MiG-21F-13

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…)

Part I | Part II| Part III

At last! Welcome to this build’s big moment of truth. Making this:

Look something like this:

Or…similar. While I was tempted to go for 100% fidelity…the “AMS” side of the Force…I have found that stressing so much about complete accuracy doesn’t really do anything except suck the fun out of builds. So for my forays into 1/48 jets, I’m making a conscious effort to strive for verisimilitude over exactitude.
(more…)

Part I | Part II| Part III

With the cockpit sorted, it’s time to move on to the build portion of the build.

Overall, Trumpeter’s kit is straight-forward and hiccup-free. Still, there are a few areas to watch out for, and it’s probably a good idea to have a sanding stick or five on hand.

Salting the Shock Cone

Before construction can really begin, there are a few central bits that have to be sorted out. Namely the cockpit, engine, gear bays and the MiG-21’s distinctive shock cone. This cone can move forward and back, essentially regulating airflow into the jet engine. The MiG-21F-13 has a noticeably smaller shock cone than later Fishbeds such as the MiG-21MF and MiG-21bis, in large part because later variants placed the radar behind the cone.

For this particular build, the shock cone required some serious weathering.

Here’s how I tackled it. (more…)

Part I | Part II| PART III

It’s amazing how our tastes and interests change over time, isn’t it?

When I was a kid, the vast majority of the models I built were jets. Mostly 1/72 scale. It was only relatively late in the game – into junior high and high school, that I really started getting interested in World War II subjects. And even then, I kept building jets right up until I wandered away from the hobby. In fact, I’m pretty sure this 1/48 A-7E Corsair II was the last kit I completed in my first modeling “career”.

When I came back to modeling in 2010, I found I had no desire to build modern jets. None. Zero. Instead I found myself drawn to World War II and then Great War aircraft. Modern stuff, I figured, was all boring, naptime gray, and didn’t have the same historical import as subjects from the two most important conflicts of the 20th century.

Then, somewhere along the way, I began to get some small urges. I think Eduard’s MiG-21 line might have had something to do with it, or the glimpses of some stellar builds on various contest tables. I snagged a handful of modern 1/48 jets…but never touched them.

Last year, things came to a head. I decided that, damnit, I was going to build a jet. And more than that, I was going to build it in 1/32 scale. I even started accumulating a stash of 1/32 jets. Then I started working on Academy’s F-16I Sufa kit, and it was a slog from the start. Nothing went right, and I daresay it stole so much of my momentum that it kept me from at least one and maybe two more completions in 2013. After fighting it for something like two months, I finally said enough, and put it away in such disgust that I decided to abandon 1/32 jets and sell off my small stash of them.

Instead, I opted for 1/48 as my scale of choice for jets. Started snagging some kits with the proceeds gained from selling off the 1/32 stash, even.

And now that the Messerschmitt Me 262A-2a is behind me and the Challenger 1 is rolling toward completion, it’s time to finally buckle down and BUILD. A. JET. (more…)