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Bulgarian MiG-21MF stencils visible or not?


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Hi, all!

 

I hope everyone is healthy and can enjoy our wonderful hobby.

 

I am building a Bulgarian MiG-21MF-75, specifically white 177 included in the Eduard 1/72 box and Linden Hill Imports Brothers in Arms 3’ decal sheet.

 

My question is very simple: does that plane (white 177) have visible stencils? I checked many photos of Bulgarian MiG-21 MF and Bis. Some of them have black stencils, much less stencils than Soviet and Warsaw Pact aircraft. On other planes I don't see any stencil.

 

I only have a picture of white 177 (attached). It seems that it has no stencils.  

 

Could you give me your opinion on the stencils on this plane?  

 

Thank you very much for your help and keep safe.

 

Best regards.

 

Miguel Angel Sanchez

Spain - España

 

Bulgarian MiG-21MF-75_White_177_1000x.jpg

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Whoa. Nice pic. :woot.gif: Where did you find that? I'm building that one as well (also Eduard 1/72), but I don't think I found many pics of Bulgarian MFs and certainly none that were close enough to see any stencils.

However, it seems their MiG-21bis' did carry a lot of stencils (more or less than other air forces, I don't know), even though they all seem to have different camouflage schemes. Have a look at this site: LINK! The bis' and the UM all carry stencils (the PF doesn't, but it looks like it's been repainted anyway). Two other examples of stencilled bis': EXAMPLE #1 - EXAMPLE #2

Going by that I've decided to put stencils on my Bulgarian MF.

 

Did Linden Hill ever release that sheet in 1/72? I don't think so, sadly.

Does anyone who has that decal sheet know if they hint at stencils or not?

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This link gives you an overview of MF stencils: 

 

Amazon.com: EDUD72004 1:72 Eduard Decals - MiG-21MF Fishbed Stencils DECAL SHEET: Toys & Games

 

On the pictures of 177 I have (managed to photograph it on two seperate occassions) it only has S6, S14 and S76 on the RH side of the jet. Don't know what's on the LH side. There is nothing on the nosegear door or speedbrakes. So stencilling appears to be almost almost nothing.

 

Of course she does have the typical red triangle in front of the main gear bays.

 

I echo Moritz' comments about Linden Hill not releasing their MF sheet in 1/72 scale. Really a pity. Anybody know for a good source for Bulgarian M/MF/bis bort numbers in 1/72 scale? Fingers crossed more decal manufacturers will start producing decals for Eduard's little gem.

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On 11/20/2020 at 4:00 AM, ChernayaAkula said:

Whoa. Nice pic. :woot.gif: Where did you find that? I'm building that one as well (also Eduard 1/72), but I don't think I found many pics of Bulgarian MFs and certainly none that were close enough to see any stencils.

However, it seems their MiG-21bis' did carry a lot of stencils (more or less than other air forces, I don't know), even though they all seem to have different camouflage schemes. Have a look at this site: LINK! The bis' and the UM all carry stencils (the PF doesn't, but it looks like it's been repainted anyway). Two other examples of stencilled bis': EXAMPLE #1 - EXAMPLE #2

Going by that I've decided to put stencils on my Bulgarian MF.

 

Did Linden Hill ever release that sheet in 1/72? I don't think so, sadly.

Does anyone who has that decal sheet know if they hint at stencils or not?

 

Hi ChernayaAkula!

 

Glad you are making this same plane. Eduard's MiG-21 is a very nice kit to build. For the MF-75 version, the Bulgarian Air Force markings are IMHO the most interesting ones.

 

I’m sorry but I can’t say where I found out that picture. Below you can find another picture of the same plane I found recently. I'm sorry I can't say the source of the photos, but I downloaded them and didn't write down the url. From here I apologize to the authors.

 

Many thanks for the links you included in your message. They are superb pictures. But all of them are MiG-21 PFM, Bis or UM, not MF. Both Bis and UM already have stencils but MF… I don’t think so… Let me share with you Linden Hill Imports answer to my question about stencils on Bulgarian MiG-21 MF-75:

 

The normal rule of thumb with Bulgarian MiG-21s is that they carried Russian stenciling until they were overhauled and repainted at Plovdiv. After that all bets are off. In the 90s some had a minimum amount of Russian stenciling reapplied, others had Bulgarian stencils applied. The photos of 177 in our archive show very little stenciling so I would assume that the reaping obscure a lot of the upper surface stencils”.

I already found some pictures of Bulgarian MiG-21 MF including another one of White 177. Below you can find them (sorry again for not including the source of some pictures).

