The Italeri Mig-29B Fulcrum kit has been around for a long time, and is really the definitive and most accurate Mig-29B out there in 72nd scale. The dated Hasegawa kit has issues, with a broader than scale LERX and fuselage, which makes the nose section and neck look shallow, with the overall length being underscale, compounding the stubby look. There are other discrepancies with the Hasegawa kit which are too difficult to resolve or fix. There is a lot of material floating around on the net on the �issues� with the Hasegawa Mig-29. The only other choice over the years has been the absolutely horrible Fujimi kit. That is not a Mig-29, from anywhere! Can only be interesting to collectors, as in Soviet/ Russian Aircraft modelling circles it�s been black listed as a �toy�. There have been newer releases by ICM with their boxing of the 9-13 and by Eastern Express of a supposed SMT. Unfortunately I haven�t looked at these kits at all, hence cannot comment. I am willing to bet that the Airfix Mig-29 might be the other accurate kit on the market, just like their 72nd Flanker kits. Nevertheless they are welcome additions to the Fulcrum family of kits. The Italeri Mig-29, it�s not an easy kit to put together. The cockpit is sparse, as usual. Although I had procured the Pavla�s resin cockpit update set from Lindenhill, it was too late to put it in as I had already started construction. The Pavla resin update set is a little gem. I just didn�t want to use it on my mig with the impending move. With a little bit of work, it can add massive detail to the cockpit. I have no idea on fit issues with this set and the Italeri kit, and any comments would be appreciated. I did use a Pavla K-36 seat along with Reheat data placards and cockpit decals to add some more detail along with some �fuse boxes/ panels and bays� that had been accumulating in the spares box over the years, to try to emulate the Mig-29B cockpit as close as possible. The Italeri instrument panel is nicely done, and with the typical Russian cockpit grey FS36375 lightened for scale effect, I felt satisfied with the level of detail. Enough is visible under the closed canopy and looks acceptable. The next one I build will get the Pavla cockpit set. Moving onto the fuselage and wing assembly I used a lot of putty to fill gaps on the fin to fuselage joints, and blending in those crude fin chaff/ flare fairings to the fuselage and fins. Noting the fin outward canted angle from references, these being canted outward at about 2 degrees. The same applied for the downward anhedral for the wings. Once again liberal puttying and sanding, wet sanding and polishing of any excessive gaps. After repeating this over many days, whenever I got the time to tackle it, it finally got done. I was dissatisfied with the simplistic representation of the burner cans and nozzles. They are crude, to say the least. This is one of the few items you could swap from the otherwise useless Hasegawa kit. The undercarriage and weapons are also better in the Hasegawa kit, and should be used. A better alternative would be to get the Aires resin replacement Nozzles, as they are fantastic. The broken pitot was corrected by a sanded and cut pin tip. �Odd Rods� were removed as the Iranians don�t use Russian transponders or IFF equipment, and I haven�t seen any evidence otherwise. The IRST ball was now attached with white glue and masked off for painting. The crude FOD covers were also attached at this time.
Painting and Decals
For the typical IRIAF two tone Sand and Grey scheme I started with preshading the panel lines with a thinned flat black. I used Model Master�s Flanker blue grey, which was lightened considerably with pale grey. Gunze�s light brown was used to replicate that peculiar Iranian sand yellow. Camou pattern was done freehand medium pressure of around 20-22 PSI with my IWATA Eclipse (nozzle removed for very fine feathering and a reasonably hard edge), and which I am starting to trust more with time. The model was then lightly sanded throughout panel by panel with a fine grit to replicate a weathered look. I seem to have had poor results with Gunze�s yellow, as it took weeks to dry out and cure, and was still not fully cured and felt sticky. That is itself amazing despite me using a hairdryer to expedite the process. I finally sealed it in after 2 odd weeks with once again Gunze�s clear gloss, and that too is still tacky despite my best efforts. Boy do I miss Future! Unfortunately it�s not available in this small Perth market place, and I might have to order one through friend�s back in the U.S. Should have brought mine with me, instead of trashing it, due to weight considerations while shipping. Suffice to say that acrylics are on my no use list now. They just don�t spray well, not to mention the curing part, and the thick fibrous pigment just disappointed me. The colour itself looks good and is a close match to the IRIAF sand yellow. Hopefully with time these Gunze products will finally cure, as they all do. I have never had any such trouble with Modelmaster�s perfectly sprayable enamels, or even good old Humbrol�s. Moving on with the kit, I retouched the weathering with some chalk pastels (Black and Burnt Umber) to replicate those grimy undersides and leaky panels under the engine nacelles, and concentrated most of it on the rear fuselage both top and bottom. Gunze�s Engine Gray was used for the radome and dielectric panels on the fins and shoulders. The undercarriage was painted, given a light chalk Pastel wash, and the wheels attached which I painted the usual Modelmaster Gunship Grey to better depict rubber for scale effect. The hubs were painted FS34092 .The old Super Scale Mig-29 Fulcrum sheet was used for the IRIAF Bort # 3-6107. They responded well to both Super Set and Super Sol. IRIAF Migs are devoid of any data stencilling, from reference photo�s circulating on the net (Iranian Defence Forums) these days with all the tension over Iran, and these hard to find reference photo�s suddenly available. The Super Scale decals INMO are over sized, and some of the IRIAF roundels are out of register! One should really go for the very nice and updated Hi-decal sheet, which is far better researched than this very old and OOP Super Scale sheet. The aircraft serials/ Bort numbers on the Hi-decal sheet are the correct size, i.e. about half the size of the Super Scale one�s. I finally hit the model with some random Tamiya smoke, and then sealed it all under a Gunze Flat coat to cover up the glossier areas and to seal in the decals and to take off the sheen from the glossy Gunze Engine Gray.
Conclusions
Well this was certainly not an enjoyable build, but when are they easy to build (the way you want)? I shudder at the sight of my dozens of A-model, Zvezda, Red Hurricane, Bilek, Roden and Airfix Migs and Sukhoi�s and all the �detail� paraphernalia accumulated over time and still lying in their coffins, due to a busy working career. They will all be difficult to tackle, due to the lack of available modelling time. Slowly and with more time and patience I certainly do intend to build the entire Mig and Sukhoi genealogy, and perhaps display them in a nice gun case. Hope you like my mig, and happy modelling to all.
References:
www.irandefence.net
OKB Mig, A history of the Bureau and its aircraft, By Piotr Butowski and Jay Miller.
Mig-29, AeroFax books, by Yefim Gordon.
www.acig.org
