ICM Mikoyan Mig-25RBT Foxbat 1:48

[Mike]

Mikoyan Mig-25RBT Foxbat

1:48 ICM

 

 

In Cold War Soviet Union, just as in the West, there was a perceived need for a supersonic interceptor that could take off, climb to height and attack an incoming bomber stream, which at the time was the most efficient method for delivering the newly invented nuclear warheads.  The Mig-25 Foxbat was conceived to fit this bill, which it did to a certain extent, but as it never truly achieved its goals, it was left until its successor the Mig-31 Foxhound before the job was done properly.  This fact was hidden from the West however, until the famous defection of a Soviet pilot to an airfield in Japan revealed that the Foxbat wasn't as high-tech and all-conquering as we had been led to believe.

 

The prototype flew in 1964, and was constructed primarily of stainless steel, and reached service at the turn of the decade, although it had been seen before that, both in reconnaissance photos of the West, as well as at some parades.  The West assumed that the large wing was to aid manoeuvrability, when in fact it was a necessity due to the aircraft's enormous weight, which made it a fast aircraft, but changing direction was a chore due to all that momentum wanting to carry on in the direction it was travelling.  It was also lacking in the avionics department, especially in one crucial aspect.  It had no capability for targeting aircraft that were lower than itself, which coincided with the change in tactics to low level attack by the Western Allies, so a lack of look-down/shoot-down capability was a serious deficiency.  Nevertheless, several hundred were made, with the last one rolling off the production line in 1984 with a number of export orders into the bargain.  Although it suffered from some deficiencies, it held a number of speed and altitude records, and was theoretically capable of Mach 3, so could give an SR-71 a run for its money, probably at the expense of significant damage to its engines however.  Attempts to improve the Foxbat were unsuccessful, and the Foxhound was its eventual replacement, and delivered everything that was expected of its forebear, staying in service  until it is replaced by the Pak-Fa at some point in the near future.

 

 

The Kit

After a paucity of accurate kits in this scale for some time, which in fairness the old Revell kit was based on some blurry photos and inaccurate data, we have only one modern kit of the type, which has issues of its own.  There seems to be a rush to market from a few manufacturers currently, and ICM have managed to be first in the race, with this 100% new tooling coming just in time for the new year.  Let's find out what's in the box.  If you have any of ICM's recent offerings you'll know that their boxes are an oddity, having a top-opening cover, under which is another card box with its own integral lid that flips up to reveal the contents.  The boxtop has an atmospheric picture of a Foxbat taking off at night, but it's the plastic we're interested in, right?  There are seven sprues in mid grey styrene, one in clear, plus two sheets of decals.  The instruction booklet has a glossy colour cover with matt colour interior pages, and ICM have also moved on with their drawings, which are shaded and have colour call-outs in red.  Right from the outset the detail is apparent, and the fuselage is broken down to facilitate other variants – this is the reconnaissance bird afterall, so who won't want an interceptor, or even the hauntingly ugly twin-seat trainer?  I SOOOO want one of those!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

If you think that construction is going to start with the cockpit, you'd be kind-of right, but not in the way you think.  Cockpit parts in the shape of one of the side consoles are added to the inside of the cockpit section first, followed by the rear bulkhead and then the nose gear bay, with gear leg included but easily left off 'til later.  Rudder pedals are then added to a short cockpit floor; the base of the seat with its stirrups and ejection actuator handle; control column and the instrument panel are joined before being added to the side console in the short fuselage section.  The back and headbox of the seat are then installed, the opposite side console made up, and then fitted to the fuselage, which is then joined together.  A large M-shaped former is added at the rear to hold the intakes, which are built from three sections and are then fitted to the former.  I told you it was weird, didn't I?  At the rear of the intakes a pair of conical intake trunks are glued in place with the front engine face, leaving you with a rather odd looking assembly.  This is set to one side for a while as you add the main gear bays to the lower fuselage, which all bears more than a passing resemblance to its replacement.  The nose (minus radome at this stage) is then joined with the lower fuselage, the main gear legs added, and a capital B shaped bulkhead fitted to the rear to hold the exhausts in place.  Fuselage sides are then fitted to the bulkheads, with the rear missing, as it is attached to the two big fins that are made up next with separate rudders and lower strakes.

