This
is the Hasegawa 1/72nd scale MiG-29 Fulcrum "Ukrainian Falcons" (kit
#04093). The kit is the early MiG-29 release by Hasegawa, with a large
decal sheet for the early Ukrainian Falcons scheme depicted in the photo on
the boxtop. Two sprues are included with the kit (the weapons sprue being
absent), as shown in the photo below. Although the Ukrainian Falcons used
the MiG-29 C (9-13) version of the Fulcrum (not the MiG-29 A (9-12)), I decided
to build this kit OOB as the Hasegawa MiG is molded underscale, and the decals
would be difficult to fit onto another manufacturers mold.
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images below to see larger images
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Typical
to Hasegawa kits, the cockpit is rather spartan, and includes a pilot figure,
which I tried to paint to match reference photos I had of the Ukrainian Falcons
pilots. The vertical stabilizers fit to the body was poor, and required
lots of putty and sanding to match properly. After the fuselage assembly
was complete I primed the model with Tamiya surface primer.
I
began painting by airbrushing a light gray Tamiya acrylic for the
wheel wells, then when dry, I masked them with blue tac. For the white I
used Tamiya acrylic gloss white - for the blue I used a Gunze acrylic blend of
colours. The instructions call for a 50/50 blend of cobalt blue and sky
blue, however the colour didn't seem correct to me so I added more sky blue to
match the colours in my references.
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The
kit comes with a beautiful set of decals, which are however, thick and somewhat
brittle. The larger decals were cut into smaller sections and settled
down with Micro Set and Micro Sol. After the decals had set, I sprayed a
coat of Future to seal them, then airbrushed a coat of Pollyscale satin finish.
I really like the bright, colourful look of the finished product! I had
the opportunity to see the Ukrainian Falcons perform in Ukraine a number of
years ago, however, sadly, it seems that the Ukrainian Falcons demonstration
team has now been disbanded.
Keith
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images below to see larger images
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