ICM Mikoyan Mig-25PD Foxbat-E 1:48 (48903)

[Mike]

Mikoyan Mig-25PD Foxbat-E (48903)

1:48 ICM

 

 

In an attempt to fulfil the 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 created.  It managed the job to a certain extent, but as it never truly achieved its goals, it was left to its successor the Mig-31 Foxhound before the task was handled competently, by which time the role of ICBMs was about to make the primary role redundant.  The Mig-25's inadequacies were 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, having many steel parts instead of the high-tech alloys that the investigators were expecting.

 

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 fast, 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 credible 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 a useful 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.

 

The PD was the second iteration of the P interceptor, having improved engines, ability to carry R-60 missiles, and a more efficient Pulse-Doppler radar for basic look-down-shoot-down capability, which was later coupled with an infrared sensor under the nose.  NATO gave it the Foxbat-E designation, which was also extended to the PDS, which were original P airframes that were later brought up to the PD standard.

 

 Although it suffered from some serious 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

Since the release of the reconnaissance based RBT in Q1 and RB in Q3 of 2017, ICM are now releasing the interceptors, and we hope (well I do anyway), eventually the trainers, which relies of course on us all getting lots of the other marques, so what're you waiting for?  Now the Revell/Monogram kit has been put out to pasture, we can delight in these kits from ICM that have given us a new level of detail and accuracy from the days of the Cold War when things had to be guessed at.  The box is the same size and style as the other releases, although this time my review sample lid was almost destroyed due to it being such a tight fit on the box lower.  I managed to get it off eventually, but it's a struggle every time.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is a revised tooling from the original, with four shared sprues and three new ones in grey styrene, the same clear sprue, and of course a different set of markings for the decal options, with the same stencils on a separate sheet.  The instruction booklet is also different, and shows which parts aren't needed in this boxing, thankfully including the clear dials for the instrument panel, which I never quite understood the need for when you have a paint over it to depict the dials and the rest of the panel.  Sharing much of the sprues of the original it has excellent detail, with lots of this apparent on the outer skin, as well as the new single part styrene instrument panel part that has a decal on the main sheet providing all the instrument faces.  Good news!

 

 

The build sequence is almost identical too, but as well as a new nose for this Interceptor (sporting the IR sensor with tracking facility), there is also the new instrument panel as mentioned above, and some slight changes to the exhausts.  The biggest difference however is the inclusion of weapons!  These are supplied on two of the new identical sprues, containing a quartet of R-60 Aphid Air-to-Air (A2A) missiles that can be fitted to the outer pylons for short-range fighting, and four R-40 Acrid long range A2A missiles, two of each of the Semi-Active Radar and Infrared homing varieties.  These are usually fired in pairs with the Infrared missile first and the Radar missile second, to avoid confusing the former with the latter's heat signature.  If the R-60s were carried on the outer rails, this reduced the Foxbat's long range capability to a one-shot deal, with only shorter range R-60 missiles left at its disposal.  The Syrians claim to have shot down an Israeli F-15, but this was never confirmed for many reasons, some of which were political, some not.  A US F-18 was shot down in the early part of Desert Storm by an Iraqi Mig-25, presumably not one of the ones they found buried after the fall of Saddam Hussein's regime.

 

 

Markings

There are four decal options included in the box, two from the Soviet Union and one each from Libya and Iraq.  As mentioned earlier, the markings are on one sheet with the instrument panel decals, while the copious quantities of stencils for the airframe and missiles are on the other.  Decals are printed anonymously, and have good registration, sharpness and colour density, with a thin matt carrier film cut close to the printed areas.  From the box you can build one of the following:

 

• Mig-25PDS 146th Guard Fighter Regiment, Vasilikov 1989 – marked Blue 56 with 60 years celebration scroll on the intakes.
• Mig-25PD Soviet Air Force, 1986 – marked Red 17.
• Mig-25PD Iraqi Air Force, late 80s – Arabic code on the nose, Iraqi flag on the tail.
• Mig-25PD Libyan Air Force, 90s – Coded 6716.

