MiG-15 UTI 'Midget' - Eduard
The box
Sprue layout - everything seems to be exceptionally well designed.
Lovely parts - what a relief from my last two projects!
Pre-cut painting masks and a small PE set for the cockpit. That's all, which is a bit unusual for me!
Well, okay, also a custom decal sheet for a Hungarian version. I will use the standard Czech stencils from the box instead of Hungarian ones, they are too small to read anyway.
Starting with the cockpit. A very slick solution with the inner walls represented as separate parts. It will all need to be primed and painted before adding the colored PE parts, of course.
Painted and weathered - now adding the photo-etched parts. I deviated from the instructions regarding the main colors and use my own photo references where the cockpit is more bluish gray - actually almost like the color of the plastic itself.
Cockpit almost ready (just the joysticks remain). There are two jet pipes provided on the sprues - pick the right one or the fuselage halves won't fit! Also, make sure to add a *LOT* of weight in all the free compartments in front of and under the cockpit - this model is really a tailsitter candidate!
Fuselage assembled - I encountered some minor fitting issues in the front - for some reason the cockpit turned out slightly too wide, probably as I didn't squeeze together the parts enough while cementing. Well, nothing that cannot be fixed with some careful sanding.
Every little blemish and sanding scratch must be carefully polished away or I know it will keep annoying me to no end later. I am using a nail polishing stick bought from a local beauty shop with six different grades of sanding pads: "shape", "file", "buff", "smooth", "polish" and "shine"
Starting with the wings - 0.8 mm holes must be drilled before assembling the wing halves if the external fuel tanks are to be installed. Luckily the placement of the holes are clearly marked on the inside of the bottom wing half.
The fit of the wings is almost perfect, just some minor filling will be required.
A little style study of two of my simultaneous ongoing projects - the MiG-15 (Eduard) and the MiG-17 (Airfix). They are both getting close to the priming stage, just a few more details remain. I can already say that the Eduard is the better of these two kits - it has lots of really clever design solutions! The Airfix shows a few strange construction decisions and needs some more work.
Landing gears being installed - a surprisingly complex assembly for such an simple kit, but everything can be figured out by taking your time and also looking at some photos. Main wheels will be added after painting.
Adding the Eduard pre-cut masks to the canopies and windshield. The edges are burnished with a wooden cocktail stick to avoid paint to seep under the mask. The open areas in the middle will of course also be covered with regular masking tape before painting.
Fixing the transparencies with acrylic adhesive to protect the cockpit while spraying. The canopies might later be placed in an open position, but I am not sure yet, I kind of find the look of the sideways opening canopy a bit weird. The fit of the transparent parts is absolutely perfect - probably the best fit I have ever come across on a model kit! It is also very clear, so I might actually display the model with the canopies closed.
Model carefully cleaned with isopropyl alcohol to get rid of any dust, grease or fingerprints that might affect the adhesion of primer. No more bare hands touching the model from this point.
Midget in the spray booth - UMP Ultimate Primer Gloss Black (previously called Badger Stynylrez)
Black primer applied - I am using my Badger Crescendo 175 airbrush for this step (medium nozzle, 30 PSI).
A few filling errors around the nose were repaired, after which the model was again meticulously cleaned from sanding dust and the black primer resprayed. By the way, notice that lovely smooth sheen of the UMP primer - it is like a coat of shiny black vinyl. This, and its gray sibling is by far the best primer I have ever worked with.
There are almost no reliable color photos left of the Hungarian camouflaged MiG-15's; the ones that can be found online are retouched/colorized black and white photos or discolored beyond recognition. Anyway, I think I got them in the end, I just need to mix them from my collection of Tamiya acrylics.
Underside sprayed XF-23 Light Blue, using my H&S Infinity CR Airbrush and the 0.2 needle. I tried varying the intensity of the paint so that the black base would be a little bit more visible between the panel lines. This subtle weathering effect will be further enhanced by applying washes and oils later.
I missed to do the semi-circular cutout of the left inner wing fence, so I had to do this now. Well, good thing it was an easy fix before the main camo painting. BTW it should only be there on the left wing.
The entire top surface painted green. I then added slightly more white into the mix and sprayed in the middle of the panels to create a sun-faded paint effect (similar to my Lansen project). Tamiya XF-26 + XF-1, Mr Color Leveling Thinner, H&S Infinity airbrush, 0.2 needle, 20 PSI.
