Sweden has always been a very special country in my book with its peculiar machines, and the Viggen is no exception. For the longest time the only kit in the scale has been the Heller one, so when Special Hobby announced their joint project with Tarangus I was excited. As I had seen a two-seater flying some time before that – and was suitable impressed by both appearance and performance – I opted to purchase the twin pack, attracted by the number of versions AND the photo book.
The box is BIG, in fact it is bigger than most 48th kits I have, as well as some 35th scale kit boxes in my collection. There are 2 transparent bags with parts, 2 instruction booklets (1 for each the single and double seater), a decal sheet, and the book. The last 2 items are fixed within the box with cardboard inserts, stapled to the box sides. Except for the instructions all items are packed in separate plastic bags.
Strictly following the beaten path of releasing two opposing sets each time, Zvezda has provided a VVS ground crew to match the Luftwaffe set 6188.
Zvezda 1/72 Soviet Air Force Ground Crew, kit 6187
There’s a reason the review is uploaded after the German crew – the kit has something special in it. Figures are made after the characters from the Soviet movie “Only Old Men Are Going to Battle” – a fragment is shown below:
Just have a look at these two (esp. the one on the left):
and you will understand what I mean.
Now… “Old men” is rather used for experienced ones rather than aged. In war where life expectancy on the battlefield was measured in hours and medals were presented for surviving 20 combat flights you could consider such a veteran the squadron’s old man. But I digress.
Two green sprues host 5 figures, a bunch of bases, a fuel drum with a manual pump on top, a pair of ammo crates and a bit crude FAB-50 bomb.
Again – natural poses, more detail than expected from mainstream figures this size.
With one exception the figures have faces, even the edges on the “pilotka” cap can be clearly discerned.
Zvezda 1/72 Soviet Air Force Ground Crew, kit 6187
The instruction sheet is a bit crowded:
Zvezda 1/72 Soviet Air Force Ground Crew, kit 6187
Overall the set will be a great addition to any WWII Soviet aircraft base – especially after the proper weathering 😉read more
In recent years Zvezda has released multiple snap-fit aircraft kits in 1/72 scale that include excellent pilot figures. They have now “gone full circle” by releasing ground crews to accompany these kits. First off – the Luftwaffe crew.
Zvezda 1/72 German Air Force Ground Crew, kit 6188
As shown on the now-standard box – there are 5 figures, a bomb trolley with a bomb, a fuel drum and a jerry can included. As with some other sets you can either use a single base for all the guys, or use individual ones.
Zvezda 1/72 German Air Force Ground Crew, kit 6188
Typical for the Art of tactic game series the plastic is light gray, parts are on 2 sprues.
Of note are not only the poses, but the quality of details on the figures. Yes, there is a certain softness on the clothing and kit, but Zvezda has molded human body detail I have yet to see provided by other mainstream manufacturers. You can see the fingers and the detail on the palm of a guy’s hand. In Braille scale.
or even see his face. That’s a bit different from the tubes most figures have molded as hands, etc.
Sorry – I didn’t delve much into the jerrycan and drum, but most of you already have resin ones anyway, so just two quick snaps of the bomb trolley parts.
I am sure Zvezda could have provided separate wheels and saved us some work without spending too much extra on molds, but oh well. Despite the price of 0,50 Euro per fig I still am pretty happy with the figures.
MiG-29 has attracted the attention of multiple scale model manufacturers even when it was only seen in blurry pictures. Available kits vary in scale, accuracy and markings in area so wide it would take a book to describe.
The reason I picked up Revell’s 1/144th MiG-29 was its R-60 missiles that I used in another model. I was thinking of giving it away, because strange as it may sound I am not a big fan of the aircraft for a number of reasons. I elected to keep it though, so it will be briefly presented in this article.
The kit details are molded on two white sprues and a single transparent one with just the canopy on it. There is also an instruction sheet and a comprehensive decal set for an earlier scheme of the Swifts demo team of the Russian Air Force.
First thing you will notice is that despite the transparent canopy and the visible opening there is no cockpit detail whatsoever. Like NONE. At all.
Fair enough – small scale – “who’ll notice” eh? I’ll call the first sprue A, since it has the upper fuselage half. Also seen are tailplanes – both horizontal and vertical stabs. Panel lines look good for the scale, important detail is present, including the characteristic intakes at the top of the LERX, which are pretty well defined in semi-opened stance.
You can also see the main intake ducts, whose thickness is most definitely overscale for even 1/32. Each intake is formed by 2 vertically split halves, so you can file them out. There are also FOD doors that close when the 29 is taxiing on the ground – apparently the model was intended to be posed on a runway. The 4 odd-looking parts at the lower left corner are supposedly the R-27 missiles – perhaps more suited to fit as a rocketry class diorama in 1/35.
Revell 04007 MiG-29 “The Swifts”
There’s even an indentation for the gun opening and some schematically represented gun gas vents.
Revell 04007 MiG-29 “The Swifts”
Panel lines appear consistent, which is a nice change from Academy’s F-15 where detail on the vertical stabs was noticeably deeper and wider than on the rest of the model. Various bulges and bumps are represented. Ejector pin marks of any concern so far are only visible on the intake halves, but since they are going to be all filed away – this shouldn’t pose a problem.
Revell 04007 MiG-29 “The Swifts”
Gear doors are thick, and while on most other aircraft they can easily be replaced by a flat piece – these will take much more work.
Gear legs – quite possibly the fines details in the kit, featuring even the scissor links.
Revell 04007 MiG-29 “The Swifts”
Sprue B, with the lover fuse half and the wings. There is no intake trunking in the model, but the openings towards the turbine faces were not blanked-off either. There are also no engines. If the intakes are not closed off by the FOD covers you will be able to see through the model.
Maybe it would be wort it to try and create a few parts?
Revell 04007 MiG-29 “The Swifts”
The R-60 look-alikes – not bad for 20+ year old model in the scale and the main reason I go myself the kit. The wheels are not too bad. Thick gear doors again, and that wing pylon and missile rail are not really to scale…
Revell 04007 MiG-29 “The Swifts”
An interesting solution for mounting the wings to the fuselage, those MASSIVE rails again, the extremely long engine nozzles, and the nose cone, the shape of which really concerns me – it looks a bit too pointed to me.
Revell 04007 MiG-29 “The Swifts”
Looks like it will be wheels-up, no-armament ship – but I will certainly use the pylons without the missile rails to avoid filling and sanding the wings.
The canopy, which is fairly decent in terms of clarity, though extremely thick. I wonder whether any attempt at installing cockpit interior will be successful due to the limited space below it. Maybe try and smash-mold one from plastic packaging?
Revell 04007 MiG-29 “The Swifts”
7 construction steps – simple enough. Yes, you are to blank-off the intakes… and install those terrible things under the wings.
Revell 04007 MiG-29 “The Swifts”
The decal sheet – fairly extensive, which should cover most of the aircraft.
Revell 04007 MiG-29 “The Swifts”
Though the painting instructions suggest that you need to match the decal color on the tailplanes.
Revell 04007 MiG-29 “The Swifts”
It’s gonna be a tough call, this one – lack of cockpit and engines being the biggest challenges. Let’s see how it turn out.
