Eduard 1/48 MiG-21MF Fishbed J

[nicholassagan]

My airplane itch flared up an I boiled a few choices down to this bird. I’ve been wanted to build a Fishbed for some time now and this particular boxing (Egyptian AF markings) seemed as good place to start as any. This is a Full Meal Deal build, meaning all manner of aftermarket parts will be used during construction. One thing that’s nice about this build so far is that right now there are a lot of little steps here and there I can complete. That way it doesn’t really intrude on my other temporal considerations! Little things like spraying the photo etch with a primer, trimming the pour stubs off the resin parts and completing the most minor assemblies are all easy enough in small doses. A process like this not only forces me to take time with my decisions, but also allows for a bit of therapeutic time since each step feels like I got something done.

Onto the build! I mentioned aftermarket parts…so here they are:

Eduard Brassin Wheel Bays

Eduard Brassin Wheels

Eduard Surface Panel PE

Eduard Exterior PE

Eduard Airbrakes

Master Pitot

Dreammodel Pilot (though I probably won’t use him)

Quickboost air scoops

Quickboost gun pod

Step 1: In order to make sense of all the material going into this, I compared all the various bits of instruction sheets and cross-references the steps. Taking notes on where PE and resin parts replace kit parts saves a bit of time and helps the planning process.

Step 2: Riveting! I love riveting. The kit has a small amount of subtle rivets but I love em. So I added more based on some orthos I’ve had in my files.

Step 3: Since the airbrakes are going to be displayed in the open position the recessed areas had to be cut out and added. I guess I didn’t too quite as clean of a job as I should have because there were some gaps. It’s not too much of a concern since they’ll be in shadow on the belly. Just in case, I did add some putty to fill in the gaps and secure the parts a little better.

[nicholassagan]

Step 4: Minor assemblies. The missiles and the drop tanks are going to be prepared separately so I built them up first, along with the ventral fin. They’ll be easy enough to add on right at the end (save for the fin). All the parts that get sealed up inside the fuselage have to be prepped first so I also added some weights to the nose cone (in the form of some small screws and a nut) and also trimmed up the resin parts (wheel bay prep not shown).

Step 5: Prepping the fuselage. The instructions call for some parts of the interior to be painted aluminum, so I used my Krylon Silver Leafing pen. It’s a bit on the bright side but since those areas are mostly illegible when it’s buttoned up it doesn’t really matter. Looks cool now though. I also placed the forward wheel bay (just glued to one half).

Step 6: The Burner! Similar situation here with the painting and details. Yes, I added all the photo etch parts to the deep since it’s just barely visible if you peek down the tube. Beyond that, I figured I’d use my new AK True Metals rub-n-buff wax! It really is a great product and I can’t wait to use it more. I dipped a cotton swap into a little bit of the wax and spread it liberally on the nozzle feathers, wiping off the excess with a clean swap. After about 15 minutes it had dried to the point where I could buff it with another swab and boy, it sure shines up nice!!

That’s about all for now. The next steps will be assembling the cockpit and sealing up the fuselage! Stay tuned!

[dnl42]

Nice start on this.

You've made a wise choice of the Eduard kit over the Academy that I'm currently building in the Starfish GB? Why don't you join us there?

[RichardL]

Onto the build! I mentioned aftermarket parts…so here they are:

Great start. Now let's move this thread over to the "In Progress Pics" forum, shall we?

-> http://www.arcforums.com/forums/air/index.php?showforum=14

[Joel_W]

Nicholassagan,

Nice start to your Mig-21MF, as it should be a very enjoyable and interesting build to follow.

The AK True Metals rub-n-buff wax is a very interesting product that I'm not familiar with, but I can see where it has some very interesting and time saving applications. Certainly will be checking it out.

Joel

[nicholassagan]

Thanks guys!

RichardL, yeah, sorry I keep forgetting to post in there instead. Are you a mod? Can you move it?

[Sebastijan]

Be careful - most of those rivets are flush rivets so try not to put any wash over them at the end, otherwise it might look really weird. Actually if it was me, I'd do those rivets after priming and use as little pressure as possible.

[nicholassagan]

Thanks for the tip Sebastijan! I actually sanded down everything so they are lot more subtle than the image shows. I'm also thinking that since this is a desert bird, weathering will be fun.

[nicholassagan]

Ok, I just submitted a report for this to be moved to In-Progress.

[nicholassagan]

Slow but steady! The next step was getting all the cockpit pieces together before closing up the fuselage. I used Tamiya X-14 and X-15 in a ratio of 3:1 (I think) to match the color of the photo etch. It looks really close in these pics but in person there is a slightly more green tint. I also picked out some of the control details with black, silver and red on a toothpick. To finish it up some dry brushing and a light wash were applied.

