Madmax Posted July 13, 2018 Author Share Posted July 13, 2018 I encountered an irritating problem which someone may be able to shed some light on or maybe offer advice. A small portion of the join on the nose cone separated for no apparent reason, and left a visible join line which I then had to re-glue and fill. I use Tamiya "extra thin" cement, and run two applications on the joins. Maybe I just handle the model too much by the nose? That is all patched up in the meantime, and I could get down to the decals. Linden Hill make a very comprehensive set of stencil decals for the MiG-23 and are WAY better than the kit offering. It was quite difficult to work out just how much of the stencilling there actually is on the well worn MiG that I am representing. It looks like about 70% of the stencils are still present, and they are a non-uniform mix of blue and white. The decal instructions mention that normally the ML had blue stencils and the MLD white ones. I can see some blue and some white on my reference photo's, and different colours on different airframes. I think whoever was spraying stencils had the choice, depending on what was served for lunch at the Mikoyan canteen. Red is not optional - Cold War stuff. On the upper surfaces I have rubbed down the yellow decals with a micromesh cloth to fade them a bit. Some collateral damage happened but it suits my weathering plans. I have also painted some scratches on what appear to be high traffic area. I was enjoying the idea of chipping by paintbrush, and painted some lighter colours as well as zinc chromate on these areas based on images I saw on a "walkabout" of an ML. Then I applied my preferred wash of well thinned oil paint. I leave it to "dry" for about an hour, and then wipe off the excess. This avoids the "staining" one often sees along the panel lines, and leaves an even "filter" colour over the base paint. Treated on the left, untreated on the right - fairly subtle but noticeable in direct comparison. The horizontal stab is well wiped down, but I prefer to leave the wheel hubs with the oil paint as is. The weld seams are now a little more pronounced and the chipping on the pylon is slightly toned down. This is the fun bit! Greg W, MikeMaben, Hubert Boillot and 10 others 13 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gregair Posted July 13, 2018 Share Posted July 13, 2018 The Mig colour scheme is really coming together very nicely, great job! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gazzas Posted July 13, 2018 Share Posted July 13, 2018 This is turning in to a weathering masterpiece. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
red Dog Posted July 14, 2018 Share Posted July 14, 2018 I think it was a masterpiece even before weathering Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kagemusha Posted July 14, 2018 Share Posted July 14, 2018 Just lifting my jaw off the floor... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gerhard Posted July 14, 2018 Share Posted July 14, 2018 So much to learn here. Just brilliant. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John1 Posted July 14, 2018 Share Posted July 14, 2018 What do you use to wipe off the excess oil paint? Paper towel, cotton rag? I really like that approach, as you said, it's subtle which is the key to effective weathering. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mydesign Posted July 14, 2018 Share Posted July 14, 2018 Great modelling! .... and interesting to read the history of the MiGs in Angola (and the related Cuban stuff). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alain11 Posted July 14, 2018 Share Posted July 14, 2018 outstanding pain job , really inspiring !!!! Alain Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marcel111 Posted July 15, 2018 Share Posted July 15, 2018 This build continues to inspire! The paint weathering is incredible! Cheers, Marcel Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TimHepplestone Posted July 15, 2018 Share Posted July 15, 2018 Brilliant paint job. You obviously have a lot of skill with the airbrush and I can’t help but think that the results your getting are more interesting and realistic than seen with various black basing techniques that seem in vogue. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ivan Ivanovich Posted July 15, 2018 Share Posted July 15, 2018 (edited) Hands down one of the best/most promising MiG-23 paint jobs I've seen for a long, long time. You're doing a bang-up job on your MiG! Edited July 16, 2018 by Ivan Ivanovich Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Madmax Posted July 16, 2018 Author Share Posted July 16, 2018 Wow! What a wonderful response - thank you very much to one and all. On 7/14/2018 at 4:31 PM, John1 said: What do you use to wipe off the excess oil paint? Paper towel, cotton rag? I really like that approach, as you said, it's subtle which is the key to effective weathering. John, believe it or not, I use toilet paper. Soft 2 ply of course! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Madmax Posted July 16, 2018 Author Share Posted July 16, 2018 This project, apart from modelling a significant aircraft, is about weathering. I have been enjoying Fancherello's incredible work, and have also spent quite a bit of time looking at what Miguel Jimenez is doing to enhance the hobby. Through these and other influences I am slowly breaking with 30 odd years of traditional aircraft model finishing. I get the impression a lot of weathering is really about observing detail on the full scale aircraft, and working out how to get it onto the little one, and how much of it is necessary to achieve the look you want. John1 mentioned subtlety, and that certainly plays a role. So, here is a case in point. Observe the "chipped" paint under the wing shoulder of this MiG (I think this is no 456, and it has white stencilling unlike 454 which appears to be mostly blue). This is where Fanch's technique comes into play. I have left out some of his steps as I only want to achieve a simple look for now. Base coat. Masking fluid sponged on. Lightly sprayed with a 5% white and ochre mix (95% thinner), masking rubbed off and then another coat of 5% mix. Now it has a dusty sun bleached look with some variety! The underside got the same treatment, but with a dark 5% mix. I think the technique is particularly effective on a single colour. I know that this may just look "dirty" to many modellers, and I am also a bit conflicted by it, but will bravely continue to break with my traditional methods. One of the aspects of the finish that I have wanted to change for some time is the matt coat. I agree with Miguel Jimenez's view on this, in that a matt coat kills the variety of surface textures that are found on the real thing. I used Microscale Satin at first, but then opted for the Flat (which is their matt coat but is actually closer to a satin). Unlike my previous builds, I am now building on to the existing weathering with oil paint over the satin coat, and allowing the gloss to happen when rubbing the areas I want to enhance. I have also sprayed a dusty 5% coat on some areas to make the paint look slightly chalky as the sun does it's work on the pigment. I think this is getting closer to the look I would like to achieve... Nearly time to assemble all the bits and pieces! Greetings, Sean Greg W, Hubert Boillot, Starfighter and 11 others 14 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alain Gadbois Posted July 17, 2018 Share Posted July 17, 2018 Impressive painting and weathering techniques! Useful for the future desert group build! Alain Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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