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

[Airframes]

A bit late with the progress pics, but here we go.
PIC 1. Spike-like static vents were fitted to the wingtips of the MiG21, and these will be added from fine stretched sprue after painting and final assembly. As the wing trailing edge on the model is so thin, I found the easiest and safest way to be able to mount the 'spikes' was to cut notches into the wing-tip trailing edges.
PIC 2. 'Radar Green' dielectric transponder panels are located just inboard of each wing fence, and these have been painted and masked. Navigation lights will be added later, using tinted Kristal klear.
PIC 3. The model masked ready for the first stage of painting, with the fin-top RWR panel painted and masked, together with the varied tones of metal in the area of the jet exhaust, and the 'Radar Green' panel on the ventral fin. The rear of the fin-top bullet fairing was virtually impossible to mask effectively, so this will be painted after the main painting stages.
PIC 4. The first base coats have been applied. Second generation MiG 21s were not natural metal, but finished in a 'silver' coating made up of clear dope and aluminium powder, which had a satin, or semi-gloss finish. After a bit of b*gg*ring about - sorry, experimentation - this was replicated by mixing two shades of Humbrol Silver enamel, with some white added. Two thin coats have been applied so far, and this will be allowed to harden for a couple of days, before applying a further two coats, slightly lighter than the first. After a gloss clear coat for the decals, a satin clear coat will be applied. The nose intake ring will also be painted in a darker shade, and some panel lines very lightly defined, but not too much, as the aircraft was fairly new at the time depicted.
The first job though, will be to fill some very fine joint lines which still show feintly, in the area of the boundary layer bleed duct on top of the nose, and just under the air intake. This will be done using a further thin bead of PVA or gloss enamel varnish.
Once that's all done, it'll be time to work on the ejection seat and landing gear.
Thanks again for your kind comments and interest.

 

[B-17engineer]

Hey T, what's dope?

In the US dope is a slang term for drugs...

 

[Airframes]

Yeah, it is here too! Dope is what was traditionally used for coating canvas - covered aircraft, and is still used on some flying model aircraft (and real ones in some cases).
Basically, it's a relatively thick, clear varnish-type product, originally cellulose based, although there are now synthetic equivalents. In the case of the MiG, it was very similar to the coatings used on such things as P47 and P51 landing gear legs and other parts, where the clear 'varnish' is mixed with additives and fine metallic powders, giving a metallic, in this case 'silver' coating when applied. It can't be called paint, as it isn't the same base ingredients, and doesn't use pigments as such, as paints do. It's very tough and hard wearing, and can give an extremely smooth finish, which is long-lasting and resistant to weathering.

 

[T Bolt]

Great looking in the silver Terry

 

[Crimea_River]

Looking pretty sharp there Terry.

 

[ozhawk40]

Great update Terry.8)

 

[rochie]

very nice Dogsbody

 

[imalko]

Looking great Terry. Excellent work my friend.

 

[Vic Balshaw]

That's a good spray Terry, was it with the new airbrush?

 

[B-17engineer]

Ahhh thanks Terry! Look great as well!

 

[dirkpitt289]

Looking sharp

 

[Airframes]

Thanks very much guys, it's appreciated.
Vic, yes, with the new 'brush. Jeez! A metallic colour for it's first use! Worked like a charm though.

 

[Lucky13]

Looking spiffy old boy! Top hole don't you know what!

 

[Airframes]

Thanks awfully old chap!
Got a few feint panel lines done, and the first coat of clear gloss. Decals next, hoping they behave, being Academy, then the semi-matt clear coat.
I'm slowly working on the seat and landing gear - got a few other things on the go at the moment, so trying to share time between them and modelling!

 

[Airframes]

So, the final paint coat was thinly applied, having added a touch more white to replicate the 'doped' look and, when hardened, a couple of coats of gloss clear were sprayed on, after very lightly tracing some panel lines and access hatches.
The main decals are on, with just a few stencils left to apply, and I'm still undecided whether or not to add the 'Excellent Aircraft Award' logo to the nose.This is a stylised MiG silhouette, in red, framed by an open arrowhead and, back in the '60's, it was thought for some time, in the 'West', that this badge signified a 'Guards Regiment', when, in fact, it meant that the particular airframe had successfully flown a certain number of hours without mishap or mechanical or other technical problems!
I was pleasantly surprised that the Academy decals went on without any problems, and suspect that the 'metallic' surface may have helped. The call-sign numbers were adapted from four-digit codes on the decal sheet, and will have the stencil breaks filled in later, when fully set and clear coated. Then, the model will have a coat or two of semi-matt clear, after touching-in those areas of the green dielectric panels, and the shock cone, which suffered a little paint bleed or overspray.
Note that the jet tail pipe is still masked in these photos.
Thanks again for your interest, and I'll post another update soon.

 

[Crimea_River]

Terry, that's looking quite the showcase model there. Excellent job.

 

[Airframes]

Thanks very much Andy !
It turned out better than I anticipated, as I thought perhaps some of the joints might be a problem, and show up under the metallic finish.

 

[Aaron Brooks Wolters]

Excellent work Terry!!! It's looking very sharp sir!

 

[vikingBerserker]

Beautiful!

 

[109ROAMING]

Looking superb Terry 8)