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Redicus
Marius (Redicus)
DE

MiG-23MF - Romania - 1995

Comments

92 13 January 2022, 21:49
Andy Ball
The Romanian Air Force had the best WarPac schemes! Analogous to the Italians in WWII (IMHO)…I'll take a seat, now…
9 October 2022, 16:40
Marius
Thank you for following. Andy, indeed there were a couple of really awesome camouflage schemes in the Romanian Air Force (post WWII), like some late MiG-15s, most schemes of the MiG-23s and the two main schemes of the MiG-21 LancerR.

This one camouflage scheme here won't be easy, but getting there with this nightmare of a kit is the bigger challenge.
10 October 2022, 14:21
Ben M
Good ol KP. 😜
10 October 2022, 15:41
Patrick Hagelstein
That looks like a hell of a build! 😮 That engine does look amazing, the kit not so.... You're a truly brave man! 😄 👍
6 January 2023, 20:52
Guy Rump
Looking good, following. 👍
6 January 2023, 22:40
Cuajete
Great job so far. Following!
7 January 2023, 18:40
Sylvain Vernier
big job ahead 😮
camo scheme is very attractive and challenging too
ResKit wheels are worth buying 👀
8 January 2023, 17:28
Tom Harris
Dedication here! 🙂👍
8 January 2023, 18:26
Ferenc Sarka
Super job. Following. The Mig-23 is on my wishlist.
15 January 2023, 20:30
Marius
Thank you guys for following and thank you for the likes!
16 January 2023, 05:07
Daniel
Just in time for the camo work 🙂 You're going to mask this? Excellent detail-up work👌🏻
16 January 2023, 06:34
Marius
Thank you Daniel! I will definitely use masks, since I want to avoid any airbrush accidents in this specific case. It's a lot of work, but I prefer the safe way. The "snakes" are too thin in some areas and they don't seem to be too fuzzy/airbrushy on the real aircraft either (except a few locations).
21 January 2023, 19:18
David Liney
Following
21 January 2023, 19:54
Clement
Very impressive! You've managed to turn this nightmare kit into a beauty!
13 February 2023, 06:18
Raphael Bernecole
Hello Marius 🙂
It's a very interesting camouflage : Great work, congratulations !! 🙂
Following ... 😉
13 February 2023, 09:23
Maciej Bellos
Demanding camo. Tough masking. Mission accomplished! Congrats Marius!
13 February 2023, 09:33
Villiers de Vos
Very nice progress.
13 February 2023, 11:35
Marius
Thank you so much for the interest and kind words.
It's still a long road ahead, but it should be less frustrating now.
But yes, this kit is famous for a reason 🙂.
13 February 2023, 14:42
Cuajete
I agree with the mates. Great job and very nice result 👍

Waiting for the next progress.
13 February 2023, 18:59
Łukasz Gliński
Missed this one, but found it finally 🙂
20 February 2023, 08:56
Alexander
Looks great - especially like the added weaponry and the camo! 👍
19 March 2023, 20:13
Łukasz Gliński
Lovely finish, some shading can still be seen 👍
19 March 2023, 20:32
Clement
Great result and great choice of markings!
19 March 2023, 20:42
Maciej Bellos
I don't know what you mean Marius, there's the shading, there are the panel lines, there's the metal exhaust, all looks nice. Well done!
19 March 2023, 20:56
Guy Rump
Very impressive. 👍
19 March 2023, 20:59
Alessandro Pettinacci
Excellent result, espiecially considering the starting quality of the kit!
19 March 2023, 21:04
Alexander Grivonev
Awesome camo
19 March 2023, 21:08
Marius
Thank you all for the very kind words and appreciation. I might start soon another one of these kits for an Iraqi BN version.
20 March 2023, 06:47
Villiers de Vos
Very nice work.
20 March 2023, 08:32
Vincent
Very nice result. Great work on the camo🙂
20 March 2023, 08:39
Neuling
I agree with Vincent. And thanks for the interesting infos!
20 March 2023, 09:59
Shar Dipree
Fine. Nice colouring. 👍
20 March 2023, 10:46
Andy Ball
A most striking camo which sets this apart from most Floggers. Bravo!
20 March 2023, 10:57
Michael Kohl
I missed that one so far. Painful work but good result in the end. I read with particular interest your build information as a Mig 23 is on my wish list. Your blog wasn't exactly an advertisement for the KP kit.
Any recommendation for a Mig-23ML in scale 1:72?
20 March 2023, 11:04
Bernd Grün
Very nice build and paint job, Marius. Outstanding result! Congrats. 👌
20 March 2023, 12:38
Łukasz Gliński
Marius, it's not an antenna, it's an anchor! 😄
20 March 2023, 12:57
Raphael Bernecole
Fantastic work !! Amazing paint job! 🙂
20 March 2023, 14:53
Marius
I am flattered by the feedback. You guys are again very kind!

