Search the Community

Mikromir AMP is to release a 1/72nd Fairey Ultra-light Helicopter kit - ref.72002 Sources: http://www.greenmats.club/topic/3047-mikromir-рисует-fairey-ultra-light-helicopter-172/http://www.greenmats.club/topic/3047-mikromir-рисует-fairey-ultra-light-helicopter-172/ https://www.facebook.com/1416295571781508/photos/a.1416729748404757.1073741828.1416295571781508/1437141239696941/?type=3&theater V.P.

MikroMir is to release a 1/144th McDonnell Douglas MD-87 "Fire Bomber" kit - ref. Release is expected for late October 2017. Rebox from Eastern Express kit (link)? Source: https://www.facebook.com/mikro.mir.dnepr/photos/a.1416729748404757.1073741828.1416295571781508/1622158684528528/?type=3&theater V.P.

As logical follow up to its TB-1(ANT-4) & TB-1P kits (link), Mikromir is to release a 1/72nd Tupolev G-1 kit - ref. 72-012 Source: https://www.facebook.com/mikro.mir.dnepr/posts/1619048508172879 New fuselage sprue V.P.

MikroMir AMP is to release a 1/48th Sikorsky R-5 / H-5 injected kit - ref. 48001 Source: https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=1454794704598261&id=1416295571781508 In my favourite scale 3D renders V.P.

After the Sikorsky HO3S-1 (link), AMP is to release a 1/48th Bristol Type 171 Sycamore kit - ref. 48004 I really like these vintage small helicopters... In the right (quarter) scale! Source: the HO3S-1 box V.P.

Source: http://sandmmodels.co.uk/misc-news/piston-provost-released-next-week/ My hope: a 1/48th Hunting Percival Provost T.Mk.1 after the 1/72nd kit http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234984749-172-percival-provost-tmk1-by-s-m-models-test-shotbox-arts-release-november-2015/ V.P.

Another MikroMir project revealed: after the UT-1 (Link) a 1/144th Yakovlev UT-2 & UT-2M kit - ref. 144-019 Source: https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=1503937646350633&id=1416295571781508 V.P.

MikroMir has announced the revival from one of its old projet, a 1/72nd Kalinin K-12 kit Sources: http://www.greenmats.club/topic/967-авиация/?do=findComment&comment=17371 http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234999181-soviet-bomber-experimental-kalinin-k-12-172/#entry2297771 V.P.

Another MikroMir project announced: 1/72nd Focke-Achgelis (DFS) Fa 225 Source: https://www.facebook.com/1416295571781508/photos/a.1416729748404757.1073741828.1416295571781508/1480231898721208/?type=3&permPage=1 Fa 225 Wiki: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Focke-Achgelis_Fa_225 V.P.

MikroMir is to release a 1/72nd Miles M.57 Aerovan kit - ref.72-011 Source: http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/235001246-miles-m57-aerovan-172/ See also Kiwi Resin Aerovan kit: http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234979878-172-miles-aerovan-resin-kit-by-kiwi-resin-models-released/ V.P.

Finally finished - the MikroMir 1/350 scale kit of HMS K15 - which I have built as HMS K22 (ex-K13). I also converted another K15 kit as HMS K12 - with a raised fordeck in front of the bridge. The WIP is here - from months ago. They aren't the best models I have ever made - lost my modelling mojo halfway through - hence the long tome to complete. Anyway FWIW, here are the photos..... HMS K22 - straight from the box.... Ken

In project/design by MikroMir is a 1/48th Fokker G-1 Jachtkruiser kit - ref. Source: https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=1512478232163241&id=1416295571781508 3D renders V.P.

After the Mach2 (http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/235011263-172-avro-york-by-mach-2-release-november-2016/) kit announced for Telford SMW 2016, here's the Mikromir's 1/72nd Avro York kit project. Source: http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/235011331-avro-york-172/ CAD V.P.

