MiG-21F-13 - Vietnam
The profile of the North Vietnamese Red 4426 which motivated me to start this project, as found on the internet and originating from the "MiG-21 aces of the Vietnam War" by Istvan Toperczer, Osprey.
I have my doubts that all camouflage stripes are of the same green colour. In the next historical photograph, it becomes obvious enough that every second stripe has a different shade. Maybe the second colour is a much lighter green, as applied on some MiG-17s. I have never seen North Vietnamese aircraft having any other different camouflage colours other than two shades of green (light and dark) or tan-beige. Any brown stripes are highly unlikely.
I have my doubts that all camouflage stripes are of the same green colour. In the next historical photograph, it becomes obvious enough that every second stripe has a different shade. Maybe the second colour is a much lighter green, as applied on some MiG-17s. I have never seen North Vietnamese aircraft having any other different camouflage colours other than two shades of green (light and dark) or tan-beige. Any brown stripes are highly unlikely.
The only known or published photograph of the Red 4426.
The underside seems to be left in the natural metal finish with visible stencils, while the upper half seems to be painted in a very light background (tan?) with camouflage stripes of two different colors. It was suggested that all stripes are dark green, but having here a closer look at the shades of grey, it seems that every second stripe has a different shade. I assume that the camouflage stripes are in dark green and light green respectively
The underside seems to be left in the natural metal finish with visible stencils, while the upper half seems to be painted in a very light background (tan?) with camouflage stripes of two different colors. It was suggested that all stripes are dark green, but having here a closer look at the shades of grey, it seems that every second stripe has a different shade. I assume that the camouflage stripes are in dark green and light green respectively
So I started with this limited edition MiG-21F-13 kit from Modelsvit. I got positively influenced by the high amount of positive in-box reviews. The kit costs 30€-35€ in Germany. You can decide for yourself if this is apropriate based on the following images.
Later edit: I have to say, so far it's the kit with by far the worst fit I have personally worked on...ever.
Later edit: I have to say, so far it's the kit with by far the worst fit I have personally worked on...ever.
The underbelly which is one piece with the wing is in total 3-4mm wider than the rest of the fuselage. Nice finely engraved details? Forget about it!
I am not sure if this is how a newly released kit of 2019 which costs over 30€ in 1:72 should look like. Otherwise the rudder is not correctly engraved while the part breakdown is difficult to comprehend for me. In the end after all the sanding work (no longer shown), the stabilizer root lost most details and still looked wavy. I would have never complained if this was a 5-6€ kit.
Otherwise the engravings and shapes around the engine exhaust are nice, realistic and "in scale", far better looking than the Revell kit.
Otherwise the engravings and shapes around the engine exhaust are nice, realistic and "in scale", far better looking than the Revell kit.
The landing gear bays cannot possibly fit, since there is an additional step from the wing from the inside. Why all the details there if you need to cut off half of the part?
I am starting to think Modelsvit never actually built this kit themselves (later edit: I am firmely convinced of that).
Short-run or not, this is just unacceptable by all standards.
I am starting to think Modelsvit never actually built this kit themselves (later edit: I am firmely convinced of that).
Short-run or not, this is just unacceptable by all standards.
There! Now it looks exactly like the real aircraft 🙂 Forget about any details, since large surfaces were sanded down at least 2mm in depth.
And then putty on top again since otherwise the plastic might dissapear (it got THAT thin). In the end the whole area was still a bit wavy and not good lookimg enough. I forgot how many hours were wasted and not enjoyed to even get to this stage.
And hey, look at the landing gear bays! How about that? Plenty of putty necessary there too.
And then putty on top again since otherwise the plastic might dissapear (it got THAT thin). In the end the whole area was still a bit wavy and not good lookimg enough. I forgot how many hours were wasted and not enjoyed to even get to this stage.
And hey, look at the landing gear bays! How about that? Plenty of putty necessary there too.
Almost 2mm gap between wing and fuselage....what can I say more? And the naive me planed a natural metal finish for this kit. I actually almost decided today to throw the kit away.
But some inner mysterios masochistic force took it from the trash bin back on my working table. The pain goes on.
But some inner mysterios masochistic force took it from the trash bin back on my working table. The pain goes on.
