Egyptian MiG-21PF

1
August 14, 2023
No real pics of construction because it wasn't that interesting. Fit overall is not bad but the cockpit is definitely spartan. The FM Details cockpit set actually wasn't too fussy, thought the HUD/gunsight was a pain and very fiddly. Kit has some inaccuracies but decided not to go all-in and left them as is. As typical with Academy, the kit is split into front/rear fuselage when they do different variants and again as typical this didn't fit well. Kit had been in an attic so the parts were slightly warped and it took a while, a fair amount of cyano and some colorful words to fix. Fortunately the rest of the parts only required minor shaping to fit flush. Pretty happy so far, but ended up stealing some Monogram AIM-9Bs since they were better than Academy's effort.
2
August 18, 2023
Time for the doodle coat. This will be an "interesting" challenge. Outlined the borders with a template, but filling in freehand. The only part that is going to be tough is the blend coat since it has to be very thin, built up slowly and broad to stay even and keeping in the lines is where the challenge will be.
3
August 18, 2023
This build is not so much about accuracy but practicing a three-color camo job with black basing. I'll get an Eduard when I want the accuracy!
4
August 22, 2023
Doodle coat applied with a little extra preshade/highlight. We'll see if it comes through.
5
August 22, 2023
Blend coat done. Not entirely happy with the grey, a little too light IMO but a wash prior to a gloss coat might darken it a bit. Well, that's what I get for going with the FS color callouts in the instructions.
6
August 22, 2023
Tonal variation comes though on a close up. Still need to touch up some edges here and there. Freehand blend coating is a pain!
7
August 22, 2023
Should look decent with markings and some weathering. A dust coat might help "unify" it a bit too.
8
August 22, 2023
9
August 22, 2023
Underside came out pretty well and was a snap compared to the three tone top camo.
10
August 23, 2023
A quick oil wash over the flat coat toned down some of the stark contrast of the grey. Will still be doing more oil work by the end. On to masking for the bare metal tailpipe and intake ring.
11
August 23, 2023
Other than some minor details in the wheel bays, pretty much stock. The oil wash did some good on the underside too.
12
August 30, 2023
Getting there. Few more bits and bobs to add. Overcoat wiped out most of the shading, bummer. Try, try again. Oil work turned out OK at least. I did not sufficiently clean up the canopy sprue attachment point and now I'm regretting it.
13
August 30, 2023
Happy with the intake ring.
14
August 30, 2023
Burner section turned out OK too on a first pass. Needs a little more work.
15
August 30, 2023
Academy's tailpipe was pretty basic but tried to make it at least presentable with some hints of "petals" for the AB nozzle.
16
August 30, 2023
Annoying damage to the Alclad where some thinner apparently slipped under the mask. I guess the lesson is to do the metal shades absolutely last.
17
August 30, 2023
Tape lifted it right off, great...
18
August 30, 2023
Cockpit set turned out OK. Gotta dust these things before taking pics. Still need to add some decal or carefully paint the cockpit seal. At least the masks did their job. Eduard is good, but these were 20 years old and had lost a bit of stick.
19
August 30, 2023
Damage to metal shades on the other side as well. Might need to strip and redo the whole thing or might be able to sand and blend.
20
August 30, 2023
Ended up using the kit decals. They held up well but cracked really easily. Again, over 20 years old so I was taking a chance but other than a roundel cracking on the port rear, they did OK.
21
August 30, 2023
Camo pattern ended up being pretty nice.
22
August 30, 2023
Underside turned out well too. Need to add the underside (radar altimeter?) antenna in green just aft of the front wheel bay. It's always something!
23
August 30, 2023
Would have been nice except for the thinner leak.
24
September 12, 2023
Pretty much done.
25
September 12, 2023
Ended up masking and painting the cockpit seal as I don't have any decal film the right color. The irregularity kind of added to it.
26
September 12, 2023
27
September 12, 2023
28
September 12, 2023
29
September 12, 2023
30
September 12, 2023
31
September 12, 2023
Finished the tank in silver just to add some variability overall. Needed more effort put into it, but oh well.
32
September 12, 2023
33
September 12, 2023
Missiles turned out well even after running one over with a chair.
34
September 12, 2023
Happy with the camo in the end. Learned some lessons for future multi-color schemes.
35
September 12, 2023
Now I can see touch ups I need to make I didn't see looking at it!
36
September 12, 2023
37
September 12, 2023
38
September 12, 2023
39
September 12, 2023
40
September 12, 2023
41
September 12, 2023
Ready for Sinai duty.

