1/72 RV Aircraft MiG-21M
Posted: July 7th, 2014, 3:57 pm
This little gem arrived from Hannants the other day. Got it on back order with 10% off.
A bit of history for those not overly familiar with the Mig-21 & variants. The Mig-21M was the first export version of the 3rd generation Fishbeds. The Soviet air force equivalent was the Mig-21SM but as was Soviet practice at the time, export versions were downgraded. So the Mig-21M used a less powerful engine and less capable RADAR. It was still a big improvement over the earlier versions though only in production between 1968 & 71. IIRC it has four weapons pylons & semi recessed cannon allowing a centre line tank to be fitted. Previous versions could carry the gun or the fuel tank and only had two pylons.
Now to the plastic. Lets see what you get for £20
First off a very sturdy box
And the contents:
Some very nice resin. Lets hope it fits in the fuselage.
Instructions are crammed onto a couple of sides of A4
Seven colour options are supplied on the decal sheet but nearly all are NMF.
The main sprue parts:
The details on the parts are beautiful, I hope I can build it without doing too much damage.
Some lovely crisp smaller parts too.
So overall I am very impressed with the content. For the same price as a Fujimi Mig-21 with all its flaws you get what looks like an excellent, accurate Mig-21 with resin interior, etched brass detailing & a very nice decal sheet. Also the canopy for MF version is included so either sub-type can be built.
Only gripes:
No external stores - not even a drop tank.
No colour references other than 'Green', Brown etc.
You could buy the Fujimi kit then spend another £10 to correct it which would admittedly give you a very good Mig-21 for £30. Too rich for most for a 1/72 kit.
Alternatively, you could get the old KP kit for about £5 but by the time you have added a resin seat, vac canopy & new decals you would be approaching the price of this kit anyway.
The acid test will be in the build though.
Update
KP are now re-boxing these kits entirely in plastic for about £15.
A bit of history for those not overly familiar with the Mig-21 & variants. The Mig-21M was the first export version of the 3rd generation Fishbeds. The Soviet air force equivalent was the Mig-21SM but as was Soviet practice at the time, export versions were downgraded. So the Mig-21M used a less powerful engine and less capable RADAR. It was still a big improvement over the earlier versions though only in production between 1968 & 71. IIRC it has four weapons pylons & semi recessed cannon allowing a centre line tank to be fitted. Previous versions could carry the gun or the fuel tank and only had two pylons.
Now to the plastic. Lets see what you get for £20
First off a very sturdy box
And the contents:
Some very nice resin. Lets hope it fits in the fuselage.
Instructions are crammed onto a couple of sides of A4
Seven colour options are supplied on the decal sheet but nearly all are NMF.
The main sprue parts:
The details on the parts are beautiful, I hope I can build it without doing too much damage.
Some lovely crisp smaller parts too.
So overall I am very impressed with the content. For the same price as a Fujimi Mig-21 with all its flaws you get what looks like an excellent, accurate Mig-21 with resin interior, etched brass detailing & a very nice decal sheet. Also the canopy for MF version is included so either sub-type can be built.
Only gripes:
No external stores - not even a drop tank.
No colour references other than 'Green', Brown etc.
You could buy the Fujimi kit then spend another £10 to correct it which would admittedly give you a very good Mig-21 for £30. Too rich for most for a 1/72 kit.
Alternatively, you could get the old KP kit for about £5 but by the time you have added a resin seat, vac canopy & new decals you would be approaching the price of this kit anyway.
The acid test will be in the build though.
Update
KP are now re-boxing these kits entirely in plastic for about £15.