 

50638611448_fa96c61cf3_o.jpg

 

50638781981_2457c5cb9a_o.jpg

 

50638034053_536572e95e_o.jpg

 

50638782026_fda93e2472_o.jpg

 

50638034103_bb5fedf729_o.jpg

 

50638782006_6bb909682f_o.jpg

 

50638034158_dc02d51c4f_o.jpg

 

50638034083_21dcb442cd_o.jpg

 

I hope these picture could help us...

 

Cheers!

 

Miguel

 

Edited by Miguel Angel Sanchez
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On 11/22/2020 at 1:36 PM, pollie said:

This link gives you an overview of MF stencils: 

 

Amazon.com: EDUD72004 1:72 Eduard Decals - MiG-21MF Fishbed Stencils DECAL SHEET: Toys & Games

 

On the pictures of 177 I have (managed to photograph it on two seperate occassions) it only has S6, S14 and S76 on the RH side of the jet. Don't know what's on the LH side. There is nothing on the nosegear door or speedbrakes. So stencilling appears to be almost almost nothing.

 

Of course she does have the typical red triangle in front of the main gear bays.

 

I echo Moritz' commen

ts about Linden Hill not releasing their MF sheet in 1/72 scale. Really a pity. Anybody know for a good source for Bulgarian M/MF/bis bort numbers in 1/72 scale? Fingers crossed more decal manufacturers will start producing decals for Eduard's little gem.

 

Hi, Pollie!

 

In the instructions sheet for White 177, Eduard says that this plane has black stencils.

 

Many thanks for the info about S6, S14 and S76 decals. I’ll appreciate if you can share those pictures with us. I have only two pictures of the left side for white 177.

 

As far as I know, Only Model Maker Decals and Armycast have decals sheet including some Bulgarian subjects. Have you see Armycast decals sheets? I hope other manufacturers will produce decals for Bulgarian planes…

 

Cheers!

 

Miguel

 

 

 

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13 hours ago, Miguel Angel Sanchez said:

 

Hi, Pollie!

 

In the instructions sheet for White 177, Eduard says that this plane has black stencils.

 

Many thanks for the info about S6, S14 and S76 decals. I’ll appreciate if you can share those pictures with us. I have only two pictures of the left side for white 177.

 

As far as I know, Only Model Maker Decals and Armycast have decals sheet including some Bulgarian subjects. Have you see Armycast decals sheets? I hope other manufacturers will produce decals for Bulgarian planes…

 

Cheers!

 

Miguel

 

 

 

 

MF 177 had indeed some black stenciling. 

 

The small picture above of 177 flying is actually my picture..... The pictures I took of this bird while on the ground are on slide and I have no way of scanning them right now sadly.

 

MiG-21MF 52 in the Plovdiv-Krumovo museum was repainted recently and any stencilling she had left is probably gone now.

 

I have seen Armycast but they only give you M 613 (that's in the museum) and no other M/MF aircraft AFAIK. ModelMaker gives us bis and UM.

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6 hours ago, pollie said:

 

MF 177 had indeed some black stenciling. 

 

The small picture above of 177 flying is actually my picture..... The pictures I took of this bird while on the ground are on slide and I have no way of scanning them right now sadly.

 

MiG-21MF 52 in the Plovdiv-Krumovo museum was repainted recently and any stencilling she had left is probably gone now.

 

I have seen Armycast but they only give you M 613 (that's in the museum) and no other M/MF aircraft AFAIK. ModelMaker gives us bis and UM.

 

Hi, Pollie!

 

It’s a pleasure to meet the author of this picture. I'm sorry I couldn't say before that it was yours. I only remember that I got it from a website where they talked about a Bulgarian pilot.

 

It's a shame that you can't get a picture of those slides 😔

 

Yes. If MiG-21MF 52 was repainted after she was stored in the museum, obviously the stencils was not repainted. But what about White 55? It seems that she has no stencils…

 

You are right. AFAIK there is no decals for Bulgarian MiG-21MF, except Eduard (HGW) decals. Only Bis, UM, M (613) and the new Linden Hill Decals Brother in Arms 4 for MiG-21PFM. I hope other manufactures produces new decal sheets…

 

Cheers!

 

Miguel

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48 minutes ago, Miguel Angel Sanchez said:

 

 

Yes. If MiG-21MF 52 was repainted after she was stored in the museum, obviously the stencils was not repainted. But what about White 55? It seems that she has no stencils…

 

 

 

The picture is not that clear and it is difficult to see if any stencils are on the jet. There is no way to check it now; bort 55 crashed in July of 1998. AFAIK only bort 52 survived, the other MFs that didn't crash were all scrapped around 2007 or so, including bort 177.

 

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