Just a little putty to touch up the small little defects.The suffering and misery shall continue.
But hey, at least you have plenty of PEs included for the engine, which you will never see at the end 🙂, at least we have that.
But hey, at least you have plenty of PEs included for the engine, which you will never see at the end 🙂, at least we have that.
So the Modelsvit kit landed somewhat in the trash...or with other words it became my test bed (mule) for some paints.
I salvaged some parts and I already used the wheels, some of the PEs and the decals for my Syrian MiG-21F-13:
MiG-21F-13 - Syria - 1967 | Album by Redicus (1:72)
This kit was never worth the effort for me personally. Too much work for little quality or gain. Yes, the Modelsvit kit is definitely more detailed (not everywhere) and is nicer in the overall shape than the Revell kit, but none of these improvements can possibly compensate for the catastrophic fit which ruins not just the mojo, but the model itself. At least for me. This is doesn't seem to be a kit anyone can enjoy without some solid effort and motivation behind.
I decided to go on with this project with the Revell kit.
I salvaged some parts and I already used the wheels, some of the PEs and the decals for my Syrian MiG-21F-13:
MiG-21F-13 - Syria - 1967 | Album by Redicus (1:72)
This kit was never worth the effort for me personally. Too much work for little quality or gain. Yes, the Modelsvit kit is definitely more detailed (not everywhere) and is nicer in the overall shape than the Revell kit, but none of these improvements can possibly compensate for the catastrophic fit which ruins not just the mojo, but the model itself. At least for me. This is doesn't seem to be a kit anyone can enjoy without some solid effort and motivation behind.
I decided to go on with this project with the Revell kit.
So the work on the Revell kit goes much faster. Here some pictures with the necessary nose resin correction from Quickboost. A major improvement in my view.
For the smaller air intakes in the back, I decided to use the parts from the Eduard MiG-21 kit.
And a reminder for the nasty 1-2mm gap between wings and fuselage in the leading edge area, but nothing that critical, since details won't be lost if handeled with care.
Underside mostly painted. The exhaust is not finished yet.
The pointy thing from the horizontal stabilizer broke for the 5th-6th time, but I managed to find it and will be attached again much later.
The pointy thing from the horizontal stabilizer broke for the 5th-6th time, but I managed to find it and will be attached again much later.
Im case anybody is curious about how I treat the natural metal finishes, I've described the steps in the comments of this build here, but there's nothing very special about it:
MiG-21F-13 - Syria - 1967 | Album by Redicus (1:72)
MiG-21F-13 - Syria - 1967 | Album by Redicus (1:72)
Tan-sand base for the coming camouflage stripes (the colour will be post-shaded into a lighter tone later).
And the campouflage is now finally painted free-hand. It's more or less what I expected, otherwise the colors are a bit deformed in this picture.
I took the freedom to apply the stripes differently for the rear area, since the only available photograph of the Red 4426 shows only the front area.
As mentioned several times, I decided that the two shades of green should be the same colors as for my other Vietnamese MiG-21PFM, the "red 5015" (link in main text)
I took the freedom to apply the stripes differently for the rear area, since the only available photograph of the Red 4426 shows only the front area.
As mentioned several times, I decided that the two shades of green should be the same colors as for my other Vietnamese MiG-21PFM, the "red 5015" (link in main text)
A few details painted and some decals applied. Stencils for the underside and weathering next.
The canopy is only a dummy one for masking. The final canopy will be painted separately in NMF.
The canopy is only a dummy one for masking. The final canopy will be painted separately in NMF.
Some washes
And again washes....but the sealing didn't protect the paint as well as I expected and plenty of areas are now showing chipped off paint from handling. 🙁
Post-shading and repairs up next.
Post-shading and repairs up next.
Basic paint for the wheels, weathering next.
The wheels from Aires are ok, definitely good enough and definitely an improvement from the Revell kit, but the nicest wheels you will get in 1:72 for the MiG-21 F-13 are the ResKit ones or the ones included in the Modelsvit kit.
On the inside there was initially almost no detail but only a large hole to fit the ugly main strut offered in the Revell kit (like seen for the nose wheel).
