The
MiG-21 has always been a legend in our times and has been fairly popular with
the modelling community over the years. Well, when I set out to build one, I
started with deciding to do a MiG-21FL "Type-77" as a tribute to it's
recent retirement after 50 years of stellar service with the Indian Air Force.
Looking at the different kits in 1/72 scale that offered this particular
variant, it struck me that there weren't too many options I had. I finally
decided to the vintage Matchbox / AMT kit knowing it had many deficiencies and
hoping it would end up looking acceptable.
Click on
images below to see larger images
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Before I
get into further details, I would like to mention that anyone looking to build
this kit is looking at a bit of scratch-building just to get basic details
right. The kit is rudimentary and simplistic, but is nevertheless a fun build.
The most drastic change I made was to chop off about half an inch of the nose.
This turned out to be more difficult than I expected and required a good deal of
sanding and putty to smoothen out. Once the nose was done, I set out to scratch
build the missing cockpit tub and dashboard with styrene strips. The seat that
came in the box resembled a recliner and was replaced by a modified KM-1 seat
from a Fujimi MiG-21. (The Type 77 used the SK-1 seat with unique overhead
flap). Other changes included adding in the bulge above the wing root to fit the
main gear wheels and having to sand down the tail fin.
I decided to paint
it a brown-green scheme as seen on an Indian Air Force example from the no.28
sqn. during the 1971 war with Pakistan. These MiGs were hastily painted on the
field and the paint was heavily worn as the war progressed. I used Humbrol
enamels and decals from the Casper decals 1971 War sheet. In the end, the model
did not turn out as good as I would have liked, but mostly does look the part.
Ratish Nair
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