Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21MF "Fishbed" J

Nathan Dempsey
Following this one for sure.

Jos Jansen
Yes, splendid James...following mate!

Robin (WhiteGlint)
Already back to aircraft, I see. 😄

Maciej Bellos
Following!

Peppy
Yep, pulling up a chair.

James C
Just waiting on the Eduard cockpit interior to arrive and will make a start on it 🙂

James C
I decided to press on and make a start on this one, and save the Eduard interior set for one of the other three that I have in the stash instead. As they are all re-boxings of the same kit, I will treat this build as a test run for the others.

James C
Just a small update showing the rear fuselage closed up and wings assembled.
The fit so far has been quite good.

I'm still working on the cockpit and ejection seat, but it's coming along quite nicely.
I used A.MiG-223 "Interior Turquoise Green" for the cockpit interior which I found initially to be much too dark/green for my liking, so I lightened it up a bit with "Snow/White" from Tamiya's weathering pastel set "B". I hope to finish the cockpit and close up the forward fuselage today and join both fuselage sections together as well.

Clifford Keesler
I missed this one. Following.

James C
Welcome Clifford 🙂

I hadn't done much to this one of late as it's been getting quite a bit cooler temperature wise.

Anyway, both halves of the fuselage have been closed up and joined together now, along with the wings and horizontal stabilizers. Still a couple days worth of clean up to do on the gaps and joins, but they aren't too bad which has been a pleasant surprise. I was expecting a lot worse for a kit so cheap!

I've also assembled the load out with 2x UB-32 Rocket Pods, 2x AA-2 Atoll missiles and a single 130gal drop tank on the center pylon.

Sebastian Meyner
Following 👍 Great work so far James! Why don't you join our little Mig-21 groupbuild?! 🙂

James C
Will do 😉

Sebastian Meyner
👍 😄

Nathan Dempsey
...and suddenly we have a MiG ? Have you decided on markings?

James C
Yeah, going to do it as per the box-art. Sand and Dark Earth camouflage, with Soviet markings as "Black 28". I'll use the spare fuel tank on one of the other kits and do the load-out as a pure bomber interceptor with 3x external tanks and a pair of missiles.

Clifford Keesler
Glad to hear it is a decent kit, as I also have this one, as well as the MF offering.

James C
It's not of Tamiya or Hasegawa quality, but still pretty good.

Clifford Keesler
I sure was impressed with the Eduard Mig I just finished. It was my first Eduard kit.

James C
Been in a bit of a modelling rut of late so not a lot of progress with the MiG.
Nothing wrong with the kit, but cooler temperatures I guess have slowed progress.
Anyway, not far off giving it a coat of primer with the landing gear test fitted and looking ok, just a couple more seams to clean up with Mr Surfacer and lacquer thinners...

Clifford Keesler
Looking forward to seeing it progress.

James C
Thanks guys 🙂

James C
Another small update showing progress to date.
Just need to rub the airframe down with a 3000 grit sanding sponge, then it should be ready to start adding a bit of colour...

Clifford Keesler
Looking nice James.

James C
Thanks mate 🙂

I finished off the camouflage yesterday and am in the process of sealing it under a couple coats of floor polish. Pics to follow...

Clifford Keesler
Looking very nice sir.

Erik Leijdens
Very fine paint job James. Got to love desert schemes!

Nathan Dempsey
Ooh yes I'm liking this camo ?

James C
Thanks guy's 🙂

Doing the pre-shading in grey was a mistake though as I lost most of it under the camouflage unfortunately due to being a little heavy-handed with the airbrush 😳
Anyway, I'll let it sit for a day or two for the gloss coat to properly harden as it's quite a bit cooler at present.

Robin (WhiteGlint)
The camo looks really nice, James 👍
Do you spray the floor polish directly or do you have to thin it first?

James C
Thanks mate 🙂

The Pledge brand that I use can be sprayed directly from the bottle without thinning as it has almost the same viscosity as water. It's best to mist it on over 2 - 3 coats as it will form runs VERY easily if you try to lay it down too heavily. Depending on how warm it is, I leave it for 30 mins - 1 hour between coats and then don't touch it for a day or two to avoid leaving the dreaded fingerprints. Lastly, ensure you clean your airbrush thoroughly as it will gum up the inner workings if you don't clean it out properly.

Robin (WhiteGlint)
Sounds like an interesting (and maybe cheaper?) alternative to the "standard" model varnishes.
Maybe I'll try some floor polish in the future, too.
There's a nice glossy finish on your models.