Since I will be using the more detailed struts from the Eduard kit, the wheels required some more work (pictures later).
The wheels from Aires are ok, definitely good enough and definitely an improvement from the Revell kit, but the nicest wheels you will get in 1:72 for the MiG-21 F-13 are the ResKit ones or the ones included in the Modelsvit kit.
On the inside there was initially almost no detail but only a large hole to fit the ugly main strut offered in the Revell kit (like seen for the nose wheel).
Since I will be using the more detailed struts from the Eduard kit, the wheels required some more work (pictures later).
The Pitot tube.
The model is close to the finish line, I just need to decide which color thr canopy had: either NMF or tan.
The model is close to the finish line, I just need to decide which color thr canopy had: either NMF or tan.
99% ready.
I took the liberty of assuming the canopy frame was unpainted (NMF), like plenty of other camouflaged Vietnamese MiG-21s (all types). The clean bright canopy with a clearly visible and undisturbed black sealing (considering the messy chaotic painting, see the historical photograph, second in the album) suggests no painting on the canopy. Also, the camouflage stripes from the fuselage seem to be stopping just below the cockpit. I assume the ground crew was just removing the canopy in most cases instead of masking it, because they were too much in a hurry while applying the paint directly on the airfield in some shed (as I have seen in some photographs).
Another interesting fact, several early Egyptian MiG-21s with camouflage painting had an unpainted canopy frame as well. But this oddity had other reasons: the MiG-21F-13, PFS and FLs meant for export had the issue of a notourisly low manufacturing quality of the canopy and therefore canopies were often replaced with spare, unpainted ones. For this reason, some camouflaged aircraft of the UARAF/EAF had a NMF canopy frame. One well known example here, but there were more such cases:
[img1]
I took the liberty of assuming the canopy frame was unpainted (NMF), like plenty of other camouflaged Vietnamese MiG-21s (all types). The clean bright canopy with a clearly visible and undisturbed black sealing (considering the messy chaotic painting, see the historical photograph, second in the album) suggests no painting on the canopy. Also, the camouflage stripes from the fuselage seem to be stopping just below the cockpit. I assume the ground crew was just removing the canopy in most cases instead of masking it, because they were too much in a hurry while applying the paint directly on the airfield in some shed (as I have seen in some photographs).
Another interesting fact, several early Egyptian MiG-21s with camouflage painting had an unpainted canopy frame as well. But this oddity had other reasons: the MiG-21F-13, PFS and FLs meant for export had the issue of a notourisly low manufacturing quality of the canopy and therefore canopies were often replaced with spare, unpainted ones. For this reason, some camouflaged aircraft of the UARAF/EAF had a NMF canopy frame. One well known example here, but there were more such cases:
[img1]
And finished, almost 1 year after starting the project.
As unusual as it might look, I believe the canopy frame was unpainted (NMF). I tried to justify this in picture #23 from the album.
As unusual as it might look, I believe the canopy frame was unpainted (NMF). I tried to justify this in picture #23 from the album.
Since I used free-hand airbrush painting of the camouflage stripes, they are unfortunately not fitting 100% in size and position to the only photographic evidence.
The missiles, missile pylons and parts of the landing gear are from the wonderful Eduard kit (MiG-21PFM)
The ejection seat and canopy are from the Eduard PFM kit (which has a few common sprues with the PF). The the MiG-21F-13 and MiG-21PF used the same ejection seat, but the canopies were although similar, not 100% identical. Luckily, the common sprue of clear parts of the Eduard MiG-21PFM is also offering the canopy for the MiG-F-13 for some reason. There will definitely be an Eduard MiG-21F-13 in the future.
The colorful circular HUD light/projection source is missing unfortunately. Some more extensive modifications would have been required to make room for it, but I chose to finish this project faster.
The free-hand airbrush painting of the camouflage stripes has payed off.
I still have no idea what light to use to decently photograph a model with NMF...
A not ao succesful try at a view towards the landing gear.
And with a larger "friend", a F-105G "Wild Weasel".
