1/72 Fujimi MiG-21PF Batman

Gallery Article by Francois Poulic on July 14 2003

 

Hi modellers of the world, here is my first attempt at a Bare Metal Finish on a subject I love a lot, the legendary MIG21.  Here is one of the very early PF versions, just after the F13 type, and as usual I was looking for something special to do from that period, Russian deco was very basic, BMF, red stars and a big number.  Then I found a very impressive decoration in an old ZLINEK publication with a big bat nose art !

Also, the big "deal" of that version is that kind of "double canopy", very visible if you let the real canopy open.  So the base of the cockpit is done with an Aeroclub white metal seat, Eduard panel and a scratch build frame from F117 clear part, very thin Evergreen foil and translucent foil for copier. 

 

Click on images below to see larger images

The rest of the assembly and was OOB, apart from the airbrakes taken from a KP ( yes the plastic moulder) etched set found in an Tiger Meet open day at Cambrais, home of Mirage2000.  The aft of these airbrakes was reshaped with some milliput.

The painting was done with Testor Metalizer, without any sealing varnish.  I'm not very happy by the aspect as I find that the difference between the panel does not look real, too "flat". 

The decals are a mixture of recovery from various decals sources, the bat is hand painted, then a light wash of raw amber was applied, at that time with a large amount of fear for the survival of the BMF paint, but if doing it quickly, that is working.

I hope that you've enjoyed that article, but I would also you to comment on one of my "bad" feelings.......in profile I still find that the model does not look as real as a real MIG21.......too short nose, wings a little to high on the fuselage.......please let me know !

Francois Poulic

      

Photos and text © by Francois Poulic