Mig-21BIS ProfiPACK

[Mike]

Mig-21BIS ProfiPACK

1:48 Eduard (8232)

The BIS variant of the Mig-21 marked the culmination of development of the type, and with this mark it reached ultimate maturity, although some improvements were still made and different avionics packages fitted resulting in further sub-variants. It was optimised to be a fighter, and had uprated engines and avionics to deal with the changing threats it would encounter in service.

This version has been widely anticipated since the release of the excellent MF variant in Spring of 2011, and here it is! The kit arrives in one of Eduard’s standard top opening boxes, with what must rank as the tightest lid on a kit that I have ever encountered. A painting of one of the decal options, a Finnish airframe, taking off with its wingman adorns the box, and inside are eight large round-cornered sprues of blue-grey styrene, one of clear (separately bagged in a ziplok style bag), two large decal sheets, a sheet of kabuki tape masks, two Photo-Etched (PE) frets, and of course the instructions.

Anyone that has seen inside the box of the earlier editions will immediately recognise the crisp, detailed style of this kit, which doesn’t disappoint one bit. As with previous versions, the build begins with a nicely detailed cockpit, which has the option of either a plastic or laminated PE/plastic instrument panel with decals for the former, plus PE foot straps on the rudder pedals. Unusually, the cockpit side consoles are plugged into the fuselage sides, and mate up with the cockpit floor once it is installed. Again, detail here is excellent, and PE skins are supplied for the instruments on the top of the consoles, requiring a modicum of folding, to give an excellent rendition of the panels and associated equipment.

The nose gear bay builds up from flat parts, offering detail on all sides, all of which is installed on the underside of the cockpit floor. The exhaust, with PE burner ring assembles into a bulkhead for later fitting into the fuselage, and the main gear bay is likewise built up between two more bulkheads, all of which ensure a good fit and location in the finished article. Before closure, another two bulkheads are installed into the fuselage halves, together with the nose cone, which must have an unspecified weight added to prevent tail sitting. The flat-bed cockpit is then offered up with the rear bulkhead only installed at that point. It may be worthwhile joining the two parts earlier to ease painting, and using the fuselage halves as a jig to hold the parts at the correct angle while the glue cures.

The spine and tail install next, which have their own small bulkheads to avoid flex when gluing and clamping. A large square tab stands proud of the rear fuselage, onto which the tail clips, using a sloped pin to latch it in place and give it extra strength. The main gear assembly can then be inserted from underneath, as the lower wing half includes the major part of the under fuselage area. Before installing the lower wing, the airbrake doors can be cut out and discarded, and a pair of small bays installed in the cut-outs. The replacement air-brakes themselves are added back later in the build, together with retraction jacks to hold them at the correct angle. The wing-mounted portion of the main bays build up with narrow bay sides keeping the wing apart at the correct thickness, whilst adding extra detail. The upper wing halves then sit atop the installed lower wing, and the flying surfaces can be added at your preferred angle, as they mount on pins that have enough leeway to offset them slightly. A set of nicely detailed wing fences are then installed from the PE sheet, plus a couple of extra styrene fences with a slightly thicker aspect.

A lot of extra detail is then applied to the airframe, especially on the underside with a number of ventral strakes, plus a belly section with the option of open or closed inserts for the aft ventral air brake. The landing gear is nicely detailed, with separate retraction jacks and oleo scissors, plus delicate PE part that folds up to represent the brake hosing. The gear doors and retraction jacks are of course similarly well done, creating a really well detailed set of wheel bays. A choice of PE or styrene strakes install behind the nose gear bay, and an optional sensor fairing under the nose ring.

At this late stage, the cockpit coaming, along with its HUD unit and various small instrument packages are installed, finally completing the cockpit opening, ready to receive the glazing. Before this however, the ejector seat is built up from 17 styrene parts, resulting in a good rendition of the KM-1M seat fitted to the Mig-21 series. Decals are supplied for the headbox, and a further 12 PE parts make up the full seat harnesses, as well as providing the essential pull handle between the pilot’s knees, to initiate the ejection process.

The canopy is supplied in two parts, although a lot of spares for other marks are included on the sprue, and a set of kabuki tape masks are provided to ease masking for those that hate it. A little masking fluid will be needed to finish the masking process, as Eduard’s masks always concentrate on the framing, so the modeller must fill in the middle with scrap tape or masking fluid. This is all with the aim of avoiding wrinkling of the masking medium, which could allow paint to flow under the edges, ruining the finish.

The long probe attaches to the nose at the last minute, as it is in seriously danger of being broken during handling, and the addition of PE vanes near the tip make this a candidate for installation after painting and decaling are finished. The same goes for the static wicks and blade aerials that festoon the wings and tail area. Much care is needed in this area.

With the airframe complete, we move on to the offensive munitions, and additional fuel tanks. There are two sprues almost totally devoted to the weapons, which is reflected in the number and variety available to us.

1 x 800L external fuel tank

2 x 490L external fuel tank

2 x S24 rocket

2 x RS2US Missile

2 x R3S

A2A

Missile

2 x R13

A2A

Missile

2 x R3R

A2A

Missile

8 x FAB 100kg Bomb including 2 x MBD

2 x FAB 250kg Bomb

2 x

RATO

pods

A full set of pylons and adapter rails are also included, many of which will doubtless find their way into your spares box. Eduard advise you to check your references for possible warloads, which is sensible advice, although training loads are most likely to be seen during peacetime.

The decals form two sheets, as stated earlier, with the long sheet completely full of stencils, which send a shudder down the spine when you look at the sheer number of them on the stencil guide, with a blank grey airframe festooned with arrows to the correct locations of each decal. Then you realise that there is an additional page and a half of decal instructions for the weapons and pylons. Take your time, plan ahead, and someday you’ll finish! The main sheet contains all of the airframe/operator specific decals, and from this sheet you can portray one of the following:

• Izdelye 75A, 31st Fighter Squadron, Kuopio Airbase, Finland 1980-81
  
• 1st Air Division Polish Navy, Gdynia-Babie Doly Airbase, Poland late 1990s
  
• Izdelye 75B, 47th Combat Air Regiment, Griff Squadron, Pápa Airbase, Hungary 1991
  
• Tactics & Air Combat Development Establishment, Jamnagar Airbase, India Sept, 1986
  
• Izdelye 75A, 22nd Fighter Squadron, Pula Airbase, Croatia 2008
  

Register and colour density are excellent, as expected, as the main decals have been printed by Cartograf in Italy, while the stencils were made in-house.

Conclusion

Another Excellent newly tooled Mig-21 variant from the mighty Eduard, and doubtless not the last. Detail throughout is excellent, and with the quantity of weapons provided, the modeller has plenty of options to personalise the finished item. The whole tooling oozes quality, and the glossy instructions give the modeller all the guidance needed to complete the model.

It is hard to find fault with this kit, as even the markings are varied and interesting, a set of masks is included, and PE for the often tricky cockpit detailing just makes the job so much easier. Perhaps a pilot figure would have been nice?

Highly recommended.

Review sample courtesy of

[Moofles]

Oh wow, very nice.

[AnonymousDFB1]

Agreed, I've been eying this one up, would like it very much

[SaintsPhil]

This is deffinately on the to buy list! Although I may wait for weekend addition as I'm

Never sure about the ore painted PE!

Cheers for the review Mike!

Phil