1:32 MiG-21 Around The World - Vietnam

The fighter that made its name over the north of Vietnam

The North Vietnamese Air Force took over its first MiG-21s in the mid-1960s and set them against the American formations heading for the northern part of the country. There the light supersonic machine met opponents a class heavier, and its pilots worked out a tactic of short strikes from below, followed by a quick departure from the area. It was precisely this chapter that made the Fishbed one of the best-known fighters of the Cold War, and models in its colors of the time belong among perennially sought-after subjects.

A sharp edge without lining in with a brush

The die-cut edge of the mask determines the shape of the insignia before an airbrush is reached for. That does away with the most unpleasant part of handwork, where a single tremble of the hand means respraying a whole panel and starting again. The resulting markings are part of the layer of paint, so after a matte sealing coat no glossy square of carrier film shows through anywhere and no step is created for dust to catch on.

Before you reach for the airbrush

Keep to the order from the lightest shade to the darkest, or the layers will cover each other needlessly and the edge will thicken. Press the edge of the mask down along its whole length, not just in the middle, and run a fingernail over it through a soft cloth. Choose heavily thinned paint and apply it in short bursts led from the edge inward over the area. Nothing will then get under the mask even during longer work, and you will manage the removal with flat-jawed tweezers in a moment. Let the finished model cure properly before you pick it up.