@Michael: the best MiG-23 in 1:72 for all versions is still the RV Aircraft/KP kit, but has plenty of problems.
But luckily, Clear Prop will release in less than a month a very detailed and promising kit for the MLA:
MiG-23MLAE-2 Flogger-G (Clear Prop! CP72031, 1:72)
britmodeller.com/for..ease-in-2023/page/7/

CP72031
 
20 March 2023, 22:11
Cuajete
Great job, Marius. And thanks for the helpful explains 👍
Congrats!
21 March 2023, 21:08
Ludvík Kružík
Marius, you did a great job. It's a good example that even a bad kit can make a nice model. 👍
21 March 2023, 23:32
Daniel
Cool looking flogger! Great work applying this unusual camo 👍
22 March 2023, 08:14
Michael Kohl
Marius, thanks for your feedback. The Ckear Prop kit really seems worth waiting for. Thanks for the hint.
22 March 2023, 09:09
Marius
Since I was mentioning it before, the wonderful MLD/MLA kit from Clear Prop! has just been released today on their website:
clearpropmodels.com/catalog
30 March 2023, 19:54
Cuajete
Thx for the info, Marius 👍
30 March 2023, 20:15
Alec K
Great build and informative narrative. The camo is unique for sure. Can't wait for your ClearProp build 🙂 👍
30 March 2023, 20:33
Marius
Thank you Alec!
I just ordered two of those MLA kits from Clear Prop, so probably at least a short kit review will follow as soon as the package arrives.
1 April 2023, 08:19
Shar Dipree
I'm really looking forward to the Mi-23 kits from Clear Prop.
1 April 2023, 08:38
Michael Kohl
A review of those Clear Prop-kits will be highly appreciated.
1 April 2023, 12:35
CaptGPF
Amazing level of detail at this scale!
20 April 2023, 05:14
Ekki
Must have missed this one.
Superb work.
20 April 2023, 18:17
Marius
Thank you all for the kind words once more. As promised, I also managed to make the first (external) inbox review of the newly released MiG-23MLD from Clear Prop (MiG-23MLD - Syria - 1989 | Album by Redicus (1:72))

Nevertheless, for the MiG-23MF and BN versions we are still stuck with this RV Aircraft/KP kit.
21 April 2023, 12:24

Album info

Romania received a total of 46 MiG-23s in the late 1970s, which became operational in 1979. The exact count was: 36 MiG-23MFs and 10 MiG-23UBs.
Once the Iron Curtain fell and Romania was no longer supplied with parts for its MiG-23 and MiG-29 aircraft fleet, these jets were facing imminent premature withdrawal from service. There were efforts made to keep the MiG-29s in service through an independent upgrade program called MiG-29 Sniper, but this effort failed due to cost reasons during challenging economic times.

Instead, it was decided to upgrade the MiG-21MFs to western standards, leading to the MiG-21 LanceR (A, B or C). See my LanceR project for more information:
MiG-21MF LanceR C - Romania - 2012 | Album by Redicus (1:72)

No such plans were intended for the MiG-23s, for which the fate of withdrawal towards the 2000s was already sealed.

The Romanian MiG-23s had at least five different camouflage schemes. They were initially painted grey but later received different camouflage schemes involving different tones of green, brown or beige. The model I am building captures their most popular camouflage as seen in 1995 with beige "snakes" on top of a kaki-green, my absolut favorite.

The MiG-23s were officially withdrew from service in 2003, many of them with barely 500 flight hours. By approximately 2011 all but a small number (5?) were ultimately scrapped.

My initial subject was the number 222, also known as "The Disident". The nickname was earned after presumably the engine of the white 222 refused to start in a demonstration in front of the Romanian dictator Nicolae Ceausescu, or so says the legend. Unfortunately, there are extremely few photographs of the 222 so I couldn't really manage to reproduce the camouflage. I decided in the end for the 224 included in the KP kit, for which sufficient photographs are available from different angles.

52 images
1:72
Completed
1:72 MiG-23 Flogger - Pitot Tube (Master AM-72-040)1:72 Mikojan-Gurjevič MiG-23MF (Kovozávody Prostějov KPM0287)1:72 MiG-23 (Karaya U7202)4+
Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-23MF Flogger-B
RO Forţele Aeriene Române (Romanian Air Force 1985-now)
224
1995
Dark olive green Dark brown Light blue
 

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