discussion Chris' Trumpeter 1/144 Chengdu J-7E

[Steve-the-Duck]

Is it a MiG? It's in my MiG-21 book!
So, No.3 is going to be built entirely OOB, as I really ought to do at least one of these that way!

The J-7 series are the ultimate development of the Chinese licence-built MiG-21s. They may still be the largest number of fighter aircraft in the PLAAF inventory. Trumpeter do three different J/F -7s, and the J-8, which is so far a development from the MiGs it doesn't really count as one
Sort of
I got a whole slew of the F7-IIs cheap, with the intention of back-dating them to the various prototypes, and then discovered with the Ye-2 just how much work that entails. Nil desperandum though

So, I intend to do one of the five aircraft from the 2008 Olympic Ceremony displays

Just a case of careful masking, right?
Right?
I've half a can of yellow spray left over from my Tintin Arado, but that does mean doing the careful black cheat line. All of the colours appeal, though the black would be easiest. Interestingly, and not a coincidence at all, four of the five Olympic colours are both the ancient Imperial colours and the elemental colours of Chinese magic, though in both cases they have white instead of green

 

[Steve-the-Duck]

Apparently, the ASCC reporting name for the J-7 / F-7 is 'Fishcan'

Really
I mean, is it just there's a list of these names to randomly apply?

 

[Steve-the-Duck]

Okay, so here's the whole build in twenty minutes

Couple of bits of strip to go in the airbrake slot, otherwise it just hangs in space
A few places to fill and go over to cover the seam
And the airbrake just pushes in. I wasn't going to have it deployed on the ground. The bit sticking out behind the nosewheel bay may be an aerial, or just flash. Can't find a reference for which as yet. The upper aerial is just a little blade like this. Not fitting that 'til much later
Speaking of photos, I can't find one of these schemes, so all the reference I've got is the book, which is Histoire et Collections Planes and Pilots MiG-21. There are so many interesting schemes in there, I have to stick to just one model of each distinctive type and prototype or I'd have shelves full of just -21s!

 

[Steve-the-Duck]

Wings. Got some work ahead here

The undercarriage bay usually has a bulge above the wing, not a blinking gert hole. Not insurmountable, just lots of little gaps to fill all round

Fit of parts is pretty good, without too much work needed. But then the kit is only just legally allowed to drink in pubs!