MiG Ye-6T/3 (Canard MiG-21)

[McGreig]

This project was started in August 2008 (as a quick build - ha!!) and ground to a halt in April 2009. The original thread is at www.whatifmodelers.com/index.php/topic,21151.0.html The model was finally completed yesterday - four years and one month after the start date (although I don't suppose that that's anywhere near a record on this forum - - -  )

The original idea was to try to improve the Hasegawa MiG-21. 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 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.



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.



The second photo 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. The aileron is now proportionately too big, but I think that I can live with this. Likewise, the modified Hasegawa kit is still too deep in the fuselage, but the span and length are much more accurate.



It wasn't part of the original plan but, because I was doing a lot of cutting and filling anyway, I decided that it might be a good idea to go a little further than simply accurizing the Hasegawa kit and, after a bit of thought, I settled on modifying it to represent the Ye-6T/3.



This was essentially a Mig-21F with "destabilisers" (cropped delta canards) fitted on the sides of the extreme nose.



After the tests on the Ye-6T/3 prototype the destabilisers were fitted to the Ye-8 (MiG's intended MiG-21 successor) and they were planned (but not fitted) for the Ye-152M and MiG-25. 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.



I also decided fairly early in this project that it was going to have a whiff colour scheme. The problem with Soviet-era prototypes is that, although they may have exotic shapes, their appearance is otherwise relatively boring and the real Ye-6T/3 was no exception. It was left in overall aluminium with six red stars.



Apart from the difficulty of getting a good aluminium finish on the Hasegawa kit after it had been bashed about so severely, this was simply visually unappealing.



A Chinese scheme seemed a reasonable alternative. 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.



The blue scheme was inspired by a couple of real world Chinese schemes, although it is not an exact copy of any one scheme.

[sandiego89]

Nice surgery and paint- great job!

[bearmatt]

Very nice one. Love the camo!

[Dizzyfugu]

Very nice! Totally agree, the Hasegawa MiG-21F is a joke, and a great conversion as a Chinese machine, too.
I had a similar problem with my Ye-3, too, and was tempted to make it a non-NMF type, but finally settled for the conservative Soviet prototype finish. The Chinese paint scheme is pretty, IIRC this is a pattern used on either a demo machine or in a museum. It looks great, anyway. 

Chinese MiGs are inspiring - at the moment I ponder with the idea of converting a Matchbox MiG-21MF (another case of horror) into a J-7FS as a service type. It has a pointed radome above a raked lip intake (very F8U-3-like), the double delta wings of the late J-7 developments, and a modified fin which looks a bit F-16-like.

[NARSES2]

Now that does look good 

[Army of One]

I like it.. ....did you think about moving the main wings back, dispensing with the tail planes and larger canards....??

[lancer]

That is truely excellent....

[McGreig]

Thanks for the positive feedback.

Chinese MiGs are inspiring - at the moment I ponder with the idea of converting a Matchbox MiG-21MF (another case of horror) into a J-7FS as a service type. It has a pointed radome above a raked lip intake (very F8U-3-like), the double delta wings of the late J-7 developments, and a modified fin which looks a bit F-16-like.

That sounds like an interesting approach. I have the (expensive) Omega resin kit of this version and, looking at the parts, I don't think that there is anything that I couldn't have done myself as a kitbash

Did you think about moving the main wings back, dispensing with the tail planes and larger canards....??

Not for this model as I wanted to build a recognisable MiG-21, but I have thought of this approach for the Su-15. About a year ago I was talking about this to a Russian modeller who suggested that Sukhoi had studied a version of the Su-15 which looked pretty much like a Viggen, although I've never come across any verification of this.

In the meantime, coming soon to a Forum near you (I hope!) should be the finished versions of these two other three-surface fighters - - -

[Army of One]

Looking forward to them......

[NARSES2]

Looking forward to them......

As am I