More flying stuff - A chequered MiG 21.

One of the more recent "discoveries" I did was how much fun it is to build the models designed by the members of the TSMC. These Japanese guys create some really well-designed models.

I already made their F-105, the F-16 and their T-38. Now it was time to take on the MiG-21. I chose the Croatian Mig, painted in the design of the red and white chequered weapon shield as seen in their flag.
So that is an extra thing on top of the already meticulous design, to get all the lining up of all these blocks right. As all TSMC builds, this one too is a bit of a challenge, it has a couple of parts that are very hard to get right in one go but the end result is marvellous. More build photos after the jump.

 

So I did make photos of this build but not all the way through. I guess the building was a little fragmented because of my day job. And the spare time I have is divided between being with my girlfriend and building these models and lots of other things. So when I actually are building stuff I tend to forget to make photos all the time. In this case it would have been useful, I guess because there is one thing which is less than perfect with TSMC's models and that is their instructions. They provide the builder with pictures but they are very small and quite underdetailed. You hardly can see any parts or where stuff goes.
Luckily, there is the real stuff to refer to. And after some puzzling the complex parts also come together.

The part where the canopy will go.

The place where ultimately the wing section will live. The grey part is the tail section.
Also clear to see I used my own glue strips to get rid of overlapping seams

Nose gear wheel well. Great detail on such a small free model.

I really enjoy the fine details in the model. TSMC usually have articulated landing gear wells and this one is no exception. The main gear wheel wells are one of those hard parts. The belly of the fuselage needs to be glued over them and it has narrow margins when it comes to fitting. That makes this one a bit challenging, to say the least.

Nose gear wheel well from the front.

More looks inside the hull.

The Main gear wheel wells consist of two parts each. The mech is in the wing and the wheel itself is in the fuselage. The fuselage wheel well part is a complex shape which has to connect with the part in the wings. The whole shebang is held together by the fuselage section which will ultimately cover the wing section. All parts on TSMC models that are covered in a later stage are indicated in green.

After that, I built further but forgot to make photos. The fuselage part over the wheel wells was relatively easy to do. There were lots of bulges and strakes and protrusions all across the hull. The bulges were created by using an embossing ball on a shammy to round the bits all over. They were edge glued onto the hull.

The wheels too were easy to build and by looking at photos easy to apply to the model. The jet engine was designes with some nice inner detailing to improve the overall look. The construction of the nose wheel also went smoothly. Canopy was added to the glue tabs on top as well as the razorback to the tail section.

The empennage was a little tricky, because the parts had to have a little curve at the front and that was where the joinery was. In the end experience and skill got them where I wanted. This model is no beginners model but very very much fun to make! I recently gave the cockpit windows a dab of acrylic clear paint.

Here's more photos of the MiG.

That's it! More next time!

Stay safe, be kind and Slava Ukraini.

--PK