 

 

Conclusion

It's nice to have the fighter (read interceptor) variants reaching us now, as although recce is an important task for any air force, the aircraft with the missiles and bombs are just that bit cooler to many.  Another sterling effort from ICM who are now the kings of Mig-25 in 1:48.

 

Very highly recommended.

 

Review sample courtesy of

[davmarx]

Thanks a lot for the review, I've just ordered mine. 👍

 

Have the wings different span and leading edge from the previous kits ones? I hope so... 🤞

 

Ciao.

Davide

[Mike]

1 hour ago, davmarx said:

Have the wings different span and leading edge from the previous kits ones? I hope so... 🤞

 

Ah, that might explain the reversal of the numbers on the sprues! The wing sprues on this kit seem to have been retooled.  I'm not bright enough to spot the differences though unless they're blindingly obvious

 

Old sprues:

 

 

 

New sprues:

 

 

Hopefully that's of some use?

[March]

Nice review. I’ve also got this kit - as well as, erm, the other Recon ones ICM and Revell have done. I’m keen to get one started so I can display it with my AMK MiG-31 that I finished last year.

 

I know what you mean about the box lid. I used the 7 hours coverage of the Royal Wedding the other weekend as an opportunity to make sure I was away from the moron box and make a start prizing it off...

 

One thing I noticed about the artwork compared to other releases, if so inclined (and if you can preserve it in the removal process), the main box art is not impeded by any writing, so after build you could cut it square and mount it.

[Duncan B]

Very nice review once again.

A few of my customers who have bought this kit had warned me that the cover to the box is almost impossible to get off without ruining it which isn't good news for the OCD or Collectors among us but otherwise it's a beautiful looking kit. Apparently the RBF will be released later this summer.

 

Duncan B

[Julien]

Some of those ICM lids are a bit tight!

[davmarx]

23 hours ago, Mike said:

 

Ah, that might explain the reversal of the numbers on the sprues! The wing sprues on this kit seem to have been retooled. 

...

 

Hopefully that's of some use?

Retooled wings? It's a good news!

Looking to your pictures I think the new wings are correct for the fighter version. 👍

 

Thanks a lot, Mike.

[exdraken]

Thanks for the review!

 

Regarding the design success question itself, read somewhere that until today it is still the only earlier generation jet able to shoot down a 4th generation jet! Mentioned US F/A-18 above of course. That is impressive to me! It also shot down some predator drone before Iraqi freedom...

And it is still in service in Algeria and maye Syria!

So it could not have all been bad!

Want one!!

Edited June 6, 2018 by exdraken

[exdraken]

On 5/29/2018 at 9:33 PM, Mike said:

 

Ah, that might explain the reversal of the numbers on the sprues! The wing sprues on this kit seem to have been retooled.  I'm not bright enough to spot the differences though unless they're blindingly obvious

 

Old sprues:

 

 

 

New sprues:

 

 

Hopefully that's of some use?

Cord should be slightly different.

The recce and fighter versions differ in many surprising aspects, one can be considered an iteration of the former!

Edited June 6, 2018 by exdraken

[boom175]

Did the PD version use the external fuel tank?

[Rui Silva]

On 7/19/2018 at 8:09 PM, boom175 said:

Did the PD version use the external fuel tank?

According to Yefim Gordon's book "Mikoyan MiG-25 Foxbat", the PD was able to carry the same 5300 litre drop tank as the -25R versions.

The original interceptor -25P and updated -25PDS versions could not carry the drop tank.

[thepureness]

looks 100% stunning, and if it builds as well as ICMs recent stuff this we be a show stopper

[exdraken]

On 11/11/2018 at 12:42 PM, Rui Silva said:

According to Yefim Gordon's book "Mikoyan MiG-25 Foxbat", the PD was able to carry the same 5300 litre drop tank as the -25R versions.

The original interceptor -25P and updated -25PDS versions could not carry the drop tank.

first photo of a interceptor MiG-25 I have seen so far:

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EYJ--c4X0AAQfI5?format=jpg&name=small