ya-gabor Posted May 20, 2017 Share Posted May 20, 2017 For weeks there has been talk of state of art MiG-21 kits in 72nd scale. I have seen the latest KP kit at the Moson 2017 show a month ago. No surprises, it is the latest rebirth of the RV kit with minimal adjustment to the tooling, but what you get is basically an RV kit with all that it brings with it. For me a lot of disappointments. Could it be only me. . . In the wake of the KP announcement Eduard was fast to publish some news and photos of its planned MiG-21MF kit but it is still in CAD stages and will not be around for another year. . . In the meantime has anyone seen this little gem??? This is a brilliant piece of a perfectly polished diamond!!! Kits from Modelsvit have been in the past years improving from good to far better. They have stepped up one more with the Fishbed kit! A friend from the Ukrain has turned up this week with a fantastic kit. I have seen some photos of it here and there but one has to see it with his own eyes to believe what comes in this box. While other manufacturers start a family line of kits from the latest version and work from there backwards the Ukrainian company Modelsvit has taken the opposite approach (just as with its earlier kits) and gone back to the roots. It is not surprising that the Catalogue number 72021 was saved for this kit. Nice touch! Back in the second half of the 1950’s at the Mikojan OKB a brand new fighter was born. Breaking drastically from the line of MiG-15, -17 and -19 design features and using what was available at the time the new aircraft was armed with just unguided rocket pods (with special missiles optimised for air to air combat) and also two 30 mm cannons. Apart from this it was also capable of carrying bombs for ground attack and a 490 litre drop tank (actually 500 but since you were not able to extract all its content it was designated as 490, with 10 litres splashing around somewhere at its bottom). An interesting feature of the fighter was the ejection seat which was an inheritance from the MiG-19 family of aircraft. It was the “Curtain type” seat with slight modification but it also needed adjustment to the canopy top which resulted in the two firings on top covering the locking mechanism. The “SK” ejection seat which dominated later versions (F-13, PF and U) was still under development so they had to settle for the MiG-19 seat. The very narrow tail, early style ventral fin, two cannons and a single under wing landing light were the identifying features of the Type 72 based on its official designation, or MiG-21F the more “open” name for it. Less than 100 were produced before production switched to the more “modern” Type 74 or MiG-21F-13 version already carrying the R-3 Air to Air missile and just one cannon. The F-13 was the version generally known to everyone and the F versions were fast relegated to training units and aviation high schools. This is where one of the examples is still preserved to this day in spotless condition (the kit is based on this one according to some sources). In the Red Army Central Museum in Moscow another example (cn 72210602) is also on display, this is the one known to the wider public. The MiG-21F was a fairly small aircraft and this is perfectly reflected by the small plastic bag sliding around inside a standard size 72nd scale box. Within this bag we get two more, one to protect the clear parts and the other which holds the decal, the photoetch frame and some masks for painting. The plastic bags provide a perfect protection during transportation. An 8 page, quality paper, flawlessly printed A4 size booklet has all information you need for construction. In all we get 8 sprues of light grey plastic and one for the clear parts. The frames hold 139 parts. A lot for such a small aircraft in 72nd scale!? But they are all needed for the construction. I think only the wing fences are duplicated in plastic and metal and of course the canopy can be displayed both closed and open with two parts broken down accordingly. I love the cockpit and nose design! This is a standard brake down which we have already seen on other Modelsvit kit. This is the part where the kit designer has “a bit” of knowledge of the original aircraft construction and follows it for the kit too. Why should he try to do something else when it is all there, you only need to copy to make a perfect kit design! The intake trunking forms the side walls not only for the cockpit but also for the nose gear well and at the forward end houses the early range finding radar (SRD-5) and the nose cone covering it. In accordance the kit has the two side wall as one part each and it features some fantastic surface details which in most cases superior even to resin aftermarkets. At the same time you get a perfect intake trunking! Astonishing design. Speaking of aftermarkets and ejection seats. The Modelsvits minute “Curtain” seat is made up of 9 