James C
I find it works really well on aircraft and is vastly cheaper than Tamiya X-22, which is my other "go-to" acrylic gloss that I routinely use on my armour builds. This current bottle is going on 3 years old now and I'm only 3/4 the way through it. Can be difficult to get your hands on the right stuff now though.

The reason I use it on aircraft is that it self-levels, and (if sprayed in light coats) doesn't have a tendency to flood/fill the panel lines as other acrylic gloss coats sometimes do if your not careful.
The first coat can sometimes look a bit weird and beaded when spraying for the first time, but it will level out as it dries, and the trick is to build it up slowly over several coats... not drown it, so as to avoid any runs.

Once I'm done, I knock back the sheen using Tamiya XF-86 flat clear mixed 50/50 with Tamiya Lacquer thinners. Again, I use light coats until I've got the desired sheen.
I've heard of people mixing the Pledge with the XF-86 to get a semi-gloss... but I've not tried it.

Augie
Thats looking good james 🙂

James C
Many thanks Augie... but it's a bit of a bust due to a miss-hap while cleaning up the panel line wash. I normally use AK white spirits, but I was getting very low and decided to use a bottle that I'd purchased from the local hardware store, as it is far cheaper than buying named brands from hobby suppliers like AK or MiG etc.

Anyway, I got most of the excess wash cleaned off without incident using cotton buds as I normally do, and then moistened a paper towel to give everything a final once-over. While going over the spine between my thumb and fore finger I noticed it started to eat right through the paint on both sides!

The left side isn't too bad as it didn't rub all the way through, but the right side has several patches that went all they way down to the plastic unfortunately. The only thing that I can think of is that the hardware brand white spirit is much "hotter" than the AK brand that I normally use, and perhaps I was a little too liberal with it as well. 🤔

I considered just binning it, as I don't intend to strip the paint off to start over again, but will see if I can incorporate the damaged paintwork to make it look heavily weathered instead perhaps?
Very disappointing, but will see how it goes. If it doesn't work out... I've still got 3x more in the stash.

Notch this one up to a good lesson learned, and something to be wary of.

Augie
Bugger... try working some metalic in there to make it look like metal... worn paint 🤔

James C
Yeah, I was thinking about trying to disguise it with some Tamiya pastels

Maciej Bellos
Bummer!

Robin (WhiteGlint)
That sucks. 🙁
Yes, it's best to try salvaging it first before binning it.
Like with the pastels or as Augie suggested some metal colour, as if some panels had been replaced and not yet repainted.

Daniel Klink
Following the MiG..
Well done the paint scheme James..👍 Now i got ravenous appetite for Milk Chocolate anyhow🙂

Clifford Keesler
You can fix it sir, don't can it. I buy odorless white spirits at the art supply store. They cost a little more than the hardware store variety, but much less than the name brands from the hobby stores, and I have never had a problem with them.

James C
Cheers Clifford, and no worries mate... as pissed off as I am... I'm not done yet with it just yet 😉

I got the decals done yesterday, so will hopefully get them sealed today, and see if we can salvage it.

Fingers crossed 😉

Clifford Keesler
Hope you can save it. I got to that point with my Hasegawa F-14D, but I kept pushing and got it done.

Jos Jansen
Great work as always James!

James C
Thanks Jos 🙂

Very disappointed about the paintwork, but it wasn't worth stripping back to start over.
I'll post some pics of the now completed build when there's some better lighting once the sun comes out.

Sergej I
Looking good James, I've had similar accidents with turp aswel. Found out it is aggressive on Gunze GX100 varnish when cleaning enamel wash. So am now using AK Gauzy, but with propper rubbing also that one gets rubbed off 🙁
Just as an idea, if metal weathering fails, cut-open a panel on the top and throw a service mat over the entire back of it and hide the whole area...

James C
Thanks Sergej 🙂

It is pissing down outside, and looks to remain that way for the next few days so not the greatest time to take out-door pics at present unfortunately... but have decided on my next build at least 😉

James C
It finally cleared up enough today to take it outside for some shots of the finished build.
I'm still pretty annoyed with the damaged paintwork, but I was able to salvage it somewhat with the use of Tamiya weathering pastels to cover the patches of bare plastic with a metal finish, then sealed it again. It's not how I wanted it to look, preferring a much cleaner finish, but it will have to do for now.