Commentaires

42 14 August 2023, 15:32

Ludvík Kružík
John, I don't know if this falls into your decision not to go all in and leave some things as they are.
For the Egyptian version you're building, a narrow version of the vertical tailplane with a broken leading edge would be appropriate. The kit comes standard with this version of the vertical tailplane without the parachute brake cover. To make the Egyptian look right, you would have to cut the parachute brake cover out of the wide tail surface (which you now have glued to the model) and add it to the root of the narrow vertical tail surface.
But if you used a wide vertical tailplane with a parachute brake cover on purpose (because it saves you work), take my comment as an unimportant afterthought. 🙂

14 August 2023, 21:27

John
Nah, it's not unimportant, but I'm trying to avoid cutting as much as possible and I will live with the shame of MiG fans pointing and laughing at me. 😄

14 August 2023, 22:22

Ludvík Kružík
You're not the only one who built this Egyptian MiG with a wide vertical tailplane. You can find more models built like this on the internet 🙂.
... And when it comes down to it, you can always claim you're building a lesser known version that was developed specifically for the Egyptian Air Force 😄 😄 😄

15 August 2023, 06:27

Marius
Hi guys, actually there are two "lesser known" variants of the MiG-21 operated by Egypt and Syria: the MiG-21PFS and the MiG-21FL. The aircraft you are trying to replicate from the reference photo is a well known PFS. On the other hand, the MiG-21FL was operated by Egypt in large numbers by 1967, although many were destroyed in the Six Day War (all in natural metall finish), while the few survivers were painted afterwards, some even with the Nile Camouflage. Some even saw action in the October 1973 War. The model you're building with the PF cabin and large vertical stabilizer matches quite well the MiG-21FL version. If I am not mistaking, the wing flaps of the MiG-21FL are also originating from the standard PF, but I need to double check that later. If you are willing to change the camouflage pattern to match an existing Egyptian MiG-21FL, I can look in my references for some camouflage patterns.

Otherwise, great effort on the painting, it would be a pitty to dismiss all that effort.

23 August 2023, 04:15

Audrius N
great camo work! 👍

23 August 2023, 06:41

John
Thanks for all the likes and comments guys. 👍

Marius, I think I will stick with this scheme as this one is not going to end up resembling anything accurate and the Nile valley scheme is now binned in favor of what I have. I simply used the kit profile and enlarged it 241% to get a template in scale then cut my own masks to set the camo borders. I agree that the Academy kit appears to be an FL variant (maybe a PFM?) with the wide-chord tail, but they didn't do their homework in selecting the scheme as the one pictured appeared on EAF MF variants (I think? haha), but I've never seen a pic of an FL or PFM in this camo, just drawings, and that's probably the extent of Academy's research on the subject as well. The kit flaps are a bit strange as they are supposedly a mix of Fowler-type flaps, correct for the PF variants but the actual mounting on the wing is more like the SPS type of blown flaps. Like I said, with all these weird variations and mix of types, at this point I'm just trying to make it look nice and will get an Eduard when I want to get an accurate version. That being said, the kit is not bad other than the poor cockpit detail. The panel lines are quite nice, not too big but enough to hold a wash without looking too stark. They're also very sharp. As for their accuracy, who knows?

23 August 2023, 15:32

Shar Dipree
Great work so far, looks damn good. 🙂

30 August 2023, 16:52

Mr James
Lovely camo paint job. Very good weathering effects. Great job.

30 August 2023, 17:43

J35J
Really great work! You nailed it. 👍🏻

30 August 2023, 19:04

Ludvík Kružík
John, I've come to the same conclusion as you. Since I use metallic polishable paints, it's worked well for me to spray them last.
The camouflage looks very good. This "coat" really suits Mig. 👍

30 August 2023, 22:20

John
Thanks for all the comments and likes, guys 👍 The metal section damage has been repaired but now the Alclad is acting up. I love/hate the stuff. Weird mix of cobwebs spraying out, bizarre. It's obviously drying as it comes out of the brush and no settings were changed.

31 August 2023, 15:22

Marius
John, congratulations on finishing this beautiful model!
I like the weathering from the underside and the overall careful painting.

14 September 2023, 12:44

John
Thanks Marius, glad you like it. I'm happy to be done with it and learned quite a bit from the build. Looking forward to doing an Eduard version.

14 September 2023, 16:32

Album info

Academy's (relatively) old kit. Nothing special about it and pretty much OOB except for FM Details' cockpit set.

Academy MiG-21PF

41 images

1:48

Terminé

1:48 Mikoyan MiG-21 PF (FM Detail 489806)

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