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Gary's Very Large MIG 21!
Review and Images
The kit depicted is Trumpeter's 1/32 MiG 21 MF which was released about 4 years ago now and was a significant turning point in quality and design in Trumpeter's 1/32 kits. I had previously built their 1/32 MiG 15 kit which was, to be blunt, a blatant rip-off of Tamiya's 1/48 MiG 15 kit. Despite it being an unlicensed copy they still managed to make a massive mistake with regards to the windshield which featured a totally fictitional front canopy bracing. They copied everything else then screwed up by attempting to "invent" their >own version of the front windshield - quite bizzare! Even minor details such as the decal options were the same as Tamiya's!
With the MiG 21 however it showed that Trumpeter had learnt much from their earlier attempts and having bought several of their 1/32 kits since it can be described as a kit where Trumpeter joined the ranks of the "Big Boys" in modelling. Whilst not up to Hasegawa or Tamiya's quality or refinement it was certainly as good as the better effort by Revell.If you have Revell's 1/32 MiG 29 or Hawker Hunter kits then this kit is about on parity with those in terms of molding and details. I would hasten to add however that it it MUCH better with regards to Revell's attempts at areas such as cockpit and engine details. Quite unusually, as well as a seated pilot figure, the kit also comes with 3 ground crew figures, an ammo loading machine (as shown on my model) and a resin ammo box.
BUILDING THE KIT.
COCKPIT
Quite predictably I started with the cockpit area and trumpeter have made a very good job indeed at modelling both the cockpit of the MiG 21 and the KM-1 ejection seat. I used the "Verlinden MiG 21 - 'Lock On' book as reference throughout. Close study of the Verlinden book showed that Trumpeter had done their homework in this area and it was a very good effort indeed on their part. To be honest, a perfectly good cockpit and ejection seat can be built straight out of the box. The instrument panel is also very well rendered (in clear plastic with an instrument film for dials). The idea is you paint the BACK of the film in gloss white paint and then match it up to the painted instrument panel allowing the previously masked clear dials to show the instrument film. This gives a good representation of instrument dials. I chose however to paint mine by hand and seal them with a generous 'blob' of Tamiya gloss varnish. This reflects just like glass and looks most effective when viewed close up. I would also mention that a very acceptable and detailed seated pilot figure even with a choice of different heads/flight helmets is also provided should you choose to have your MiG 'crewed'. I chose however to ommit the pilot and to add some extra details which included;
1. Lead foil seat belts and parachute pack. Buckles wete etched metal 1/32 from a generic etched detail set. All colours and details were copied from the aforementioned "Verlinden" 'Lock On' book. The distinctive cockpit colour of turquoise green was from the "Xtra color" range of paints . The paint number is listed in the paint reference colours at the end of the article.
2. Lead fishing wire and scrap brass were used to replicate the ground arming/safe cables on the ejector seat ( as depicted in red. Further detailing was added to represent the pipework on the canopy sills and instrument shroud. The red cabling around the ejector seat acts in the same manner as the "Remove before Flight" banners seen on NATO/US machines today. As with many 60's era aircraft the cockpits have a very "busy" look with switches, cables and dials everywhere. No CRT displays in these machines! The cockpit module and ejector seat fit perfectly. I would add however that I did not add the seat until AFTER the model had been sprayed and instead I masked off the cockpit areas.
FUSELAUGE
Also remember before closing up the front fuselauge halves to add a fair lump of lead either above the front wheel well or in the nosecone to ensure your MIG does not become a 'tailsitter'. I added about 1 and a 1/2 OZ of fishing weights inside the radar nosecone and it sits perfectly flat. Remember to seal the weight with something like Epoxy Resin glue or similar to stop it ratttling inside the finished model. Also ensure you fit the main gear wheelwells in place as trying to fit them AFTER you close the 2 halves up would be neigh on impossible. Staying with the fuselauge halves, you have to build up a detailed but rather fidly engine and afterburner nozzle. The detail is very good but for some reason the engine's body is molded in 4 segments as oppossed to the usual 2 halves. Some obvious seams appear but it will be hidden inside the model so no real worry there. You could I suppose choose to display the engine on a 'dolly' or something similar ( one is supplied with the kit!) alongside your finished model. However, that would necessitate a rear FOD cover to prevent a 'see-through' effect at the rear of the aircraft. No FOD cover is suplied so you would have to make your own using plastic card and a circle template/cutter. Your call!