Trying to get the different color zones reasonably right from the few sources available - a bit tricky since I only have a few black and white pictures to use as reference, plus some hand-drawn sketches that don't add up on the two sides. Some artistic license needs to be applied to fill out the gaps.
Since I had scaled up the drawing to 1:72, I could use it as a template to draw the contours on Tamiya masking tape
The contours on the masks are cut with a brand new blade on a ceramic tile ...
... and placed on the model. The areas inbetween the contours (the zones that should remain green) are filled with the leftover tape pieces.
All greens painstakingly masked off - time to spray the brown!
Brown applied - Tamiya XF72 with some white added seemed like a pretty close match.
Masking tape carefully removed - a few touch ups will be needed, but generally it looks decent enough. Of course it will all need to be heavily weathered to remove the toy-like appearance and make the camo a bit darker.
Minor painting defects are remedied and a coat of Alclad II Gloss Varnish is applied with a brush to protect the paintwork before the decaling and weathering. It is just a utility gloss, so it doesn't have to be perfect - the model will be flat coated anyway afterwards.
Let's start the decaling - this is a fun part!
Lots of nice stencils, but unfortunately, on this camo, the carrier film is more visible than the printing itself, so I will not add them.
Weathering in progress - I will use Abteilung 502, mainly Neutral Grey for brightening and Shadow Brown for darkening.
Cover the surface you wish to treat with odorless turpentine and add tiny specks of oil paint - brighter in the center of the panels and darker along the panel lines.
Smoothen out the oil by dabbing with with various brushes, cotton swabs and sponges to form a uniform shading and subtle 3D effect. If you are not completely happy with the result, it's easy to redo it as it takes at least a full day for the oil paint to completely dry. The running rust/dirt stains were added using AKI watercolor pencils.
Underside weathered with a combination of oils and weathering watercolor pencils. Wheels, undercarriage bay doors, external fuel tanks and various antennae next!
A dusting with various weathering powders to further enhance the subtle faded effect and to blend in the decals... now only a flat coat remains until the project is finished!
Covered with a thin layer of Tamiya matt varnish to achieve a semi-flat surface and to seal in the weathering pigments.
Finally, the wire antenna added using Uschi van der Rosten Superfine Rigging Thread (0.01 mm). It is thin as a spider's gossamer and barely visible, so I guess 0.02 or even 0.03 would have been better. I will fix it when (not if) I accidentally rip it off.
Some more dirt stains on the underside and it is done! The radio compass and marker receiver windows on the belly are painted green (on the real aircraft the cover was green textile bakelite).
The finished model
The finished model
The finished model
The finished model
The finished model
The finished model
The finished model
The finished model
The finished model
The finished model (in the new hangar)
The finished model (in the new hangar)
Hozzászólások
23 28 April 2020, 11:39
Thomas Kolb@Sergej, I am sorry to disappoint, but I am a slow builder. Like really, r-e-a-l-l-y slow. It can easily take me several months to finish a kit. It's a zen thing.
6 May 2020, 10:41
Sergej IThomas, I am the same. No disappointment there at all 🙂 I was just making a joke to the "weekend edition" designation on the box.
6 May 2020, 15:45
Thomas KolbCockpit finished, and fuselage halves assembled. However, I have no idea if I have added enough weight for it not to be a tail-sitter. I added all I could, but it still feels tail-heavy in my hands.
8 May 2020, 18:54
Łukasz GlińskiAlready closed the lower lead compartment (under the cockpit)? If not you can still add some more there, this is what I did with my '346' 🙂
8 May 2020, 20:16
Thomas KolbLukasz, yes, thank you, I think I pretty much added all I could. No worries, I just realized that if needed, I can still cram in a lot of lead weights deep into the jet intake, far far at the back where it won't be visible unless using an endoscope.
9 May 2020, 08:23
Pierre Pierregreat start, I follow as I would like to learn from you before I build mine. hope you will post pics as you go.
9 May 2020, 19:25
Thomas KolbPierre & Celliers, thank you! This is really a very nicely engineered kit although there are a few tricky parts. I will try to describe my build in the picture comments.
