Batter Up! (or…what’s next on the bench)
With the Trumpeter MiG-21F-13 and T-80BV off the bench and safely in the display cabinet, and the Hobby Boss T-26 well into the painting and weathering process, it's time to…
1/48 Trumpeter MiG-21F-13, Part IV
Part I | Part II| Part III | Part IV
Welcome to Part IV of the MiG-21F-13 build. At the end of Part III, the Fishbed was painted, chipped, and had just had the markings masked and sprayed.
Now, it’s time to continue the journey with some weathering.
Wash & Strut
Handling the MiG-21 with the nose strut only installed was becoming tiresome by this point, so I said f- it and installed the main gear struts as well. The fit of these into their mounts is frustratingly wobbly, but somehow my “CA-and-pray” approach worked just fine ,and the plane appears to sit level. Now…it does appear to sit taller in the rump than most images I’ve seen…but I think that’s a case of the oleos being at full extension or something.
In addition to strutting the MiG, I also applied Vallejo Light Gray Wash. Vallejo’s washes are something I’ve recently discovered, and used properly they are fantastic. The darker colors really have a much stronger effect, but the gray wash quite subtle and helps to bring some cohesion to a really visually disparate paint scheme like this one.
Like I said. Subtle. (more…)