HobbyBoss Russian MiG-35 Fulcrum F (81787) 1:48

[Mike]

Russian MiG-35 Fulcrum F (81787)

1:48 Hobby Boss via Creative Models Ltd

 

 

The Mikoyan MiG-35 is based upon the MiG-29 series of aircraft.  Known in the West by its NATO reporting name 'Fulcrum' it is an air superiority fighter designed and built in the Soviet Union in the 1980s, carrying on under the Russian Federation after the dissolution of the USSR.  As with other comparable aircraft of that period, such as the Su-27, F-16, F-15 and Panavia Tornado, it was produced in significant numbers and is still in widespread service with air arms around the world.  The MiG-29 was developed as a lighter, cheaper aircraft compared to the Sukhoi Su-27 Flanker, an aircraft with which it is broadly comparable in terms of layout and design, if not size and weight. As with the Su-27, the engines are spaced widely apart, with the area between them being used to generate lift and improve manoeuvrability. The MiG-29 is powered by two Klimov RD-33 Turbofans, each of which generates over 18,000lb of thrust in reheat.  As with many Soviet types, the aircraft is well suited for use on rough airstrips, particularly as the engine air intakes can be closed completely when on the ground, allowing air to be drawn through louvres on the upper surfaces of the wing roots avoiding FOD.  Armament consists of a combination of Vympel R-27 medium-range air-to-air missiles and R-73 or R-60 short-range air-to-air missiles, as well as an integral GSh-30-1 30mm cannon in the port Leading Edge Root Extension (LERX). The aircraft can be used in a range of roles and can carry bombs and rockets in addition to more technologically advanced missiles. The MiG-29 has been widely exported and is still in widespread use with Russian, former Soviet and aligned nations, including several NATO member states such as Poland.

 

Based upon the MiG-29KR, the MiG-35 was developed to display capabilities in 2017 as an all-weather carrier-capable multi-role fighter that incorporates modern technologies that make it comparable in terms of generational capabilities to the Eurofighter, Saab Gripen and Dassault Rafale.  Due to its enhanced avionics, it has more autonomy than many Soviet-era and subsequent Russian fighters, the single seater designated as the MiG-35S, and the two-seater the UB.  The first production airframes arrived in 2019, and an export option was developed to attract foreign buyers with a revised tail, more powerful engines and other improvements.  Only a small order was forthcoming from Russia, which was further reduced to twenty-four airframes, entering service in time to take part in the unlawful invasion of Ukraine, where it saw limited active service notably in 2025, defending against Ukrainian drones, according to the Russian MoD.  So far there have been no successful bids to supply foreign operators with airframes, but a carrier specific variant is being worked upon.

 

 

The Kit

This is a new boxing from HobbyBoss based upon their earlier MiG-29K tooling of 2024, but with new parts to depict this upgraded airframe.  The kit arrives in a sturdy top-opening box with a painting of the subject on the front, and profiles of the decal options on one side.  Inside the box is a cardboard divider to reduce movement of parts during shipping and storage, and most sprues are individually bagged, with delicate parts pre-wrapped in thin foam sheets, secured by tape.  There are nine sprues, two fuselage halves and four exhaust nozzles in grey styrene, a long clear sprue in a bubble-wrap envelope, a fret of Photo-Etch (PE) brass backed by a piece of card, decal sheet, instruction booklet in black and white, plus a folded sheet of glossy A3 printed in colour with one decal option per side, and another A4 sheet for the painting and decaling of the weapons that are included in the box.  Detail is good, with intelligent use of slide-moulding to create additional features without increasing the part count, and a choice of exhaust nozzles in closed or open positions, with excellent detail moulded into both layers.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Construction begins with the K-36D-3.5 ejection seat, which is made from thirteen styrene parts, plus four seatbelts and ejection actuator handle in PE.  This is slotted into the front compartment of the cockpit tub, adding the instrument panel and control column, and applying six decals to the panel and side consoles.  Additional parts are fitted along with the cockpit sidewalls in both compartments, fixing a rudder bar with two PE foot straps in the front of the cockpit, remembering that most of the rear tub will be covered by an insert later in the build, so don’t waste any time painting and weathering that area.  The nose gear bay must be built next, as it will be trapped between the fuselage halves, and this is built up from four parts, with the nose gear leg made from a single strut with integral supports near the top, fitting the oleo and swing-arm to the bottom, plus a clear landing light and other small parts before you attach wheels on either end of the cross-axle, making them from two halves each.

 

The cover for the rear cockpit is raised, and has a grille on the front, plus two small boxes added to the top surface, then the fuselage can be prepared, drilling out several flashed-over holes under the wings, and one on the roof of the space between the engines.  The nose gear bay is inserted into its cut-out, adding a pair of extension cups to the main gear bays behind the moulded-in sections, then gluing the cockpit tub into the upper fuselage along with an insert in the nose for a refuelling probe.  The two fuselage halves are brought together, fixing the rear cockpit cover and a small spine insert, then building the HUD from a sloped styrene core with clear lens, PE supports for the two clear part, and applying a choice of two decals to the lens before it is fitted in a recess in the cockpit coaming.

