[Black 6]

I ordered the FM Mig-15 (B11E404) from the Mule's current sale and it was delivered today. I have to say it looks cool sitting on the shelf. It depicts a North Korean AF Mig-15, #925, as flown by a Soviet "Hotshot" pilot / ace named Yevgeyi Pepelyavev. It is silver with a red nose section. The interior and wheel wells are an odd blue color, but it works (I say odd as I have no idea if it is correct or not). Also detailing is minimal, but that's to be expected from FM. It looks and feels right to me so no complaints here.

ELMER ALERT: Do yourself a favor my friend, stay away from this one as it has visible screws (small & black) securing the wheels to the wheel wells. Not to mention the big, gaping hole where the screw to secure the model for shipping goes. Say NO! Elmer and spare yourself the anguish.

Thankfully, for the rest of us, they are only visible when holding the model upside down.

For the price I am very happy with this model and would give it a decent 7 out of 10 for an FM model.

[flyXwire]

Originally Posted by Black 6

I ordered the FM Mig-15 (B11E404) from the Mule's current sale and it was delivered today. I have to say it looks cool sitting on the shelf. It depicts a North Korean AF Mig-15, #925, as flown by a Soviet "Hotshot" pilot / ace named Yevgeyi Pepelyavev. It is silver with a red nose section. The interior and wheel wells are an odd blue color, but it works (I say odd as I have no idea if it is correct or not). Also detailing is minimal, but that's to be expected from FM. It looks and feels right to me so no complaints here.
For the price I am very happy with this model and would give it a decent 7 out of 10 for an FM model.

Congrats, Bret! I'm eagerly awaiting for mine to arrive from W&W and I couldn't agree more with your choice of this particular MiG! Pepelyavev is truly one of the TOP GUNs of the Soviet AF and he's probably, and argueably, what the USAF flyboys refer to as the fabled hotshot: "Casey Jones" during the Korean War. Just thought I throw that in there.

Yevgeny Pepelyayev, as seen in the Episode "MiG-15" of the "Battlestations" serie,
broadcasted by the History Channel in early 2004. He was 86 years old.

[Ara1]

Congrats Black 6! I have always like the look of this plane. Maybe you'll buzz one of my C-47's one day...

[flyXwire]

Btw, the 21st Century Toys 1/18 version of Pepelyayev's mount is gorgeous and very detailed as well.

[Ara1]

Fargan NICE.

[Elmer]

Originally Posted by Black 6

I ordered the FM Mig-15 (B11E404) from the Mule's current sale and it was delivered today. I have to say it looks cool sitting on the shelf. It depicts a North Korean AF Mig-15, #925, as flown by a Soviet "Hotshot" pilot / ace named Yevgeyi Pepelyavev. It is silver with a red nose section. The interior and wheel wells are an odd blue color, but it works (I say odd as I have no idea if it is correct or not). Also detailing is minimal, but that's to be expected from FM. It looks and feels right to me so no complaints here.

ELMER ALERT: Do yourself a favor my friend, stay away from this one as it has visible screws (small & black) securing the wheels to the wheel wells. Not to mention the big, gaping hole where the screw to secure the model for shipping goes. Say NO! Elmer and spare yourself the anguish.

Thankfully, for the rest of us, they are only visible when holding the model upside down.

For the price I am very happy with this model and would give it a decent 7 out of 10 for an FM model.

I appreciate the alert, Blackie but I have already decided to stay away from it (and I really, really, love MiG 15s). Now, that 1:18 scale model is a looker! Where would I put it? Boy... ya' sure can get a reputation fast in this cyber nut house.

[Black 6]

Thanks for the info and pics Fly. That 21st Century version has some great detail that I wish was on the FM model (which would push it into the 10 outta 10 points realm). Both companies did a nice job with the paint as it is a real sharp scheme. BTW, the odd blue paint that they used in the FM model appears lighter in your pics, but shows up the same in the Gaincorp Su-34 model and the few IXO Soviet planes I have. Is that a correct color for Soviet planes - give or take a shade?

Thanks Ara!

[John Youngs]

[quote=Black 6;135553]I ordered the FM Mig-15 (B11E404)...
ELMER ALERT: Do yourself a favor my friend, stay away from this one as it has visible screws (small & black) securing the wheels to the wheel wells. Not to mention the big, gaping hole where the screw to secure the model for shipping goes. Say NO! Elmer and spare yourself the anguish.

Black 6 - I, too, purchased the B11E404 "Big Night Boy" MiG-15 from my favorite dealer. I dealt with the "screw" problem by 1st, painting the landing gear screws to match their surroundings - you'll hardly notice them afterwards by doing that - and 2nd, I filled in the gaping screw hole Elmer mentions with a tiny bit of epoxy putty, smoothing it flush, then, after drying, painting it to match the surrounding color. You can hardly tell there's anything there now. Yes, I realize some might say "Yeah, but now it's not totally stock...!!" - Well, that may be true - if you're buying the models purely for speculation purposes - just to hang onto in order to dump on the market several years from now, then that's probably not a good idea. But I buy mine to display (when I've got room, anyhow... - that's another story...) and it sure cleans up the model's looks considerably! Another example is the huge screw hole on the bottom of the main float on the Japanese Zero "Rufe" floatplane - on mine, I filled it in and painted it to match with gloss enamel & it looks just fine - again, you can hardly tell there was ever anything there. The filling in and covering up and painting of screws and screw holes is common on these models simply due to lack of asthetics with them, and a better look without them. A minimum of work and your model looks great!! If you're really concerned about a screw loosening up in the future and perhaps needing to be re-tightened, then use some softer putty that doesn't take a hard set, and paint it up. Hope this helps give you a wee bit of "food-for-thought". - JY

[Black 6]

Hi John. Thanks for the information which I may give a try. At the very least I would paint the black screws in the wheel wells. Do you, or anyone else, have the name of the color to purchase (the weird blue)?

[John Youngs]

Originally Posted by Black 6

Hi John. Thanks for the information which I may give a try. At the very least I would paint the black screws in the wheel wells. Do you, or anyone else, have the name of the color to purchase (the weird blue)?

Black 6 - Negative - Home-brew, my friend! I just started with your basic "robbins egg blue" and added a tiny bit of white and a slight touch of grey - you'll have to experiment - fortunately, it doesn't take very much. Just a drop at a time - mix throughly - a tiny brush works fine! - The most important thing is to make sure any holes you fill in are "dead-smooth" and polished before you paint - a VERY slight depression in any given hole can be a plus - the remaining paint layer, if applied not-too-thickly, will fill in the depression for a nice smooth look. This is also where a dremel tool, set on a slow speed with a fine-grade polishing brush or wheel, comes in really handy!! ANYBODY that works on models to any serious degree will tell you - a good-quality "dremel" type tool with all of the appropriate attachments is an absolute MUST for really good "professional" looks! Beyond that - patience does the trick - don't rush it - even "little" jobs will look like heck if you rush them... - Good luck! - JY