The Bf (or Me) 109 needs no introduction. It is such an important aircraft in the history of aviation (and the world) that I am unable to think of a mainstream modelling company that has NOT offered a version of the 109. In 2014 Eduard unsurprisingly extended their product line with a G-6, the most numerous of the WWII versions.
There are just 4 sprues in the standard box (used for most 1/48 scale aircraft the company produces AND the Royal Class editions), so contents will rattle about as you’re taking it home. Thankfully all frames are tightly packed in sealing bags and there is little to no chance parts will be damaged.
As one would expect from a 40-year old molds – this kit does not fit perfectly, so here’s a list of recommendations.
– Dry fit the cockpit. The instrument panel does interfere with the pilot’s legs. Unless you are doing some detailing inside – the figure is your best option to distract viewers from the spartan interior.
– There are gaps between the upper wing halves and the fuselage, and at the rear of the lower wing/fuselage join.
– You are in for a re-scribing session once the propeller and the engine cooling fan are in place. There are two locating pins that do help, but some sanding is still required.
Now the Raiden (or Jack as it’s more familiar to the English speakers) might not have been as popular as the Type 0 (A6M), yet to me it represents the change in Japanese philosophy of building military aircraft. The J2M was not transformation of a different type of aircraft, was designed with a powerful engine from the outset, wasn’t supposed to carry 7,7 mm guns and many more firsts. It’s also my first ever Tamiya kit 🙂
I’ve been looking for a 72nd scale model for a while, but Hasegawa’s kit was hard to find and not really worth the price asked. So when this “second-hand” kit showed up for about $10 I didn’t give it any second thoughts.
Here’s the complete MiG-21 MF in Bulgarian Air Force service from the late 90s at the then-still-active Dobrich AFB. This particular machine has been overhauled in 1996, it has possibly been rewired to use a recce container since the MiG-21R versions were no longer flying. This local modification is known as the MiG-21 MFR. A total of 7 conversions were made.
Here’s the work done on the MF so far. Essentially the model builds itself. On this dry-fit picture the only glued parts are the halves of the vertical stabilizer and the rudder, which is offset to port.
Dry fit
Glued main office parts together and gave them a splash of color – my own mix, which when dried turned out to be very different from the kit-supplied PE variation…
Painted cockpit
Here you can see the floor. Everything in this area is basically “click-fit”. Rudder pedals were inserted later on.
After delivering their exquisite MiG-21MF the Eduard crew went on to produce a number of sets to further improve the appearance of this important machine in 48th scale.
One of the areas that would definitely benefit from an aftermarket set are the tires. Dimensionally correct the kit items are really “bald” and flattening them could result in holes. This set replaces all three kit wheels with beautifully cast resin items, thread present on all three of them. Two hub options, etched details and masks are also included:
It is out and the world will never be the same. This blog has now also changed and I need to remove the “Braille scale” from the title… The definitive 21 so far – and not just in the Quarter scale.
Eduard 1/48 MiG-21 MF – box top
I am certainly not THAT mucher of a sucker for 21s to have ordered the special edition from Eduard, the Profipack will do (heh-heh). The box is literally packed with details on total of 8 sprues, 2 photoetched frets, two resin UB-16 FFAR pods, an express mask, as well as two decal sheets of monstrous proportions. Each of the 6 color options is represented in detail within the magazine-sized booklet.