And together with two other well known VPAF MiG-21PFMs. As a matter of fact, the numberd 5015 and 5020 were already photographed close to each other during the war. Also, Nguyen Van Coc (5015) is known to have flown several times together with Nhat Chieu (4426), possibly even with these exact aircraft. There is a likeyhood that all three machines might have stood like this close to each other in the summer-autumn of 1967.
The red 5015 belonged to Nguyen Van Coc, who is known to have flown several times together with Nhat Chieu (4426), but it is highly likely that the 5015 was still unpainted in its NMF during the times Chieu flew with his camouflaged 4426 (based on what I understood from the "MiG-21 Aces of the Vietnam War").
As unlikely as it seems, these three aircraft might have actually been lined up like this on the airfield in the summer-autumn of 1967 (see comment from picture #34)
While Nguyen Van Coc (later flying the red 5015) did fly several times together with Nhat Chie in 1967, it's not entirely clear which exact aircraft they were flying in those missions. In the large clash of the 23rd of August 1967, when he was flying in pair with Chieu, Van Coc's aircraft was severely damaged by debris of a downed F-4D, but it's not known if the aircraft was the red 5015 or not. What is certain, the red "5015" was in 1967 only in a NMF and received the green paint only later in the 1968, while Nhat Chieu flew his last missions (overall) in late 1967. Therefore, the red 5015 did not have the camouflage paint yet, when the Chieu was still flying the 4426.
Opmerkingen
71 19 December 2021, 18:40
David R. MeizosoPic 9 just made my day!
Incredibly poor mold work here, mate. Would never expect this in a 2017 kit. Modelsvit has actually some pretty good Mirages out there that look amazing!
14 January 2022, 17:29
Oliver ZwienerSelten, dass ich am Sonntag morgen schon lache, aber Bild 10 kommt überraschend gut. Great Cinema - follwing ...
2 October 2022, 07:03
MariusDanke Oliver, der Mülleimer ist ein sehr wichtiger Freund des Modellbauers, der wird aber leider so gut wie nie gezeigt. Naja, der Frust war groß mit dem ersten Bausatz.
2 October 2022, 07:55
Lex JassiesLooking very good. Nice camouflage 👍
Reminds me that I also still have this model of Eduard half finished for the Mig 21 Group build.
I also also want to finish this in North Vietnamese livery.
25 October 2022, 11:41
Sylvain Vernierdespite the difficulties, it will be a success.
the unusual camo schem looks great
25 October 2022, 19:54
MariusThank you guys!
I have never seen this exact aircraft done as a model by anyone else so far, so it's just my interpretation of the only available photograph. I guess it's so far unique, but hopefully more people will give it a try even in larger scales.
Now repairs, post-shading and more washes are applied and it looks so much better and more realistic than in the last picture. Updates will follow.
@Lukasz: Yes, it was freehand airbrush painted and this time without nasty accidents
@Lex: The Eduard kit is superb. Which exact aircraft would you like to reproduce? If it's going to be the famous "5015", be careful with the painting, since the instructions from Eduard are wrong.
26 October 2022, 21:26
Łukasz GlińskiImpressive (and in 72nd!) - what made you adding the tan on top? Looking at the photo I'd go only for NMF + green + brown combo.
27 October 2022, 07:56
Lex Jassies@Marius,
I made a glitch when I wrote "I have this kit". In reality I have the 1:48 scale Eduard kit. Also says something about how I look at your construction 👍
I'm planning making the two tone green 5040 with green underside. See picture in my "wall"
28 October 2022, 08:35
Marius@Lukasz:
You opened the Pandora's box. I will write a longer answer, since maybe someone at some later point might be interested or might have more exact information.
I will try to divide the answer in two:
#1. Why I think it there was no NMF backround on top, but instead "tan/beige":
- I have to admit I started with the color profile and just believed it as it was at the beginning . The source of the profile ("MiG-21 aces of the Vietnam War" by Istvan Toperczer, Osprey) contains numerous interviews with the pilot (Nhat Chieu) and I assumed that maybe there was this additional information which was also known/discussed, but not precisely described in the main text of the book beside the color profile (again, just an assumption).
