Martinsson Posted May 22, 2009 Share Posted May 22, 2009 (edited) I have posed this question in the In-Progress forum but I think it is appropriate here as well: http://www.arcforums.com/forums/air/index....0594&st=100 I am deliberating whether to use Aeromaster Russian stencils to the Albatros Vietnamese decals. Any knowledge or thoughts appreciated. TIA Martinsson Edited May 23, 2009 by Martinsson Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Netz Posted May 23, 2009 Share Posted May 23, 2009 It would make sence to say no. Why repaint then stencel in a language you don't speak. Curt Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Martinsson Posted May 24, 2009 Author Share Posted May 24, 2009 Thanks for your opinion Curt. I think it makes most sence to leave the stencils off. Martinsson Quote Link to post Share on other sites
scotthldr Posted May 24, 2009 Share Posted May 24, 2009 I had this dilemma when I built my Egyptian Mig. was the stenciling Russian, English or Arabic never got a definite answer. Hope you have better luck Quote Link to post Share on other sites
vrsa Posted May 24, 2009 Share Posted May 24, 2009 It would make sence to say no.Why repaint then stencel in a language you don't speak. Curt I would say not a wright assuption. Most of the students that went to Russia did learn russian language, as did the most in other warsav pact countries. The same goes for tech. staff. I dont see why this matters since you cant read the stencils anyway. I dont think that Vietnamese had the time to translate the stencils. Most of the users didnt. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
kotey Posted May 25, 2009 Share Posted May 25, 2009 Making new stancil - its a big job after repaint, i do not think that was maked in Vietnamese techcial division. and this aircaft had'nt stencil. BTW almost all Vietnam pilots and technican training in Russia and know Rusian Language, and anyway its so much Russian advisiors work in Vietnam stating mid 60-th so its can translate. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Jennings Posted May 25, 2009 Share Posted May 25, 2009 I think it depends where it was painted. If the airplane is in anything other than natural metal (with the customary Soviet/Russian clear varnish overcoat) or one of the known MiG-21MF factory camouflage schemes (which to the best of my knowledge is only a desert scheme for delivery to Egypt, Syria, and Iraq), I'd either leave them off, or if you do put any on, use the Cyrillic (Russian) stencils. As noted, Soviet client states trained their people to speak Russian (or some variation thereof) when they trained in the USSR, so they could have easily read the Russian information on the airplane. J Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Martinsson Posted May 25, 2009 Author Share Posted May 25, 2009 (edited) Thank you all for your thoughts, From your lines of thought, there seem to be three possibilities and one deduction; D) The paint is not Russian by origin but was applied in Vietnam (thx Jennings) P1) The Vietnamese masked all stencils or replaced them with new Russian stencils P2) The Vietnamese substituted Russian stencils for Vietnamese ones after the paint was applied P3) The Russian stencils were over-painted and not replaced Also from information provided by you, possibility no 2 is less likely. So possibilities number 1 and 3 are most probable. I have decided to go for possibility number 3 because of Kotey´s comment. I will soon be back with photos in my In-Progress thread. Thank you very much for all help Gentlemen! It is much appreciated to be able to vent these thoughts with people prepared to help. Martinsson Edited May 25, 2009 by Martinsson Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Davfoe Posted May 25, 2009 Share Posted May 25, 2009 My Reply is probably redundant, but I took a quick skim of Toperczer's Osprey book on "Mig-21's in the Vietnam war". He mentions that aircraft were shipped directly from the USSR and pur together in Vietnam, so if this is so, then they would be stenciled in Russian. That being said, some were repainted, and in this case, stenciling would be painted over. Most had the camo only on the top surfaces, so anything underneath would still have stenciling in Russian. Looking at some pictures I notice that any Mig's in Silver hds stencils, any Mig's in grey usually DON'T have stencils, though I have seen some with RED stencils. I also checked Gordon and Dexter's definitive work "Mikoyan Mig-21" and it's pretty much the same. Also, I concur with the statement that Vietnamese maintenance crews read and spoke Russian, though it was a small persentage and those who didn't had Russian speaking advisers to "advise" them on what to do. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Martinsson Posted May 26, 2009 Author Share Posted May 26, 2009 Thank you Davfoe. Much appreciated. This re-inforces my decision to leave any stencilling off. Cheers Martinsson Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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