 

 

 

The exhausts are next, with the afterburner flame-holders attached to the rear fan section, which is shaped like a figure-8 and linked to obtain the correct exhaust spacing.  The trunking is then added in four parts, with detail within, and with careful alignment, you should be able to get away with a hidden seam.  Another figure-8 part, the base of the exhaust rings links the rear of the tubes together, and two further layers give it depth and detail, with the inner petals added in sections to complete the assembly.  This is painted titanium gold, but if you check your references, some parts are sometimes painted green, so keep your options open.  The fronts are slid into the rear bulkhead on the fuselage, and the top fuselage panel is added along with the twin fins and the tops of the intake nacelles.  It finally looks like an aircraft, but a wingless one at this stage.  The pen-nib fairing between the fins is added from two parts, and it's then time to give her wings.

 

 

 

 

Unlike the various new Mig-31 kits, the wings on the Mig-25 are separate from the top fuselage, and their tabs fit in traditional slots once they have their control surfaces, strakes and stubby pylons added.  The elevators fit into holes in the sides of the fuselage too, in much the same way as the full-size parts.  The nose is split vertically, and the instructions advise you to add 25g of weight to avoid building a tail-sitter, and before fitting you must add the reconnaissance pack insert under the nose, which has a number of clear lens to add to the facets.  This then joins with the fuselage, which has a retaining lip moulded-in, but always remember to check fit before you apply the glue.  The gear bay covers are fitted along with the wheels, which are well detailed and the mains are split vertically around their circumference, while the dual nose wheels are single parts.  Due to its prodigious thirst, the Foxbat was often seen carrying a huge belly tank, which is supplied in the kit as a two-part assembly, split horizontally.  The final act sees the windscreen added along with the coaming, and a choice of either open or closed canopy parts.  Stick the two-part pitot in the nose and you're done.  The recon bird often didn't carry weapons, so that's your lot!

 

 

 

Markings

The majority of Foxbats wore overall grey schemes, with only their markings to differentiate.  They did wear an awful lot of stencils however, and this is what fills the smaller decal sheet.  These are detailed on a separate page in the instructions, and there are a LOT of arrows showing you where to put the decals, with the text in red on the page to assist you.  There are four decal options in the box, and you can build one of the following from included sheet:

 

• Mig-25RBT, Soviet Air Force, late 1980s – Red 72.
• Mig-25RBT, 47th GRAP, Russian Air Force, May 2001 – Red 46.
• Mig-25RBT, Iraqi Air Force, late 80s.
• Mig-25RBT, Libyan Air Force, 2000s – Black 499.

 

 

The decals are printed in house, although the backing paper looks very similar to that used by recent Eduard sheets.  The printing is to a good standard, is in register, has good colour density and sharpness, with a thin glossy carrier film over each one.

 

 

Conclusion

This looks to be a great addition to my growing interest in Soviet Cold War Warriors, and I will be putting it together just as soon as I can to sit next to my Foxhound on the shelf.  Detail is good, construction is logical if a little unusual, and I'm looking forward to getting it built.  Now – about my 2-seater?

 

Very highly recommended.

 

Review sample courtesy of

[Antoine]

Thanks Mike,

 

Time to bin sell the Kitty.

 

Anyway, I've always had a soft spot for recce.

[marky sparky]

Just about 90% finished mine. BUY IT!!!!! Fit is great but not perfect, dry fit first.  Enough detail without being Hobbyboss/Trumpeter rivet overload.

Negatives........no i.p. decals, main undercarriage legs a bit lacking in detail. Decals a bit on the thick side (but do settle down with micro set and sol). Oh, the rear tail planes have a tiny locating pin to attach them to the fuselage.

 

Not sure, but if you intend buying one to hold off untill Revell release it under their brand, might be cheaper and better decals.

 

It's a big bugger but a good £ per detail ratio.

Edited February 6, 2017 by marky sparky
tail plane locating pin

[sammy da fish]

Thanks for the review Mike and Marky Spark very helpful.

[corsaircorp]

Hello Dears,

I will wait for the interceptor version, thank Marky for the return about the fitting.

Working actually on 4 différents ICM kits I was afraid at least a bit about the fitting, especially on such a big bird.

Must be fun to put a finished MiG 3 Under the wing of the 25 or a 31.

Have a nice day.

Corsaircorp

[ya-gabor]

Hi Mike,

 

One note, you have written:   The recon bird didn't carry weapons, so that's your lot! 

Unfortunately not true. The name of the plane gives a clue: MiG-25RBT, R stands for recon, B for bomber and the T for Tanghazh (the name of the recon system).

Only the very first MiG-25R's versions were pure recons!