I've got another more recent Academy boxing, (and several Italeri re-boxings) of the same kit in the stash, so will return to this subject again soon and hopefully do it more justice. The kit itself was pretty good, although the cockpit was basic, but passable. However, with the canopy closed it's barely noticeable. If you intend to build this kit... with the canopy open, you may want to consider replacing the pilots ejection seat, and possibly also getting the colour photo-etch set by Eduard for the main instrument panel and side consoles etc.

Cheers! 🙂

Robin (WhiteGlint)
Still, it's a nice looking MiG, James. 👍

Spanjaard
very nice job!

Martin Oostrom
She's looking very well James. Great save 👍

Augie
Still looks good mate, good save 🙂

Sebastian Meyner
Well done mate 👍

Neuling
All´s well that ends well. And it does! 👍

Daniel Klink
All problems efficiently solved and a wonderful result James👍

Gary Kitchen
Nice Mig, nice tabletop, and nice fence as always James 😉

Sergej I
Love it! 👍

Nathan Dempsey
Well done James. Those colors look good on the MiG-21. Nice recovery with the paint work!

Clifford Keesler
Very nice job James. It looks great, I love the color scheme. Well done Sir.

Erik Leijdens
Very nice James! A great execution of a "desert" MiG ????

Jan Peters
Beautifull Mig!

James C
Many thanks everyone for your positive feedback. Very much appreciated 🙂👍

Maciej Bellos
Nice recovery James. Good job mate!

James C
Thanks Maciej 🙂

Slavo Hazucha
Cool job on this little '21 🙂 I hope to manage one in 2021 too, let's see...

Particularly like the way you treated the camo & weathering, less is more here once again, these colors seem to keep there hue even on many old MiG's and light scraping to metal + refraining from any "wet" weathering effects is exactly the right approach 👍 well done indeed!

James C
Thanks Slavo 🙂 I was disappointed in this one as I wanted it to be a clean and "new" looking build, but had a mishap at the end while cleaning up the panel line wash. As I had no intention of stripping the paint off again and redoing it, I had 2 choices. Toss it or attempt to patch it to look like bare metal. It kind of worked out in the end, but I'm far from happy with it to be honest.

Gary Kitchen
Gloss black table, white fence…say no more. Perhaps a battle scar? Characterful!

James C
Thanks Gary... far from my best work, but I will return to this subject with a different scheme 🙂

BTW it's not a fence, but the railing for our back deck, which is about 20ft up. When the sun is out it is the best place to take pics 😉

Gary Kitchen
😄 thought as much. For me as I scroll through the many excellent photos posted on scalemates, it's just always a clear indicator that I need to pause here…as it's always worth it.

Clifford Keesler
How did it go together James? as I have that kit also. I plan on using the Wolfpack designs resin cockpit in it.

James C
Lol cheers Gary 😉👍

@ Clifford - For a cheap kit, it's not too bad to be honest as I've built more expensive kits which were far worse. I had a slight step in the join of the forward section of fuselage to the rear, but was able to mostly eliminate it. The upper spine fit perfectly, but be careful not to apply too much downward pressure when attaching so that it mates up cleanly with the vertical tail.
Be careful when attaching the tail as it's very easy to cock this up (like I did) with it leaning to one side or the other etc. Mines a little skewed unfortunately. There's a reasonably good selection of weapons/ external fuel tanks to choose from but wont win any awards for detail, but adequate enough.
The main gear wheels are a bit iffy with the inner hubs looking cartoonish (as you can see in pic .5) However as these face each other on the inside, and the wheel bay doors cover the outside hubs, I didn't bother going to the trouble of sourcing replacements. 👍

Clifford Keesler
Thank you very much sir. I have a rather wide selection of Russian weapons, both resin and plastic, so I most likely use the kit weapons. Do you think it would be possible to add each nose piece to it's aft fuselage side and then assembale the fuselage as 2 halves and then add the spine?

James C
Hmmm, I hadn't really thought about that, but yeah I suppose that it's definitely doable. It's a pretty straight forward kit to assemble, and as long as you are not over zealous with the clean up of sprue attachment points, it shouldn't give you any trouble.

The canopy, spine and vertical tail hide the majority of the join on top, leaving just the join forward of the canopy to really have to bother dealing with. Even on the underside, there's a lot of components that obscure it as well.

Clifford Keesler
Thank's, I think this one will be coming soon, it is a toss up between this one or a T-38C Talon after the F-1.