1/48 Revell CF-121 Redhawk

Gallery Article by Robert Heeps on Dec 5 2011

 

Although I have been an avid follower of ARC for years, this is my first submission. So here it goes.

Back in April, Andy Stephenson, a long time friend and aviation buff told me about an article on the "Vintage Wings" web site about Canada's purchase of 30 MiG 121 "Fishbeds" The article is quite extensive, must have taken a lot of work to compile and is well worth reading. You can find it by going to "Vintage Wings CF-121", next click on "The Breaking point - Redhawk"

According to the article Canada was looking for a replacement fighter for the scrapped Avro Arrow and decided on the MiG 21. It goes on to explain the political problems, their deployment, resale back to the USSR and their eventual use by the North Vietnamese Air Force. They even show it on the Canadian Armed Forces web site!!

As I read the article red flags started to pop up. First the only RCAF 121 was the CP-121 Grumman Tracker. I could not find any reference in any of my research material and I know the "gate guards" at Cold Lake are CF-100, CF-101, CF-104 etc. but no CF-121! 

At the end of the article the is a link to "Save the Strat Program" to donate. Being cheap I did not go to the link, if I had I would have found out it was an April Fools joke!

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The build.
I found an old Revell kit of a MiG 21 that was produced back in the 70's. I built it basically out of the box adding a few extras and opening vents and gun ports. I tried to replicate the faded aluminum finish by mixing a little flat white with Model Master's aluminum.

The checkerboard tail decals and the label were produced using Printmaster, the rest of the decals are from my spares box. I then sprayed the kit with Dullcoat, then weathered with pastels.

After modeling for over a half century, I have not been able to do much due to some medical problems. It is satisfying to get back at it, although a little frustrating at times as it's like learning all over again. The following are some shots of my hobby room.

Robert Heeps aka Fireboss

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Photos and text © by Robert Heeps