1/72 Mig-21MF ExYu Golija manoeuvres 1976.

Well, You got Ak 47, You got Mig21… They are here for so long, and they are so effective and today. Mig 21 was some kind of answer for American and Nato planes, I’m in love with F4s, but they are now abandoned, but Mig 21 is still in use. I know that Mig 21 cannot compete with modern jets, but icon is icon.

I was interested in making this model in Serbian colors with modern roundels, but Serbia never used MF variant in armanent. I can did it with Serbia’s marking but that wouldn’t be accurate. I used Lift Here decals for Mig 21MF with number 870 which was used in Golija manoeuvres in 1976.. I’m not fan of red star roundels of Yugoslavia, but ok, this was the only way to do the model in different markings. Main decals, numbers, flag on the tail and star are from Serbian manufacturer Lift Here, and they prove to be excellent! Just a little bit of MicroSet and MicroSol and they were good to go. Stencils are same for Soviet and for Yugoslav planes and they were from the kit.

I used 1/72 scale Eduard Profipack. It is very well known model with almost none of problems. I read about some fit problem with fuselage and I was prepared for it. My problem was thath the back of the cockpit was slighlty bigger than the fuselage itself, so I did a little bit of trimming and that was that… Cockpit is fantastic, full of details, I used plastic, PE parts and decals OOB. I decided to do this model with closed canopy so I did just a little bit of weathering. Whole build process was joy and without any problems. Cockpit was painted with Revell enamel color and weathered with paneliners.

I did this model as a exercise and as a test plane for some new colors I used for the first time. I used Aks Black Primer and microfiller, it is very smelly, but it has great coverage and quick drying time. I was using Vallejo metal colors, but this time I used Alcad II (under the Mig flag) for the first time. And I’m more than satisfied! Just leave it for a day to dry and it would be excellent, I had a feeling that the plane was made out of real metal, excellent colors! After drying I did some masking and painted modulation of alluminium, silver, polished alluminium… colors. Blue parts are mixed from few Vallejo colors I sprayed whole model with diluted GX 100 ultra clear. LiftHere decals proved to be escellent, stencils are OOB.

Whole model was painted with Harder and Steenback Silverline, and precise work was done with Harder and Steenback Infinity CR plus which is, for me, the one and only airbrush!

Model was slightly weathered because authentic photos show very well maintened Mig 21 in Ex Yu service. I postshaded the model with AK real color clear smoke, weathered it with almighty Abteilung 502 oil paints, and here it is… Blue 870 from Yugoslavic era. Very small model in 72nd scale, but I’m satisfied.

Eagerly awaiting Your oppinions!

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