Jump to content

Mig 21 engine AB colors?


Recommended Posts

Working on some Eduard 1/48 kits.In the instructions it says to use steelon the PF and bright green on most of the other kits I have.I use Model Master enamels and wonder what is close to bright green.I was thinking of using FS34097 Field green or FS 34102 Med Green. Am I close. Also need a green for the radome again Model Master Colors. Thanks. I remember someone maybe Y gabor posted pics of AB a couple years ago but I can't find them now.

Link to post
Share on other sites

As a fellow MM enamelist, I've used both colors you mention for Soviet green radomes, dielectric panels, so IMO you're right on track there.

Afterburner part that's in green I usually go with Green Zinc Chromate and mix a little Medium Green with it just to temper it a tad.

Link to post
Share on other sites

Working on some Eduard 1/48 kits.In the instructions it says to use steelon the PF and bright green on most of the other kits I have.I use Model Master enamels and wonder what is close to bright green.I was thinking of using FS34097 Field green or FS 34102 Med Green. Am I close. Also need a green for the radome again Model Master Colors. Thanks. I remember someone maybe Y gabor posted pics of AB a couple years ago but I can't find them now.

Tomorrow I will be at our museum (if all goes according to the plan) and will take few shoots of the afterburner, both on the MF and the bis standing side by side (come to think of it if I am there I should also do all the rest too, F-13, PF, U, UM). Last time around here on ARC there was some heated debate about this question. I am sure most of the Western forum experts and kit manufacturers know their thing, but just in case I will show what the real aircraft look like. I only have a Federal Standard chart, so I can make comparison only to this. Sorry I don’t have samples from all the paint manufacturers to compare them to the aircraft, but surely there is somewhere a conversion chart on the internet based on F.S. numbers.

Hope this will be of help. Please give me two or three days to post them.

Best regards

Gabor

Link to post
Share on other sites

Working on some Eduard 1/48 kits.In the instructions it says to use steelon the PF and bright green on most of the other kits I have.I use Model Master enamels and wonder what is close to bright green.I was thinking of using FS34097 Field green or FS 34102 Med Green. Am I close. Also need a green for the radome again Model Master Colors. Thanks. I remember someone maybe Y gabor posted pics of AB a couple years ago but I can't find them now.

irds hav

The green paint used on the Radiotransparent panels varies. Czec birds have an almost Kelly green. Soviet AC have this faded dark green. Akan has the best match for this IMO. This is not the same shade as the wheel color, and also a different shade than the heat resistant paint used in the engine.. just look as resources.. Noone makes a perfect color for the engines.... I usually mix custom. I use Japanese Imperial Green with a bit of white for the Rims on the wheels.

Link to post
Share on other sites

Back from the Szolnok museum. Today it was fun all the way. Excellent weather (bit windy) with around 16 C, clear skys and glorious sunshine. Took a lot of photos in the museum including the afterburner area of all the types. Will have them here soon. Given me a few days to get sorted.

A short answer is: metalic dark grey (more dark grey than metalic) and only the last "ring" in the pype is greenish for the MiG-21MF with R-13 engine.

For the R-25 in MiG-21 bis it is a completely different story with faded green going into cream and white at some points.

Anyway will have it in few days time with illustrations.

Best regards

Gabor

Link to post
Share on other sites

Back from the Szolnok museum. Today it was fun all the way. Excellent weather (bit windy) with around 16 C, clear skys and glorious sunshine. Took a lot of photos in the museum including the afterburner area of all the types. Will have them here soon. Given me a few days to get sorted.

A short answer is: metalic dark grey (more dark grey than metalic) and only the last "ring" in the pype is greenish for the MiG-21MF with R-13 engine.

For the R-25 in MiG-21 bis it is a completely different story with faded green going into cream and white at some points.

Anyway will have it in few days time with illustrations.

Best regards

Gabor

In for pics :cheers:

Link to post
Share on other sites

As promised here are the photos of the afterburner on the MiG-21 MF with R-13 engine. To show a bit more I have taken photos of two MF’s pipe. As you can see there are slight differences, but the most important thing is that the pipe is not metallic but a dark grey which in service was semi gloss or even gloss in colour. There are many shades of grey here.

Please note that the afterburner ring should be also painted with this ceramics green colour (which was standard) but on one of the aircraft the outer ring was grey and not green. Many of the parts were changed, replaced in service. So were the constriction petals in the back. They tended to “burn through” to be damaged by extreme heat. They were simply replaced so some factory fresh brand new examples mingled with some old ones. In case of the petals the original bright green (perfectly gloss) finish tended to fade and all sorts of colours appeared on them. From the outside they were dirty grey with only the area where the constriction ring rubbed against the petals and forced them close or open was light metallic grey.

As you can see inside the pipe only the very last ring was painted in this green colour. This is true only for the R-13 engine.

I took photos of the top half of the pipe where it is still fairly clean. The bottom half in museum aircraft is covered by fine dust where the colours are no longer visible. To give a bit more "ideas" for detailed painting photos of both left and right side were taken. So here it is, aircraft number one:

example%201%20MF%20AB%20right_zpsmqubsvvv.jpg

example%201%20MF%20AB%20left_zps6zunrc0k.jpg

Here is the other MiG-21 MF

example%202%20MF%20AB%20left_zpscsvapyqg.jpg

example%202%20MF%20AB%20right_zpsrdibrcls.jpg

On the question of the greens, there were three different greens used in the factory on the MiG-21’s. The ceramics green on the engine exhaust parts is a very special material, less a paint, more a special surface material. There was no way to “repaint” it, there were replacement parts if needed!

There is the green used on undercarriage disks (to this day) is also a special green colour and there is the green used on dielectric panels. These two paints were in some cases repainted on overhaul.

Each of the three paints had a very different task and in accordance needed different properties. Not only the properties but the shades of green were also different! I have to add that this corresponds to the state of the aircraft when it left the factory and to the first few years of service (before intermediate overhaul or general overhaul). During overhaul in most cases the dielectric panels were repainted after repair to any damage on them. In Russia the repair factories had access to the original paint while in WarPac countries in most cases local paints had to be used so you will find different shades. It all depends in which particular time period you would like to show your aircraft. Some research is needed from the modeler here!

More soon.

Best regards

Gabor

Link to post
Share on other sites

Hi there all.

Glad that you like the photos. Hope they are of help in your work. While in the museum I took photos of the other aircraft too. So, yes I will have some photos of the MiG-21 bis and of the PF too soon. B)

Have to say the MiG-21 bis is really colour full! I love it!!! :) :D

Best regards

Gabor

Link to post
Share on other sites

Hi Harrier/Viper Fan,

As promised here are photos of the MiG-21 F-13 engines afterburner area. Please note that the ring in the middle has some white areas. This is simply corrosion after decades of standing in the open.

74%20AB%20rings%202%20right_zpsr0elac9x.jpg

74%20AB%20rings%201%20left_zpshrytxido.jpg

Hope the photos are of help in building the tramp kit.

A sad note at the end, probably this was the last chance to visit the Szolnok museum since it has closed its doors and will not open again here. Very sad since this is the second museum in Hungary which has closed. The transport museum in Budapest has closed down last November and now the Air Force museum. :crying2: The only one museum remaining is at Kecel and its future is also in question since its owner has died early last year. So . . . :( :( :(

Best regards

Gabor

Link to post
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...