supergru Posted September 25, 2014 Share Posted September 25, 2014 (edited) . Edited December 7, 2014 by supergru Quote Link to post Share on other sites
supergru Posted September 25, 2014 Author Share Posted September 25, 2014 Hi again! I will biuld a machine from my signature: MiG-21BIS-K reg. no. 17157 from SFR Yugoslav AF as seen on Golija '76 exercise. Base kit will be Eduard 1/48 MiG-21BIS in ProfiPack with a few extras: - resin copy of Eduard's Brassin engine - Balkan Models decals - corrected nose from Cold War Studio Note to admins: First post is left empty with purpose. Due to some script failure on ARC, each time I edit a post it ends with total mess. For frequent WIP update I will be editing first post over and over. Please, leave it as it is! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
11bee Posted September 25, 2014 Share Posted September 25, 2014 Great choice of subject, I'll be checking back often for updates. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Emvar Posted September 25, 2014 Share Posted September 25, 2014 Excellent, will be watching this. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Sebastijan Posted September 26, 2014 Share Posted September 26, 2014 And Happy Birthday! ;) Quote Link to post Share on other sites
supergru Posted October 2, 2014 Author Share Posted October 2, 2014 Sprue shots and PE. I will leave Eduards PE prepainted, as I already found excellent shade of interior green to match Eduards while painting my Su-34. More to come ... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
supergru Posted October 2, 2014 Author Share Posted October 2, 2014 Eduard is giving you a choice to use flat or rounded windshield, depending on factory in USSR, where the MiG came from. I will use flat windshield, with black headrest. When I followed assembly instructions for resin nose, I got a strange result (upper photo), so I used original C40 part from the box and I modified the resin nose cone carrier. It could be my fault. I'm happy to be able to position nose cone as desired. This replacement set also makes possible to push/pull nose cone thru the nose, completely. This eases maneuvering and painting in later stage. On Eduards nose cone I put some MM1710 and MM1712, and MM2027 in the middle. I decided as follows: MM1710 (FS34079) to be used on nose cone only. MM1712 (FS34097) to be used on rims only. MM2027 (FS34096) - looks like faded MM1710 - to be used on all other dielectric panels. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
supergru Posted October 2, 2014 Author Share Posted October 2, 2014 Resin engine also made some problems. On radial side - I had to modify inner fuselage side to accommodate the engine. On axial side - I modified afterburner ring to be able to push if more forward to nose. This made engine shorter and I think it won't cause any more problems. I also repaired some fragile resin parts. Once engine is installed and fuselage is closed, only afterburner ring will be visible. But, exactly this afterburner ring from Brassin is a real eyecatcher! On the photo below in the right corner is Brassin nozzle, and next to it on the left side is Eduards nozzle from the box. Forget Wolfpack - it's good as the one you get in Eduards box. When installing the nozzle, you need to align any of three actuators (top) with a guide on the divergent part of the nozzle (bottom). This is not said in instructions, but very useful. Main color was also a point to be discussed. I had two options: FS36440 (Light Gull Grey) FS36375 (Light Ghost Grey) Near my town there are debris of a shot down MiG-21 in 1991. Don't ask me why is engine upside-down I decided to use Light Ghost Grey (MM1728) There are three painting options for MiG-21 wheelbays, delivered to former Yugoslavia: yellow chromate, beige (skin tone) and metallic grey. I will use first option, with MM4676 Jet exhaust and MM1584 Chromate. I know that Jet exhaust is acrylic while Chromate is enamel but I will explain this later. Resin nose cone got following sequence, starting from left to right: Alclad2 gloss black with cloud of white aluminium (you will see this color on the next photos better) MM1402 Stainless Steel (metalizer) MM1710 Dark Green AKAN73058 Red (acryl) This "cloudy" aluminium was brushed on nose cone carrier and the inner side of the nose. Outer side of the nose (inlet ring) got MM1404 Titanium (metalizer) Smaller nozzle parts got Humbrol Gun Metal (27004), some will stay non-buffed while others will be polished and some metallic pigments will be added. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
supergru Posted October 2, 2014 Author Share Posted October 2, 2014 Rear side of nozzle got MM1712 (Field Green) + some white. I deliberately blowed Gun Metal thru the nozzle: now it looks like if nozzle is dirty on the edges. While front part is still Gun Metal. Afterburner itself is Gun Metal from outside and from inside is a mix of: white, Revell 48 and MM1712. It's this mixed paint. Or this one, brushed as outer layers on both sides. Here are all 4 greens, which I used so far: for rims, for nose cone, for nozzle tube and for afterburner. And finally,,, Alclad 2 on the fuselage inner and outer side... Gloss back is a base for all... Alclad2 Pale Burnt Metal is brushed over White Aluminium on forward ring... Pure White Aluminium is on rear ring outer side and all inner side... Jet Exhaust was brushed on panel borders and upper and lower lip... All paints, that I used today. To be able to close fuselage, I need to paint/finish cockpit, front wheelbay and nozzle. Since main wheelbay is painted with same colors, I will paint is in parallel. I will cut off Eduard's nose before glueing fuselage halves, then I will install the cockpit and then I will close the fuselage. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
