Last days, I took time and finish the missile loadout. Several modellers have asked me why I won’t use the R-77 missiles, you get in the kit. Well, I am building aircraft according to photos and I have no proof yet, that the unit this MiG is assigned to, have received R-77s yet. The R-77 missile is just entering service with Russian Air Force, so in the near future, I guess all MiG-31 units can expect to receive these missiles, so if you want to include them on your model, it will most likely be just a little “in the future” build.

Anyhow, here’s how I dealt with the missiles.

Missiles were first sprayed with a coat of Mr.Paint black primer.
While the R-73s are simple, being all white (apart from the details), R-33s are much more complex to paint.
Using Mr. Paint White, Alclad Magnesium and Alclad Dark Aluminum I painted the R-33s in basic colors.
Several rings around missile bodies were picked out with ModelMaster Aluminum metalizer, while the proximity fuzes (strips on the body) were painted in ModelMaster Medium grey.
With painting completed, a gloss coat sealed all the paints and provided a smooth surface for the application of missile stencil decals from Begemot sheet.
After decals, another thin layer of Mr. Paint gloss coat protected decals and missiles were given a wash of dark grey oil paint. With the excess wash removed, the missiles were sealed with Mr. Paint Semi-Matt lacquer.