This MF’s really starting to shape up now that the innards are done for the most part. The seam clean up will be minimal; the spine and dorsal fin fit like a glove. The ventral fin and chin seam will need a little cleanup.

[Joel_W]

The cockpit really looks quite good. Those are some major seams on the bottom of the fuselage to deal with. I would have thought that Eduard would have done a better job on such a major sub assembly.

Joel

[nicholassagan]

Thanks Joel! The color matching is really the key with these MiG pits. Glad my BFA in painting came in handy. :)

Turns out that bad seam on the chin set up a bad seam on the bottom wing piece. I managed to moderate it before the glue set, but only slightly. I'll have more pics of the next phase up. But yes, Eduard could have done something a little more cleanly. I might have made the nose a tube from the front wall of the cockpit forward, leaving a vertical seam...

[ya-gabor]

Hi nicholassagan,

Nice work (mix) with the cockpit colour. Just one word about the extra riveting applied to the nose part. There should be NONE there, it is a single sheet of aluminium on both sides. There are no ribs, no support, no rivets just the almost 4 mm thick aluminium sheets. You still have time to sand down those rivets there.

Please have a look on a striped down example.

It is a MiG-21 design feature all the way from the first versions!

Best regards

Gabor

[nicholassagan]

Thanks Gabor!! I'll go back and sand. :)

[nicholassagan]

This build is really starting to look like a Fishbed now! A little bit of detail work was done before joining the lower wing piece to the fuselage. The wheel bays received a few pieces of photo etch and some canisters, etc were added to the wings. I decided to try something with the landing lights since there was no kit detail to place behind them. I placed some jewels behind and secured them with Micro Gloss and once that dried I dropped some white glue…then when that dried I painted some silver on it. The end result is a light with a reflecting dish behind it.

One problem with the wing attachment is the seams…not so great. Some filling and sanding should take care of it. I also took some time to spray some parts with primer.

[nicholassagan]

It turns out that a little bit of MiG neutral wash inside the wheel bays gives it the perfect color I’m going for! I still need to pick out the cable color details and add some photo etch pieces, but the wheel bays are essentially done!

And last but not least, with the wing tops attached. Next up, scoops, fins, nose work and more!

[Joel_W]

Nichalassagan,

Excellent progress. Nicely done with the landing light as it looks quite convincing. Wheel bays have just enough detail to make them look rather busy.

Joel

[nicholassagan]

I’m into the more slowly paced detailing section now…

Finished up the office and ejection seat.

[nicholassagan]

Added the air scoops, gun pod and detailed the wheel bays a bit more.

Lastly, primed and washed the gear doors and painted the airbrakes. I’m also going to paint the interior of the canopy parts so I polished them with Tamiya’s Finishing polishing compound (they’re really clear and crisp now!) and masked the inside and outside.

[Joel_W]

Nicoholassagan,

Outstanding effort with the cockpit, especially the weathering of the ejection seat.

Joel

[nicholassagan]

Thanks! I had a small issue with the micro set and the decals but otherwise I'm happy with it. :D

[Motta]

Nice!

Your thread will be a really good reference for mine!

[Aurora Mark]

I echo what Motta said. I recently picked up the same kit with many of the same extras. I hope to be able to take some time down the road and build up the MiG my father flew - well, it's the scheme the aircraft has on display in Poland right now, but that tail number was one that he really enjoyed. Regardless, and not to detract for your build, fantastic work, especially in the cockpit. Very clean, very crisp. I'll definitely be following along with this build.

[nicholassagan]

Alright! Here's some more work!

Now into all the details!!!

Master’s pitot! I’ve long been anxious about adding the fins on these types of pitots, but this one was actually a breeze and the fins are still holding strong.

The canopies got an interior paint job and some placard decals. I also masked the office and loosely taped the canopy in place for the forthcoming paint work.

Before heading into deep waters with all the external photo etch, I decided to finish up the wheels and struts. They still need a little bit of weathering but I like how they came out. I also realize the the oleos might be on the wrong side, too…but based on the actual parts and the placement of the gear doors, I think it’s right. The instructions weren’t so clear…

[nicholassagan]

Before the primer was applied, I placed all the surface panels. It took a couple hours of focused time because a number of them needed to be bent to match the curves of the fuselage. I also had some concern that they stick out too far from the actual surfaces…on the actual aircraft they would be more flush. The trade off is that there is nice detail on those parts and the application of primer and paint will level them off somewhat.