For
your viewing pleasure, here are some photos of my 1/48 scale Academy MIG-29A
Fulcrum. The MiG-29 Fulcrum
is a fourth-generation jet fighter aircraft designed in the Soviet Union for an
air superiority role. Developed in the 1970s by the Mikoyan design bureau, it
entered service with the Soviet Air Force in 1983, and remains in use by the
Russian Air Force as well as in many other nations. The MiG-29, along with the
Sukhoi Su-27, was developed to counter American fighters such as the F-15, and
the F-16.
Back
in the day the MIG-29 was a formidable fighter jet. Today in 2011, MIG-29s are
falling apart from age and serious maintenance problems. MIG-29s are very
expensive to maintain, and a number of countries that have MIG-29s are trying to
sell them off. For example, India has a good size fleet of MIG-29s they are
attempting to unload, $2 million dollars each. So far there have been no takers.
Click on
images below to see larger images
Construction
This
was an out of the box build that posed few issues. The cockpit module goes
together well and paints up nicely. The assembled module fits nicely into the
fuselage, but lacks detail. However with a closed canopy you can’t see much of
the cockpit. The wings, vertical and horizontal stabilizers, and fuselage went
together without too many problems. Joining the air intakes to the engine
compartments was another story. In short, the fit was poor and required a good
deal of filling and sanding. The rest of the kit went together easily, including
the two piece canopy—they fit like a glove.
Painting
The
Academy MIG-29A kit provides three different paint schemes, but I chose not use
any of them. I wanted a MIG-29 with the old Soviet Russian Air Force paint
scheme and markings. So the model here is over all light blue (RLM 76) with a
Flanker Blue/Gray camouflage pattern.
Paints
used for the aircraft model were airbrushed with Model Masters and Floquil
enamel paints. The following paints were used:
- Floquil
Grimy Black
Floquil Weathered Black
- MM
Flanker Blue/Gray
MM Dark Gray
- MM
RLM 76 (Light Blue)
MM Burnt Metal
- MM
Gloss Black (FS 17038)
Floquil bright Silver
- Floquil
Reefer White
Tamiya Clear Blue (X-23)
- MM
Chrome Silver (FS 17178)
MM Steel
- Tamiya
Clear Red (X-27)
- Floquil
Signal Red
Decals
Since
I wanted a MIG-29 with the old Soviet Air Force paint scheme and markings I used
very few decals from the kit decal sheet, just the stencil decals. The rest of
the decals, the Red Stars etc, came from the spare decal cache.
Comments
Overall
the Academy MIG-29A kit was a pretty decent kit. The detail was pretty good, and
aside a few fit problems, the kit went together nicely. I was pleased with the
look of the finished model. Enjoy the photos.
Burt Gustafson
Click on
images below to see larger images
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