10 May 2020, 07:12
Alec KGreat project Thomas! I say again, it's been MiG-galore on SCM as of late...
10 May 2020, 11:17
Thomas KolbI am now thinking of painting the MiG in a three-tone camo used by the 101st Recon Regiment during the early 70's, instead of leaving it in natural metal... it sure looks cool, but I need to find some more photos.
12 June 2020, 11:45
Thomas KolbThanks to my Hungarian mate Géza here at SM, I learnt that many of the late MiG-15's had a peculiar semi-circular cutout on the inner left wing fence, so I tried to reproduce this. Legend says that Stalin happened to have his thumb on the papers as he was inspecting the chief designer at Mikoyan making the drawing of the wing, and since the designer didn't dare to ask him to move it, he instead draw a semi-circle around it. In reality the cutout is for the pilot to be able to see the brake flap indicator peg on the top of the left wing before takeoff.
14 June 2020, 11:11
Łukasz GlińskiHad similar dilemma on my LiM-2, but decided to skip it as I'm building quite an early version with sort-of-conformal fuel tanks. Looking forward to seeing your camo proposal 👍
14 June 2020, 19:52
Thomas KolbGreen layer of paint done, yay!. These are just the generic areas for the green paint - for the chocolate and the pea-soup color I will be using masks.
15 June 2020, 15:15
Andy Ballsome cracking tips in the build-dialogue Thomas, thank-you ....would you prime at a different pressure to the subsequent painting? (25 PSI,I note)
15 June 2020, 16:18
Thomas KolbAndy, well, yes, the primer I am using (Ultimate Primer) is rather thick and should be airbrushed at like 30-35 PSI or it will not flow steadily. Also I have been told to avoid thinning acrylic primers if possible as it removes some of its adhesive properties - not sure it is true though. For the Tamiya acrylics, I find 20-25 PSI to be just perfect, but I thin it like crazy, 50-50 with Mr Color Leveling Thinner.
15 June 2020, 17:56
Łukasz GlińskiHmmm, do Tamiya acrylics work with Mr Levelling? Hmm, somehow I missed this option...
15 June 2020, 20:23
Soeren R.Yeah - because they are also Laquer based like the gunze aqueous colors😉
16 June 2020, 11:57
Thomas KolbŁukasz, yes, the Tamiyas react beautifully to Mr Color Leveling Thinner. In the past I used to thin them with Tamiya X-20A thinner, but it evaporated too quickly out of the airbrush, resulting in a coarse surface and dotted paint edges. The Mr Color Leveling Thinner has a retarder in it, which makes the paint dry just a bit slower, so it is easier to get a nice finish with smooth gradient edges.
16 June 2020, 12:11
Łukasz GlińskiDamn, I should have known this before painting my Glamorous Glennis 😭
16 June 2020, 12:33
Sergej IIf MLT is not available, then Tamiya Lacquer Thinner retarded type does the job just as good. Tried it, can't tell the difference to MLT.
LP-10R Lacquer Thinner Retar.., Tamiya Color Lacquer Paint , Lacquer, 250ml
16 June 2020, 18:12
Thomas KolbLukasz, that's actually something I have thought of before... 1/72 is a very ungrateful scale, as even the nicest model easily looks like crap in the photos. I mean, even the plastic and the paint itself has a specific "grain" that starts to become noticeable on macros... very annoying. 1/48 builders don't seem to have this problem, hm, maybe I should move over too... My eyes would surely thank me.
16 June 2020, 19:47
Andy BallI'm beginning to think 48 Thomas- I have an extremely short sightedness prescription that allows me to work super close in 72, but I warn you Arma's Hurricane is too 'fussy' with detail...they've squashed a 48'r into a 72nd...making me re-think my scale amibitions.....
16 June 2020, 20:16
Thomas KolbCamouflage finally applied with a healthy amount of guesswork - removing the masking tape was a bit scary, but I think I got the pattern and the colors to what I had in mind. Phew! So now time for some touch-ups and fixes before starting the initial weathering process.
7 July 2020, 16:40
Thomas KolbAndy & Łukasz, thank you! The green is Tamiya XF-26 Deep Green filtered with XF-2 white for a fading effect. The brown is Tamiya XF-72 Brown/JGSDF, also filtered with white. The colors might be a tiny bit too light but I expect them to darken somewhat during the weathering process.