- While looking at the photograph at the bright background between the painted stripes, I can no longer see any colour variations between the "metallic" panels on the upper half, which right in front of the wing's leading edge should have been visible in my view (two darker corroguard access panels), if it had been a NMF background. Also, I can no longer see stencils on the upper half (which are visible below). Also, just beneath and a bit in front of the first digit "4" there is a quite clear and visible change in the colours (a small horizontal separation line), which coincides to where the furthermost "green" stripe stops as well. But this entire last argument can be the result of optical illusions due to the insufficient detail of the photograph, so I am not 100% there was any tan, but I am even less sure that it was a NMF background.
- by eliminating the option of NMF, I assumed through eliminating other unlikely colours, that it must have been some shad of tan.
28 October 2022, 12:42
Marius@Lukasz:
#2. Why I think the second color of the stripes is also some green and not brown:
- there is close to no original color photograph of VPAF aircraft from the Vietnam War. All we have are black and white pictures, later colorizations and some interviews with pilots/people involved in the events back then. I have never seen any text, descriptions from interviews or statements that the colour brown was ever used for camouflage by the VPAF. Not even for repainted museum pieces of the VPAF.
- there is only once a mention of "brown" in the case of VPAF and that is for the MiG-17F number 2072. In the very first book of Istvan Toperczer about the VPAF ("Air War over North Vietnam", Squadron/Signal Publications), he shows this profile:
[img1]
Nevertheless, much later, after more travels, interviews and research, he publishes the "MiG-17 and MiG-19 units of the Vietnam War", Osprey Combat Aircraft, where the known MiG-17F red 2072 is reworked (also on my list at some point) and looks like this:
[img1]
In his book you have several high resolution original black and white photographs of the MiG-17F "2072", where it's really obvious that the "dots" are indeed very brigth in colour and if they in any way "brown", it has to be a bright "brown", similar to the "brown" used by the USAF aircraft in Vietnam or even lighter.
So with "brown", the author actually meant that "tan" shade. There were probably more of those VPAF MiG-17s with that "tan" colour as seen in some colour profiles from the Internet, but I haven't seen photographic proof for all of those wildly camouflaged MiG-17s.
Bottom line, there is really no proof that the VPAF ever used brown for camouflage painting of its aircraft during the Vietnam War. You only had that "Tan/Beige" and two shades of green. Which exact shades of green there were, is a again different discussion.
Otherwise, the MiG-21F-13 "red 4426" might be so far the only known VPAF MiG-21 with a different camouflage colour other than the two typical shades of green, so that might be an argument against my logic. Except of course those MiG-21PFMs delivered directly from USSR Air Units (like this one: MiG-21PFM (Eduard 7454, 1:72))
Overall, I am no expert on VPAF colours, I have just seen plenty of photographs and read a couple of books on the matter, but books are not perfect and pictures are all black and white, so I might be wrong as well. If anybody has more information or a different opinion/guess, I would be really glad to find out.
28 October 2022, 12:43
Łukasz GlińskiOh wow, it was a Pandora's box indeed. While I agreed on the brown stripe topic from the very start, I have to admit the lack of stencils makes your approach v.legit 👍
28 October 2022, 16:53
MariusThank you guys, now I can finally call it finished.
Of course I am not 100% how this aircraft really looked like in the end, but I hope this project inspired other people with more knowledge.
18 November 2022, 19:49
Sylvain VernierI think you are not so far from the truth. The Pandora's box is now open, and your comments are very interesting. Your build too 👍
18 November 2022, 22:21
MariusThank you Cuajete and Sylvain for the interest and of course to everybody else who stopped by and liked the album.
The project was started 1 year ago and with all the failures midway, I wasn't sure until recently if this will ever become something.
19 November 2022, 05:55
Mike SiemersVery nice job and interesting paint scheme. I love the Mig-21 collection at the end. I have the Revell Mig-21 F-13 that I plan in doing in N. Vietnamese colors, and really like the two tone green one on the left, can't decide if I want to do that or the natural metal finish with the green splotches. Beautiful job.
20 November 2022, 18:46
Simon NagorsnikFinally done after a year?
That seems familiar to me.
But in the end it paid off!
You've a really nice collection there!
20 November 2022, 18:49
MariusThank you Simon and Mike!
