandokan 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ericg Posted May 22, 2012 Author Share Posted May 22, 2012 Thanks for telling me that now Kev!, Anyway, I think the floquil stuff looks OK, I am expecting it to get the effect that I am after one I dull it down a bit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ericg Posted May 24, 2012 Author Share Posted May 24, 2012 (edited) After being reasonably happy with the Floquil paint, something didn't seem right with it. It was still tacky after a day. I didn't want to take any chances with it, so I rubbed it back and resprayed the airframe with Alclad white aluminium, a colour that I have seen on a CAC Sabre that someone did in a local magazine that impressed me with its sheen. Anyway, the alclad was dry to touch as quick as, so I am now happier with the Mig-21 and have now embarked upon painting the details. Still got lots to go with the painting stage; there are a few more green panels on the leading edges of the wings and the tip of the tail, and I still need to paint the details of the undercarriage bay. I am yet to work out whether I do any post shading with the airframe but probably will with a slightly different shade of aluminium. Nose ring in Alclad Jet exhaust: Exhaust panelling around the tail was painted in 4 different colours of alclad: I masked off and sprayed the undercarriage bays in Gunze RLM 02 General view of the tail area: Close up of the green panel on the tail, with some post shading applied: Edited May 24, 2012 by ericg sandokan 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A.Wolf Grant Posted May 24, 2012 Share Posted May 24, 2012 Nice catch and an excellent job with the change to Alclad. There's something strangely attractive about these early soviet jets, I love 'em and am looking forward to seeing yours come to fruition. How does Alclad react with masking? I'd heard it doesn't take well to tape being placed over it so I'd be interested to hear of your experience with it. Grant. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billwinkes Posted May 24, 2012 Share Posted May 24, 2012 Thanks for renewing this build. I have one in the stash that is destined to be the Polish "Swordfish." Really like the cockpit. i shall try to emulate. Bill Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ericg Posted May 27, 2012 Author Share Posted May 27, 2012 Now I have the paint sorted, I am into the shading and weathering. I have started post shading some of the panel lines with Alclad dark alumium. I grafted the head of the pitot tube to an appropriate diameter piece of brass tube for strength... and to ensure it was round. The vanes are from the eduard exterior set. The business end of the bird. I have test fitted the pitot tube, will be one of those things that will be very easy to break so it will be a push fit to the aircraft with some plastic rod so that if it is bumped the plastic rod will break intstead of it ripping half the nose off. More green panels. This aircraft is covered with them. I noticed that there is some imperfection on the leading edge of the tail from handling where the paint has rubbed off. I will fix this just before I give it a coat of future. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ericg Posted June 1, 2012 Author Share Posted June 1, 2012 Decided that I would bite the bullet and fix one of the more annoying innacuracies of the kit. I was going to approach this in a whole lot more complicated fashion until I reverted to the keep it simple ethic. The undercarriage doors in the kit are parallel to the fuselage centreline, whereas on the real aircraft they should be canted back 45 degrees, as well as the scissor link/torque arm mechanism that rotates the wheel so that it stays perpedicular to the ground as it retracts. This is the kit way of doing the undercarriage leg. As you can see, the door and mechanism are aligned as if the undercarriage retracts at 90 degrees to the fuselage centreline instead of forward 45 degrees into the wheel well. I repositioned the scissor link and the gear door to accuratly portray the real thing. It was alot easier than I first imagined. Top shot showing the correct angle: Front on comparison shot: I know that I will feel alot happier with this model when it is sitting on my shelf now that I have fixed it. sandokan 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A.Wolf Grant Posted June 1, 2012 Share Posted June 1, 2012 Very nice indeed and a clever way of rectifying the kit's inaccuracies. I love that shade of green btw - it really pops against the alclad. Grant. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LSP_K2 Posted June 4, 2012 Share Posted June 4, 2012 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adam Posted June 5, 2012 Share Posted June 5, 2012 Eric, Your MiG-21 is looking spectacular! Totally love the cockpit. Dude, you'd be jealous of something I recently bought in Prague - a Russian jet jockey helmet - circa the period when they flew the 21. It has the leather cap inner liner, the outer fibreglass shell with the large tinted visor and the oxygen mask. I bought it for around $200! I did have the leather cap already - bought it at a Aussie Disposals, but didn't realise it was the inner part of the helmet! Your MiG will look cool with my F-105D next to it at Expo. Will you have it ready? I may have my "5" ready - I'm decaling at the moment. Cheers Adam. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ericg Posted June 5, 2012 Author Share Posted June 5, 2012 Hi Adam, will most likely have my F-4J there, will get in touch with you to organise a catch up? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ericg Posted June 6, 2012 Author Share Posted June 6, 2012 Well folks, its into the decalling stage, All of the excellent Eagle Strike decals applied, settled in very well to the paintwork with a few coats of Micro SOL. I wait until the decal looks dry and then apply another coat, and repeat this process until it is bedded into the panel line detail. Left side lady Right side inscription I originally purchased the Begemot stencil data for the Mig, and whilst they are really quite comprehensive, they are in Russian. A search on google for 1/32 Mig-21 Czech stencil data turned up these great Tally Ho stencils. They arrived today from Hannants whilst I was applying the other decals and they really are quite good. Although I can't read either language, and to be honest, they are tiny, I wanted to do a `proper job' so they had to be obtained. Should be a few hours of work! I am trying out my new tool, that is the long lockable scissors/pliers. I have found they are excellent for assisting with small decals like these. If you cut them out of the sheet so that they have a small tab on them, they can be held whilst you dunk them in water and will stay safe until you apply then to the airframe. sandokan 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Youngtiger1 Posted June 6, 2012 Share Posted June 6, 2012 Wow, I like that nose art. Super job Ericg!! Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nzdavidh Posted June 6, 2012 Share Posted June 6, 2012 Some nice progress there, should look striking finished. Anyone looking for lockable scissors might want to ask for a hemostat... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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