I'm building Eduard's 1/48 MiG-21R at the moment and I have a couple questions I'm hoping the forum can answer.

First, for those who have built this kit, is there an easy way to build it with the landing gear retracted? The instructions only show a gear down option and the parts shown are difficult to position to show the gear up because there are no locating points and nothing to hold them in place.

Second, does anyone have (or know where I can find) clear photos that show the landing gear in the process of retracting? Obviously. not an easy shot to get clearly. Alternatively, does anyone have a diagram that shows how it works as it retracts? If I have to show it gear down I'd at least think about modifying it to show the gear coming up.

Thanks for any help or guidance here.

The MiG-21's main wheels rotate to hang vertically in the fuselage wheel wells as the legs retract upwards and forwards. The bulges on the gear door and upper fuselage are to allow the wheel clearance. The nose gear rotates up and forward without any engineering trickery.
It ought to be relatively easy to pack the wells with Milliput. The gear doors will probably need a little persuasion and foul language to make them fit closed.

Gear comes up at about 1:37.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7GPzAhfaDIM

Several good shots on this one:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ikeL40cH8_M