mingwin Posted October 6, 2014 Share Posted October 6, 2014 outstanding work so far! (as usual for you, should i say...) thank you for that very well explained WIP thread and being very precise on your color choices, it will be of a very great help for me (as i'm colorblind) when i'll start my builds, for this GB, soon... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
supergru Posted October 12, 2014 Author Share Posted October 12, 2014 There will be a slight change in the project: fellow modelers on another forum suggested that machine with reg. no. 17157 was newer a BIS-K but ordinary BIS variant. They also said that first BIS machines came to Yugoslav Air Force in late 70's, which means this airplane could never join an exercise in 1976. Anyway, to avoid confusion, I decided to drop BIS-K marking and 500 mm white strip on rear fuselage. As a result I will have regular MiG-21BIS no. 17157 in Yugoslav Air Force markings. Airplanes which were a part of joint exercises, got this white strip on rear fuselage, or in some cases light blue strip on the nose. Back to my MiG-21... Wheelbay parts got MM1584 Chromate, as I said before... I placed some MM Chrome Silver on inner side of under-wing landing lights. On outer side I masked light with Eduard's precut masking foil. MM Jet Exhaust was airbrushed over MM Glosscote and MM enamels, but in thin layers. This allowed a see through to Chromate as base color. Jet Exhaust as acrylic was removed with alcohol over cables etc... After that a bit of wash came to scene and everything was sealed with Alclad Klear kote flat. Oxygen tanks. Piping in main wheelbay got Revell 15 Yellow, with some wash applied, to be presented as dirty. More to come in a few minutes... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
supergru Posted October 12, 2014 Author Share Posted October 12, 2014 This is center part of main wheelbay, which comes to fuselage. Excess wash is not a problem, as it's positioned in dead corner and therefore not visible, once assembled inside fuselage. I admit I was scared a bit of this whole experiment, but it turned out to be very good. First problem is that Eduard "simplified" cables in main wheelbay, which leaves you to decide which cable to paint in which color - it has not much to do with photos of real thing. Next, Jet Exhaust "melted" all gray and chrome silver I used to enrich wheelbays - only black remained visible. Dark brown wash didn't helped much, either. Only when I "killed" all the shine with Alclad Klear Kote Flat, it turned out to positive side. Rubber band as temporary solution to join front wheelbay with nose cone carrier. Front whellbay - difficult to take photos, but not much will be visible later, anyway. "Wing part" of main wheelbay. Still more to come here ... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
supergru Posted October 12, 2014 Author Share Posted October 12, 2014 On outer side Chromate remained pure. Only in corners, where main gear struts are positioned, there is Jet Exhaust. Wolfcraft pointed spring clamps are just amazing for this job. Eduard forgot to mention that you also need to paint inner side on their fuselage halves. Grey plastic is very visible once you dryfit wings, main wheelbay and fuselage. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
supergru Posted October 12, 2014 Author Share Posted October 12, 2014 Still a long was to go to get MiG-21 silhouette. Since wheelbays are prepared for final assembly, I turned to nozzle. Afterburner got some black pigments on inner side. "Blowing" of Gun Metal thru the nozzle, as said in last update, is useless. Once I position afterburner ring on the nozzle tube, nothing is visible anymore. On outer side I placed some burnt blue pigment. Afterburner ring got titanium and dark steel pigments. Nozzle dryfit: trailing edge of afterburner is aligned with 2nd panel on fuselage inner side. In the end I cooled down everything with Alclad Klear Kote Flat. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
supergru Posted October 12, 2014 Author Share Posted October 12, 2014 One more image from previous post ... Most of the parts are now in the box, waiting for final assembly. In the next update you will see my work on the cockpit. Stay tuned! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
supergru Posted October 12, 2014 Author Share Posted October 12, 2014 ... it will be of a very great help for me (as i'm colorblind) ... Makes me wonder who made excellent wood effect on triple Nieuport build Quote Link to post Share on other sites
mario krijan Posted October 13, 2014 Share Posted October 13, 2014 Great work my friend!!! Keep up! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
mingwin Posted October 28, 2014 Share Posted October 28, 2014 Makes me wonder who made excellent wood effect on triple Nieuport build i swear i've done it all by myself! ...but even if there wasn't much colors involve in that process, i have had a hard time to do... and i'm pretty sure that i cannot see the end results as any non-colorblind person would do! ...nonetheless i care about it... but for an example, your wheel wells (chromate yellow + jet exhaust) has the kind of color i would stand in front and wonders *What-the-F* is that color... I can't wait to see more from you! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
