Academy 1/72 Mikoyan MiG-21 Fishbed

ACADEMY 1:72 MIKOYAN MIG-21 FISHBED

Reviewer: Mark B (SMAKR Webmaster) (smakr1@optusnet.com.au)
Kit Built + Review Submitted: December 2008

Kit Details:

Academy #1618 - FA021-3000 - 1/72nd MiG-21 Fisbhed

Aircraft History:

(taken from Paulo Ivo Teixeira's Mathbox review) - The Mikoyan MiG-21 was designed as a light and simple fighter in the 18 months that followed the end of the Korean War. Sophistication, endurance and firepower were sacrificed in favour of outright performance, as was the case with its US contemporary the F-104 Starfighter, which also drew on the lessons of the same conflict. The first MiG-21 prototype made its maiden flight on 14 February 1955. The first full production version, the MiG-21F, NATO codename `Fishbed-C', had a narrow-chord vertical tail fin, narrow spine, and a forward-hinged, one-piece canopy. Fixed armament consisted of one 30 mm cannon, with underwing pylons for two AAMs or rocket pods. The next version the MiG-21P `Fishbed-D' dispensed with the cannon armament and introduced a modified fuselage with a longer nose and larger inlet centrebody to house a more advanced radar. The canopy and spine were also modified, with a distinctive bulge immediately aft of the cockpit narrowing to the standard early spine farther aft, which allowed an increase in internal fuel capacity. The last two first-generation subtypes were the MiG-21PF and PFM with the pitot probe relocated to the top of the nose (where it has stayed ever since) and more powerful engines; the MiG-21PFM was the first to have a two-piece canopy with fixed windscreen.

Second-generation variants gained more internal fuel, heavier armament and increasingly sophisticated avionics. These include the MiG-21R reconnaissance version, and the MiG-21S, SM, M, MF, MT and MFT fighters, all of which had four underwing pylons. The third-generation MiG-21bis was the most advanced variant to enter production: it was developed as a multi-role fighter, with a completely redesigned dorsal spine holding extra fuel, improved radar, and better combat and ground-attack capability. Early versions of the MiG-21bis were allocated the NATO reporting names `Fishbed-L' and `Fishbed-N'. Two-seat trainer versions (from 1960 onwards) include the MiG-21U `Mongol-A', US and UM. China developed its own much-improved version of the MiG-21, known as the J-7. The J-7 continues in production, and the F-7 export model is also extremely popular.

The MiG-21 is perhaps the most mass-produced jet fighter of the 20th century, with over 11,000 built. It was flown by all former East Bloc air forces, plus those of Soviet allies/clients, including Afghanistan, Albania, Algeria, Angola, Bangladesh (J-7), Bulgaria, Burma, Cambodia, China (J-7), Congo, Cuba, Czechoslovakia, East Germany, Egypt, Ethiopia, Finland, Guinea, Hungary, India, Iran (F-7), Iraq, Laos, Lybia, Madagascar, Mali, Mongolia, Mozambique, Nigeria, North Korea, Pakistan (F-7, J-7), Poland, Romania, Somalia, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Syria, Tanzania, Uganda, Vietnam, Yemen, Yugoslavia, Zambia and Zimbabwe. After the breakup of the Soviet Union and of Yugoslavia in the early 1990s, it remained on the inventory of many of the nations that emerged from these two former countries.

What made the design so successful was its extremely light weight and manoeuvrability, coupled with exceptional reliability, high sortie-rate, and low cost of operation. However, in common with all early jets, the MiG-21 suffered from limited internal fuel capacity, which greatly restricted its range and endurance. There was also not much room for weaponry on such a small airframe, and its combat record has been mixed. Still it remains, IMHO, perhaps the most elegant warplane ever designed.

The Kit:

Inside the sturdy top opening box there are two sprues of just over 30 light grey parts in their own plastic bag and a clear canopy part floating loosely within. The very small and out of register (too dark) decal sheet is supplied in its own small plastic bag. The parts are well molded with engraved panel lines and are virtually free from flash, only a scrape of the hobby knife is needed in some areas. This is a mid 1980's kit from Academy so it looks quite solid and nice in the box but is probably lacking a little bit in the extra detail found in new tooling kits. This kit models the early MiG-21F version with the small intake cone.

Instructions:

This comes in the form of a single double sided photocopied sheet just a touch smaller and fatter than A4 size. The front page gives you a photo of the model and brief history overview and a two-view diagram for markings and decal placement - yep only a top-view and port view profile are provided. A small inset diagram of the tail section is provided for the second example the kit provides. While only the roundels are placed on the aircraft's underside, there is no stencilling to mix up on the starboard side and it is a simple paint scheme (natural metal) I still like to be provided with four view diagrams. Still this is an 80's kit and it is adequate to cover what the kit provides. Just five steps and symbol explanation, not quite covering the full page, come on the reverse side. The kit really looks like a quick and easy build, not unusual for MiG-21 kits. Probably the most annoying aspect is that there are no painting instructions at all in this kit, other than natural metal and medium grey comments for the external colour scheme.

