August's Magyar MiG for Two - FINISHED

[K5083]

My project for this GB will be the Hobby Boss MiG-15 UTI in Hungarian markings.



My plan had been to do the KP MiG-21, but this is going to be a busy month at work, I'm starting late, and I still have an unfinished kit from last month's Monogram GB. So I'm going easy on myself and doing one I should actually finish.

I have no Hungarian decals, but that shouldn't be a problem. Hungarian insignia of the period were white-bordered red stars, like the standard Soviet insignia, with white and green dots in the center. I have lots of USSR stars, and cutting or punching white and green circles should be within my abilities. The only other markings will be tactical numbers for the nose, which are also plentiful.

Hungarian MiG-15UTIs came in both natural metal and camo. I've had some success with metal finishes lately, but it might be time for a change, so right now I'm thinking camo.

August

[TobyC]

I'm doing this as well in Albanian markings. Looking forward to seeing yours

[Dazzled]

Welcome to the GB August. There's, always room for another Mig-15 in any GB as far as I'm concerned, and a 2 seater is particularly welcome

[splash]

It should look good in camo.

Regards Splash

[K5083]

The Hobby Boss cockpit was adequate except for the completely blank instrument panels. I added some detail to those and straps to the seats. The blue I mixed up is not a good match for the yucky east bloc verdigris interior color but when suitably muddied up with a wash, I think it will pass.





August

[Dazzled]

Very nice work on the cockpit August. You've really lifted the derail

[AndrewR]

That looks good

[K5083]

Major assembly well along. I had a slightly easier time than Toby with the fit of the fuselage. I found that the halves will go together with no gaps or ledges but it helps to do it in four or five phases and to have cut off the locator pegs.

I was not able to avoid Toby's difficulties with the wing fit. I cut apart the wings so that I could fit them separately, but it didn't help much. The wings are thinner than the root where they meet, so you are forced to have a ledge to sand down. I needed a small amount of filler toward the rear of the wing root.

Fit of the nose cap wasn't brilliant either. Luckily the plastic is soft and not difficult to work with.

Left the belly windows out so I wouldn't have to mask them. I'll fill them with glue 'n glaze after painting.





August

[K5083]

The build continues. I decided to build this plane with the standard non-conformal drop tanks, which required scratch building the pylons because, as several reviewers have noted, these are omitted from the Hobby Boss MiG-15s despite there being holes present in the wings and tanks to install them. I also closed up the dive brakes and shortened the aerial next to the cockpit, which struck me as about 4mm too long after reviewing photos of real MiGs.



Painting has been delayed because we have had a cold spell here in the American northeast and the garage where I do my spraying is only semi-heated, creating an environment in which neither my airbrush nor its operator functions at its best. Results are improved by adding extra alcohol -- to the operator. After these projects I may revise my building plans over the next few months to avoid doing so much airbrushing.

Paint schemes for Hungarian MiG-15s are difficult to research. Several profile drawings out there seem to show a tan/brown/green scheme, but not supported by much in the way of photographic evidence. Plain brown/green interpretations are also common. Lacking any basis on which to determine the precise colors, I went with what is left over in my paint box from other projects.

August

[TobyC]

You've down a very good job especially with the wing roots. I decided not to go down that route as I just wanted to press on and start work on my Corsair. I did put the black walkways on to cut down the obvious visible step difference. Sort of got away with it but closer inspection does show the inherent kit problem.

[K5083]

We are starting a four-day holiday here in the U.S., and it should be an opportunity to finish the MiG. I got some more spraying done during the week, so here is how it looks going into the holiday. References indicated very soft demarcation lines for the Hungarian camouflage, so I went freehand with this one.



August

[Stuart]

Very nice!

[K5083]

Final effort this weekend to make the GB deadline.



Underside after installing the drop tanks and gear. Wheel wells are dark silver with an ink wash.

Next came the decals and clear coats. The Hungarian decals were assembled from Soviet stars -- the Hobby Boss ones were misaligned, so I used some from another kit -- with overlapping white and green circles cut from random other decals using the most appropriate punches I could find. Roll-out photos:











The tactical numbers on the nose were also from some random other kit decal sheet. They are ahistorical; I chose the number because it's how old I'll be in a couple of months. I still have to install the aerial wire. I barely added enough weight to the nose and it is only because of the way I flattened the bottoms of the main gear tires that it tips onto the nose and not the tail. Overall I found this a fun kit to build and, like several of you, would happily build another.

August

[Dazzled]

That's a fine model August. A superb addition to the GB finishes

[Stuart]

Another supurb Mig-15 - a lovely finish and nice work wirh the markings - the camo looks great.

Cheers

Stuart