supergru Posted November 25, 2014 Author Share Posted November 25, 2014 Here is one bigger update... Meaning several posts due to limit of pictures allowed per one post. In the meantime I tried to get some information of actual machine from people who know more about MiG-21 service in Yugoslav Air Force. No one could provide a photo of actual aircraft, close enough so I could see cockpit details. Anyway, I decided to go for light grey headrest and rounded windshield. Eduard also gives masks only for rounded windshield in the box. I started with masking of canopy... Inner side was done with provided masks from Eduard, and for outer side, I "copied" masks on a piece of masking tape. As for decals o canopy inner side (S168 and S169) Eduard gives you two options: red or red-black. I took red only. Both canopy and windshield received inner green on inner and outer side. From outside I also spayed black. Decals were weathered with drybrushing inner green over decals. Flat klear war spayed as protection. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
supergru Posted November 25, 2014 Author Share Posted November 25, 2014 I would like to advise to take care how will you detach gun sight from sprue. Although this sounds like basic operation, I got initial crack with scalpel. I needed another 1-2 hours to scratch new one. I also received static dischargers from Master Model. This is front panel with scratchbuilt radar hood from metallic tape. Left and right panel. Fade-out created with drybrushing grey over panels. "The stick". Pedals Quote Link to post Share on other sites
supergru Posted November 25, 2014 Author Share Posted November 25, 2014 (edited) Cabin floor and back were painted and glued. Some steel was added with normal brush, to show worn out floor. Idea was to glue nose cone carrier at this point, before cutting nose. But this was not good idea, so I detached it later. Eventually, I glued carrier for the nose. Plastic rod will be used as assistance while painting model. This will also be helpful while centering new nose. The seat... Decals, belts and headrest were worn out again with drybrushing basic paint or Revell 87 over them. I had problems with mounting gunsight... It looks quite funny when dryfitted - as if flies in the air. Green dashed line shows windshield frame. It will be visible, so I need to change it for sure. Edited November 25, 2014 by supergru Quote Link to post Share on other sites
supergru Posted November 25, 2014 Author Share Posted November 25, 2014 First static discharger on top of the tail. Ok... Nose replacement.... New chapter... I cut old nose, as per instructions yet there was some misalignment so I cut again and again... Cabin floor is still in tact on upper photo, but you need to narrow it 2-3 mm on each side. This way you can lift up the replacement nose. I managed to fit new nose only when dryfitted with A17 part (front avionics cover). I think this is much better approach to find exact place where to cut. Anyway, until I reached final position as per upper photo, I cut too much. Even front wheelbay was cut, which was my mistake, of course. When I aligned everything, I rebuild front wheelbay (+3 mm) with 1 mm styrene. Here you can also see narrowed floor cabin. A this point I scratched C21 part, which I lost in endless cutting and sanding sessions. I also took 0.75 mm black styrene to avoid see through from intake to cockpit. On the back side I placed another styrene piece and got C40 (front side of front wheelbay). Quote Link to post Share on other sites
supergru Posted November 25, 2014 Author Share Posted November 25, 2014 Fuselage gap (also 3 mm) was filled with Tamiya epoxy putty. Vertical tail and well-known BIS backbone were also glued in place. After sanding ... So, this is BIS nose... Upper boundary layer exhaust (J5/J8) fit almost perfectly. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
supergru Posted November 25, 2014 Author Share Posted November 25, 2014 After I finished the nose I moved back to cockpit... Windshield was still off. This was due to gunsight carrier (J6). You need to thin its tongue (red) and then also narrow flanks (blue). Here you can also see A17 and J5/J8, discussed previously. I also sanded C41/C42 bellow gunsight (yellow arrows). Throttle had to removed, to fit the seat in the cockpit. PE19 part (smaller circle) was real PITA !!! Here you can see why ... I needed some 20-30 minutes to figure where I lose 1-2 mm in height. Armrests were cut from the seat and glued directly to back of the seat. Additional sanding was still needed, as seen on the photo bellow. Seat in the final position. These are also last photos before closing the cockpit. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
supergru Posted November 25, 2014 Author Share Posted November 25, 2014 Here you can see that the seat was sanded (thinned) on both sides. Seat was sanded from bellow, too. I also thinned left and right panel to squeeze the seat in between. Intake masked, plastic rod in place. Rudder and wings with main wheelbay were also glued. ! That's all for this time! Enjoy and keep those comments incoming! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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