WINGS
These presented no problems other than the 2 halves required a slight rub down on a flat surfact with wet and dry to thin the leading edge and get a better fit in this area. The wings have seperate flaps and slats so you could pose the model with lowered flaps caused by hydraulic 'bleed' and loss of presure should you choose to do so. These areas all fit with no problems at all. When matched to the fuselauge, some slight gaps appeared however these were soon eliminated using small amounts of milliput blended into the seam. MAIN & NOSE GEARS. - These are cast in white metal with rubber tyres. The wheel hubs themselves are plastic. The wheels in turn are held by small screws that screw into the gear components. I am not a fan of rubber tyres as some say they 'perish' after a while when they come into contact with injection plastic. Whilst I have never suffered this problem, to be safe, I placed a coat of HUMBROL Polished steel along the edge of the plastic wheel hub that would make contact with the rubber tyre.
This SHOULD form a seal against any chemical reaction in the years ahead. Resin wheels should you choose to replace the kit's wheels are available from other aftermarket producers including " Cutting Edge" and "Contact Resine" Please note that the metal parts are very hard and the screws had some difficulty in being placed in the thread. I solved this by adding a tiny amount of washing up liquid which acted as a lubricant. If you strip the thread on the screws you would have a real problem on your hands in how to attach the wheels. Take your time, be patient and it will be OK! When fitting the completed u/c legs to the model, for some reason one of the units seemed to want to 'splay' out slightly at an odd angle. One was a very posite fit whereas the other has some play in the plastic slot. I solved this by turning the model upside down, used my line of sight and ensured they stayed true using 2-Part EPOXY RESIN glue rather than superglue. This stuff dries much stronger than superglue and after waiting for it to become 'tacky' ( 90 seconds is ample) I inserted the undercarriage. I gently tweaked the components ensuring they were in line in the 3 minutes or so I had to spare before the glue set firm. Using superglue would severely restrict the amount of time you had to line everything up correctly. The nose gear is perfect with no problems whatsoever. I added some detail in the wheeelbays with scrap brass and soft lead wire to replicate hydraulic and electrical cables. Some of it is directly copied from the reference book whilst some is artistic licence to make it look 'busy'. This is a large and open area and some extra details will enhance the kit considerably when painted.
FINALS/ARMAMENT.
The builder is spoilt for choice with ordance for this kit with 2 different types of drop tanks, bombs, 2 types of rocket pods and about 4 different types of short range and medium range air -to - air missiles. Where applicable, the missiles have clear plastic seeker heads - a nice touch that. All were well detailed however some trimming of flash on the rocket pods was necessary. The drop tanks also quite strangley came in 3 parts - 2 halves and a seperate nose piece. This needed blending with milliput (or any other modelling filler) and sanding slightly to produce a more 'pointed' effect. I chose on my MiG 21 2 x short range missiles ( I think they were AA-2's which were Soviet sidewinder copies) and the 2 larger rocket pods for a secondary air -ground role. These were commonly fitted on the Egyptian A/F machine I modelled from the Arab/Israeli wars of the 70's. I also chose a centreline droptank as the MIG 21 was a notoriously short range aircraft without drop tanks. One point to note - for some reason ANY ordnance that is applied to the INNER pylon next to the main undercarriage will JUST make contact with the gear door. Short of having the pylon angled outwards and looking odd I don't see how this can be avoided. You could of course just leave that pylon empty. It touches however so fractionally that personally I wouldn't fuss about it - I didn't- but it's mentioned just so you know about it and don't think it's something you did.
KIT DECALS.
