Homebee Posted July 24, 2016 Share Posted July 24, 2016 (edited) After the Bf.109E-1/E-3 (http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234998486-148-messerschmitt-bf109e-1e-3-over-spain-eduard-plastic-by-ak-interactive-released/) and the Spitfire IXc ( http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234998485-148-supermarine-spitfire-mkixc-late-foreign-service-rebox-eduard-by-ak-interactive-released/), AK Interactive is has just reboxed the Eduard "Fishbed" as 1/48th MIG-21PFM "Fisbed-F" Days of Glory and Oblivion - ref.AK148003 Source: http://ak-interactive.com/v2/?product=mig-21-pfm-days-of-glory-and-oblivion Quote Always at the forefront of the modeling world, AK has gone somewhere no other model company has gone before; we are releasing a kit for both collectors and modelers alike. For the first time an abandoned aircraft! AK is proud to offer a Limited Edition release of an abandoned Mig-21. This kit is a breath of fresh air; an idea that dares to break away from the pack. This is a perfect model for those who want to build a Mig-21, and for those who want to collect a bit of modeling history. This model kit contains:Precise instructions, Photo-etched, Decals, Resin parts Have you always wanted to try and recreate a tired aircraft that through the flaked paint, flat tires, and overall weathered appearance tells a glorious story? This kit allows just that; make a version with flat tires, extremely weathered and discolored decals; or if that is not to your liking, opt for a more classic version and build an attractive Russian or German Mig-21 aircraft in its days of glory. High quality unassembled model kit for modelers aged 14 and up. Contains plastic parts, photo-etched parts and decals. Requires glue, tools and paint to complete (not included). Pictorial assembly guide provides precise assembly instructions. V.P. Edited March 13, 2018 by Homebee 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
exdraken Posted July 24, 2016 Share Posted July 24, 2016 nice, this time at least something new and different! maybe, if it is easy to come by...... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fewr9fkr9595 Posted July 24, 2016 Share Posted July 24, 2016 (edited) Well the plastic isn't new, Eduard rebox again like the previous two ak kits. And seems to have a simplified pe sheet and no canopy mask either compared to the std Eduard Profipack (same case with the ix c) So a bit gimmicky for 50 euros I think. Be interesting to see what the 'flat' tires are like and where they sourced them from. Perhaps something new there by eduard in their brassin range maybe? I'd buy some of those if they were available separately... Edited July 24, 2016 by Tony Oliver Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tbolt Posted July 25, 2016 Share Posted July 25, 2016 Well the plastic isn't new, Eduard rebox again like the previous two ak kits. And seems to have a simplified pe sheet and no canopy mask either compared to the std Eduard Profipack (same case with the ix c) So a bit gimmicky for 50 euros I think. Be interesting to see what the 'flat' tires are like and where they sourced them from. Perhaps something new there by eduard in their brassin range maybe? I'd buy some of those if they were available separately... Im not sure that it will contain any "flat" tyres - it doesn't say it contains any resin, so maybe they just give you instructions on how to heat the plastic ones to get the effect. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fewr9fkr9595 Posted July 25, 2016 Share Posted July 25, 2016 It says : 'this model kit contains: precise instructions, photo etch, decals, resin parts....? And on the montage of the 4 pages of the instruction sheet pictures, bottom centre of the first page parts lay-out - three items that look like wheels....? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tbolt Posted July 25, 2016 Share Posted July 25, 2016 (edited) It says : 'this model kit contains: precise instructions, photo etch, decals, resin parts....? And on the montage of the 4 pages of the instruction sheet pictures, bottom centre of the first page parts lay-out - three items that look like wheels....? Yeah I missed that, because you would only think they would write the kit content once - but they wrote it twice differently and I only saw the second one which says "Contains plastic parts, photo-etched parts and decals" (which is what it says on the second picture also), but the first says "This model kit contains:Precise instructions, Photo-etched, Decals, Resin parts", make you mind up AK! Edited July 25, 2016 by Tbolt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fewr9fkr9595 Posted September 12, 2016 Share Posted September 12, 2016 Just won one of these on ebay, hopefully here by the end of the week, will try get some pics up of the bits that make it different to standard eduard pfm boxings 👍🏻 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fewr9fkr9595 Posted September 15, 2016 Share Posted September 15, 2016 Well, it came today. Lets just say i'm glad I didn't pay the full RRP of £50 for one of these. Mine cost £37 to my door and I am a bit disappointed. I will try put a proper comparison/pics up over the weekend but the short of it is: 1: If you want a mig 21 in its 'day of glory' you are better off with a standard eduard profi-pack. They have: Comprehensive etch (inside and outside instead of only just the seatbelts that this comes with), More decal options and canopy/panel masks. Plus can be had on offer for half the price of one of these. Even the normal price of a profi pack is still cheaper. 