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MiG-29 Fulcrum models in 1/72 scale...
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The Trumpeter MiG-29A "9.12" is the earlier Mig-29 type. The kit (no. 01674) costs about 22 Euro as it was released in 2016. The kit contains about 150 parts in the typical Trumpeter plastic. Everything is neat and beautifully engraved.
The instructions are fine with twin-coloured leaflets for the colour schemes and armament.
The decals are for 2 schemes: a Hungarian gray aircraft of no.59 wing and a green camouflaged Russian aircraft as operated by No.120 GIAP with some nice colours.
The numerous smaller markings are also decals. The chaff dispensers for the vertical tail surfaces are separate components #F2 and F5. Very well done is the attachment of each horizontal stabilizer, a fine piece of modelling technology that offers also the stabilizers to be posed at an angle.
Weapons, stores and pylons include two large wing fuel tanks of type PTB-1150. But probably these tanks as well the provided R-73 missiles never were used on an early MiG-29 version "9.12". But perhaps they were used for later modernized aircraft. The best way to find out is looking at a photo on the Internet or in a book depicting your desired model. Also in the kit are the more standard R-60 and R-27 missiles. A nice goodie here is the tow bar in the kit with quite some details. A welcome addition for the diorama modeller.
Unfortunately, the intake aux-doors on top of each main intake are molded "open" which is applicable only with the engine running on the ground or during takeoff.
Here a photo of the real MiG... and an explanation drawing from a MiG-29 Flight manual
For a model suggesting a parked aircraft it is thus better to fill these open aux-doors with putty. It requires some work with sanding and the closed doors can be suggested a bit more with paint later on. (Or add covers as done on the ICM model shown on page 2... ).
In this kit the wing and upper fuselage is a single part so great for alignment. But there is a “slight step” at forward the wing-fuselage root joint. This step is not seen on photos of real MiG-29s (and also the ZVEZDA kit has a smooth area here).
Here a real MiG-29 wing is shown..
The difference between kit and real is not very big but still... I improved this a bit which is not difficult to do.
With a fine razor saw the front side of each wing half was cut in; Then I bended slightly up the wing section and bended down again the wing leading edge section. I glued the entire assembly, particularly in the middle. A little filler does the rest to get a smooth shape/curve.
Note that this kit has the ailerons molded deflected which as such looks OK.
The main wheel bays in this kit are a bit too shallow. Therefore I opened them with a modeling knife and razor saw before construction began.
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The wheel bay box panels will be made of thin plastic sheet closing the tiny gaps with white glue.
Construction for the rest of the kit went well although some filler was needed here and there such as on the exhaust pipes and the radar nose. Some additional sanding was needed at the bottom of the lower engine fairings. Smaller details like undercarriage were not yet fitted at this stage.
After the general assembly the model got a gray base coat with the airbrush to check for any flaws. This shows all irregularities and is a good primer for the final colors. Often I use Revell Aqua 75 "steingrau" acrylic paint, which is highly diluted with a mixture of distilled water and IPA (isopropyl alcohol). Any imperfections were corrected with a bit of filler and sanding.
The model was finished in a scheme of a special Polish MiG-29A "9-12" aircraft. From 1995 Poland purchased some 9 second hand "9-12" aircraft and a MiG-29UB trainer from CzechoSlovakia as this country split up and Poland needed newer fighters. (They were "traded / swopped" for some 11 WZL-3 helicopters with the Czech Republic).
My modelling friend Bas gave me a CARACAL set CD72010 and it had a nice scheme for one of these ex-Czech MiG-29A "9-12" in memory of Polish pilot Pisarek and the no.303 squadron that flew in the Second World War in the Royal Air Force. The indicated colors are FS36270 medium gray and dark gray FS36118 on top in a simple camouflage scheme. I assume these are equivalents of the actual colours of the real aircraft.
I airbrushed acrylic from Gunze Sangyo acrylic #306 FS36270. Next a bit of masking was done (I used Revell masking film) and than followed the FS36118 using Gunze Sangyo #305.
The CARACAL decals are nice but the big logo on the back was unfortunately 2 mm too wide in diameter (may be they were dimensioned it to a particular older kit). So I cut out very carefully around the round decal on the sides and then the decal was cut into three pieces and applied.
On the model also the detail markings like the many stencils were applied with a mix of spare ZVEZDA and Trumpeter decals.
Final construction was now done such as the undercarriage, antennas and more.
The structure of the main undercarriage leg is shown a bit unclear. It has two parts and I did not achieve what Trumpeter suggests. Some rod was needed.
The dark gray antennas were not visible on the photos so they don’t need to be painted. But a small extra antenna was seen on the Polish MiG mounted on the spine. On the wing tips the small antennas are also molded in the kit and OK.
The gun blast panel was painted aluminium. The wheel hubs were painted bright green using color Revell Aqua 364 "laubgrun".
The exhausts were painted in various burned metal shades as well as the rear panels of the upper fuselage.
Pylons and stores were set on as desired. Small red and green anti-collision lights were painted. The mud guard behind the nose wheel was neat and was applied as per kit.
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The canopy as usual for this MiG-29 got 3 rear view mirrors from a etched metal set from REHEAT. The canopy frames inside and outside were also painted and I also added a few tiny decals to suggest the canopy sealing as sometimes seen on the real MiG.
A large number of "static dischargers" were now added as seen on a real MiG-29. They were made from very thin fishing line of 3 mm in length: 2 on each wing tip, 2 on each tail-end and two above each rudder.
Below here the large fuel tanks are also seen installed as well as the stabilizers which are very good.
That completed this very nice kit for a colourful Polish MiG-29.
MiG-29 Poland
[area: 312,696 km2 | population: 39 million | capital: Warsawa | GDP 18,000 Euro per capita nominal]
The Polish air force was established at the end of World War One. Later on, several local designed aircraft were used such as from PZL. After the Second World War Poland became part of the Communist block "behind the iron curtain" and Warsaw Pact. Various Soviet aircraft were used including MiG-15, MiG-17, MiG-19, MiG-21 as well as Sukhoi SU-20 and SU-22 bombers and many other types including the Polish PZL TS-11 Iskra trainer.
From 1989 some 20 MiG-29 aircraft were delivered. After the collapse of the Soviet block in 1989-1991, Poland became really an independent democratic state again. For the "Polskie Sily Powietrzne" (Polish Air Force) from 1993 additional MiG-29 were obtained from Czech Republic as the country CzechoSlovakia had split up. The air force now had dozens of MiG-29A, MiG-29UB and many were upgraded by WZL with new systems to be NATO compatible. From 2003 the German Luftwaffe also supplied some 2 dozen former DDR MiG-29G aircraft and although these were upgraded by DASA many aircraft appeared to be in a poor condition. Only a limited ex-DDR / ex- Luftwaffe aircraft were upgraded by WZL. In 2011 a further modernization program was started and as of 2017 some 30 MiG-29's are still active with the Polish air force. Later starting from 2008 aircraft other aircraft like the F-16 were obtained.
MiG-29A 9-12 in markings in the memory of Polish pilot Pisarek of the no. 303 squadron flown with the RAF in the Second World War. This MiG-29A "9-12" (serial 2960532356 and ex Czech coded "5616") now coded "Red 56" as seen with the special markings in 2012. This aircraft probably flown by unit 23.BLT from 1996 until Sept 2016.
.... and the model "posed in a realistic scene..."
NOTE: IPMS Nederland members can read my modelling report in Dutch in the IPMS NL Magazine MIP 2017-5
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Created this page February 19, 2018