Submarine UB 1 Mikro Mir 1:144 The Type UB I was a class of small coastal submarines (U-boats) built in Germany at the beginning of the First World War. 20 boats were constructed, most of which went into service with the German Imperial Navy. Boats of this design were also operated by the Austro-Hungarian Navy (Kaiserliche und Königliche Kriegsmarine or K.u.K. Kriegsmarine) and the Bulgarian Navy. The group is sometimes known as the UB-1 class after SM UB-1, the class leader. In the Austro-Hungarian Navy, it was called the U-10 class. Built to meet the need for small manoeuvrable submarines able to operate in the narrow, shallow seas off Flanders, the vessels were intended to be quickly constructed, then shipped by rail and assembled at their port of operation. The design effort began in mid-August 1914 and by mid-October the first 15 boats were ordered from two German shipyards. The German Imperial Navy subsequently ordered an additional pair of boats to replace two sold to Austria-Hungary, who ordered a further three boats in April 1915. A total of 20 UB Is were built. Construction of the first boats for Germany began in early November 1914; all 20 were completed by October 1915. Several of the first boats underwent trials in German home waters, but the rest were assembled and tested at either Antwerp or Pola. The German boats operated primarily in the Flanders, Baltic, and Constantinople Flotillas. The boats were about 28 metres (92 ft) long and displaced 127 tonnes (125 long tons) when surfaced and 142 tonnes (140 long tons) while submerged. All had two bow torpedo tubes and two torpedoes, and were equipped with a deck-mounted machine gun. In 1918 four of the surviving German boats were converted into coastal minelayers. Of the seventeen boats in German service, two were sold to Austria-Hungary, one was sold to Bulgaria, and nine were lost during the war. One of the five Austro-Hungarian boats was sunk and another mined and not repaired. The five surviving German boats, the four surviving Austro-Hungarian boats, and the Bulgarian boat were all turned over to the Allies after the end of the war and were broken up. The Model The kit consists of two hull halves and a single sprue of light grey styrene a small etched brass sheet, and small decal sheet. The kit is contained in the standard, colourful Mikr Mir box. As with most submarine kits, there aren’t a lot of parts and shouldn’t take too long to build, even in this scale though it is still a small submarine model. The instruction sheet just shows one complete operation with all the parts arrowed to their positions, broken up with only a few magnified areas where required. The bow torpedo tube bulkhead is fitted with two brass rings before being fitted into position, although, you'd have to open up the tube openings to see this.. The hull halves can be closed up and the deck section attached. The two, two part bow doors can be positioned open or closed, and the two bow planes attached. At the stern, the propeller, rudders and stern plans are attached, and the PE control rods glued to their respective control surfaces. Topside, the main gun mounting is made up from two halves and fitted with the two piece gun, the assembly is then glued into position just forward of the tower. Talking of which, the tower is also made up form two halves and fitted with the tower top, two periscopes, and hatch, which is fitted with ta PE hand wheel. PE parts make up the handrails and the ladder uprights. The completed assembly is then glued into position. The kit comes with a simple stand of two cradles and two longitudinal tubes. Decals There are two decal options, the decals are quite nicely printed with good opacity and in register. The options are:- UB-5 Zeebrugge, August 1915 in overall grey camouflage U-10, Pola, August 1915, in overall grey with dark blue waves of the top of the hull. Conclusion MikroMir really have a knack of producing interesting and unusual subjects. It’s great that they have chosen to release this in 1:144 scale as it makes this small submarine that little bit bigger once built to show off. Review sample courtesy of

MikroMir is to release a 1/72nd Kalinin K-7 kit - ref. Source: https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=1466199806791084&id=1416295571781508 V.P.