parts!!! Some harness parts are provided as further 5 photoetched pars. Remember we are speaking of 72nd scale. This is simply awesome! The “curtain” (as the Russian manuals call it officially, the Martin-Baker equivalent was the “face curtain”) headrest top firing handle is given on the plastic part! It is simply fantastic! Speaking of fine details it is worth having a look at both the main and nose gear wheels. They have some stunning details, the kind often missing even from 48th scale kits or even resin aftermarket parts. All the small intakes and antennas are included on the plastic sprues. Take extreme care when handling them, cutting and gluing! They are very small, a true scale replica of the original. Some fuel lines, compressed air bottles and different extra parts give detail to the undercarriage bays. In the cockpit even the brake leaver on the control stick is provided separately as a photoetch part. For the instrument panel a choice is given between a plain one which will take the decal or one with all the instruments represented in plastic on it. At the other end of the kit a superb R-11F-300 engine exhaust is provided, featuring a very nice conical afterburner flame holder rings (with groves in their surface), the inside details of the exhaust petals is given as photoetch. The corrugated inside walls are provide in three parts and build up into a seamless ring inside the two part afterburner can. The depth of the exhaust is a scale replica of the original, it seems a little deep, but this is the way it is on the real aircraft. The area immediately after the cockpit has typical fuel lines, control rods and a small frame from photoetch all provided as separate parts. No compromises by the manufacturer, this is the reason for the bigger part number of the kit. What you will not get in the kit, are the open airbrakes and extended flaps. If something then this will be something for the aftermarkets to produce, if someone is into that sort of thing. Also missing are the horizontal DUA vanes on the pitot. The verticals are there in plastic. From what I have seen and read about the F version I am sure that they did not have the DUA vanes on the pitot, the Moscow aircraft is missing them just as other surviving F’s. So just cut off the vanes on the pitot. Anyway I think I will be using the pitot from the superb Master range, from Poland and leave the vanes off. On the other hand this could be a hint of things to come in the future. This sprue is a common one, while the one for the fuselage is exclusively for the MiG-21F. So . . . Till now nothing has been mentioned of the kit surface details. It is nicely polished with very fine engraved lines. There are no rivets on it, but I don’t think there should be any in 72nd scale. Maybe only the fasters on different panels which should have been added, but I can live without them. The main parts have no location pins on them but this is part of this technology. Remember this is a short run kit, if I haven’t mentioned this before so the sprues are fairly thick and I have encountered a minimal amount of flash on the clear sprues, but nothing serious. The canopies are superbly clear and transparent. Masks are provided both for the outside and the inside painting of the frames. The 16.5 x 5.5 cm decal sheet apart from different instrument decals for the cockpit has six red stars and more than 100 stencils. The printing is flawless and in perfect register. Two aircraft are catered for (cn 72210604 red “25” and cn 72210502 as red “02”) in the kit, both in the natural metal finish (this was true natural metal with different sheens of metal on panels and not overall painted aluminium) and for each of them the appropriate factory number stencils are given, which are all over the aircraft. The stencils are legible, even the small ones if someone is to read them under a microscope. (I have only seen this after looking at the photos and blowing them up way out of proportions.) What else can I say? This is a fantastic little kit, I love it! Oh yes the price. It costs me a little over 20 Euros and since it arrived to the house there was no postage on it. Thanks again to my friend. For me worth every penny of it! Any questions are welcome. As an epilogue: The big mainstream kit manufacturers should have a closer look at this kit and apply for places in this school of kit design and manufacture. There is a lot to learn from Modelsvit!!! For me the question of MiG-21 in 72nd scale is no longer a question. I have found what I was looking for in the past decades. And anyway in 72nd just like in 48th for example Eduard has put the MiG-21F-13 at the very last place in its plans, so if they ever going to get around making the early version it will be something like 2 or 4 years from now. So why should I wait especially since I am 1000% sure that they will only do the F-13 or to be more precise the Czech license manufactured version of it which differed from the original Russian F-13. Modelsvit congratulation on a great kit and I for one hope that this is only the start of a very interesting series of kits of the Fishbed family in this scale. I will be waiting for them! Best regards Gabor More photos when I manage to upload them to photobucked. A task almost impossible! 