1/48 Academy MiG 21 PF |
Gallery Article by Chaz Nims
on
Nov 23 2003
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The
cockpit detail included in this kit is rather weak, so I wanted to add a resin
cockpit. There are not many choices for the PF version of the plane. The
ejection seat in the PF version of the plane is substantially different from the
later versions, which means you can't just use one of the more plentiful
Mig 21 MF detail sets. I finally found the correct detail set from FM, and so I
decided to use it. The detail was quite good on the ejection seat and instrument
panel; not so good on the consoles and sidewalls. The fit was excellent,
however, which is a big plus for me.
Click on
images below to see larger images
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Surface detail on
the actual kit is good, but the fit varied. Fit of the wings and speed brakes
was terrible, other parts were fairly good. I ended up closing the speed brakes,
filling the gaps all around with super glue, and then re-scribing the speed
brake outline. There was a huge gap at the fuselage wing joint, also filled with
super glue.
I decided to use the four color Russian camouflage scheme, which I later
somewhat regretted. Counting the underside gray, the landing gear and
wheel well gray, the cockpit gray-black, the radome and wheels in green, and the
natural metal areas, nine colors were sprayed on the plane. It does look
good when finished, however. All colors were testors enamels, except the radome
green from Humbrol, the silver from Floquils, and the interior gray-black
from Vallejo.
The
Russian stars were from Superscale and CAM sheets, which fortunately matched
perfectly in color and size. The code numbers were leftovers from an aeromaster
Mig 15 sheet.
The
only other additions to the kit were to replace the tips of the two pitot tubes
at the nose with fine stainless steel tubing. A dark gray acrylic wash was
applied to the panel lines.
The photos were taken with an Olympus C4000 digital camera, indoors, using flash
and a tripod. F stop was manually set to 11, which is the highest setting on
this camera.
Shutter speed was between 1/2 and 3/4 seconds, which is why a tripod is
necessary.
Chaz Nims
Click on
images below to see larger images
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