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Finally finished - the latest in Modelsvit's growing collection of one-off MiG prototypes..... this is the MiG E-152M. Apart from a few issues getting the cockpit/intake sub-assembly to fit, the rest was just the normal 'limited run' type of kit from Ukrainian manufacturer Modelsvit. Great surface detail, comprehensive decal sheet, etched brass parts, self-adhesive masks for the wheel hubs, dielectric panels on the wings and the canopy - but with the usual large sprue gates with every part needing to be 'fettled' before assembly. It looks highly accurate and was a pleasure to build. Three wingtip options are included - with dummy (port) and test(Stbd) missiles. The canards can be left off - replaced by a fairing. The centreline drop tank is optional - it was not carried during its few flights. Canards and front-opening canopy - note the HUD. This latest E-152M is the third 'BiG MiG' from Modelsvit - following their E-150 and E-152A..... All these many prototypes led, eventually, to the successful MiG-25...... I hope that Modelsvit will re-issue this kit with markings for the record-breaking E-166... More photos here. Ken

Look what the postman just delivered - the latest in Modelsvit's coverage of the MiG family - the I-320 all-weather fighter... Box art.... Is it ugly or what ?? The instruction sheet gives a short potted history plus colour matches to Humbrol paints... Colour painting guide - for the third prototype...(note the very welcome paint masks for the complicated canopy framework) Another page from the instruction booklet showing the well-detailed VK-1 engine, the multi-part ejection seats and the cockpit/intake assembly. The two-part fuselage with separate starboard fin... Wings, tailplanes and slipper tanks.... Ken

I'm just in the process of building the latest 'Big MiG' from Modelsvit - the huge MiG E-152M. It is a typical short-run from Modelsvit - accurate (AFAIK), excellent surface detail, great decals, canopy and aerial masks, etched brass parts etc etc - a very comprehensive package....... The usual caveats about the fit of parts - especially the nosecone/cockpit/nosewheel bay sub assembly - I had a difficult time getting the fuselage halves to fit around it - but after a lot of scraping of plastic, I got there in the end..... More photos here... Ken

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!

Modelsvit is to release in 2017 a 1/72nd MiG I-7U kit - ref. 72027 Source: https://www.facebook.com/notes/modelsvit/modelsvit-catalogue-2017/1866182310317478 V.P.

Modelsvit is to release a 1/72nd MiG I-75 kit - ref.72029 Source: https://www.facebook.com/notes/modelsvit/modelsvit-catalogue-2017/1866182310317478 V.P.

Modelsvit catalogue 2017 https://www.facebook.com/notes/modelsvit/modelsvit-catalogue-2017/1866182310317478 Modelsvit 2016: http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234996726-modelsvit-catalog-2016-programme-contact-pointnew-e-shop/ V.P.

Time to add some meat to the GB As usual, I start with cockpit... What a heresy! One should start with something beautiful, like X-22 missile, for example. I'm planning to display it separately on a dolly, the kit suggests such an option Evidently, this is a short run kit so dry fitting, puttying and sanding are the ingredients of enjoyment

After the Su-17M ( ), Modelsvit is to release a 1/72nd Sukhoi Su-17M-3 "Fitter-H" kit - ref. 72047 Source: https://www.facebook.com/modelsvit/posts/1859368934332149 Box art V.P.

