Laurent Posted May 29, 2009 Share Posted May 29, 2009 (edited) The cover of the Squadron In Action bookshows a sand and brown camouflaged plane. Polly Singh's article tells that the plane was NMF with brushpainted black stripes but he doesn't mention his source. I tend to believe him since the strips appear to be brushpainted so it's likely that no base color was applied. Apparently these stripped MiGs are discussed in Air Enthusiast April 1972 but I don't have this magazine. Has somebody got more info ? Edited May 29, 2009 by Laurent Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Andrew D. the Jolly Rogers guy Posted May 29, 2009 Share Posted May 29, 2009 I've seen Polly's article, and with all respect to him, I am not a believer. Other sources I've seen claim the opposite, that they sprayed a light tan all over the airframe except the undersides, and the canopy was completely masked (leaving NMF frame). The stripes, it is claimed, may have been done by three people, as one sees different styles of striping on the forward fuselage, mid fuselage/wings, and tail area. And, although I once thought they would have been brush painted, it seems they may well have been sprayed! Look carefully at the photo above, especially the tail area. Also, there have been Indian MiG-21's in more recent years in similar (but not exact, and not quite as cool-looking IMO) schemes where they were indeed sprayed. I have some pics stored on the old computer that I found online, just can't get to them at the moment DISCLAIMER: If the information above is shown by yet-to-be-released proof, please don't grill me! It is based on analysis and reports given by others who claim various IAF sources. It's what I personally consider the most likely, but that doesn't make it so. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Andrew D. the Jolly Rogers guy Posted May 29, 2009 Share Posted May 29, 2009 Found a little bit from one guy who researched this pretty heavily; you may find this bit pretty fascinating: "Just from one of the webmasters of these sites, Shivshankar Sastry, we were able to get information on the precise the colors of "C992" in its Tiger cammo. Shiv obtained this from one of the pilots who flew these aircraft during the war. Here we report what we discovered: on the desert West front, where the harder fights were (even if we ignore for a moment that "our" MiG was a Sabre-killer), the Indian aircraft were painted on the field with mimetic colors directly over the original Natural Metal. One of the more exciting schemes was that of the "C992" that had a background of Yellow Sand we represented with a FS 33531 (Gunze H313), with irregular stripes of Dark Brown FS 30045 (80% Gunze H72+ 20% Black) and retouches of a Light Maroon FS 30219 (Gunze H310) among a strip and the other. The lower surfaces and the canopy maintained the Natural Metal instead, fairly diffuse practice still on the MiG-21 Indians of the last versions. Characteristic is the fact that the strips have been applied from different "artists", in fact the shape has many variations, and they could be found three styles, one for the nose, with more undulated stripes, one for the back and for the wings, with strips similar to those of a tiger, and one for the tail, with strips more frequent and more neat. Many of these dark strips go in the lower zone, going sometimes off from the Sand background and ending directly on the Natural Metal." Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Laurent Posted May 29, 2009 Author Share Posted May 29, 2009 (edited) Veeeeerrry interesting ! Thanks a lot Andrew ! I know how I'll paint my little Innex 'PFM' kit. Additional pics would be great if you could manage to find them. Do you know if the roundel and codes have been repainted or if they have left the original ones (painted on silver) ? The Light Maroon retouches seem to be pretty dense on the fin and scarce in the other areas. Edited May 29, 2009 by Laurent Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Neptune48 Posted May 30, 2009 Share Posted May 30, 2009 Oh, you meant "striped!" Shucks, I thought I was going to see a naked airplane. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
BAM'n'IVM Posted May 30, 2009 Share Posted May 30, 2009 Yeah, I was expecting a MiG up on cinderblocks... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Laurent Posted May 30, 2009 Author Share Posted May 30, 2009 (edited) Oh, you meant "striped!" Shucks, I thought I was going to see a naked airplane. I apologize but English isn't my first language as you surely have noticed. And I'm sorry but I cannot correct the title anymore. Edited May 30, 2009 by Laurent Quote Link to post Share on other sites
BAM'n'IVM Posted May 30, 2009 Share Posted May 30, 2009 No worries, Laurent. Just one of those amusing little things. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Neptune48 Posted May 30, 2009 Share Posted May 30, 2009 I apologize but English isn't my first language as you surely have noticed. And I'm sorry but I cannot correct the title anymore. Please, no apology is necessary. Like BAM'n'IVM said, it was just an amusing little thing. Anyone who can speak or write in more than one language needs never to be embarrassed. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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