McDonnell Douglas MD-11 1:144 MikroMir After the first generation wide body airliners were established into service, thoughts naturally turned to the future. Of the major companies, Boeing continued to develop the 747 whilst also working on 767 and 777 next generation wide bodies, as did Airbus with the A330 & A340 . Lockheed were unable to do much more than offer minor variations to their Tristar, and Douglas were similarly short of cash, meaning that they too were not able to look at creating a new aircraft. There were several proposals from the 1970’s onwards to develop the DC-10 with fuselage stretches and reductions, but for one reason or another they came to nothing. It was not until 1986 that the MD-11 was finalised and offered for sale. The design featured a 5.6 metre fuselage stretch, redesigned wing & tail, a glass cockpit, and the use of composites in construction, and new fuel efficient engines. The MD-11 program suffered from various delays, and the first flight was seven months late, in January 1990. Performance was also below forecast, with the aircraft unable to meet its range/payload figures. December 1990 saw Finnair introduce the MD-11 into service just days before Christmas 1990. Several airlines were disappointed with their MD-11’s, American Airlines keeping their fleet barely 5 years and Singapore cancelling their entire order. Production lasted just seven years for the passenger version, with the final cargo MD-11’s being built in 2000, giving a total build of 200 MD-11’s of all versions. Of those still flying, all are cargo versions, with FedEx and UPS having the largest fleets. The Kit Developed in partnership with Eastern Express, the MD-11 is an all new tooling of this much wanted subject. Upon opening the box it is quickly apparent that it shares the same design approach as the Eastern Express L1011 Tristar released last year. The plastic is very similar, with the same delicately engraved panel lines and detailing, and most obviously a separate rear fuselage and fin unit. The two fuselage halves are quite big and will need their mating surfaces cleaned up and smoothed off with a sanding block. There are some sprue attachment and a little bit of flash, just as there is on the Tristar kit, and having built a Tristar I can say that it is a simple and quick job. Construction starts with the cockpit, which is very unusual for a 1:144 airliner, but most welcome if like me you sometimes find yourself scratch building to fill the empty space. With those large cockpit windows I expect that this detail should be visible on the completed model. With 10 parts to make up the nosewheel bay and leg there is also more detail than usual. We have come a long way since the shallow recesses provided as wheel bays on the likes of Airfix airliners. With the bay and cockpit completed, they can be inserted into one fuselage half, and fuselage closed up. The instructions show the two main fuselage halves being joined, then the two rear fuselage sections being joined to each other, before bringing the two units together. Personally I prefer to avoid this method, as it often seems to result in a ’step’ on the join. I have not tried it on this kit, so it may be feasible, but on my Tristar I joined the tail units to their respective fuselages, to make two ‘normal’ fuselage halves. If you do the job on a flat surface, everything should be in line. The Tristar came out with an almost perfect join, so I will be tempted to do it this way with the MD-11 kit as well. The cockpit glazing is done with a complete unit, including the roof. The moulding captures the look of the DC-10/MD-11 cockpit windows very well, so I’ll be interested to see how it looks on the completed fuselage. A set of pre cut window masks is on the main masking sheet. The wings have restrained engraved panel lines and are nicely shaped, having the distinctive kink at the roots from mid chord to trailing edge Not easy to photograph, but I’ll give it a try. The engines in this kit are the General Electric CF6-80C2D1F, with separate hot and cold sections, compressor and turbine fan discs. The no.2 engine (tail) is also provided in full, which is pleasing to see. Most MD-11’s used this engine, although there was the option of the Pratt & Whitney 4460 or 4462. I believe that a version of the kit may be produced in the future with the P&W engines. The fuselage underside has a large insert for the wing box, in a style that will be familiar to anyone who has built any of Revell’s wide body Airbus kits. Interestingly a spar is also provided, which goes in before the under fuselage part. The wings later slide over this stub spar, which should add strength and assist in getting the wing to fuselage join lined up. . The landing gear legs are well detailed, including the characteristic central main gear leg, but all the wheels are in halves. The hub detail on them is excellent, and very sharply defined. It is a small point, but I always appreciate the wheel hubs being clearly defined from the tyre like this. It makes painting them so much easier, quite important when there are 24 hub ‘sides’ to do. Decals and markings. The box top has a very distinctive looking MD-11 of Finnair on it, and you can’t fail to notice all the cartoon characters down the side. These are the ‘Moomins’ from the childrens stories by Finnish author Tove Jansson. I know this because when my daughter was young, we had Moomin books, videos, and toys in the house! The big decal sheet contains all the Moomin decals for OH-LGF, and an alternative Santa and his sleigh scheme for OH-LGC. The printing looks really good, the colours are right, the print itself is razor sharp, and everything is in perfect register. Without a doubt these are the best decals I have yet seen from MikroMir. It they work as good as they look, I’ll be well satisfied. The Belgian airline CityBird is provided as a third option, but is only shown on the side of the box, so airliners.net will be your friend if you go for this one. The big ‘CityBird’ logos are not decals, but come as masks, meaning that you really need to spray these. (Or maybe its just me, but I’ve always had paint ‘creep’ under masks when using a brush, whereas I’ve never had any trouble with spraying I used masks on a BPK ‘Air Canada Jazz’ Bombardier CRJ-200, and was very impressed with them). Conclusion Airliner modellers have long had the MD-11 near the top of their with list, so this release is very much appreciated. It has a slight ‘limited run’ look to the plastic parts, with the fuselage mating seam needing cleaning up, the rear fuselage being separate, and the wheels being all in halves. None of this will be of much importance to most builders though, as at long last we have an injection moulded MD-11 . The quality of all the mouldings look to be very good, the fine recessed lines are very restrained and delicate, to the point that you won’t want to lose them by using too many coats of primer and paint. Undoubtedly it will build up into an impressive model, I think it is a good looking aircraft, and an essential one to have in any collection of modern airliners. It’s great to see that after many years of ’drought’, new airliner models have been released in the past couple of years, and with the Argosy & D-11 MikroMir provided a couple from near the top on many peoples ‘wants‘ list.. Already the aftermarket producers have released numerous decal sheets for the various airlines who operated MD-11’s , so it looks set to be a popular model, and deserves to be. Highly Recommended Review sample courtesy of

