White 36, 401 IAP

[Seawinder]

I've got the paint on and am waiting for the tail numbers to arrive from Joseph Osborn of Fireball Modelworks. I designed them on my computer from Massimo's profile; he's printing them.

It looks, both from the profile and from photos of other 401 aircraft, that the red stars had no black outlines. Is this correct? About when did the change-over of styles occur?

Pip

[KL]

Red stars on MiGs that were made before the GPW had black outlines!

[jonbius]

Very nice work! I just finished the Trumpeter MiG-3 Late Version myself, as well as the Ark Models (ICM) kit of the same airplane. I enjoyed both, but the Trumpeter was a much more pleasant build.

Your work looks great!

[Seawinder]

Red stars on MiGs that were made before the GPW had black outlines!

Thanks, Konstantin. What would be your opinion on the plane in question?

Pip

[Seawinder]

Very nice work! I just finished the Trumpeter MiG-3 Late Version myself, as well as the Ark Models (ICM) kit of the same airplane. I enjoyed both, but the Trumpeter was a much more pleasant build.

Your work looks great!

Thanks, Jon. I too built the ICM kit years ago, and actually thought it went together better than I was expecting given the complex wing-fuselage assembly. The Trumpeter kit is indeed more refined, but of course not without problems. I used an Eduard PE set to help the cockpit, filled and smoothed the skeletal control surfaces, and am presently trying to get the exhaust area truer to the early version.

Pip

[John Thompson]

I've got the paint on and am waiting for the tail numbers to arrive from Joseph Osborn of Fireball Modelworks. I designed them on my computer from Massimo's profile; he's printing them.

Looks great - nice job of showing the distinction between AIIZ and A-19 paints.

John

[Seawinder]

Looks great - nice job of showing the distinction between AIIZ and A-19 paints.
John

Thanks, John. I used Model Master 34079 straight up for the AII Z, and half-and-half 34102-334151 for the A-19. It only works because the Model Master colors aren't particularly accurate representations of those FS numbers.

I'm still hoping for opinions on the stars -- black outlines or no outlines?

Pip

[Massimo Tessitori]

I suggest to choose stars with black outlines for the planes with the prewar finish.
Regards
Massimo

[KL]

Red stars on MiGs that were made before the GPW had black outlines!

Thanks, Konstantin. What would be your opinion on the plane in question?

Black outline was standard from May 1940 to June 1941.  From summer 1941 black outline was supposed to disappear from VVS planes.
Was the plane in question made before June/July 1941?  If yes, stars had black outline.

[Seawinder]

Thanks, Massimo and Konstantin. Black outlines it is!

Pip

[Seawinder]

On another related topic, has anybody else noticed that the radio mast in the Trumpeter kit is drastically short? 9 mm compared to 18 mm in the ICM kit.

[B_Realistic]

Nice.
Prints Fireball Modelworks every decals you prefer?

[Seawinder]

Nice.
Prints Fireball Modelworks every decals you prefer?

Absolutely. Fireball is Joseph Osborn, who lives in Florida. I'm always happy to recommend him. He does really nice work with his ALPS printer, and his rates are very reasonable. $5.00 including postage for the "36" sheet. I do the designs in Illustrator or InDesign, translate them to EPS format, and email them directly to him.

http://www.fireballmodels.info/
Contact and other information is at the page.
Pip

[KL]

Pip, lower part of the rudder should be light blue.  This is according to the Manuel and according to Massimo's profile:

[Seawinder]

Pip, lower part of the rudder should be light blue.  This is according to the Manuel and according to Massimo's profile:

Right you are. Missed that, thanks.
Pip