7 July 2020, 21:24
Thomas KolbAuxiliary gloss applied and the decaling process is ongoing. This is quite a relaxing phase, but also time-consuming. I intend to go for a pretty weathered and somewhat grimy look, so the happy-shiny appearance will soon be gone.
19 July 2020, 09:20
Andy BallShiny-happy people to be replaced by grimey-weathered detail?...lovely progress BTW!
19 July 2020, 21:15
Thomas KolbMost of the stencils turned out to be completely invisible, so I don't think I will bother with the smaller ones. Instead I started to proceed to the weathering phase, using oil paints this time - a new technique for me, let's see how it turns out!
21 July 2020, 12:59
Andy Ballgreat tip there Thomas, re. the oil painting effects...(I've got a real mental block with weathering at present for the 5 projects I need to complete, so your hints are adding to a range of options I have in my head!), and the Midget looks better for it!!
21 July 2020, 13:00
Thomas KolbAndy, I watched some YT modelers use this technique and so I thought I would try it myself. It's not so easy but it seems quite forgiving; just work section by section and try to keep the effect subtle. As long as the underlying paint is properly sealed by a coat of clear varnish, you can even carefully wipe off the oils with odorless turpentine if it goes horribly wrong.
21 July 2020, 17:02
Thomas KolbThe odorless turpentine is in fact not turpentine at all, but something called a 'turpenoid'. It is pretty harmless to the underlying paint. Regular turpentine is a more aggressive a solvent than turpenoid and might damage the paintwork. This AK stuff I am using is perfect, it doesn't touch the paint layers at all, only the oil wash, and even that only when it is still soft.
21 July 2020, 17:30
Slavo HazuchaThe camo & weathering look very nice - good choice and alternative to a NMF 👍 Cool non-mainstream MiG version, well done!
26 July 2020, 21:09
Thomas KolbYep, that is a wrap folks, that is the best I can do. A very entertaining project and a great little kit.
28 July 2020, 14:05
Thomas KolbMy dear model building fellows, thank you all very much for your kind words! 🙂
28 July 2020, 21:15
Andy BallMay I add a post-script? - an interesting variant, a rarely depicted AF scheme, and a faithfully represented build that we can learn from. I enjoyed the trip!
28 July 2020, 21:40
Thomas KolbThanks, Andy! This Eduard kit is one of the best engineered kits I have ever built, so I had a great time. 🙂
28 July 2020, 22:23
Łukasz GlińskiOutstanding. I'm sure it's the cleanest canopy of any MiG ever!😉
What's the story behind the backround? Looks like some competition for my hangar😉
29 July 2020, 12:09
Thomas KolbŁukasz, thanks! Yes, the ground maintenance crew were waxing and polishing up the canopy nicely for the photo shoot... but they forgot to clean the aircraft itself...😉 About the background, no story really, just got a bit tired of not having a proper background for the photos except for a white wall.
30 July 2020, 09:32
Łukasz GlińskiThe cupboards hanrdstand looks nice, but the winter ground part is exquisite. Where did you get it?
30 July 2020, 12:40
Thomas Kolbmojehobby.pl/product..eld-297-x-210mm.html
-or-
coastalkits.co.uk/ne..winter-airfield.html
30 July 2020, 12:56
Łukasz GlińskiThx. Seems to be bigger than it is. My CoastalKits summer background is way to small for me😉 (see P.11a & Avia CS-199)
31 July 2020, 12:27
Thomas KolbŁukasz, yes I agree, they are really best for small aircraft and closeup photos. Maybe I should learn how to make a realistic diorama base. But I think your summer backdrop is actually quite nice.
31 July 2020, 13:55
Łukasz GlińskiThey also have a roll-out base, which I find interesting, yet quite expensive.
31 July 2020, 15:23
Album info
To have more than one ongoing project at once, I decided to start this kit that has been waiting in the cupboard for far too long. I intend to build it as much as possibly out of the box, but with a few improvements in the cockpit area, and with different decal markings than what is provided in the kit.
Originally I intended to paint it as a natural metal finish aircraft, but halfway through the project I changed my mind to instead build number 507 from the 101st Reconnaissance Regiment at Szolnok in Hungary at around 1971 in its more eye-catching green/brown/blue camouflage.