Construction:

This starts in a extremely sparsely detailed cockpit section which provides for a generic looking floor with a molded bottom half of bucket seat attached inside the fuselage half, and onto which sits a supplied pilot figure. The fuselage halves have a molded top part of the ejection seat/headrest (very generic again) and instrument panel coaming. This really is not good enough for most modellers, not even a control column. Out with the stretched sprue, small parts of plasticard and creative painting for the instrument panel to spruce this office up just a tad - enough to be passable but still a fair way from being decent. At least the pilot covers up some space for my in-flight model. There is a decal for the instrument panel but it does not match the shape and size of the dashboard in the kit! The cockpit was painted in a concoction I mixed from Humbrol's range to match the blue-green interior colour found in Soviet aircraft - I know it is not overly accurate so I won't rehash it here, but H25 Blue is the major base.

I found it very confusing about where to place the cockpit tub in the fuselage, the instructions really do not help. There is a locating pin jutting out either side of the fuselage halves and I had no idea whether to sit the tub on top of the pins or have it extend through the tub. After a lot of fiddling around and test fitting, I realised that the tub is actually trapped between the locating pins and the front bulkhead sits behind the instrument panel coaming in the fuselage. All I can say here is to test fit before glueing in place. The fuselage halves close very nicely around it, needing only a couple of rubber bands to hold in place.

The main gear doors for the fuselage - which I initially thought were air brakes are a reasonable fit for the closed position, however, both seem to be molded for the starboard side, as the port side needed to be carved a little to fit. I was to find that this was probably the most challenging fit issue for the whole construction process. The doors were fitted to the wings, however, they did not cover up the whole well, leaving a small section that needed to be filled with putty.

Construction now proceeded very rapidly. The lower wing inserts were placed in the upper wing pieces which fitted to the fuselage like a glove, needing only a careful alignment to dry in position. Ditto for the tailplanes. The nose ring is a separate piece and unfortunately has no depth at all, but it does fit nicely. The exhaust area of the plane is the main worry in this kit, there's a hole inside the rear of the fuselage, as if to fit a separate exhaust piece but I could not find any on the sprue. Fearing this part may have been lost, I checked the instructions but there is no call for a piece to be inserted. Therefore the exhaust area looks incomplete. I have left this as is for the time being, and will ponder over how to insert a fabricated exhaust cone later.

The canopy needed a quick scrape along the edges but then fitted like a glove and with a couple of aerials and pitot tubes, construction was complete. This was a pretty easy kit to slap together.

Colour Schemes:

Unfortunately you do not get much of a choice here with only a natural metal MiG-21F example from the Finnish Air Force provided (I was sort of hoping for a USSR version when I bought this kit). Two aircraft can be chosen from which are not identified and differ only in the unit codes and insignia on the tail fin. Painting the canopy was not easy as the framing is hard to see. The MiG-21F differs in how the canopy is painted (ie: where the frames are located) and thus I needed references sources beside me to paint the canopy properly.

Decals:

The decal sheet is small and contains Finnish roundels, unit codes, insignia, instrument panel and warning triangles. Register is pretty clear but smaller decals are out of focus. The Finnish roundels are too dark and should be a lighter colour than the navy colour they demonstrate. Thankfully I had some similar sized Finland roundels in my decals spares box, printed by Zanchetti so I used those in place of the kit ones. The kit decals I used (badge and serial) were a little on the thick side but I had no problems applying them against a dob Mr. Mark Softer (Gunze Sangyo). The carrier film disappeared under a later gloss cote.

Accuracy:

The decal sheet, rear exhaust and canopy framing are areas of concern which have already been discussed above. The dimensions of the aircraft have it under scale slightly. It lacks any finite detail carried by the MiG-21 but otherwise it looks and breathes like a MiG-21F which is good enough for me. I have another Hasegawa MiG-21F to depict in Egypt colours at a later date, so I look forward to comparing the accuracy of the two - as I have also heard in some circles that many Academy 80's kits are likely to be reverse engineered kits of other manufacturers, and apparently Hasegawa is one favourite of theirs!

Overall Recommendation:

I know Fujimi make the definitive (according to many other modellers) range of MiG-21's in this scale, but they are also pretty expensive. I could have bought 2 Academy kits for one Fujimi and still have enough change to go and buy an ice cream afterward! So I guess this is where you have to weigh up kits like this Academy one. Value for money, an easy build and a reasonable replica for my mind is what matters most, and thus would recommend this kit to all modelling skill levels. Just remember to keep a few Finnish roundels handy!

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