The Little World

Been waiting for years to use that line…

The choice of the United Arab Republic’s Air Force as the scheme for this MiG 15 Bis was driven by the need to have some counterbalance to my Israeli Air Force collection. The time selected by Eduard for their decals is the early 1960’s – after the green roundels of the REAF and before the sand-coloured camouflage.

The paint chosen was the 208 Duralumium from Mr Color and, although the shop heat was a little concerning, three thin coats of it with normal Mr Color thinner proved to be the best result. I lowered the air pressure slightly for this to give the paint less blast.

The MiG 15 is an easy airplane to paint if you adopt the MiG-on-a-stick approach. The dowel has a dot of stickum on its end to secure it in the tailpipe.

Note that this paint is smooth enough without coating – the Eduard decals went down and secured temselves with no problems whatsoever. They are a fast-release product so do not leave them soaking too long. I also adopted the idea of cool water rather than warm and the timing went well.

Note the use of the 1/72-size jet stand. I cannot think how I got on without it for delicate decals and parts in the past. It gives you back control of so much more.