1/72 Matchbox Mig-21 bis  

by Rupesh Santoshi 

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  India Independence Day 2004 

 

This Matchbox Mig-21 bis is my effort to build some skill at scale modeling as I rejoin the hobby after a long hiatus.  I love Mig-21’s with their sleek and aggressive look and decided to build this cheap $4 kit. Except for the homemade decals, scratch built antennas and cutting the canopy in two, this was an OOB build. The Matchbox kit is not a true representation of a Mig-21 bis and needed a lot of work on the tail and nose (and many other areas).  This Mig-21 bis is from the Flying Lances squadron, No. 15, of the Indian Air Force that converted to Mig-21 bis a/c in 1975.  Aircraft C2196 sports an air combat training aggressor color scheme that immediately caught my eye.

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The best part of the kit was the excellent wing-root fit that requiring minimal filler. The rest of the fit was sadly Matchbox quality, and I practiced filling, filing, sanding and polishing for hours. I also decided to cut the single-piece canopy to pose it open because it fit poorly on the a/c. However, getting a clean cut through the thick plastic was an effort. Pencil lead was used to prop the canopy open and I used sheet styrene to fashion various antennae. While painting, my airbrush failed and the finish was marred by the infamous ‘orange peel’ effect. I stripped the paint job using EZ-Off (ARC tip) and repainted with acrylic ghost gray, lightened with white in sections to simulate weathering. I made most decals at home as none were available for this particular a/c in the aftermarket. I printed my art on Experts-Choice™ laser decal paper that was coated with Micro Liquid Decal Film. The Flying Lance insignia, black tail stripes, and a/c serial number are all home made. I took the IAF roundels and fin flash from a spare Super Scale Decal sheet. Finally, I used hard pastels to create a panel wash (ARC tip) to capture the dirty, used look of most IAF Mig-21s. 

Rupesh

Photos and text © by Rupesh Santoshi