MiG-21MF

Eduard Weekend Edition, 1/48 scale

Reviewed by David Couche

Background information on the Mig-21 family was looked at in some depth in my previous recent review of the Mig-21MFN.

Photos of both sides of the Swordfish version.

A sturdy Eduard box opens to three sprues of grey injected moulded, finely detailed parts with 186 parts on them which enables you build a very nicely detailed model There is a clear sprue, containing 15 very clear parts, a small sheet of brass photo, decals for 2 differently marked aircraft, one being the well-known Polish Swordfish scheme and 2 sheets of decals complete with one of these sheets being stencils and the usual comprehensive instruction booklet. All sprues are cleanly moulded with no flash evident, although a few of the parts exhibit some degree of moulding lines and sprue gates to the parts appear to have been created to minimise their effect on the parts. All parts are finely detailed with a mix of raised and recessed panels and details as required.

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Thumbnail panels:

Sprue A

Sprue A is the airframe sprue for the MiG-21MF. The sprue has 17 grey injected moulded parts of which 3 are not used. Found here are the wonderfully detailed fuselages, wings, tailplanes, one piece spine and rudder and the tail cone. In case you are wondering having read my review of the Mig-21MFN, the wings are very much different and there are some really small differences with the fuselage as well.

Sprue C

This sprue offer up 71 parts, which are the ordinance parts, which enables you to build a great range which includes the following;

• 1 x 800L external fuel tank

• 2 x 490L external fuel tank

• 2 x RS-2US missiles

• 2 x R-60 missiles

• 2 x R-13 missiles

• 4 x FAB-100 bombs

• 2 x FAB-250 bombs

• 2 x R-3S missiles

• 2 x UB-16 rocket pods

• 1 x UB-32 rocket pods

• 2 x RATO units. 

Sprue D

A sprue of some 98 parts with 8 unused, Sprue D has the cockpit parts, wheel bays, undercarriage parts, air brake, RATO units and a myriad of small pieces to be added to the airframe. All of the parts are beautifully detailed with both rivet detail and raised surfaces as required. Nice job Mr Eduard.

Sprue E

This sprue is clear sprue and provides 15 clear parts of which 5 are not used and I believe these are canopy pieces for the PF version of the MiG-21 as well as an instrument panel and its lower section. Parts are crystal clear with some nice rivet detail on the frames.

Instructions and Decals

The instructions for the kit are the usual Eduard, with a glossy booklet of 20 A5 pages of high quality detailed instructions, with copious colour call outs throughout, using the Gunze Aqueous, Mr Color as well as the Mission Models range. The decals appear to be in perfect register giving the options for 2 different aircraft. Included is a comprehensive stencil and data on the sheet, with 2 pages at the end of the instructions for their placement as well as a page each for the ordinance stencilling and a whole page for the many pylons and drop tanks.

Decals appear to be in excellent register. Be prepared for several sessions of decaling to get through this pile of decals.

For the stencils alone there is approximately 1000 (yes…. One thousand stencil decals) and most are tiny….good luck! I have included a scan of the 2 aircraft profiles but briefly, they are;

• MiG-21MF, c/n 9668143, 3. Eskadra Lotnicza Taktycznego (3rd Squadron Tactical Aviation) , Poznan-Krzesiny , 2002 – Swordfish Scheme

• MiG-21MF, Free Libyan Army, Tobruk, Libya, 2016

Many superlatives have been used about this kit but I think just a simple amazing will do. The detail provided by Eduard is superb, even for a Weekend Edition and for such as small aircraft as is the overall quality of the moulding. A highly recommended kit set with the great Swordfish scheme for one option.

Thanks to Eduard for the sample

Review Text Copyright © 2020 by David Couche
Page Created 26 February, 2020
Last updated 26 February, 2020

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