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I can't exactly remember, but
some 15 years ago a Russian pilot stole a Mig 29 from a base in the south east
of the USSR (today's Georgia) and after a low level flight over the Black
Sea, he managed to land the Trabzon airport in Turkey. Those were the days I was
a teenager and surely in love with flying. That MIG 29 was an fantastic surprise
for me (although my home city Bursa is pretty far away from Trabzon, where the
MIG landed, so I could not see it, but knowing that there is a MIG in Turkey was
good).
The pilot's great escape from the
USSR succeeded. He applied for a citizenship to one of western countries. Before
returning to the USSR, the Fulcrum stayed for a few weeks in Turkey, for
“military examinations.” The MIG 29 was an enigma in those days even for the
USA, therefore, that was a good opportunity for the Turkish authorities. They
had the rarest and finest Russian MIG. Later that Fulcrum returned home, but I
never forgot that beautiful shape of the mysterious MIG 29. Since that day the
MIG 29 Fulcrum has become one of my favorite jet fighters, right after F-14
Tomcat.
In fact this Hasegawa kit was a
birthday present from my wife in 1993. A typical Hasegawa, with its well shaped
pieces, interior and exterior details. I built it straight out of the box.
Unfortunately the starboard rudder was lost during a home moving, but I replaced
it with another, which was derived from a Heller kit of Fulcrum UB.
My real problem was the
camouflage green of the Fulcrum, because in those years modeling tools and
paints were hard to find in Turkey. Therefore I mixed dark and light ghost
grays, light blue and white. Despite my efforts to catch the exact tone of
Fulcrum, I think it does not match very well. This is not a serious problem for
me, because this MIG will not participate in any competition.
I used pastel chalks for
weathering, and a silver pen for the metallic effects. I suggest these pens (and
pencils) for everyone. Because are easy to apply and cheap to buy.
I am looking forward to building
a 1/48th Fulcrum in the future, (with exact color scheme of course:-))
My other model; a “Huey Gunship” on its way to ARC soon. Happy modelling to
everyone...
Sertan
from Turkey
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