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Mark Housley
23 articles

Mig 21F-13 A Six Day War Survivor

March 20, 2014 · in Aviation · · 19 · 3.7K

Hi All,

This build is from quite some time ago and its one of my rare jaunts over to its the kit and it is a really nice bit of plastic to say the least, detail is top notch, the cockpit in my opinion doesn't need anything like after market resin its very well done. The only thing I did was to punch out the instrument dial faces and fit them in the appropriate
clock bezels and voila a great looking instrument panel as good as anything Eduard could do if not better.

There are a few areas where you can leave panels open to reveal avionics and other internals but its not something i usually do i like to just build em buttoned up i might leave the odd flap down or air brake open but not often.
The rest of the build was pretty much straight forward no hidden vices, so on with the painting firstly primed with Alclad's grey primer a slight rub down with 8000 micro-mesh till all was lovely and silky smooth.

I was going to do a BMF because at the time it was something i was into trying to perfect and get a result i would be happy with but whilst looking on the Hannants web site i came across a decal set by Aztec called Sky Guardians II with some really great schemes though not the most colourful this one caught my eye so that was it MNF out and in with the camo.

This particular aircraft took part in the six day war in October 1973 it was finished in a new scheme called the Nile Vally Scheme it survived the war unlike most Egyptian aircraft.

When ordering the Decals i also ordered a new brass Pitot tube as the kit one was a little heavy compared to the brass one apart from that its all out of the box.

so Thats it Guys Hope you like it.
Mark

P.S Sorry about the dust on it you just dont always see it as you take the photos 🙁

Reader reactions:
10  Awesome

9 additional images. Click to enlarge.


19 responses

  1. Cool Mark, did it take 6 days to build?
    Was the camo painted free hand?
    A nice looking Fishbed.

  2. said on March 20, 2014

    great piece of weathering there

  3. Immaculate finish. Like the Mig 21, especially in these colours.

  4. Great finish. I'm asking the same question as Simon: the camo looks like it has a soft demarcation lines, did you free hand it or use a mask.
    The Mig 21 is one of those "Bad Boy" looking aircraft to my eyes & yours certainly projects that image.

  5. Outstanding finish Mark, and it's a "me three" on how you got those edges between the camo colors. Very well done model of "one that got away".

  6. Stellar work, sir...but for me, it's that cockpit detail that jumps out atcha! Exquisite build!

  7. "Killer" looking Mig 21 Mark-the paint work is really outstanding.

  8. Thanks for the positive comments guys, The Camouflage was actually pretty simple to do, firstly i pre-shaded the panel lines with Alclad II black primer toned down a touch with white so it was more of very very dark grey then i painted the Grey colour roughly over where the lines go then i used the old blue tac sausage method laid on in the required pattern

    then carefully sprayed the stone colour to one side of the blue tac sausage then very carefully painted the green colour on the other side of the sausage

    i did have the odd place where i had to retouch the stone colour but is wasn't to bad to do when dry i used a rattle can of Mr Super Clear Gloss

    then it was Decal time and luckily there wasn't many to apply

    weathering was done with Flory washes and the Tamiya weathering master dry brush effects pastels.

    thanks Chaps

    Mark

  9. Great paint and schem...with very nice cockpit !
    Blue tac is really easy to use...
    olivier

  10. Mark, I've read about Flory washes...as good as advertized?

    • Hi Erich, The thing with Flory washes you either love em or hate em, Me i love em i find them very easy to work with and the best thing is if you mess up just wash it off unless you have applied it over a matt finish then its different, it tends to adhere to a matt paint and its very difficult to remove i sometimes use this to my advantage as it can give a different effect to your finnish,

      for me i find my best results from a semi-gloss finnish or a Satin finish as long as the paint is smooth to the touch you should be

      ok if to glossy the wash tends to just sit on the surface of the paint you know the way water just kinda bubbles and runs off a newly waxed or polished car the best way around this is to just add a little drop of washing up liquid to a bit of the wash poured into a small dish this breaks up the surface tension in the wash and allows it to adhere a little better, the other problem with a finnish thats tooooo shinny / glossy is that when you wipe off the excess wash it can come out of the panel lines so you have to re-apply it but its no biggy just slap it on and just be a little more careful where the panel lines are not so well defined always try to wipe across panel lines instead of along them its like most things in this hobby the more you do the better you get at doing it, saying that i still have good days and bad days where Decals are concerned.

      I definitely recommend trying it out i would recommend the Dark Dirt wash for a first try i rarely use the black.

      Cheers Erich

      Mark

  11. Professional is the only word I can think of.

  12. Very nice work-great paint work.

  13. Mark,
    I can't add anything else that has not already been said. This is stunning.

  14. Great looking model, very informative text - perfect!

  15. Mark, excellent job on one of my favorites, and, of course, one of the most important aircraft in history. That cockpit is amazing. And the camo paint and weathering are beautiful. Many thanks!

  16. Cheers Robert,
    i am glad you like it, its also one of my favourites i am waiting for a good 1/48th two seater to be released.
    cheers Robert

    Regards
    Mark

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