This was my first attempt with a kit from Trumpeter and after seeing some of
their other stuff I was a little disappointed at first with its contents. After
starting the project though some of that disappointment went away. The kit has
real nice outline and surface detail. Where the kit needs some work is in the
pilots interior. The basic cockpit is there but that's about it. It lacks a
proper throttle quadrant, fuse panels, flap controls, etc. All these I
had to add to make the cockpit look complete. As usual I also added a
scratch built instrument panel using the same Waldron products and a Waldron jet
seat and harness buckle set to finish the ejection seat.
For the most part the kit went together quite well. The only real problem
area was the wing root mates to the fuselage. There was a nasty gap there with
the dry fit and I couldn't seem to remedy the problem with any filing or sanding
without removing an unacceptable amount of plastic. I fixed the gap by filling
the seam with some stretched sprue and Tenax-7 and sanding the seam to the
right contours. There also needs some work to be done to the attachment points
on the extra fuel tanks if you choose to put the flaps in the lowered position.
Click on
images below to see larger images
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For the color scheme, I chose to model a North Korean Mig-15 in a four tone
camouflage. I used Testor Modelmaster enamels for the paint, with an overall
clear gloss before decaling. After the decals were applied the aircraft was
coated with a clear flat and weathered. Decals were Aeromaster sheet 32-006. This
particular Mig-15 was flown by S. Federots a Russian pilot during the
Korean conflict. On April 12,1953, Federots engaged and shot down Capt. Joseph
McConnell while flying this aircraft. McConnell would go on to become the
highest scoring U.S. fighter pilot of the Korean War.
Steve
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