by [b]Mukul Krishna[/b]
I have returned to making models after over a year's gap. I just did not have the heart after a disastrous move that destroyed much of the models I built coupled with a get-together at my home from hell where some kids left unchecked destroyed the few that survived. The only ones that still survive are the scant few that I had gifted to my friends and my balsa models.
While stocking up on more models that I would eventually get around to building I came across a Tamiya 1/100 MiG-21 Fishbed. The tiny kit is actually pretty decent with well fitting parts and engraved panel lines.
I used this kit as a fun project to start building my collection again. The parts fit together well and required basic sanding at the seams. There well no noticeable gaps so I didn’t use any putty for this. Being such a small scale, the cockpit is very bare bones with just the seat. I used some spare salvaged parts from other kits to give it at least the joystick. As always, getting the undercarriage to stick was a pain and arguably took the maximum amount of time. I once again started with using thin liquid cement but I never get satisfied and invariably go back to my favorite – Faller Expert. If you haven’t tried it – its awesome to work with and I highly recommend it.
There really are any options at all in the kit. The only option, so to speak, is building it either flying (undercarriage up) or parked (undercarriage down). It comes with the 2 basic K-13A Atoll AAMs and the 450L tank for the centerline pylon. The decals are also extremely minimal and only give fuselage and wing markings for Soviet, North Vietnamese and Polish aircraft. I didn’t use my airbrush for this small a scale and hand brushed the aircraft. I used modelmaster paints. I painted the aircraft an overall aluminum. The cockpit and wheel-wells are interior green and the jet exhaust was painted with modelmaster’s jet exhaust paint. I would drop a little blob paint on the surface, dip my brusher in the thinner and then painted the aircraft. I was able to achieve a very good consistency this way.
I used Bright Spark decals for the IAF roundels and fin flash. The red triangular “danger ejection” signs on the sides of the cockpit are from a Hasegawa Harrier FRS 1 kit. All in all – it’s a very simple and basic kit. It helped me get back to my hobby after losing a collection I had spent years working on.
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