Over a year ago, I decided I wanted to do a model of a jet fighter hostile to IAF aircraft. I have several IAF models and they needed something to look-out for. I thought a Mig-21 would fit the bill nicely. I bought the Revell Mig-21F-13 and some beautiful Mig-21 decals from TechMod. My mistake as none of the Middle East air forces used the F-13 version against Israel (at least none that I could find). So I shelved this project until a later date.
Well, last month I went in search of another model. My research indicated that the Mig-21MF would be the version of that aircraft to use. So now it was a matter of finding the right kit, at the right price. Unfortunately, many of the kits I could get were not thought of kindly by those seeking a good MF model. The offerings by Fujimi, Academy, and even Airfix, were soundly criticized by many people who seemed to be in the know. However, almost all made mention that the old KP kit was probably the best (unless you spend more for something from Trumpeter, for example) example of what the MF version looks like. Great! So after several weeks of searching on Ebay, one came up for a BIN at a "fair" price (relative for the old KP models - they are still overpriced IMHO) and I got it.
So I started my build this past week.
The Kit
This kit is by Kovozavody Prostejov (KP) and is from 1984. KP is a company in, what was formerly, Czechoslovakia.
Inside the kit you get three sprue trees of, what I found to be, brittle white plastic. You also get a clear tree with the canopy and two wing lights. There is a decal sheet with markings for three different aircraft (two Czechoslovakian, and one Hungarian). An instruction sheet in Czech, German, and English is provided.
The Build
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I already had the aforementioned TechMod decals in hand, so it was no problem to throw out the kit decals (they were old and unsalvageable anyway). That was the easy part.
The instructions had a diagram of the sprue tree layouts, paint call-outs, and a single page that showed assembly of the model. That single page was maddening and I found to be almost worthless. I went online for help in part placement.
The moldings were pretty bad (even accounting for an old kit) with lots of flash and seams. The fuselage halves had guide pins which did not match-up (and were removed as a result). There are raised panel lines throughout (although they are very fine) which, because of sanding and scraping the flash / seams, you lose much of. There is also zero cockpit detail (you would have used the decals from the kit) and little in the wheel wells. Ugh.
As I was doing a Syrian Air Force jet I had to go online for painting info. This wasn't all that easy so I used what info I could glean online.
Really, this was not a fun build. The best part of it were the TechMod decals (which are awesome!). The decal sheet included markings for other Mig21-MF's, with multiple stencils. However, I didn't want to waste them on this model, so only applied the Syrian AF markings. Yep, I don't like this model.
Conclusion
I don't known enough about Mig-21 versions to know one from another. But I cannot help thinking that, whether the nose is off or not, kits from Fujimi or Airfix are that bad in comparison to this. Especially since I could have gotten one of them much cheaper and, in all likelihood, have had a better build experience. In any case, the KP looks okay on the shelf. Just okay (and you need to squint).
The last pic has the KP model with the Revel Mig-21F-13 model. Just for comparison.
