MiG-T-6/3: Downsizing a Hasegawa MiG-21

McGreig · August 10, 2008, 08:35:34 AM

My modelling seems to have hit a bit of a slump recently.

I'm really pleased with the Spring Break Tu-22M Blinder and the Junkyard Kondratyev fighter, but the SBGB interrupted my Soviet VG Prowler which has never really got back on track, I had to rush my entries for the Piston Perfection and Spat GBs so that my Tupolev 57 remains half built and I had to force myself to finish the Styrene Junkyard GB on time.

Maybe too much building to a theme or a deadline is making modelling a bit of a chore and so I've put my Profile GB models on hold and started a couple of completely fresh builds.

The first of these is a MiG T6/3 (basically a MiG-21 with canard foreplanes) based on the Hasegawa 1/72 MiG-21F. This kit is overscale and, as I've said elsewhere, if you want an accurate MiG-21, don't start from here. But I wondered if it might, after all, be possible to build a reasonably accurate model with this kit. Comparing the parts to the Bilek and Revell kits it seemed that, if you cut it about a bit, you could at least end up with a model that was dimensionally OK.

Now, given that the Bilek and Revell kits exist and that I have several copies of each, there is clearly no real point in accurizing the Hasegawa kit, apart from demonstrating a stubborn attempt to make life difficult. So here we go then - - -

The first photo shows, from the bottom up, the original Hasegawa fuselage, the modified Hasegawa fuselage and the Revell fuselage. At the top of the picture the wings are, from left to right, original Hasegawa, modified Hasegawa and Revell.

McGreig · August 10, 2008, 08:36:30 AM

So far, so good. The modified Hasegawa kit will still be too deep in the fuselage, but the span and length will be much more accurate.

The photo below highlights where the cuts were made - two sections were removed from immediately ahead and behind the wheel well, dividing the fuselage into three before rejoining it. The wing has had a section removed from the root. This results in a wing of correct span and geometry. However, the aileron will now be proportionately too big, but I think that I can live with this.

The finished model will be a whiff - I'm not entirely sure yet but I'm thinking of painting it in Chinese colours. The Chinese are still building their J-7 version of the MiG-21 and they've tried out various Russian-inspired modifications (like the J-7III inspired by the MiG-21MF) as well as their own developments, so it's not too much of a whiff for them to try out the T6/3 mods.

B777LR · August 10, 2008, 09:25:30 AM

Very nice. The Academy 1/72 MiG-21 kit looks like a rebox of this kit

McGreig · August 15, 2008, 05:42:47 AM

Well, this seems to be working as modelling therapy - I'm still enthusiastic and it's making steady progress.

The down-sized MiG-21 is now virtually complete structurally. It's difficult to see without another model for comparison, but the size reduction seems to have worked - it's not perfect but the end result is much closer to 1/72 scale than the original and the proportions look OK to me.

These photos show the airframe after the bulk of the PSR had been done. I've added the canard "destabilisers" tested on the T-6/3, (they still need to have the counter balance rods fitted), a cockpit floor and side consoles but I still have to add a brake parachute container at the base of the fin, an instrument panel and an ejection seat.

Also, as I've definitely decided that it's going to be a PLAAF machine, I'll have to add a second gun (most Chinese J-7s have a gun in both fuselage fairings, not just on the starboard side).

Quote from: B777LR on August 10, 2008, 09:25:30 AM
The Academy 1/72 MiG-21 kit looks like a rebox of this kit

Almost - the Academy kit is an updated clone - the moulding is sharper and it has engraved rather than raised detailing, but it's otherwise identical.

sotoolslinger · August 15, 2008, 09:14:37 AM

You are a creative and yet twisted creature

Beautiful craft

BlackOps · August 15, 2008, 10:40:19 AM

Cool, I like the hammerhead look

McGreig · August 24, 2008, 01:36:36 PM

Slow but steady progress. As you can see in the first photo, an instrument panel and fairing have been added to the front of the cockpit, missile pylons and canard counterbalance rods have been attached, work has started on the brake-chute housing at the base of the fin and a metal ejection seat has been test fitted.

Once the brake-chute housing has been sanded to shape, the cockpit painted and the canopy fitted, it'll be ready for painting.

The second photo shows my research assistant Felice, hard at work studying Herbert Leonard's "Les Chasseurs Polikarpov". Unfortunately, as I'm building MiGs, not Polikarpovs, her input has been of limited value - - -

McGreig · August 24, 2008, 01:40:10 PM

However Felice does have her useful moments - a few days ago (no doubt while trying to get Leonard's companion volume "Les Chtourmovik" off the shelf) she knocked over an old, unbuilt Matchbox MiG-21 kit. The Matchbox kit has a separate nose section and, as I was picking up the pieces, it occurred to me that adding the large nose of the later versions to another cut-down Hasegawa MiG-21F might give me another interesting Chinese whiff (and one that might fool a few people, as the actual Ye-7/1 prototype combined the large nose with the original canopy and fuselage spine).

This is where we've got so far. There's still a fair bit of PSR to do but the new nose has grafted on quite well and the reduction in size of the fuselage and wings was easier second time round. This one will also be Chinese but probably in a three tone blue scheme with four missile pylons.

Damian2 · August 24, 2008, 02:39:37 PM

That last MiG looks pretty damn cool, almost a Mirage MiG if you catch my drift?

D

sotoolslinger · August 25, 2008, 05:33:31 AM

Good kitty

BlackOps · August 25, 2008, 03:41:52 PM

I really like the look of the shortened MiG. I'm going to enjoy watching these progress.

Brian da Basher · August 26, 2008, 02:50:01 AM

I really like how you added the canards on the first one. That's the kind of detail that makes people take a second look!

Brian da Basher

McGreig · September 11, 2008, 03:47:46 PM

More slow but steady progress. I've now finished the brake chute housing and put on a light blue base coat. The base coat has blended everything together nicely and I'm quite pleased with the result - it's looking a lot more like a MiG and less like a hacked about collection of bits. The next stage is to get the canopy and undercarriage fitted, add the additional gun and then carry on with the final painting.

noxioux · September 12, 2008, 09:01:30 PM

Ditto on the canards.

They really fit, whereas sometimes they just look like an afterthought. This thing's a beauty.

McGreig · September 14, 2008, 01:48:46 PM

Quote from: noxioux on September 12, 2008, 09:01:30 PM
Ditto on the canards. They really fit, whereas sometimes they just look like an afterthought. This thing's a beauty.

Much as I'd like to take full credit for the canards, I have to admit that they were, in fact designed by MiG. They were tested on the Ye-6T/3 MiG-21 prototype, actually fitted to the Ye-8 and planned (but not fitted) for the Ye-152M. They are said to have significantly improved the Ye-8's agility and G-limit, so I'm not sure why they weren't adopted for the standard MiG-21.

Incidentally, the Ye-6/2 prototype tested a double delta wing with wider chord tips and wingtip mounted missile rails and I'm thinking of combining these new wings with the Ye-6T/3 canards and a converted Matchbox PFM fuselage to see how the MiG-21 might have looked if these developments had been adopted.