Intro

With several MiG-21s under Eduards belt, there is little point doing yet another inbox review of the kit, so I'm just going to throw the thing together, much like I did with the Profipack boxing lol.
Jean Luc has reviewed the kit when it first came out in 2011, so just ignore all the extras you get in the Profipack version, and it is the weekend editon. The review can be found here

The build

I started the build off with the jet exhaust. This is made up of eleven parts. The build sequence is over one stage with a couple of inserted diagrms for some parts. The whole thing goes together well, with no fit issues. Spraying the inside of part C4 could prove a little troublesome as it is a tube.
The next part I tackled was the cockpit, which I didn't particully follow the instructions, as they have you going backwards and forwards over several stages. You have a choice of two options regarding the side consoles and instrument panel. You can either use the flat panels and add the supplied decals or furnish the cockpit with the raised and recessed engraved panels that you paint yourself. I went for the decal option, as I'm not intending to paint anything on this build.
All the parts fit snugly together and the decals only need immersing in water for a few seconds to release them from the backing paper. The cockpit finishes with the rudder pedals and control stick.
The 19 part ejection seat is built over several stages and is pretty well detailed, even if it does lack a harness. I added the ejection seat to the cockpit at this stage, even though Eduard have you slot it into the fuselage later in the build.
The underside of the cockpit floor has the nose wheel well attached to it, and is made up of six parts. Fitting is easy thanks to the way Eduard have moulded the pieces, which all just slot together.
Once the cockpit was built, I attached all the side consoles and cockpit floor to one side of the fuselage halves, not forgetting to add the side wall instrument panel decals to both fuselage halves.
Once the cockpit was installed the cockpit rear wall was attached along with two other internal panels. The exhaust system was then attached and the nose cone added with some suitable wieght installed to stop it being a tail sitter. Once everything was secure both fuselage halves were glued together, the fit is a little on the tight side around the nose, but with a little persuasion the fuselage was closed up and held together with clamps to dry.
The tail fin and fuselage spine are next on the list. The tail fin is in two parts and goes together well but holding together with clamps helps the glue set and keeps it together. The rudder can be offset from the netrual postion if desired as it just slots straight onto the tail. The tail fits neatly onto the fuelage with a small insert in the tail fuselage spine keeping everything straight.
The fuselage spine is one piece and slots straight onto the spine, but a small step where it meets the tail fin is present so sanding will be needed to smooth it all out.
The lower wing is one piece and has the airbrakes in the closed postion moulded onto them. If you want to model them open then you have to cut away the moulded on brakes. Eduard have thinned down the plastic in this area to make it easier to remove them. For this build I have opened one up. Care does need to be taken to not make the hole too big, as a insert goes into the resulting hole, so its easier to make the hole too small and sand any excess away then make it too big and have to dump filler in it. A air brake cover is added to the open part along with a small hydrulic piston.
Quite a few bits go into the undercarrige bays, with three parts for each side making up the undercarrige bay walls.
If your aircraft is to carry external stores then the pylon holes need to be opened up along with two more holes for a couple of underwing ariels.
It is also at this stage where I built the main undercarrige bay, which slots into the center section of the wings and sits in the fuselage. A few pipes are added to the bays and along with the moulded on detail does look pretty good.
The lower wings were attached to the fuselage and the two upper wing sections glued and clamped into place. The upper wings have some detail moulded into the undercarrige bay floor. The overall fit of the wings is pretty good with only a little filler and sanding needed along the wing roots.
Once the wings are dry and set the horizontal stabilisers were added along with a couple of fuselage air scoops.
Flaps and ailerons get added next and with a little surgery could be lowered, as the main flaps are attached with a locating tab. Four wing fences are also added to the wing uppers.
We now turn to the underside of the aircraft, where the fuselage fin, some air scoops and the center air brake are added. The large airbrake can be modelled open or closed.
A four part under fuselage sensor is added to the forward fuselage.
The main landing gear is made up of nine parts each, and you have an option of two types of wheel hubs. The oleos are made up of two parts each and are a little tricky to glue together. The yres are in two parts and will require sanding to get rid of the resulting seam. Once the main legs are dry they attche to the bays with a locating tab.
The leg undercarrige door is in one piece but the top part needs to be bent at an angle of 28 degrees, to clear the oleo part of the leg. The main bay doors slot into place and with an actuator are quite steady.
Even though the legs seem quite flimsy they do hold into place well.
The nose gear is also in nine parts and is pretty straightforward to put together, if a little delicate. The nose gear just fits into the nose bay without any locating holes, but is surprisingly sturdy once dry.
The cockpit HUD and the forward upper fuselage nose parts fit straight in, and its is this stage which Eduard get you to fit the bang seat into the cockpit (but mines already installed).
The instructions would have you install the canopy, the nose pitot and air speed indicator, but I will leave this till last and concentrate on the external stores.
First up is the optional SPRD's which fit onto the lower fuselage. These are made up of five parts each, and fit either side of the large air brake.
The wing pylons hold two 490L external fuel tanks on the outer pylons with two RS-2US missiles on the inner. A centerline 800L fuel tank can also be attached. Plenty of external stores will be left over for use in future Soviet aircraft builds.
The nose pitot tube and the air speed indicator can now be glued into postion. Last up is fitting the canopy, this can be fitterd in the open or closed position.

Decals and markings

The small decal sheet carries the national insignia, the aircraft code numbers and a few stencils. A full stencil decal sheet can be bought separatly, item no - D48010.
The one marking is for -
MiG-21MF, Slovak Airforce, 4th flight, Silac Airbase, Slovakia, ca 1999.
This unique camouflage scheme came about in July 1997, when 31st AFB Sliac personnel applied it to the aircraft serialed 967713, and subsequently
dubbed it ‘Milka’ for its resemblance to the coloring of a cow. The aircraft flew into August, 2000, and was scrapped at Prelouc in 2010.
The individual shades on this scheme were derived by mixing black and white paints available to the general public, and as such, these were not any military standard paints. The left front carried the 4th Flight emblem, the right carried the marking of the 31st AFB Sliac. The aircraft was flown by LtCol. Zsoldos, and the crewchief was Capt. Krucina.

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