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Thompson Posted May 20, 2017 Share Posted May 20, 2017 So, Gabor - am I right in concluding that you like this kit, and that you think it might be worth buying? Yes, I thought so, but I just didn't want to misunderstand... John 6 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Killingholme Posted May 20, 2017 Share Posted May 20, 2017 I am continually impressed with the energy and innovation at Modelsvit- they must have brilliant product engineers and managers. Each kit is always better than the last, and it does make me wonder- are they accurately described as 'short-run' kits today? Surely this sort of detail is only achievable with metal moulds. The traditional understanding of 'short run' in the hobby runs from 'there are no location pins on the fuselage halves' to 'if you can build a Mach2 kit, you can build this'. Clearly the engineering of these kits is way beyond the connotations we modellers still attach to 'short run'. Alas, I've built some recent airfix kits, location pins and all, which have required more 'short run' building skills due to the CAD design writing cheques that the production engineering can't cash...! Instead, I guess Modelsvit say 'limited run' only in that they will press x-thousand before taking the moulds off the machine and replacing them with a run of another kit? They certainly did this with their SU-7 kit. Perhaps one of the modelling magazines could do a factory tour and see how this company manages to push ahead so energetically! Will 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RidgeRunner Posted May 20, 2017 Share Posted May 20, 2017 I just want them to bring out a U/UM/US now Martin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ya-gabor Posted May 20, 2017 Author Share Posted May 20, 2017 Hi John Thompson, Yeap, this is an excellent kit. I love it! As to when will I have time to do some work on it is another question. At the moment I have a lot of work 7 days a week, 10-12 hours a day with my ejection seat collection, so no time for kits. Today was the first time in the past 3 months that I did not do work with my collection / museum. Look forward very much to this kit! Hi Killingholme, The kit says it is a “Limited edition” and it is certainly a short run kit. The sprues show this clearly. Short run does not mean automatically bad quality and details. It is only a question of will from the side of the manufacturer what he wants to get out from a kit even if it is only a short run. “Short run” in this case is the technology behind tool making, the materials they use for it and the maximum run of mouldings they can produce with them before it starts to deteriorate. As far as I know only a couple of thousand (or less) can be produced with the moulds in question. The amount of detail and the part number does not influence the end result. And the kit produced in this case is simply fantastic! On some Russian forums people have been building the latest kits from Modelsvit and they were impressed very much with it. I can only repeat that in places the amount of detail Modelsvit has added equals and exceeds resin aftermarkets! If they do the MiG-21F-13 to this level then the press form will not be able to satisfy the demand. It should be a real cracker!!!! I will have more photos when I manage to up load them. Best regards Gabor 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aardvark Posted May 20, 2017 Share Posted May 20, 2017 The review in Russian in which you will see a photo of castings and also photocomparison Revell v.s Modelsvit and v.s Bilek: http://scalemodels.ru/articles/10550-obzor-Modelsvit-1-72-mig-21f.html And also discussion of this review at a forum: http://scalemodels.ru/modules/forum/viewtopic.php?t=67214&start=0 The model became on remained at the Kharkiv aviation institute MiG-21F. According to the statement of the representative of firm MiG-21F-13 will be made until the end of this year. As for visit of any plants by model magazines for the reporting from them, I am afraid it an unrealizable dream. Difficult and long to explain it why. So to say the local specifics connected with many factors including with the taxation. Model at me naturally available, month two B.R. Serge 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Thompson Posted May 21, 2017 Share Posted May 21, 2017 (edited) 3 hours ago, Killingholme said: I am continually impressed with the energy and innovation at Modelsvit- they must have brilliant product engineers and managers. As good as they are, I continue to hope