2: If you want a mig 21 in its 'day of oblivion', buy an eduard weekend edition for a quarter of the price of this, dont worry about its lack of seatbelts because you will fog/scuff the canopy anyway to make it derilict and wont be able to see in, sand the wheels flat, and then leave the decals off all together or paint the remnants of some which you should have the skill to do if you can achieve an extreme weathered paint job that this option would require. I'm not hating on AK, I love their paints and weathering products, but this could have been better. I will elaborate how later on. This overall just seems too 'gimmicky'... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fewr9fkr9595 Posted September 16, 2016 Share Posted September 16, 2016 Here's a link to a review on cyber modeller. http://www.cybermodeler.com/hobby/kits/aki/kit_aki_148003.shtml One thing that i'm not sure about is where he is going on about 'the quality of the cockpit instrument decals compared to the cockpit photo etch panels.' Whether he means compared to the etch panels in this kit or to ones he has seen in the past in other eduard profipacks isn't quite clear. I can confirm that there is no cockpit instrument panel etch at all included in the kit, and there is no mention of it neither on the first 'kit contents' page nor is their use shown in the instructions. The only etch is for the seatbelts. (Which funnily enough is the only etch piece shown in the review photos) So a few things could have happened: I've completely misunderstood him. He got a pre production sample with full cockpit etch ala profi pack style. AK sent him a kit with that thrown in extra on the side to make the kit look better in the review. He is didn't proof read his work properly because he cut and paste a previous mig 21 profipack review and changed some of the text to suit this kit and didn't notice the bit about the cockpit etch. Answers on a postcard please! Its just I'd hate for someone to buy it thinking they get full cockpit etch like the normal eduard releases. Disclaimer: I am not a guru on mig 21's and there are alot of many more knowledgeable people about the real planes (on this forum even) nor an expert on the entire eduard catalogue, but I have built five 1/48 eduard migs so far (1 w/e & 4 profi) with plenty more in the stash and know my way around the kits well enough to have commented the way I have. 😁 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fewr9fkr9595 Posted September 16, 2016 Share Posted September 16, 2016 (edited) UK RRP is actually £54.99! Compared to €49.99 for Europe! Edited September 16, 2016 by Tony Oliver Double post! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fewr9fkr9595 Posted September 17, 2016 Share Posted September 17, 2016 (edited) So, as promised, here are some pics showing what you get and what I was on about. So in the box you get the same plastic parts as an eduard kit. This kit has a specific decal sheet, Etch seatbelts and some resin wheels. I get the feeling that AK have aimed their kits at the painters/extreme weathering type people rather than the builders/superdetailers because of the way all of the kits so far have been 'dumbed down' (spitfire 9 and 109E also had just seatbelts for etch) compared to the eduard kits they are based on. What is disappointing is the prices (UK market specifically), as all the kits so far are considerably more expensive than the equivalent eduard profipacks. The 109 kit came with a book so that may be a bonus if its your thing. So you need to really want one of the decal options to pay a premium for one. Which brings us to the decal sheet. I imagine 9 out of 10 people that buy this kit will want to build it as the weathered example, so what you get for this are some faded numbers and insignia. They seem to replicate what is on the plane quite well, but what is there could be achieved with careful painting, esp the 'green squares' with an airbrush. Because the weathered option will require use of an airbrush for a chipped layer over their extreme metal range. So the rest of the decals are for the spares box. If you want to build a 'standard' one then as I mentioned in an earlier post you are better off with a normal profi pack as you get all the etch and masks with more options for less money. Especially as on a normal build with an open canopy you will benefit form all the extra cockpit etch that this kit lacks. Decals Etch and Resin The etch is the seatbelts only. They could have put the seat ejection firing handle on the fret too, this would benefit an open canopy build for a plane in its 'day of glory' These wont be seen much anyway with a dirty frosted canopy if you are going for the weathered build. As this is the option most will take, I reckon they would have been better off supplying the superfabric printed ink style ones as eduard have included in their recent blue box weekend editions of the MFN & PF. About the wheels: These have in my opinion been mastered from the eduard brassin mig 21 wheel set, as in assembled, flattened and then re-cast. They come pre 'snapped off' from the casting stubs and supposedly ready to use (dumbed down kit theme?) but the front is a fail in this regard. Seeing as these along with the 'faded' decals are supposed to be a major selling point of the kit they come up really short. On the plus side because they come from the brassin range they have the tread grooves, but one could argue and old plane would have smooth as well as flat tires, hence my comment in an earlier post about starting with a normal weekend edition and sanding the (smooth) plastic wheels flat. So whats wrong with them? Main wheels - When they made the master and they were what looks like heated up to 'squash' them this has deformed the rim downwards. If anything a plane with flat tires resting on its rims they would get bent upwards after a period of time. Also, it's hard to see in the pics but on the reverse, the heat has made the semi-circular locating holes deform/go 'soft' and come out of alignment, so they probably are not going to sit square against the leg. (not visible in the reference