 

Soviet/Russian fighters tend to have built-in FOD guards to their intakes, which in this case are supplied as large mesh panels that fit into the front of the inner engine intake trunks, that have a cylindrical profile and are blocked at the inner end by an insert that has the front of the engine moulded-into it, inserting the completed assembly into the engine nacelles, painting the inner surface grey, then adding the roof of the trunks to the sloped forward edge.  This is done twice of course, and the two finished assemblies are inserted into the underside of the fuselage after adding extra wall detail to the main gear bays that nestle into the outer sides of each nacelle, and a new sensor fairing on the outer sides.  In preparation, two short cowling sections are fitted to the upper fuselage where the exhausts will sit later.  The twin fins are each made from two halves plus rudder, but they are equipped with different sensor fits in the trailing edge of the tip, which is further accentuated by the probe and sensors added to the rear, whilst both share the same T-shaped PE aerial near the change of angle of the leading edges of the fins.  There is a large tapered cylindrical fuel tank between the engine nacelles, and this is built from two halves that are capped at either end, the nose cone made from two halves to include the forward pylon mount.  This and the fins are put to one side while other assemblies are built for the underside of the model. This begins with the landing gear, the main gear made from a thick strut with trailing retraction jack, small captive bay door, and a two-part scissor link, which receives a two-part wheel with circumferential tread moulded-in, although you’ll have to take a sanding stick to them if you wish to depict the weight of the airframe on the tyres.

 

The exhausts have a short two-part trunk as their starting point, with a double layer depicting the rear of the engines and the afterburner rings, then you have a choice of posing the exhaust petals opened or closed, using two different sets of parts to portray the inner and outer layers of the nozzles.  The closed nozzles have their inner part inserted from within, while the opened nozzles have their inner layer slid in from the rear due to the angles of the respective parts, with the resulting detail worth the effort.  Both sets of nozzles are glued to the rear of the trunking, and are slipped inside the rear of the fuselage, adding the main gear legs and a bay door actuator to each side, then fitting the chaff & flare boxes on the fairings each side of the exhaust trunking, a pylon under each of the inner wing panels moulded into the fuselage, gluing on leading edges slats, and finally the twin fins that are attached to the fairings to the sides of the engines on pegs for strength.  Doors are added to the gear bays, flaperons and their actuator fairings to the rear of the wings, a gaggle of antennae under the nose, and mounting the large central tank between the engine nacelles.

 

The next step is to fit the jointing parts to the ends of the inner wing panels, fixing them flat, as this boxing doesn’t have operational folding wings.  This involves omitting the hinge parts, laying the hinge cover panel flat to the wing, and fitting the outer wing panel at the same angle as the inner.  The new outer wing panels are built from two halves, adding slats at the front and ailerons to the rear.  It’s best to test fit this in situ to obtain the correct attitude for the various parts.  More probes and antenna are clustered around the nose along with the refuelling probe with its cover, adding a clear lens to the sensor under the windscreen, which is also fitted at this stage.  An actuator for the main canopy is installed behind it, and further aft two jacks for the air-brake are glued in position, which might be best done whilst fitting the panel to ensure they all line up.  The canopy has a separate styrene lower frame with a cross-brace, four PE latches on each side, and a pair of curved rear-view mirrors in the front frame, fitting to the rear of the cockpit opening on the afore-mentioned jack.  The elevators/elevons are single parts that fit into plugs on the side of the fuselage, and a gun fairing is fixed in the leading edge of the port LERX with another pair of PE antennae, one on each side of the new nose cone, which has a separate pitot probe mounted at the tip.

 

Like many Hobby Boss kits, this boxing has a plethora of weapons to suspend from the various pylons under the fuselage and wings.  The following are included:

 

2 x R-77 (AA-12 Adder) BVR A2A Missile

2 x R-73M (AA-11 Archer) Short Range A2A Missile

2 x MSP-418K active jammer pod

2 x PTB-1150 1,150L Fuel Tanks

2 x KH -29T (AS-14 Kedge-B) TV guided A2S Missile

2 x KH-31P (AS-17 Krypton) Anti-Radiation Cruise Missile

2 x KAB-500Kr TV-guided bomb

2 x KH-35 (AS-20 Kayak) Anti-Ship Cruise Missile

 

 

The various missiles are moulded as two halves, have separate fins fore and aft, and clear seeker heads where appropriate, adding adapter rails as necessary.  The KH-35s however have their aft section removed before they are built, fixing folded fins to the sides of the missile, with a scrap diagram showing how they should appear once completed.  A diagram at the end of the instruction booklet shows where the various munitions and pods can be mounted, but check your references for real-world load-outs if you prefer.

 

 

Markings

As is common with HobbyBoss, Trumpeter and I Love Kit, there is very little information given regarding the decal choices, other than the aircraft codes.  Both choices wear the same two-colour blue scheme, and from the box you can depict one of the following:

 

 

 

The various weapons, tanks and pods have a great many stencils that can be applied, using a separate colour page to guide you, all of which adds realism to your model.  Decals aren’t always Hobby Boss’s strong point, but these are of good quality with registration, sharpness and colour density that are suitable for the task at hand.  They usually go down well, and there are plenty of stencils for the airframe and weapons to add detail to your model, including more detailed instrument panel decals than many other companies provide.

 

 

 

Conclusion

The MiG-35 is a recent part of the expansive and sometimes confusingly arranged MiG-29 family, and it seems a competent representation of what is a niche modern variant that has so far only been produced in small numbers, including lots of detail and a large quantity of weapons for you to get to grips with.

 

Highly recommended.

 

 

Review sample courtesy of