1:72 Mikoyan Mig-21U Mongol A canopy airbrush mask

The two-seat MiG-21 for pilot training

The trainer version of the famous Soviet fighter came about by inserting a second station into the fuselage of the first production machines, which still had a slender vertical tail and a low spine. The extra seat was paid for in fuel capacity and part of the armament, but in return the air forces got an aircraft on which the transition to supersonic equipment could be taught without improvising. The instructor in the back could only see forward through a periscope, because the front seat blocked his view of the runway. The designation Mongol A belongs to the oldest two-seat variant.

Two cockpits, twice the masking

Compared with the single-seater, the trainer has a pair of hinged canopies and windscreens to go with them, so there are considerably more clear parts on the model. Tracing the frames by hand costs twice the time here, and the inaccuracies add up as well: the two cockpits lie right next to each other and the eye compares them at a glance.

A closing tip

Cover the inside of the canopies with liquid mask or a piece of foam so that no spray mist gets in. On two-seat machines that goes double, because dust settled in the rear cockpit can never be cleaned out once the parts are cemented.

What to have ready beforehand

• A sharp scalpel for lifting the individual stencils off the sheet.
• Tweezers with fine jaws; fingers are too coarse for this work.
• Liquid mask or foam for covering the inside of both cockpits.
• A sheet of paper for covering the rest of the model against reflected mist.