@Simon: this year I had two projects which I ruined in a very advanced phase and then started again from scratch: this one, and the Egyptian PFM (MiG-21PFM - Egypt - 1973 | Album by Redicus (1:72)). The Egyptian one was actually ready when I droped it and destroyed it👍(the final model from the album is therefore the second iteration). The frustration and the wasted time...so 1 year is not bad as long the finish line is crossed ✌️. I guess you're also having that extraordinary "modelling resiliance". Conquer the pain with more pain. 😄
@Mike: the Revell MiG-21F-13 in 1:72 needs plenty of additions in order to make it really nice. One of the most annoying defects is found at the rear glass part behind the cockpit. It has several nasty deep scratches (in all kits) which require so much unnecessary work to repair. Otherwise, you can also just build it out of box. The VPAF MiG-21F-13s were all in NMF, except this "red 4426" of mine. There might have been several other painted VPAF MiG-21F-13, but there is no photographic evidence of that so far. The other two VPAF MiG-21s you saw in my album above are PFM versions, which are originating from the Eduard kit (highly recommended). Overall, the VPAF received during the Vietnam War the F-13, PF, PFM and MF versions of the MiG-21 (whereas the MF was received very late and saw little to no action). The PFM was by far the most numerous variant used by North Vietnam and you can choose between several nicely painted ones. If you are interested in the famous "red 5015", I have a very rare close up historical photograph of the aircraft, revealing plenty of interesting details.
22 November 2022, 07:49
Calvin GiffordSure wish I had seen this build thread BEFORE I bought mine! Perhaps I may have lucked out with a better fitting kit, if not maybe use it in a 'belly landing' diorama (which I was going to use a "Battle Damaged" Lindberg for!). C'est la vie!!
9 December 2022, 18:55
Bernhard PetheSauber recherchierter Modellbau, gefällt mir sehr gut. 👍
Das die F13 von Modelsvit so schlecht ist, hat mich gewundert, hätte ich jetzt nicht gedacht. Hab ich noch liegen, muss ich mir merken. Ich hatte 2004 mal einen Testshoot von Revell bauen dürfen. Der hatte auch seine Fehler, die man aber gut beseitigen konnte.
ffmc.de/modelle/flugi/flugi_f13/flugi_f13.html
9 December 2022, 21:00
MariusThank you all for stopping by and leaving a comment.
@Calvin: maybe there is no need to abandon that kit. While the fit is indeed very bad, maybe it also depends on the steps and sequence you are choosing. I guess this is why Sylvain here managed to finish a very beautiful model out of that kit:
MiG21F Modelsvit OOB | Album by maddog69 (1:72)
As already said several times, the overall shapes and details of the Modelsvit kit are definitely superior to the Revell kit. The canopy/clear parts of the Modelsvit kit are a bit blurry and not that crisp, but hey, you have deep scratches due to mold defects in the rear glas part of the Revell kit too.The Modelsvit one is a short-run and just horrendous to build, that's "all".
@Bernhard
Danke sehr! Mir ist die Geschichte dahinten sogar wichtiger als das Modell in sich, sonst klebe ich nur Kunststoff zusammen 🙂. Deshalb freut es mich sehr, wenn jemand ein bisschen davon motiviert ist oder Interesse dafür zeigt.
Sonst ist dein Modell von damals sehr schön gemacht!
Trotz den Problemen und Ungenauigkeiten ist meiner Meinung nach der Revell Bausatz immer noch der beste Startpunkt oder die Referenz für ein F-13 in 1:72. Zumindest bis das F-13 von Eduard in 2-3 Jahren auf den Markt kommt.
10 December 2022, 09:25
Sylvain VernierIndeed, I didn't have any assembly problem, except behind the front well. By luck, the two guns have hidden the ugly joint. As stated by Marius, the detail of level is far superior than the Revell F-13. But it was time consuming to clean all the parts.
Maybe the original mold has not aged well. 🤔
in spite of all the problems encountered here, the result is splendid 👍
10 December 2022, 18:31
Album info
In 1965 at the onset of the Vietnam War, the Vietnam People's Air Force (VPAF) had only 36 MiG-17s and a similar number of qualified pilots, which increased to 180 MiGs (-17, -19, -21) and 72 pilots by 1968. The first deliveries of MiG-21s started in 1965.
