Pellsons Perceivings

[Pellson]

Oh, we did have a good cleaning of the office/building corner today. Or rather the entire room. Mrs P got a bit inspired with the vacuum cleaner, so I had to do an emergency clear-out of all the stuff that's just gotten stored along the walls. And a good thing that was! Not putting everything back as it was, I've now managed to get things in better order, plus there's not a dust rat in sight.
It's strange what you can do if you just get started, innit?

[Rick Lowe]

It's strange what you can do if you just get started, innit?

That's just what I keep telling myself... One day, I may even listen... 

[NARSES2]

It's fascinating how much difference the decals actually make. Suddenly, there's life in an entirely different way, and the model just starts to look right. And then the varnish just closes it off, once that gets on too. Amazing, in a way.

That is oh so true, it's the moment they come to life for me 

[PR19_Kit]

It's fascinating how much difference the decals actually make. Suddenly, there's life in an entirely different way, and the model just starts to look right. And then the varnish just closes it off, once that gets on too. Amazing, in a way.

That is oh so true, it's the moment they come to life for me 

And I'm right there with the pair of you.

It stops being a collection of plastic bits with a daub of paint on top, and suddenly it's a MODEL! 

[Old Wombat]

It's fascinating how much difference the decals actually make. Suddenly, there's life in an entirely different way, and the model just starts to look right. And then the varnish just closes it off, once that gets on too. Amazing, in a way.

That is oh so true, it's the moment they come to life for me 

And I'm right there with the pair of you.

It stops being a collection of plastic bits with a daub of paint on top, and suddenly it's a MODEL! 

Yup! 

[Pellson]

Speaking of varnish. I'm contemplating the finish of the Soviets. Does one want them to be matt (and possibly a tad dirty) or satin? The colour recommendations I have found point towards satin, but to be honest - available photo documentation is ambiguous.

It seems newer PVO interceptors are satin, methinks. Look at this MiG-31BM, f.i. I think it's rather evident that the main colour is satin whereas the radome and other dielectric panels are matt.

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The finish on this MiG-23M, however, is a bit less clear.

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Obviously, in real life, all soviet interceptors up to the Flogger we're finished unpainted, such as this Yak-28P, but I'm not really fond of NMF, so that's not for me. But the shot is nice.

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Well. I'll just have to make a decision, it seems.

[Pellson]

Satin, but with grime. That's what it'll be. Looking at old service photos, it doesn't feel as if the Soviet Air Force spent each and every day polishing aircraft, so I think this'll be good.

[Old Wombat]

Sounds like a plan! 

Soviet aircraft aren't my thing, they just look big & ugly, to me - trying to achieve with brute force & gracelessness what the West was doing with sophistication & elegance.

[Rick Lowe]

It's fascinating how much difference the decals actually make. Suddenly, there's life in an entirely different way, and the model just starts to look right. And then the varnish just closes it off, once that gets on too. Amazing, in a way.

That is oh so true, it's the moment they come to life for me 

And I'm right there with the pair of you.

It stops being a collection of plastic bits with a daub of paint on top, and suddenly it's a MODEL! 

Yup! 

Yup, again. 

[PR19_Kit]

...........what the West was doing with sophistication & elegance.

Like the Douglas Globemaster and the Blackburn Beverley as prime examples. 

[zenrat]

A variety of sheens makes the model look less like a model IMO.  Maybe mix satin airframe with matt radome.

[NARSES2]

Obviously, in real life, all soviet interceptors up to the Flogger we're finished unpainted, such as this Yak-28P, but I'm not really fond of NMF, so that's not for me. But the shot is nice.

You cannot view this attachment.

Well. I'll just have to make a decision, it seems.

I find the rivet/panel lines on that fuselage fascinating for some reason

[Old Wombat]

...........what the West was doing with sophistication & elegance.

Like the Douglas Globemaster and the Blackburn Beverley as prime examples. 

I would point out Blackburn Beverley - that's unfair, they were renown for the ugliness of their designs*!

With the C124 Globemaster - the Soviets didn't have anything in that size range (most of their designs being more in the range of the C-74 Globemaster of WW2).

And I note that those two aircraft are remarkable for being amongst the few 1950s Western designs to be butt-ugly.




[*: With the exceptions, in my opinion, of the Ripon, Iris, Beagle, Bluebird IV, Sydney, Baffin, B-7, Firebrand & Buccaneer. With over 80 designs, that's not a great record.]

[Pellson]

A variety of sheens makes the model look less like a model IMO.  Maybe mix satin airframe with matt radome.

That's exactly the way I'm doing it. I'll add a pic or two in relevant thread in due course. 

[Dizzyfugu]

The Soviet ADF MiG-23s were painted in an overall air superiority grey - it looks metallic, and I fell for that with my first MiG-23 build ever ~25 years ago, and I tried to create the look just from pic slike this with a mic of Humbrol 56 and 35 (alu dope and white).


1:72 MiG-23M, "57 Yellow", IA-PVO (Soviet Defence Air Force); unknown squadron, early 80ies (Academy kit) by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr

Earlier aircraft were frequently only protected/painted with a clear cote over NMF (different panel shades remein visible), or with a silver lacquer, what creates a rather uniform look - but that's quite easy to reproduce on a model. It just looks like a poor attempt to create an NMF finish...