MiG Group Build, Tamiya 1/48 MiG-15 bis, Major Nicolay Shkodin, 147th GIAP, 5 victories Korea July 1953

This kit was finished last night, and it was part of the MiG group build.

It went together very nicely, and no filler was needed during construction. I had originally painted it and used a hard edge camouflage pattern, but later I decided to go back and re-spray the entire model all over again to achieve a soft edge pattern instead. It just didn't look right to me, and I'm happy that I decided to do this now.

I found several photos showing a camouflage MiG-15 with victory marks near the cockpit, but no photos of this actual plane. The model was built right out of the box, with the only exception was to use a set of aftermarket decals.

The decal set used was made by Aero Master, #48-230 Korean War MiG Aces part 2. The colors I used were an educated guess and not confirmed. It is very hard to find any pictures of MiG-15's that were used in the Korean War.

Not many people know this, but there were Soviet pilots flying MiG-15's in combat against the UN Forces during the Korean War. They flew in planes that had Chinese or North Korean markings on them, and were forbidden to fly over UN held territory for fear of being captured if they were shot down. These Soviet pilots were given orders not to allow themselves to be captured alive, in order to maintain secrecy with their involvement during the conflict.

This particular plane was supposed to have been flown by a Russian pilot who also was an Ace in the Korean War with 5 confirmed victories over UN aircraft. What type of planes he shot down and the dates have eluded me so far.

All of this information was based on what was supplied on the decal sheet.

Model Master enamels were used throughout the construction, and a build journal can be seen by following this link.

https://imodeler.com/groups/mig-group-build/forum/topic/mig-15-bis-captain-pavel-milauszkin-176-iap-324th-iad-korea-1952-tamiya-1-48/

I built 3 MiG-15 models so far, and have one left that I will complete at a later date. Since then, I have obtained a Trumpeter MiG-15 in 1/48 scale, kit number 02806. These Tamiya kits go together very nicely, but it will be interesting to see how they compare to the newer Trumpeter model. I will most likely find out soon, when we start our Korean War Group Build in next June.

These last few photos show the 3 MiG-15 kits that I built for the project. I had the Gardner "Iron Werks" up and running at full speed, but on occasion it was shut down for a short while due to "life" getting in the way with my wife's ongoing battle with cancer. She's one tough little lady. Tougher than any MiG-15 !

I have to thank Tom Bebout, @tom-bebout
for sending me this fantastic base, on which I have the model displayed when I took the pictures.

I also want to thank Dmitry Stropalov @starfar
for his assistance with the proper colors that were used on these MiG jets, and

Sebastijan Videc @inflames
for extending the group build until the end of December. had he not done this, I couldn't have completed these last two models in time to make the deadline.

Thanks also go out to all of you who followed these build journals... your comments helped to keep it a fun build.

As always, comments are encouraged, and may we all have a safe, healthy, prosperous and Happy New Year...

24 additional images. Click to enlarge.