1/48 OEZ Mig 21 SMT

Gallery Article by Lawrence Aphoy

 

Released back in the early 1990's,OEZ's Mig 21 can still be found, albeit in small quantities. OEZ's Mig 21 can be built in one of three versions; they are the MF, bis and SMT. The MF version would be the easiest one to build out of the three versions as the dorsal spine is already molded on to the kit.   

 

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To make the remaining versions will require a fair bit of cutting. You will first need to remove the MF spine (already molded to the kit) and replace it with either the bis or SMT spine, depending on which version you are making. As can be seen I chose to model the SMT version. This not only requires the MF spine to be removed but in addition a portion of the tail to be removed. 

To get a proper and snug fit of the new spine to fit the fuselage, I beveled the edges of the SMT spine. I used the kit decals, which weren't bad at all. They were in register and neatly printed on a single sheet of decal film. The only thing you need to do before applying the decals is to carefully trim them then apply them as you normally would.   

Although this kit has it faults, such as the canopy, lack of detail in the cockpit and landing gear, panel lines to deep etc.…. This kit still has some value. It is great if you want to practice modifying a model or to try out some new weathering technique without spending a fortune on it.   

Lawrence Aphoy

      

Photos and text © by Lawrence Aphoy