I mentioned building this one back when the MiG group build was first announced. Time is getting closer to the deadline for the reveals, and I had not started work on the model yet. Something had to be done... So here we go !

I'll be the first to tell you that Soviet aircraft are not one of my strong points as far as knowledge goes, so this will be a learning curve for me. Having said this, here's where I am right now with the build.

I have 3 of these kits in the stash.

This is the decal set that I have had for many years. This is Aeromaster set #48-230. "Korean War MiG Aces"


At the time I purchased this set of decals, I wasn't aware of what I had stumbled across, nor how this would be personally related... more on that later.

My Dad was a Korea War combat veteran and served with the US Army. He had a childhood friend named Michael Rebo, who flew F-84's over Korea. Here's a photo of Mike...

My Dad's childhood friend "Mikey" was shot down and killed over Korea. 1st Lt. Michael Rebo was listed as MIA for many years. Only recently his remains were repatriated from North Korea and he was positively identified after his family provided a DNA sample.

As it turned out, Mike was shot down by this Russian pilot...

flying in a North Korean marked MiG-15. I was not aware of this fact until I started doing some research for another model that will be on the work bench soon. This upcoming plane will be Mike's F-84... so please stay tuned for it to show up here on Imodeler.

Assembly started with the front office... I'm building all 3 kits at once.

The details are OK. Not spectacular, but not bad enough to warrant a replacement set as far as I'm concerned. I want a simple easy build here, nothing fancy.



So far it has been a typical Tamiya build and uneventful. It would be nice if Tamiya released this kit again, as it is currently not available or in production.

I am planning on painting the cockpit interior using this color. Model Master USSR Interior Blue Green.

I was going to paint the interior of the landing gear wells and landing gear struts / inner doors in this color as it's indicated on the model's instructions.

Does anyone have a better thought or know for sure what colors these areas were painted ?

Please let me know before I get to the next step which will be the painting of these parts...

Thanks in advance.

Thanks Pedro. @holzhamer

Building a MiG is not in my normal area of expertise or comfort zone. So I have been reaching out for some advice on these three MiG-15's. There is some information about the different colors used, but I'm not fluent in the language.

Luckily for me, our very own Imodeler friend Dmitry Stropalov has been helping me out a lot with various translations and color recommendations. So thank you very much Dmitry @starfar
for all of your help !

Here’s a good color chart for several Soviet colors.

and a photo showing a relic that was painted in the color A-14. The relic looks to be much lighter than the color chart.

Earlier I had mixed up some Tamiya Neutral Gray XF-53 and painted the landing gear struts, inner doors, and landing gear bays using this color. To me it looked way too dark. Dmitry thought so too... so back to the drawing board.

After comparing the color spray card on the Tamiya XF-53 color next to the actual FS chip in my color book, you can see just how dark the Tamiya color is.

It’s way darker than FS 26187.
After discussing things several times with Dmitry and Chuck Villanueva, I did something a little odd.

I took colors from my paint stash, and mixed them up very well so that all of the pigments would be blended into the suspension. Then I simply brushed the colors on a paper towel.

Once the colors dried, I picked one that looked to be the closest to the color that was provided by Dmitry with his Yak model. Here you can see a good example of A-14 inside the landing gear wells of his Yak.

I chose this color. It's FS 36375 "Light Ghost Gray".

I mixed some up and sprayed the parts again... This time I was much happier. You can see the difference between the darker Tamiya color on the top wing, and the much lighter gray on the bottom wing.

I think this is very close to what the actual A-14 color could look like. I placed it next to a color card that I painted at the same time to use as a future reference for Soviet builds. The wing is sitting on the sample spray card.

Then I compared the "A-14" card to the one I sprayed out for the cockpit color which was a blue gray color. The blue gray color is on top, the A-14 below in the next two pictures. The lighting can affect how it looks a little.


The color is advertised as FS 36375, but once it dried, it was actually more like FS 36373. You can see the cards placed next to my Federal Standards color chip book.

So now I have the color problems sorted out. I couldn't have done this without the help of my two friends, Dmitry @starfar

and Chuck. @uscusn

Next step will be to assemble the front fuselage section once the cockpit details have been picked out.

Thanks again gentlemen, without your help, this would not be anywhere near as correct as it is now.

As always,
Comments are encouraged.

Great start Louis - and you've answered a question for me on the cockpit colour!

I have been working diligently on getting several previously started builds completed.

These models have self imposed deadlines on them. This will make more sense when you read the stories during the reveal articles on these planes.

Now that I am fairly certain the deadlines will be met, I will add this kit to the MiG Group Build.

It's the Hobby Craft 1/48 MiG-17F. From what I have read, it's not very detailed. I plan on building it as is, right from the box (warts and all).

It will fit in nicely with the other MiG-15 builds that I have stared. I hope to paint it up as a plane that was flown by "Col. Tomb", if he actually existed... This could possibly lead up to a few F-4 Phantoms eventually, maybe a Crusader or even a F-105 "Thud"... although much later down the road.

For now, I have some MiG's to build...

So please stay tuned as the "Iron Werks" gears up for some new aircraft subjects. There will be a learning curve, which is a good thing.

Hello Pedro @holzhamer
You really don't see too many of them built up. A little while ago we had one posted here on Imodeler and it looked really good. In fact, it was what has inspired me to start building this last addition, the Hobby Craft MiG-17.

Granted it's not a shake and bake kit like a Tamiya or a Hasegawa, but I've been enjoying the build none the less. That's what it's all about, having fun.

Please stay tuned for the next installment... I think you will like it. The HC MiG 17 is now just as far along on the build as the rest of the Tamiya group of MiG-15's are. So things are caught up.

A true MiG factory! 😀

Greetings everyone !

Over the past few days I managed to get some work done on the MiG's. I feel like I have definitely made some progress.

I wanted to install the new resin seat in the 17.

I also wanted to save the original kit supplied seat, but I had glued it in, and did a bang up job with it. It was stuck so I ended up sanding away the floor and the rear bulkhead. Then I had to fabricate these parts using flat plastic sheet.


The new resin seat was test fit... and it fit nicely.


Following this, I re sprayed the new parts to match the rest of the cockpit.

Next the new seat was painted and reinstalled.

The final touch was to add a few drops of clear gloss over the instrument panel gauges. It really won't be seen, but hey...

Stay tuned for "Part 2"