photos of the real thing). The front wheel is also from the brassin range, and this causes a few problems: Firstly is not even bulged, it looks like the master was just sanded down. The other is that it is from the wheel set it's designed to clip into a new specific yoke that comes with the wheels in the brassin set. Its not designed to be sandwiched between the two 'arms' like the standard plastic one. (see pic of instructions of this area) So on the wheel they supply you will need open up the hole on one side, and on the other side shave the ramp off and drill a hole to take the pins on the plastic arms. There is no mention of this in the instructions. If they went to the effort of using a brassin front wheel and assembling it to make a master they could have put the work as mentioned above into it to make it straight swap for the plastic one. Note use of AK paint range numbers. Normal Brassin Wheels for comparison: On the instructions it shows the three resin flat wheels, (with a bulged front which actually isn't) but when you look closer it is just a smaller picture of one of the main wheels... So it does seem that all I have done is criticize the kit for its shortcomings, because in a nutshell it is an eduard weekend edition with some faded decals and poorly executed resin tires for £54. So how could it be better? 1. Well for a start, and as the one of the main features of the kit, the wheels could be alot better. 2. They could have included the etch sets to profipack level to improve the 'days of glory option' or at least just the small exterior fret which would benefit both options. (odd rods under the nose circled below) 3. Canopy/panel mask sheet. 4. Leave it as it is but make it cheaper! Also, There are some pics at back of instruction booklet showing the real weathered plane at a Madrid museum. Couple of interesting things circled which they could have utilized/worked on or included to make the kit better. The UB-16 rocket pods are produced by eduard, and included in several of their kits. They could have been sourced like the wheels and put in this one especially seeing they are on the real thing. The exhaust and auxiliary intake FOD covers are available from eduard in their mig 21 accessory etch sheet along with several other bits (wheels chocks, nose FOD cover etc). Perhaps they could have included this sheet or had just the two covers on their own mini fret produced like they did with just the seatbelts? Another thing is the cover on the 'odd rods' antennas on the top of the tail fin. They could have mastered a small resin part for this? Or perhaps a discount code in the box to get their soviet aircraft paint set cheaper? Well that's a very disappointed rant over... Edited September 17, 2016 by Tony Oliver 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ya-gabor Posted September 18, 2016 Share Posted September 18, 2016 The kit is an interesting concept! The idea is good behind it as to the execution, based on your inbox review it is not really 100%. This is from the point of view of a modeller. But if you look at it with another hat on, that of marketing, then you will see exactly the same ideology as in most Eduard kits. It is designed as a selling point for AK paints, as a marketing tool for further photoetch details, resin aftermarket parts (mainly Eduard). I like the weathered decals but the overall price of the kit is prohibitive, the resin wheels are unrealistic and would not use them. The accompanying photos in the instruction sheet are excellent and would / could be a perfect help for a modeller wishing to reproduce the weathering, including the physical damage/aging of the airframe. Most people wishing to add such “ageing” to their kit would be capable to simply airbrush the markings or alter the decal to look as on the photos and add / make the flat tires. The canopy of the MiG-21 would in most cases just go dirty as it is made of a 10 mm plexiglass which is not really effected by sun light. Unlike the special one on the MiG-23 and MiG-25 which would go yellow very fast even in service and after few years left in the open will be white/yellow milky. On the MiG-21 the front windshield glass could get “damaged” by age and open storage, the layers of resin between the laminated glass could start to go milky from the edges, but it takes a lot of time. Best regards Gabor 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fewr9fkr9595 Posted September 18, 2016 Share Posted September 18, 2016 9 hours ago, ya-gabor said: Most people wishing to add such “ageing” to their kit would be capable to simply airbrush the markings or alter the decal to look as on the photos and add / make the flat tires. Yes mate my thoughts exactly, and echoes my sentiments in the second half of post #8. It is a great concept for a kit, just could have been executed better. And they missed a trick or two by not refering to other AK products in the instructions, eg the chipping fluids they do etc. And with regards to aftermarket/brassin stuff to upgrade it, There is no advertising of the sets available like you get on the back page of the eduard booklets in their kits. I suppose they want the money in their pockets, not eduards. Perhaps they will re-release the mig 21 brassin range under their name too? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Homebee Posted March 13, 2018 Author Share Posted March 13, 2018 (edited) In April 2018 - ref. 11115 - MiG-21PFM "Fishbed-F" North Vietnamese service" Source: https://www.facebook.com/EduardCompany/posts/1993724477309156 Quote April Limited edition kit focused on MiG-21PFM in North Vietnamese service will offer 5 colour schemes. The kit in 1/48 scale will be released under the name VIETNAM (cat. no. 11115). V.P. Edited April 12, 2018 by Homebee 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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