sprayed a few black lines roughly
along major panel edges and
control surface breaks. Whilst I
did want some sort of contrast, my
intention was to avoid a “grid” on
the finished model, so the shading
was by no means on every panel
line, and did not always follow
the line precisely. The aim was to
provide a very subtle contrast in
shade once the grey was applied.
The main colour is specified as
Revell 371 or Tamiya XF-80. I used
the latter, and it certainly resembled
the colour on my references. The
first coat highlighted some areas
needing a little further attention
from a sanding stick. Once this
was done a second coat was
applied and allowed to dry. I then
sprayed the centres of some panels
with a fine coat of a lightened
XF-80 in a mottling effect.
I now masked the tail area to
enable me to paint the metallic
areas. In side view seeing where
to mask is easy enough, but the
upper and lower plan views on
the colour diagrams are of the
wings only. The fuselage is only
shown in side views, and I could
find no clear photographs of the
lower fuselage to guide me. In the
end, I decided to paint the lower
engine areas aluminium, up to
where the demarcation is on the
side view, but leave the centre of
the fuselage between the engines
in grey. The metallic paint I used
was Vallejo Metallics Semi-Matt
Aluminium. Once dry and cured,
I masked this and lightly applied
some Tamiya X-31Titanium
Gold to add some variation.
At this point teenage memories
of seeing F-100s at Lakenheath,
with their characteristic heat-stained metallic rear fuselages,
made me wonder whether to try
for a similar effect here – those
huge engines must get very hot,
surely! But I could find no photos
with any sort of effect like that, so
I contented myself with polishing
selected panels with my jealously-
guarded supply of SNJ powder.
It was then a simple matter to
mask and spray the darker grey
areas (don’t forget those under
the nose) and the black anti-
dazzle panel. Finally I applied a
coat of Tamiya X-22 Gloss, and
it was time for the decals.DECALS
The decals for the main markings
of this option are few in number:
six stars and two Bort numbers. The
stencils are far more numerous,
and in many cases extremely
small. They are also contained on
a small sheet, and it is sometimes
difficult to work out which decal
the number printed on the sheet
refers to. A combination of ageing
eyesight and sheer laziness led me
to add only the larger and more
obvious stencils, taking guidance
from photographs as to which ones
were visible on the real aircraft
from a typical viewing distance.
I kept weathering fairly
understated, with just a light
dusting of pastel chalks. After
a coat of satin varnish and matt
on the anti-dazzle panel, the
MiG was almost completeFINAL DETAILS AND A
SMALL PROBLEM
To complete the model was mostly
a matter of adding various details.The jet outlet “tail feathers”
were added with no problems, and
some weathering inside the jet
pipes done, with a light dry-brush
of silver on a very few highlights,
and light grey pastel chalks.
The bomb racks on the wings
had a slight issue, as the distance
between the pins did not quite
match the distance between their
locating holes, but it was a simple
matter to remove the rear pin
from each rack. On the fuselage,
the instructions specify drilling
locating holes to mount the bomb
racks. It would have been helpful
if these had been flashed over and
drilled from the inside earlier, but
no, the first mention is at stage 108,
very near the end of construction,
and I had not noticed it earlier.
There is nothing on the plasticto indicate where to drill, so it was
necessary to estimate, using the
instructions as a guide. Starting
with the rear rack, I identified
where the rack fitted as it has a
distinctive bridge over some raised
detail. I then put some paint on the
end of the front pin and while this
was still wet I held the rack in place,
and sure enough there was a small
dot of paint to show where to drill.
The front rack was done in a similar
manner, although I identified
and drilled the front location and
then “dotted” the rear one.
Next up were the undercarriage
doors. Starting with the nose
wheel, I’d managed to break off the
rather vulnerable mounting for the
part of the nose wheel door that
appears to double as a mudguard.
Being concerned about its strength,Finished: Spitfire PR19 to same scale to give some idea of size.“IN MY FIRST LOOK AT THIS KIT I SAID
“THIS KIT PROMISES A REWARDING BUILD
...”, AND I CAN SAY WITHOUT DOUBT THAT
THE KIT DELIVERED ON ITS PROMISE”
12 • MAY 2018 • SCALE AVIATION MODELLER INTERNATIONAL
006-13-FEAT-MiG25-0518.indd 12 13/04/2018 14: