Eastern Express 1/72 MiG-21-93 (Later Bison) [www.bharat-rakshak.com]

Random Image

Date: 11/07/2008 Views: 149

Date: 07/14/2009 Views: 40

Date: 10/25/2009 Views: 5

Date: 05/27/2007 Views: 740

Date: 08/24/2006 Views: 436

Get item URLs RSS Feed for this Album

Get item URLs	Get item URLs
Get item URLs	Get item URLs
Get item URLs	Get item URLs
Get item URLs

Eastern Express 1/72 MiG-21-93 (Later Bison)

Size: 7 items

Eastern Express's MiG 21-93 kit in 1/72 scale is an excellent starting point for modeling the Indian Air Force's MiG 21Bison. The MiG 21-93 of RAC MiG / SOKOL (Russia), is one of three ongoing upgrade programs to improve the avionics, weapons delivery and electronic counter measures of existing MiG 21bis aircraft. The Indian Air Force MiG 21-93 upgrade program is supposed to extend the life of the MiG 21bis and upgrade the avionic capabilities of the existing aircraft. A key element of the upgrade is the incorporation of the formidable Phazatron Kopyo (Spear) lightweight multi-mode radar. The four most optically prominent changes to the Bison aircraft from the Bis version are the expanded nose section to house a new "Spear" radar, the "bubble" canopy, the vertical tail fin with the Radar Warning Receiver Antennae, and the distinctive over-wing Conformal ECM Dispensers (for chaff and flares). The IAF MiG 21s upgraded to the -93 standard are called "Bison", and take on the suffix "CU" before the aircraft serial numbers (the "U" indicates upgraded). This particular aircraft, C2777, was one of two undergoing trials in 2000 at the Sokol Plant in Nizhny Novgorod, Russia (the other was C2769). It sports unique markings that include the IAF crest and the nose serial "001" suggesting it was the first of the two upgraded aircraft. The spectacular tricolor scheme based on the colors of the Indian flag was the main reason I decided to make this model. I began with the cockpit, which was devoid of any detail. The kit provides decals for the main and side control panels, which are totally different from those of the Bison. Therefore, I used thin plastic card and decals to fashion a Bison control panel. I also had to scratch-build the head-up-display with bent wire (regular staples) and clear-plastic card tinted yellow (acrylic yellow and Future(r) floor wax). I added the starboard angle-of-attach indicator from styrene, and reshaped the over-wing ECM dispensers. The Bison dispensers have a hump at the rear of the dispensing unit that I molded from Squadron(r) putty. The bubble canopy, though accurate, does not fit properly over the coaming. I used putty to smooth the fuselage-to-windshield surface and posed the canopy open because of the poor fit. I also added some antennas that are unique to the Bison. The paint scheme of C2777 required some planning and considerable masking. I used the three reference photos of the aircraft on bharat-rakshak.com (an amazing site for Indian military reference) to map out the tricolor paint scheme. But, there were several areas (over wing and under wing) where it was unclear exactly how the paint scheme was applied; so I guessed. To airbrush the model I used flat white, international orange, dark ghost grey, and medium green. I had to repaint and touch-up several areas of the fuselage where paint had bled through the masking tape. Decals were applied and sealed with Future(r). The decals are my own (except for the roundels and fin flash) as the kit comes with two sets of Russian decals. An acrylic matt finish was applied to reduce the glossy shine of the black anti-glare panel and wheels. I left the remainder of the aircraft in gloss, since it looked better that way. I did not apply any weathering to the model because they looked pretty clean in the reference photos. Interestingly, the MiG 21bis I built (C2196, also posted on this site) has also been converted to a Bison. © 2004 by Rupesh Santoshi

Copyright 2008 Bharat-Rakshak.com. All Rights Reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part in any form or medium without express written permission of BHARAT RAKSHAK is prohibited. If you have any comments, then please send them to us using our Feedback Form.