"Inherited " a couple 1/48 MiG 21s . One is a PF. Thinking of doing it as an early PVO-Strany one with the 23mm gun pod on the centerline and 2 K-5s on the wing rails. Is this a practical load out? What sort of range would it have , for intercepting, with no extra fuel? Being a tank modeler, MiGs are not my strong suit and my reference supply is “limited”.
I don’t believe that the early PVO PF’s carried the 23mm gun pod until late in their career. That was developed after the experience of some of the Arab-Israeli air combats, and the missiles had shown themselves to be less than highly effective in combat, and the Fishbed had been in service for some time. A fuel tank would be the most common centerline carried item, along with the Atolls under the wings. Alternate wing ordnance would be rocket pods or the radar guided AA-1 Alkalai missile
A center line and missiles are always a safe bet for a load out. Now here is the caviat. Unless the bird was slated for a mission it would be slick. The other option is if it was patrolling a area with potential for hostilities then it would be armed for superiority based on the potential hostiles.
If you really want to have fun with it , find the markings for Blue Bunny
If memory serves correctly , that was a Russian Merc flying for one of thw african nations.