discussion Chris's 1/144 Ye-4 Conversion

[Steve-the-Duck]

And on to the second MiG-21 prototype. And I haven't even finished the first one yet!

The Ye-4 is the delta-wing prototype, which lead to the Ye-5, Ye-6 and finally the service -21. All of the above are on the cards

The 'kit' is part of a set from the Area-88 manga and anime, which is the story of mercenary pilots flying just about every conceivable 1980s aircraft, in defence of an East African desert kingdom, which most be richer than Saudi Arabia with all the 'planes they have access to. Likewise, the rebel faction have enough money to deploy an aircraft carrier. In the desert...

There was a series of ten 1/100 kits waaay back, from the series, some of which were also released by Revell. I think I'm only missing the Tomcat and one other from the set. I've no idea how big the 1/144 range was

 

[Steve-the-Duck]

So, most of what follows is the work of one day, while paint and stuff is drying on the Ye-2

First off, a lot of the raised detail is removed. No idea what all the rivets top and bottom of the wing are supposed to be

In order to move the tailplanes up, what turned out to be a single piece had to be unceremoniously removed. With fortunately only a little break. And easy enough to repair

Plus some extraneous detail needed removing. Interesting that there's a housing on the service version that corresponds to the higher mounted tailplanes on the prototype
I didn't put and airbrake panels on under the tailplanes, unlike the Ye-2, as there's nothing visible there on the photos. Must be somewhere...

 

[Steve-the-Duck]

The prominent later airbrake is removed, plus the mounting bar for the centerline pod


The Ye-4 has 'pointy' delta wings, so that's a couple of bits of 20 thou added


And on with the tailplanes, after narrowing down the fin chord, and removing all the extra widgets (which will be replaced in a different position)

And on with the tail strakes and the underwing fences

Some of the sources debate the point of the underwing fences. The Ye-4 was later modified with several overwing fences. Seeing as the underwing ones align precisely with the later pylon positions, I think it's pbvious whaty they were for

 

[Steve-the-Duck]

As with the Ye-2, the nose needs to be shortened by about 1 mm, which is easy enough. Will need a little sanding later
Nose probe is just a piece of 0.5 mm brass rod, and a shim underneath. I'm hoping the rod will be more robust than placcy rod!

 

[Steve-the-Duck]

None of the prototypes seem to have had doors on the main wheel legs, so that just needed a little surgery

And on they go

With just a little twist to straighten it up before the glue dried, after this pic was taken. Unlike the Ye-2, this kit has all the undercarriage door integral, so no chance of knocking them off
He says with unwarranted confidence!

 

[Steve-the-Duck]

'Sisters, sisters. There were never such devoted sisters...'

Well, not bad for that days work!