MikroMir is working on 1/144th Dassault Mystère/Falcon 10 & 100 kits. Source: http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/235016165-dassault-falcon-10100-1144/ 3D renders V.P.

MikroMir has a 1/144th Armstrong Whitworth AW.660 Argosy kit in project. Source: http://www.greenmats.club/topic/967-авиация/?do=findComment&comment=17372 To be followed V.P.

Armstrong Whitworth Argosy 1:144 MikroMir The Armstrong Whitworth Argosy was designed in the mid 1950’s as a medium range freight transport. The pod and boom layout was chosen to give an unobstructed cargo bay. With the cockpit on top of the pod and large swing doors at the front and rear, loading and unloading was greatly eased. It was designed so that when the aircraft was parked, the floor was at the average height of flatbed trucks of the day. The civil versions were to be found working as far apart as the United States and Australia & New Zealand, with the last ones retiring in 1991. The initial version was the civil AW650 series 100, later followed by the series 200. The main differences were internal, with the 200 having a stronger & lighter wing with integral fuel tanks, uprated engines, and modified undercarriage. This gave it an increased payload advantage over the 100, from 12,700 Kg to 14,000 Kg. All external dimensions such as length and wingspan remained unchanged. A military version was developed as the AW660, with noticeable differences on the central pod. The front opening door was deleted to enable radar to be installed, and the rear sideways hinged rear door was replaced by an up & down opening ‘Beaver tail’ unit. This could be opened in flight to allow air dropping of cargo, whilst side doors were fitted for the use of paratroopers. They entered RAF service in the early 1960’s, and began to be replaced in the 1970’s by the Lockheed Hercules. The Kit The MikroMir kit is moulded in medium grey plastic with very fine recessed panel detail. There are eight sprues (or trees if you prefer) containing the majority of the parts, a sheet of etched brass details, a set of window masks, and two decal sheets. Construction begins with the cockpit area, which is very detailed for a 1:144 scale model. Instrument panel, pilot & co-pilot’s seats, and even the flight engineers stations are all provided. There is a cargo bay floor, and both the front and rear doors can be modeled open. All the windows are provided as clear parts, but it will be necessary to check which aircraft you are modeling, as not all of them had the full set of windows. They all need fitting but some may need to be filled and painted over. A distinctive feature if the Argosy is a series of little vanes running from one side to the other across the top of the pod. These could never be molded finely enough, so full marks to MikroMir for providing them as etched brass parts, with small incised lines marked on the pod to show where to place them. The cargo bay floor is also provided and I assume that some nose weight will be needed to prevent tail sitting, although no mention is made in the instructions. If building it with the doors closed it will be simple just to locate some weight at the front end. With open doors you could disguise the weight as a cargo load, perhaps covering it with tissue soaked in white glue to represent a tarpaulin. It may be worth checking the model railway section of various websites , as several small manufacturers offer N gauge ‘loads’ in white metal. There are also several die cast vehicles available. The main undercarriage legs are made up of several very detailed parts, and fitted into the main booms before joining them together. The inner engines are integral with the booms, whilst the outers are, naturally, separate units. Two complete sets of propellers are provided, one being the rounded type and the other the square tipped type. Note that the 'boom' sprues are not 2 copies of the same thing, but different. See the parts with the rudders on. The wing, in upper and lower halves, is a fairly complex molding as it has to have recesses for the central pod, the two boom/engine units, and the two outer engines. As a crucial part of the whole model, it is nice to see that it is cleanly molded and warp free. (I also have the 200 series kit, that uses the etched brass wing fences, which is the ideal way of representing these as they are far closer to scale thickness than plastic moldings could ever be. They are on the etched fret in this kit but not required on the 100 series Argosy) . A single piece tailplane locates between the booms to complete the major assembly. As mentioned earlier, the front and rear doors can be modeled in the open or closed positions, the open option being best left until all painting and decaling is complete. They’ll only get knocked off otherwise! Finishing options & decals. No less than six different liveries are offered, of varying complexity. All the logos, lettering, and door outlines are provided, but the cheat lines will require painting or cutting from solid decal sheet, of the type produced by Fantasy Printshop. For example the red trim on the BBA cargo could be cut as strips from red decal sheet, and applied to the model in sections. The Elan option could similarly be done by painting the lower fuselage red and adding the stripes from thin strips of red decal sheet. If this seems a bit daunting, some of the aftermarket decal producers have already released sheets for this aircraft, containing everything you need. The main sheet has the BEA red square logos incorrectly printed with black lettering, but a supplementary sheet has been provided to correct this. Conclusion. Who would have ever dared hope that we would get a 1:144 scale injection molded Argosy? The plastic parts are very nicely molded, with beautifully restrained panel lines and some very fine work on areas such as the undercarriage and propellers. Some of the attachment points on the small parts will require care when cutting them away, and a little bit of delicate clean up. But be assured, the moldings look very, very good. It is probably one for the moderately experienced modeler, due partly to the construction of the pod & boom layout of the subject, and partly to the complex nature of some of the colour schemes. However, it is also these very two things that will attract serious modelers in the first place. I have a growing collection of freighters, with a DC-6, Carvair, and Bristol Freighter already built. The Argosy is a most welcome addition to the fleet, all we need now is the military version with the ‘Beaver tail’ , which will make a perfect companion to the MikroMir Blackburn Beverley. A lovely looking kit, highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of Footnote. An extra word is probably useful here, with regard to the other release of the 200 series version (with a BEA liveried Argosy on the box) which I purchased before the arrival of the review kit. It also contains the small BEA correction sheet, but this does not have all those BEA elements on the 100 series large sheet. Namely - the ‘Cargo’ titles for the booms, the wing registrations for G-ASXM, the union jacks for the nose, and the little script for ‘Rolls-Royce Dart powered’ that goes on the black cheat line. None of these are present on the 200 series main decal sheet, so it won't be possible to do the BEA scheme. It seems that a simple error has been made. 200 series decals; However, there is a simple way to solve this. Both boxings have exactly the same contents, apart from the larger of the 2 decal sheets which are different. Everything else is the same. So to make a BEA machine the ‘Elan’ boxing has all the parts and decals needed to; Make a BEA 100 series machine (G-APRM) straight from the box. Use props 96 &97, and use the tiny wing fences Pe5. OR Make a BEA 200 series machine (G-ASXM) straight from the box. Use props 94 & 95, and add the large etched brass wing fences Pe2. Of course none of this is a problem if you do not intend making a BEA machine. Having checked the other non-BEA liveries offered in each boxing, they all seem to have the correct decals. There are some very attractive options offered in this 200 series box; Better still, get both the 100 and 200 series boxings and make 2 Argosies!