fervently that a Yak-9D and a Yak-1b, both in 1/72, are in their future plans. They've already done a Yak-9DD and a Yak-1b in 1/48, so they do have some experience (and references) to draw on! John (Thanks for the links, Serge - I was wondering how the Revell MiG-21F, which I already have, would compare to the Modelsvit kit! ) Edited May 21, 2017 by John Thompson Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ya-gabor Posted May 21, 2017 Author Share Posted May 21, 2017 Here is a bit more. Managed to up-load few pictures from the original review photos. Here is the package when you open the box with the two main bags. One side of the transparent sprue with the canopy in open configuration. The photoetch set which helps with some of the smaller and finer details. It is interesting that the inverted T shaped antennas on the bottom wing tips which are for the radio altimeter system are no included as photoetch but rather as plastic parts. Mind you they are perfect in plastic form too. A close up of the decal sheet. Have to add that since yesterday I could not resist and cut off few parts to try some dry fitting and to see the quality of the plastic. Parts go together nicely, but you have to remember there are no location pins so take care and some patience is required. You might expect that I also had a closer look at the ejection seat. Did some cutting, cleaning and gluing. WOW. Nice one. Hope to be able to show some photos later. Best regards Gabor 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fernando Posted May 23, 2017 Share Posted May 23, 2017 Hallo, everyone, I have rummaged through the comparison linked above. This model is certainly a 21F (as evidenced not just by the lid, but for some details such as the fairings over the hood), while Revell's is a F-13. Now, I had never realized that the chord in the Revell's fin was so broad; the one in this kit is much smaller. Was it modified from the F to the F-13? Fernando Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Giorgio N Posted May 23, 2017 Share Posted May 23, 2017 (edited) That's an impressive kit ! Gabor, thanks for sharing these pictures, I'm very tempted to buy one. I also have to say that when I see links like those posted by Serge I feel a strong urge to try and learn Russian, I know I can get google to translate the page but the results are not the same... there must be a lot of great modelling information in Russian language and not being able to accees this makes me mad Edited May 23, 2017 by Giorgio N Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RidgeRunner Posted May 23, 2017 Share Posted May 23, 2017 I'd still like a similar U-series, with all fin options in 1/72! Martin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hook Posted May 23, 2017 Share Posted May 23, 2017 8 hours ago, Fernando said: Now, I had never realized that the chord in the Revell's fin was so broad; the one in this kit is much smaller. Was it modified from the F to the F-13? According to Bill Gunstons "Mikoyan MiG-21": yes. Cheers, Andre Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ya-gabor Posted May 23, 2017 Author Share Posted May 23, 2017 Ken, the Flankerman has commented (on ARC) about the Modelsvit kits and as a result I will be trying out some parts of the kit to see how it builds. Hope that by now with this latest kit the company has ironed out the problems he has experienced. I have tried out the ejection seat. Well, actually it is built already. There was a very minute shift in the alignment of the press forms which resulted in a microscopic step between the two sides of each plastic part. Nothing serious and the seat was built without any problems and looks gorgeous! As for the problem with the sprue a slight correction of the press form would make it non existent. I have compared the plastic to the original MiG-19PM “Curtain” type seat that I have and have to say it is perfect. Have to remind everyone this is here 72nd scale and it is the original plastic in the box and not an aftermarket resin seat!!! I will have a closer look at the cockpit / intake / nosegear bay unit and also the engine exhaust to see how they fit in the kit. Will report on it soon. In order to make use of time in the mean while some of the wheel half’s were glued together and set aside for few days to leave time for the glue to set. Till now I have not experienced any problems. Hope to have photos soon of the work so far if I manage to upload them to photobucket. Best regards Gabor Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ya-gabor Posted May 28, 2017 Author Share Posted May 28, 2017 After some more fight with the system I have managed to upload some more photos of the Modelsvit MiG-21F kit. Here are some sprue pictures. The front part of the UB-8 missile launcher. it looks good. The main gear bay side wall. How is this for detailing? After adding all the plastic parts, this is how the "Curtain" type ejection seat looks. Remember there are still some photoetch details to go on it. It is interesting that a plastic “base” is provided for some of the photoetch straps to give them some depth. The seat and for comparison the new Hungarian currency for size comparison. Best regards Gabor 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hook Posted May 28, 2017 Share Posted May 28, 2017 Hmmm...tasty pics! Thanks for posting them. Cheers, Andre Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Booty003 Posted May 31, 2017 Share Posted May 31, 2017 I have recently finished the Modelsvit Mirage III V and the fit was awful. This MiG 21 looks so much better - much better detail on the parts. None of the parts in the Mirage kit were numbered, you had to keep checking you had the right sprue and then compare it to an image in the instructions....!! The decals were perfect though. Phil Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RidgeRunner Posted May 31, 2017 Share Posted May 31, 2017 31 minutes ago, Booty003 said: I have recently finished the Modelsvit Mirage III V and the fit was awful. This MiG 21 looks so much better - much better detail on the parts. None of the parts in the Mirage kit were numbered, you had to keep checking you had the right sprue and then compare it to an image in the instructions....!! The decals were perfect though. Phil My Modelsvit Su-7 was a joy to build!!! I guess they differ from kit to kit? Martin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ya-gabor Posted June 1, 2017 Author Share Posted June 1, 2017 From what I see they are improving from kit to kit and with extreme speed! There is a visible difference between quality and design of the Su-17M3 and the MiG-21F. As far as I know the Mirage kit was a special deal and made specially on order from the French. I have seen the kit in box and, well it did look OK but I was not convinced. Still I know that several friends are trying to get it and its not easy. What I am trying to say that the Modelsvit name is not a synonym for a flawless kit. Some of the kits are far better than others and they are going in the right direction and kits improving as they get along. Have to add that even the MiG-21 F is not for beginners. There are no location pins, in some places you need extra patience and careful positioning and lots of dry runs. The ejection seat I have shown above needs work to build it and lots of consulting with your references. One can easily build something completely different from it! Best regards Gabor 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AaCee26 Posted June 1, 2017 Share Posted June 1, 2017 Hi Gabor, Thank You for very informative thread. I'm waiting eagerly the F-13... Cheers, AaCee Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RidgeRunner Posted June 1, 2017 Share Posted June 1, 2017 All this stuff is great but when are the manufacturers, large or small, going to address the lack of accurate MIG-21U and PF in 1/72? Martin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sroubos Posted June 6, 2017 Share Posted June 6, 2017 Any word on how it goes together, particularly the fuselage, wings and fit of the canopy? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ya-gabor Posted June 9, 2017 Author Share Posted June 9, 2017 I have only did some dry runs of different parts but had in the meantime some real fights with Photobicket which is a pile of stinking XXXX. Here is a trial with the after area. The engine exhaust parts. The afterburner flame holder rings are still missing from the whole set. It is very delicate and for the moment it is still on the sprue. Also missing are the photoetched spacers for the engine centre body. This is how it all fits into the fuselage halves. And when closed up. For the moment there are no issues here. The fuselage halves fit perfectly around the engine parts. Here is a trial with the fuselage. It is a very small jet plane I have to add. The cockpit area will be next. Here is the nose gear bay in the dry run build. I will have to see how the fuselage closes up with the cockpit/nose bay combo in place. Best regards Gabor 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hook Posted June 9, 2017 Share Posted June 9, 2017 3 hours ago, ya-gabor said: I have only did some dry runs of different parts but had in the meantime some real fights with Photobicket which is a pile of stinking XXXX. You don't say! - I don't see any pics. Cheers, Andre Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ya-gabor Posted June 9, 2017 Author Share Posted June 9, 2017 7 hours ago, Hook said: You don't say! - I don't see any pics. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hook Posted June 10, 2017 Share Posted June 10, 2017 12 hours ago, ya-gabor said: Ah - now I do, thanks! Cheers, Andre Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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