GRAN 1:72 MIKOYAN MIG-15BIS
'INBOX Review'

 

Reviewer: Johan De Wolf (rec.models.scale)   

Kit Details

History

It was shown on several parades, so the existence of the Mig-15 was well known to the West. Still it came as a nasty shock when it first appeared in the skies over Korea. The F-80 and F-84 where simply no match for it. Even for the F-86 Sabre the Mig-15 was a tricky customer to deal with. The Mig-15 was a real pilot’s plane. It was easy to fly and it showed no unpleasant characteristics. It was a stable gun platform and it packed a heavy punch. Designed was started as the I-310 in 1946. The first flight took place on 30 December 1947. The Russians knew they had a winner on their hands as even before the state acceptance trials where finished, production of the Mig-15 was already started at 8 plants. In 1949 an improved version followed. The RD-45 engine was replaced by the stronger VK-1 and the NS-23 guns where replaced by the better NR-23’s. Several aircraft systems where also improved, and this new version became known as the Mig-15bis. Over 11.000 Mig-15’s where produced in the USSR alone, and they found their way into many air forces. The Czechs and Poles also produced a large number of Mig-15’s under license as the S-102 and Lim-2 respectively. China never actually produced the single-seater which they designated J-2. They did however produce a large number of two-seaters as the JJ-2. 

The kit

Lifting the lid reveals 2 white sprues crammed full with parts, and one transparent sprue with the canopy. It is immediately clear that this is more of a short run kit than a regular injection molded kit. Due to the low pressure molding there is inevitably some flash to contend with and the parts aren’t as crisply formed as with regular kits. The plastic is rather soft so clean up isn’t too difficult, but care has to be taken with the smaller parts. Panel lines are finely engraved except for the wing upper surfaces. Here the detail is much more crude and inconsistent. The canopy is a big disappointment. The plastic used has a pink hue and the inside has a mass of scratches. This will make it very difficult to polish them out and I think it would be best to replace it with a vacuform item. After clean up the fit of the parts is ok. The instructions are on 4 a4-size pages. It starts with the machines history (in Russian and rEnglish), followed by a parts location diagram. 11 easy to follow diagrams deal with the construction of the kit. Last but not least there are 7 full side views and 2 partials that show the 9 decal options. The decal sheet is by Begemot and of good quality. Besides the 9 options it also includes a fair amount of stenciling. The placement of this stenciling is not shown in the instructions though. 

Accuracy

There have been a few kits of the Mig-15 in 1/72 but none of them have been particularly accurate. There are the ancient Airfix and PZW kits that are best left to the collectors. Then there is the KP kit which is showing its age too. Although it has a few shape errors, it was the best kit so far. A more recent offering is the Dragon kit. This kit is marred by exaggerated representation of the rivets, and has several shape and accuracy problems. Now there is this new kit by Gran. The first good news is that the dimensions are spot on. Second and just as important, this is the first kit that gets all the angles of the wings and tail correct. The kit also passes a comparison with pictures of the real thing with flying colours. 

Construction 

The cockpit tub has a lot of detail but it is rather soft. The very nice 3 piece ejection seat, a good looking instrument panel and a stick are placed into this tub. The finished interior is then placed into the fuselage together with a rudimentary nose wheel bay and a two piece tail pipe, after which the fuselage can be closed. Although the instructions do not mention it you better put some weight in the nose. This model will be a determined tail sitter without it. The wings, with separate flaps, are next. The airbrakes can be fitted open or closed. The airbrakes as well as the gear bays all have structural details inside. The gear looks pretty good, but I’ll thin the doors down a bit. The nose gear doors are a short shot in my kit and I’ll have to scratch build some new ones. There are some more external bits and pieces to be fitted, and finaly you have the option of fitting drop tanks.

Painting and Decals

Painting details are given throughout construction. Colours are only described in general terms, so you’ll have to guess the exact hues. The decals offers options for 9 aircraft, all but one from the Korean war. 6 of them are in natural metal, the other 3 are camouflaged. All where flown by aces. They include of course Pepeliayev’s machine but also Fedorets 393 in which he downed MacConnels F-86E Beautious Butch.

Conclusion

Finally we have an accurate Mig-15bis. Due to the short-run nature of the kit I wouldn’t recommend it to a novice but a more advanced modeler should do fine with it. I am afraid that this kit won’t get too much attention as Eduard has also announced a Mig-15 in 1/72 scale.

References

 

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