Finished just before I go back to work tomorrow - Christmas break well spent I think. This is the Modelsvit 1/72 Beriev Be-12, finished as a firebomber using decals from Begemot. I've been fascinated by the Be-12 ever since I first saw photos of it. I remember contemplating a Revell boxing of the VEB Be-6 in the model shop on Deansgate in Manchester, must be more than 20 years ago now, and wondering whether it could be converted to a Be-12 - clearly not, they're completely different aircraft, good thing I left it on the shelf. I love the unique, distinctive shape, although I wouldn't call it beautiful. It's proportions look all wrong - the wing seems to be in the wrong place, there's way too much fuselage in front of it. But then they must have done something right as it's given 50-ish years of service now (although there aren't many left). I love this kit - by no means shake and bake, it's short run and shows it - for example there are no locating pins and the fuselage is in four pieces (six if you count the nose glazing) - but it goes together well if treated with care. Definitely a case of slow and steady wins the race. Surface detail is very nice and I managed not to obliterate much of it! I was impressed with the undercarriage - it's a complex structure but goes together well and is pretty sturdy. The only bits that gave me any trouble were the clear parts, which weren't the best fit ever but also not the worst. I'd definitely build another. The Begemot set includes 20 or so options, most of them very similar grey maritime patrol aircraft but with two different firebombers - this one and one with yellow panels and blue trim. I was tempted by the Egyptian option, but in the end couldn't resist this firebomber. The set included masks for the red panels on the fuselage - which was nice, but the masks for the top of the fuselage weren't flexible enough to follow the complex curves around the wing roots or around the observer's blister window, and the decals for the white trim weren't the same length as the masks - fortunately they were longer so they could be trimmed back. The decals performed well but were challenging in a couple of places - particularly around the observer's blister, where I had to fix it up with some xtradecal white stripe (which was more opaque than the Begemot white stripes, so doesn't look great close up). I'm not normally much into weathering but had to do some this time - photos of Be-12s, particularly this one, without filthy tail fins are pretty rare, so couldn't not add the exhaust stains to the tail fins. Back when I used to work on combustor aerodynamics for a living I'd have been pretty horrified at this - that much soot shows they clearly didn't manage the temperature inside the can very well, but since the engine is a 60 year old design I'll cut them some slack! On to the photos:

Modelsvit is to tool a "exclusive" 1/72nd Dassault Mirage 4000 kit for French shop Bassin-Maquette - ref.72052 Release in 2018 Rumours say there's also Mirage G or G-8 as well as a Mirage IV in project. V.P.

Just finished - the huge MiG-152A in 1/72 scale from Modelsvit....... Twin R11F-300 powered MiG-152A fitted with two dummy K-9 missiles. Looking like a 1/48 scale fuselage fitted with a 1/72 scale wing - the E-152A was assigned the ASCC Reporting Name 'Flipper'. The fins on the real K-9 missiles were painted black to make them look like Sparrow missiles. Twin exhausts and massive ventral fins. Big MiG pair from Modelsvit - single-engined E-150 (left) and twin-engined E-152A (right). E-150 and E-152A compared. WIP photos are here. Ken

Modelsvit is to release in December 2016 a limited edition 1/72nd MiG-21F Izdeliye 72 "Fishbed-B" kit - ref.72021 Source: http://www.modelforum.cz/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=95825&start=1920 Box art V.P.

To follow their earlier MiG E-150, Modelsvit have just released its developed version - the MiG-152A - given the NATO Reporting Name 'Flipper' The box art is impressive..... and shows the Flipper with two dummy K-9 missiles underwing. The parts are crisply moulded in grey plastic with restrained engraved panel detail..... The wings, tailplanes and fin parts.... Parts for the twin engine exhausts..... Intake bullet and cockpit parts - there are two sets of ventral fins to cater for differences in the panel lines - now that is attention to detail !! More detail parts - including the afterburner flame holders...... Ken

Just finished.... the excellent Myasishchev M-17 'Stratosfera' model kitted by the Ukrainian firm of Modelsvit...... Size comparison - with a MiG-25.... The decals are really superb - they went on without any problems and are easily readable. Despite installing the recommended nose weight, it was still a tail sitter - so I scratched a pair of support jacks.... Alongside the less accurate Anigrand resin version - made some years ago..... It was a relatively easy build with no major problems - the WIP thread is here ..... and more photos on my website here. This was an unexpected - but very welcome release from Modelsvit and it makes up into a superb model of a little-known high-altitude interceptor/reconnaissance platform from the design bureau of Vladimir Myasishchev. If it proves to be popular, maybe Modelsvit will be persuaded to kit its big brother - the M-55 'Geophysica' Ken

