MIG 21 BEADED JET AS UNIQUE ART, DEFINITELY CUSTOM

Yesterday which was 1/25/2026, it was the last day that the display of the magnificent Mig 21 beaded jet, was going to be seen at the museum of flight in Seattle Washington, before it was going to be dis***embled and crated up and would be on its way to the next destination to be displayed.

I knew that it was there for the past months but I just couldn't get off of my *** to go see it, or to take the time to photograph it.

Yesterday I got up, charged up the battery in the Nikon D-600, and went on down to the museum and endured the cold, to get these images. Its display area is actually a unique outdoor covered pavilion that is connected to the museum of flight, via a very cool walk way that arches over the roadway.

Is this a custom hot rod, NO!

But as the category indicates, its Art and Inspiration.
So I hope that all of the artists will appreciate, this magnificent creation for what it was and for what it is and for what it clearly demonstrates what can be accomplished when something that started as one thing, morphs into something entirely different!

The last pictures are of a very cool little basket made out of fine gauge telephone wire, it was for sale in the gift shop for $44.00 dollars, so I treated myself to it, as the proceeds go to the project that supports the artists that created it and that help to transport the beaded Mig 21.

Enjoy from Dennis.

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That's really!! Thanks for sharing. A lot of work went into it.

 

Crazy. A hot rod without wheels. Would love to go for a ride in a fighter jet.
Dan

 

Awesome! I took a quick look at this on my phone, then decided I needed to get on the computer to enjoy the images on a larger screen. That enticed me to do a little more investigation. I found a short video about it here.

And a 3-D image to play with here. https://app.seekbeak.com/v/V6zaK75gqeZ It took a while to load.

I wondered if Dennis was showing us the pilot's face...


The 3-D image from the link above shows us that this is part of an elaborate instrument panel.


Is that a chain link steering wheel?

I felt the urge to reach out and feel the textures shown in the photos that Dennis posted, but kept hearing a little voice saying DON'T TOUCH! Thanks for including this with the photos to let me off the hook!

 

Reminds me of Native American bead work.
My wife's grandfather was Cherokee and she's done bead work for a lot of friends. She did one that was about 6 sqft with Swaroski crystals. It took her a couple months. That one really popped in the sunlight.

 

Gotta admit, that my first thought was 'wow that's ghey', how could you desecrate a -21 that way, but a longer glance changed my mind. That is some serious artistry at work there. It's gotta a Mexican blanket and stained-gl*** vibe going on. Kinda dig it.
Thanks for sharing.

 

Thanks for sharing the artistry. It is just awesome work.

 

Much better like that than shooting at our planes!
The F4 Phantom kicked its ***.

 

Thank you @41 GMC K-18 ! Quite the effort to create.

 

To a much lesser degree, I have a tiny bit of experience with the element of threading colored beads onto clear monofilament fishing line.

Back when this Doors album came out, I was a freshman in high school back in 1968, at least that was when I first saw the album cover with Morrison and the beaded necklace.

Since the picture wasn't in color, I had no idea of what the true color of the necklace was. Only now from a web search, I now know it was a "cobra" necklace.

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There was this beautiful girl "Linda Keeler " in my history cl*** that I was just smitten with, she was shy and had no clue that I existed on the planet, and I was determined to catch her eye in a manner that wasn't the norm.

I was determined to make one of those necklaces like you see on the album cover, and then give it to Linda Keeler.

But where to get the beads from?

I remember seeing one of those beaded leather belts in my mothers stash of belts, she never wore it, and I figured I would liberate it, and take it all apart and then make the necklace.

Easier said than done no doubt. I painstakingly used a razor blade to get the beads off of the belt, and then methodically getting the beads unstrung from each other, which took hours.

I captured all of the beads into one of those little gl*** pimento jars.

Since I didn't know what the colors of the Morrison necklace was, I just had to make a guess and then use the beads that I had the most of. There was a pretty good supply of the black and yellow beads.

So I would sit on my chair, with the end of the fish line as a needle of sorts, and one by one, find a bead either black or yellow and string it onto the fish line and slide it down to the knotted end.

This took for ever, and when it was completed, I gave it to Linda Keeler.
She said thank you, and that was the only time we ever spoke.

Typical of the first experiences of ignorant young males thinking that they have it figured out!
I will say that it was an interesting exercise in patience and determination!

How ever it was slightly awkward when questioned by my Mother, when she asked if I had seen her beaded Indian leather belt? I simply said, now why in the world would I know anything about that or even where it was?

 

I thought there might be a local connection. It looks like something Esther Mahlangu could have made.

 

Innocent, wholesome and only psychic pain.
At least that encounter ended better than a lot of young male attempts.

 

Typical of the first experiences of ignorant young males thinking that they have it figured out!

Did you ever figure it out lol
Dan

 

My reply to that would be, the great stolen line from the Spike Lee film, " Do the right thing"

" Those that will tell, don't know, and those that know, wont tell "

 

The beadwork takes me back to my "Order of the Arrow" days.

 

You took a wiser route than I did, Master Po. I figured young ladies would be impressed if I took a ****-box car, worked on it to make it faster and noisier, was covered in grease a lot of the time and smelled like gas. Apparently that is less attractive than Morrison's necklace

- Gr***hopper.

 

WOW ! I appreciate the time and effort involved, I'm not taking up bead work, I like all the different forms of art, and I try to have an open mind in general. Thanks ! for posting

 

That’s like, far out man.

 

I don’t know if that “Mig” would be something I chose to cover with beads, as an expression of peace…
Nice work though.