The RB's, RBT and all the other versions with the name starting with RB were dual mission recon / bombers. A special "heat resistant" bomb version was designed specially for the Foxbats which had a 4000kg load. The plane could carry 8 FAB-500M-62T bombs on wing and underfuselage MER's. The need for the special bombs was because of heat loads at 2500 km/h speeds.

 

ICM is not providing the bombs or the racks.

 

Best regards

Gabor

[fewr9fkr9595]

Damn these reviews 

 

Or thank them actually because I managed to get the mrs to order me one of these for valentines day... 

 

Whoo-hoo! 

[Mike]

3 hours ago, ya-gabor said:

Unfortunately not true.

 

I'll change it to "mostly" when I have a minute.  this one is scheduled to be built when I have a minute too, so I'll be looking for all the help I can get with the details Gabor

 

1 hour ago, Tony Oliver said:

Damn these reviews 

 

Sorry about that Tony... Mind you, I'm just tellin' it like it is - you're the one tempting yourself

[exdraken]

On 7.2.2017 at 8:02 AM, ya-gabor said:

Hi Mike,

 

One note, you have written:   The recon bird didn't carry weapons, so that's your lot! 

Unfortunately not true. The name of the plane gives a clue: MiG-25RBT, R stands for recon, B for bomber and the T for Tanghazh (the name of the recon system).

Only the very first MiG-25R's versions were pure recons!

The RB's, RBT and all the other versions with the name starting with RB were dual mission recon / bombers. A special "heat resistant" bomb version was designed specially for the Foxbats which had a 4000kg load. The plane could carry 8 FAB-500M-62T bombs on wing and underfuselage MER's. The need for the special bombs was because of heat loads at 2500 km/h speeds.

 

ICM is not providing the bombs or the racks.

 

Best regards

Gabor

all correct! as usual

 

 as far as I know, during the cold war these recce planes had a secondary mission! nuclear attack !

[Julien]

Did the RBT fly in camo? if so does anyone do decals for it?

 

Julien

[ya-gabor]

19 hours ago, Julien said:

Did the RBT fly in camo? if so does anyone do decals for it?

 

Julien

Sorry, but up till now we have not been able to find any RBT versions which had camo.  

Somewhere earlier I posted a list of several versions which were comouflaged, mainly RBF but even trainer versions. The RBF needs some conversion from the RBT but it is possible to do it.

 

The Russian Begemot has in its range an excellent decal sheet which includes some camo versions as well as a second sheet of complete stencils .  One note here, while there were few airframes (very early MiG-25R's) which had blue stencils all the remaining (about 99%) of aircraft had black and red stencils. Begemot has the black ones (as well as reds and some blue just in case) while the ICM kit only has blue and reds.

 

Best regards

Gabor

[exdraken]

55 minutes ago, ya-gabor said:

 

The Russian Begemot has in its range an excellent decal sheet which includes some camo versions as well as a second sheet of complete stencils .  One note here, while there were few airframes (very early MiG-25R's) which had blue stencils all the remaining (about 99%) of aircraft had black and red stencils. Begemot has the black ones (as well as reds and some blue just in case) while the ICM kit only has blue and reds.

 

Best regards

Gabor

so I guess that for an 1971 RB blue stencils are ok?

 

thanks!

[IGKent]

Great review Mike!

[Julien]

On 2/8/2017 at 21:13, exdraken said:

 

 

 as far as I know, during the cold war these recce planes had a secondary mission! nuclear attack !

Any photos of this anywhere? I doubt it but you never know.

[asgardiano]

one question ! the decals in the kit depicted an RB  version not RBT  version is this true? thanks for the help

[Hook]

9 hours ago, asgardiano said:

one question ! the decals in the kit depicted an RB  version not RBT  version is this true? thanks for the help

 

On a related note, RoG just reboxed the ICM kit as well: 

 

https://www.revell.de/produkte/farben-kleber-co/email-color/id/03931.html?utm_campaign=Revell%2BNewsletter%2B05%2F2017&utm_medium=email&utm_source=Mailingliste-DE

 

Markings are for two RBT's.

 

Cheers,

 

Andre

[Rivas]

Great reviews! I have this kit "out for delivery today..!" in the nuclear strike role would the RBT carry the RN-28? which pylon would carry this weapon? There is one by Advance Modeling, don't know it an adapter would be necessary to mount it to the pylon (or which adapter?)  I guess only one of this things would be carried in a nuclear strike mission... 

best regards,

 

Antonio Rivas