The VPAF MiG-21F-13s, PFs or PFMs were all delivered from the USSR unpainted and in their natural metal finish with stencils on top. The combat experience has shown the necessity of a camouflage painting when flying over the Vietnamese jungle instead of the shiny metallic finish. Also, the lack of airfield shelters during the early years meant that the metallic MiGs were easily spotted by reconainassance missions. Without any norms or standards, paint was spontaneously applied on the airfields with not one aircraft looking like the other. Beige/tan and at least two different shades of green were applied depending on what was available. There were of course some exceptions when due to high atrittion the USSR made some emergency deliveries of MiG-21s from Soviet air units already wearing camouflage.
The MiG-21F-13 "red 4426" depicted as my subject was flown in 1967 during the Vietnam War by the VPAF ace Nguyen Nhat Chieu, credited by VPAF records with 6 kills. At the very beginning of the Vietnam War in 1965, Nguyen Nhat Chieu was assigned to the 921st Regiment flying MiG-17s. On the 20th of September 1965, Nhat Chieu was flying with a group of four MiG-17Fs when four US Navy F-4s were engaged North-East of Hanoi close to the Chinese border. He claimed his first air kill that day using cannon fire, but the US Navy records show no corresponding official combat loss.
He converted to the MiG-21 months later in 1966. During the air engagements of 1966, the VPAF lead 'Fishbed' in each pair was equipped with two infrared-guided R-3S AAMs, while the wingman's aircraft carried two rocket pods containing unguided high-explosive fragmentation S-5M rockets (from an UB-16-57 rocket pod). On the 7th of July 1966 Nguyen Nhat Chieu's wingman, Tran Ngoc Siu shot down a F-105D with two rocket salvos fired from ranges of 500m and 200 m to claim the VPAF's first aerial victory over a US aircraft using unguided rockets. USAF loss records attributed the loss to AAA.
He claimed his second victory (one F-4C) with a R-3S missile on the 20th of May 1967 while flying a MiG-21, although USAF records attributed the loss to 85 mm AAA. His third and fourth air victories were achieved on the 23rd August 1967 while flying in formation with the ace Nguyen Van Coc (of the later famous red "5015" - MiG-21PFM - Vietnam - 1968 | Album by Redicus (1:72)) intercepting a large group of 40 USAF aircraft flying North from over Laos. Chieu downed two F-4Ds using both of the R-3S missiles. The last loss was credited by USAF records to the AAA. He claimed his fifth air victory on the 7th October 1967, when together again with Van Coc he pursued a formation of F-105s and fired an R-3S missile that hit one F-105F "Wild Weasel". The destruction of the jet made Chieu an ace, although USAF records attributed the loss again to 85 mm AAA.
Chieu claimed his sixth and last victory on the 29th October 1967, while flying the MiG-21F-13 "4426". While intercepting a formation of F-4s, he fired an R-3S, which detonated near one of the F-4s, causing it to trail smoke. However, according to USAF records, no F-4s were lost on this date.
Currently, there is only one known photograph of the "red 4426". In this one photograph, the underside seems unpainted and kept in the natural metal with visible stencils. The top side appears to be painted with a beige/tan colour on top of which camouflage stripes were applied. Although a color profile/reproduction from "MiG-21 Aces of the Vietnam War" by Istvan Toperczer suggests that all stripes were of the same green tone, the original black and white photograph suggests that every second camouflage stripe was of a different colour. My intuition assumed brown at first for this second stripe, but I have never seen or heard of any brown camouflage color on any VPAF aircraft so far. The second color can only be light green, since only tan/beige, light green and dark green were commonly used for camouflage painting by the VPAF. My educated guess assumes that both green colors should basically be the same as the ones applied on the famous VPAF MiG-21PFM "5015" (MiG-21PFM - Vietnam - 1968 | Album by Redicus (1:72))
While Nhat Chieu did survive the war and was interviewed by Ivan Toperczer, the subsequent fate of the MiG-21F-13 "red 4426" is not known.
Group Build
Scalemates Mig-21 Group Build 2021
15. Maart tot 31. December 2021
15. Maart tot 31. December 2021