The latest from Ukrianian manufacturer Modelsvit - a 1/72 scale model of the Myasishchev M-17 Stratosfera - dubbed 'Mystic-A' by NATO. Designed as an interceptor of high-flying drifting balloons launched by the west on the prevaling winds over the Soviet Union, it was originally to be armed with an upper gun turret. Modelsvit's box art depicts the second record-breaking protype M-17 at altitude.... Each new kit from Modelsvit is an improvement on the previous - and this new kit is no exception, with superbly moulded parts in grey plastic with fine engraved detail without any hint of flash. The long span wings feature the correct laiminar-flow reflex section on the lower surfaces.... The upper wings and tailplane... .... the upper centre section and fully lined intakes.... Tailboom and fins..... Cockpit and engine parts..... A pilot access ladder, a 22-part K-36 ejection seat and the undercarriage..... The clear canopy is provided with two options - open or closed - and a set of self-adhesive masks are included.... Ken

As for the Mirage III V01 & V02 ( http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234966443-172-dassault-mirage-iii-v-01-v-02-by-modeslvit-for-bassin-maquette-v-01-released-v-02-in-december-2016/), Modelsvit is to tool a 1/72nd Dassault Mirage G-8-01 & -02 kit for French shop Bassin-Maquette. Release expected in 2018. Source: http://www.master194.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=93502 V.P.

The new kit from the Ukrainian firm of Modelsvit - a Soviet Tu-91 turboprop ground attack aircraft, cancelled on the whim of Nikita Kruschev.... Not the easiest of kits to put together - especially the undernose glazing - but an interesting model of an unusual Soviet design. More power to Modelsvit for producing kits of these off-beat designs.... Some more photos of the finished model - plus WIP photos here. Another photo showing it next to my Tu-4/Tu-91 engine testbed.... Happy Modelling Ken

I'm calling it finished.... it's an Academy B-29 painted as a Tu-4 Bull with a Modelsvit Tu-91 Boot attached as an engine testbed - it really did exist - as shown in this photo.... A lot of hacking, filling and sanding later...... Because I used Milliput to form the rear end of the cut-down Tu-91 fuselage, it is very tail heavy - so I had to fit a support prop under the Tu-4 tail. I reckon if they removed the turboprop engine and put a few seats in the Tu-91, they could have made a neat passenger version of the Tu-4 My attempt at repicating the photos of the real thing...... Comments welcome - more photos of the build are here I'm going for a lie down in a dark room now..... Ken

Modelsvit is to release in 2016 a 1/72nd Mikoyan-Gurevich I-320 kit - ref.72038 Source: https://www.facebook.com/136603423173762/photos/pcb.530194830481284/530194777147956/?type=3&theater V.P.

After the Be-12 & Be-12PS (http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234967770-another-exciting-announcement-from-modelsvit/) Modelsvit is to release in 2016 a 1/72nd Beriev Be-14 "Mail" kit - ref.73039 Source: https://www.facebook.com/136603423173762/photos/pcb.530194830481284/530194777147956/?type=3&theater V.P.

Modelsvit is to release in 2018 (?) a 1/72nd Sukhoi Su-15 Samolet P (1949) - ref. 72040 Source: https://www.facebook.com/136603423173762/photos/pcb.530194830481284/530194777147956/?type=3&theater V.P.

Modelsvit is to release in 2016 a 1/72nd Sukhoi Su-20 "Fitter-C" kit - ref.72020 Source: https://www.facebook.com/136603423173762/photos/pcb.530194830481284/530194777147956/?type=3&theater V.P.

Modelsvit is to release in 2016 a 1/72nd Myasishchev M-17 "Mystic" kit - ref.72024 Source: https://www.facebook.com/136603423173762/photos/pcb.530194830481284/530194777147956/?type=3&theater V.P.

Modelsvit is to release in 2016 a 1/72nd Antonov An-70 kit - ref.7206 Source: https://www.facebook.com/136603423173762/photos/pcb.530194830481284/530194780481289/?type=3&theater V.P.