MikroMir is to release a 1/32nd Fokker E.V/D.VIII kit - ref. 32-001. Source: https://www.facebook.com/1416295571781508/photos/a.1416729748404757.1073741828.1416295571781508/1446654402078958/?type=3&theater Box art V.P.

MikromIr has 1/48th Miles M.9 Master I/ II/ III kits in project Source: http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/235019258-miles-m9-master-i-ii-iii-148/ V.P.

MikroMir is to release a 1/72nd Focke-Achgelis Fa 223 Drache kit - ref. Sources: http://www.greenmats.club/topic/3048-fa-223-172-от-микромир-–-рендер/ https://www.facebook.com/1416295571781508/photos/a.1416729748404757.1073741828.1416295571781508/1437205886357143/?type=3&theater V.P.

MikroMir is to release in 2017 a 1/72nd Kharkiv KhAI-3 (KhAI-AVIAVNITO-3) flying wing kit - ref. Source: http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/235014382-khai-3-хаи-3-172/ CADs V.P.

MikroMir is to release a new tool 1/72nd Tupolev TB-1 (ANT-4) kit. Source: http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234988987-soviet-heavy-bomber-tupolev-tb-1-ant-4-172/ V.P.

MikroMir is to release a 1/144th Handley-Page Hastings C.Mk.1/Mk.2 kit - ref. Source: http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/235007209-handley-page-hastings-c-mk1-mk2-1144/ CADs V.P.