The kit provides decals for 2 aircraft 1. An Iraqi AF machine in 2 tone sand and blue undersurfaces. 2. A German AF machine with a colourful sharkmouth in a brown green camouflage pattern and pale blue/grey undersurface. Stencil data in the form of the aircraft itself is extensive and numerous stencils are providede for all the weapons - another nice touch. The decals are very thin and well printed with good colour density. I chose not to use the kit decals simply because I wanted to do an Egyptian AF machine. I used the kit airframe and weapons stencils and they reacted very well indeed using MICRO SOL & SET decal solutions. They dried perfectly on a glosy surface with no silvering whatsoever. Given this I can comfortably say that all the decals should perform very well should you choose to use either of the 2 kit options.
PAINTING.
For my Egyptian A.F. machine I used the following colours. COCKPIT - "Xtra color" X 629 Blue/Green Soviet Interior. Please note that I personally found the colour straight out of the tin to be a little too dark so I lightened it about 30% with the same brand of 'RAF SKY'. To my eye this looked much better. For dry brushing I used a 50-50 mix with the cockpit colour and the cockpit blue/green.
UPPER SURFACE. TAMIYA XF-61 DARK GREEN. TAMIYA XF-65 FIELD GREY. TAMIYA XF-59 DESERT YELLOW (LIGHTENED ABOUT 25% WITH TAMIYA XF-55 DECK TAN). The colours and the upper pattern were matched from a colour photograph of an aircraft from the same period and the colours are as good a colour match as I can obtain. If you want to use other brands of paint then you can mix/match them accordingly. To give the model a faded and bleached look from exposure to the desrt sun I used an old armour modelling trick. Once all 3 upper colours had been applied, using the Desert Yellow mix, I very lightly 'ghosted' a fine spray over the model. This had the effect of toning everything down and removing the harsh colour demarcations between the contrasting colours. The key is subtlty - practice before you try it but I am sure you will like the result which prevents the 'factory fresh' look. UNDERSURFACE - This was mixed (using colour photographs) from a number of Tamiya paints including white, pale blue and light grey. The demarcation line between upper and lower colours was 'hard' whilst the upper colours were randomly sprayed on the real thing.
WHEEL HUBS - Dark Green ( 50 -50 TAMIYA mix of XF-61 and XF-5) ECM/NOSECONE - TAMIYA XF-5 - To my mind a perfect match for Soviet ECM and radar cones. WEAPONS Missiles - Satin white with a small dab of gold paint BEHIND the clear plastic missile seaker head. Rocket Pods - Humbrol aluminium body with Humbrol 'metalcote' gunmetal polished with a soft cloth. The ends of the rocket pods were gently drybrushed with steel coloured paint to replicate wear and blast. Exhaust - The bare metal areas were sprayed using ALCLAD 2 metal sprays ncluding 'Jet Exhaust', steeel and a VERY subtle overspray of 'Burnt Metal' >which has a slight gold tone to it. These were then polished to the desired sheen using S&J polishing powder. Weathering - Panel line wash using a drak grey oilpaint wash then various fluid leaks and staining details using pastel chalks. VERY slight paint chipping was accomplished on some exposed areas using a graphite pencil - 'silver' is too bright and unrealistic! All colours were shot using a double action Badger 100 airbrush and the paint thinned at a ratio of 50-50 with TAMIYA thinner.
DECALS USED
I used the " Cutting Edge" decal sheet CED 32022 ' Mig 21 PART 1'. Suffice it to say these performed faultlessly and are of a very high quality. This sheet includes options for both Egyptian and Soviet machines in both multi coloured camo. schemes and Natural Metal finishes. The photo's were my first attempt using a digital camera - so I appologise if they are less than studio quality!
CONCLUSIONS.
Did I like the MiG 21 - you bet! With a little extra work you can produce a superb replica of this important Soviet jet. there is no need to buy any expensive resin cockpit sets and you can add basic details yourself. After all - that's half the fun of modelling! I liked this kit so much that I went out and also bought MiG 21 F-13 and the F-7 MG versions to build in the future. At the time of writting I am planning to have the model put on display in the cabinet at "MARCWAY MODELS, ATTERCLIFFE, SHEFFIELD" - Go along and have a look - then ask Richard to order you one! Well done Trumpeter.
Click on thumbnail for larger image
(C) Gary Needham May 2004
What can i say, great article Gary, hope to see more of your work in the near future! Jules-Webmaster
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