**** DONE: MiG 21 PF 'Fishbed D', Moscow District PVO Aviation Fighter Regiment, 1967

[Airframes]

User name: Airframes.
Name: Terry.
Category: Judge, non-competing.
Kit: Academy MiG 21 PF.
Scale: 1/48th.
Accessories: Paper, card and sticky-back plastic!

This is my first entry for the sixth Group Build, the 'Cold War', and will be built Out of the Box, with the exception of some scratch-built details here and there. Not a lot to say about this, other than the MiG 21 was seen by the West as a very advanced fighter aircraft in the 1960's, and was the epitome of the threat posed by the former Soviet Union and her Warsaw Pact satellites. It was also one of, if not the most prolific jet fightesr ever built, and was still in service with some Russian units in the early 1990's, and much later with other air forces.
Staying with the archetypal theme of the Soviet air forces of the mid-1960's, the model will be finished in 'bare metal', and will represent a machine of a typical Fighter Aviation Regiment of the Air Defense branch of the air forces, the PVO, which operated independantly of the VVS, based in the Moscow Air Defence Region.
I hope to make a start on the model in the next couple of days, alongside my other entry, and a couple of other projects!

 

[A4K]

Nice project Terry!

 

[Lucky13]

Nice one mate!

 

[imalko]

And another GB begins. Great choice Terry, looking forward to see your work on this model. Should you need some close up photos or cockpit details, just shout. I'm sure I can dig out some materials on this bird for you.

 

[Airframes]

Thanks Evan, Jan and Igor. I think I'm probably OK for detail pics Igor, as apart from the two 'Walkaround' Squadron books and their 'In Action' book, I got a load of great stuff from Wojtek. What I am short of though, is pics of the 'PF' in Soviet VVS and PVO service, particularly in bare metal. I've got a few, but not as many as later versions, probably because not many pics got out to the West in the 60's !

 

[imalko]

Do you got this book Terry? Some terrific detailed illustrations in this one. I'll look for some pictures, will it be helpful even if they're black/white and not color?

 

[Catch22]

Looks cool Terry!

 

[vikingBerserker]

Excellent!

 

[imalko]

Okay, here's what I could find on MiG-21PF on short notice...

 

[bemay]

nice one terry!

 

[imalko]

Some color illustrations from aforementioned book:

 

[ozhawk40]

Looking forward to this! - Good one Terry.

 

[Airframes]

Thanks guys, and thanks for the pics Igor. No, I haven't got that book btw, but the pics you posted are helpful. I have lots of the PFM (Fishbed F) and later variants, but those I have of the Fishbed D (PF) don't have any info as to units, which is not surprising. Not to worry, I have the details covered, and the final 'nose number' to use is some time off yet.

 

[T Bolt]

Looks good Terry!

 

[imalko]

Here's one more photo (can't help it, this is my favorite jet)...

I found this photo on another forum, but unfortunately don't know which museum this is. Though this is MiG-21f-13 and not PF version (which is what Terry needs), I believe this picture is good example of general appearance of early Soviet MiG-21s in bare metal finish. MiG-21PF would look very similar to this I suppose.

 

[Lucky13]

Excellent stuff Igor! Keep posting mate!

 

[Vic Balshaw]

Nice selection Terry, I've a feeling this is going to be a great GB, packed full to the gills with a wide range of subjects.

 

[T Bolt]

Here's one more photo (can't help it, this is my favorite jet)...

I found this photo on another forum, but unfortunately don't know which museum this is. Though this is MiG-21f-13 and not PF version (which is what Terry needs), I believe this picture is good example of general appearance of early Soviet MiG-21s in bare metal finish. MiG-21PF would look very similar to this I suppose.

That picture is from the Smithsonian air Space Museum at Dulles International Airport, Washington DC. See the rather blurry first photo I took last spring. The last 3 photos are from the Air Force Museum I took in February.

 

[Airframes]

Great pics Igor and Glen. They give a good indication of the variation of metals and tones, and should be useful, thanks.
Here's some I took at Duxford last year, in anticipation of this GB. Not a Russian bird, but they might interesting, or of use to others.

 

[imalko]

Cool stuff Terry. You sure have your details covered. It's a Hungarian MiG-21PF by the way. 8)