Happy New Year everyone! Now I'm not
going to bore everybody with the history of the Mig 15 because the reader will
doubtless have heard it a thousand times before. So I will cut to the
chase, here we have three 1/72 Mig 15's one Airfix and the other two old KP kits
from yesteryear.
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The silver one is the Airfix kit,
a bit basic and it needed a bit of sanding here and there but its an old mould
so I'm going easy on it. The other two KP kits despite their age seem quite
detailed (and a little more accurate than the Airfix kit), they had a bit of a
cockpit and some underwing stores. The kits were built out of the box apart
from scratchbuilt antenna/radio wires (made from old sprues), a bit of putty and
a set of aftermarket Iraq markings for the Mig 15UTI and a set of Romanian Air
Force Markings for the single seater. I did find the addition of underwing
stores on the Romanian aircraft refreshing (it even came with a set of RATO
bottles on the rear fuselage!) you usually only get Mig 15's with a set of drop
tanks. So it made a nice change.
I don't know about everybody else but I find Soviet Cold War
aircraft fascinating! They tend to be ugly and brutish looking planes with just
a hint of obsolescence about them, I love 'em! Western defence analysts for
years often branded Soviet aircraft as being unsophisticated and primitive, well
I think they miss the point somewhat considering the theatre's in which
they have to operate in. Often used by developing nations with small budgets for
air cover, flown by poorly trained pilots and serviced by ground crews with
often basic equipment. Russian made aircraft are the only choice, not only does
your money go farther, but the robust airframes and simple nature allow them to
operate with the minimum of attention.
Hope you have enjoyed my article I will be displaying more of my
collection of Soviet types in the coming months.
Best Regards
Oliver
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