Hasegawa
1/72 MiG-21 & MiG-17 Combo
Kit Number: #00950
Reviewed by  Stephen Bierce, IPMS# 35922

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MSRP: $50.95
Review Kit Supplied by Dragon Models USA: www.dragonmodelsusa.com

Hasegawa Limited is a new series of re-issued kits plus new decal sheets, made in short-run batches. Often, Hasegawa combines related kits into combo sets. Others include the F9F Cougar and F11F Tiger together, the F-102 Delta Dagger and F-106 Delta Dart together, and a G4M "Betty" bomber, an A6M "Zeke" fighter, and a P-38 Lightning together. Of course, the idea is nothing new; Revell and Monogram and other manufacturers used to do the same on a regular basis back in the Seventies and Eighties.

Both these kits date back to at least the Early Seventies, if not much earlier. Much of the surface detail is raised, although subtly done. Many of the smaller parts are of simple and stylized configuration. The A sprue for the MiG-21 has some areas of flash that would need to be cleaned off the fuselage halves and the landing gear parts. Both models included seated pilot figures.

The MiG-21 model represents the F-13 version of the fighter, the initial production version and the basis for the Chinese J-7 family which is still in production. (In fact, upon learning that I'd be assigned this set for the Reviewer Corps, I wrote Quickboost asking for them to produce a conversion/update set so this model could be built as a later model J-7!) The MiG-17 model was originally designed to be built as the PF/PFU/PM radar-equipped version, but this issue includes a new resin-cast nosepiece so in theory it can be built as the more common MiG-17F day fighter. The problem with this idea is that the MiG-17F also had a different windshield layout from the PF family and this would also need to be changed somehow...perhaps by copying a windshield set from a MiG-15 fighter.

The markings schemes for this set include: two Finnish aircraft, a Hungarian aircraft and a Mainland Chinese aircraft [MiG-21; all the schemes are natural metal]; a Polish aircraft (natural metal), an East German aircraft (European camouflage) and a Syrian aircraft (Desert camouflage) [MiG-17]. As the East Germans and the Poles also used the MiG-17PF, the schemes here, with some modification, would be just as plausible on a MiG-17PF.

Although Hasegawa has boxed these two kits as a combo, I found it easiest to build them separately so we'll take on the MiG-21 first.

MiG-21

The MiG-21's molds had moderate flashing on the sprues, and some of the ejector pin marks could be seen through the upper wing surfaces and in other places. I noticed this when making preliminary spray painting of the parts on the sprues.

I hadn't spray-painted in years, and was using a new brand of paint for the first time…and I paid for it. The paint looked smooth when it went on, but when it dried I wound up with the worst "orange peel" I'd ever seen. I did what I could to sand down rough spots-especially areas where decals would go on-but this was horrifying. I left the "orange peel" the way it was on the smaller pieces because I had no confidence that I could sand the damage down and not break the parts in the process.

I did a lot of test fitting, and the model needed it for the mating of the fuselage halves and setting the wings to the fuselage. Much of the remaining assembly was relatively easy by comparison.

While the assembly directions left out any mention of the need for ballast in the forward fuselage, I felt it needed some-but came to my judgment after the fuselage halves and wings had already been put together. My only option was to Zap-A-Gap a brass BB pellet inside the nosecone before mounting it on the fuselage. I wish the nosecone and the intake ring had been molded as separate pieces; it would have made painting an easier task.

I decided on the Hungarian Air Force color and markings scheme because it was one of the simpler ones and because I could find online references. This particular machine was retired after service to a museum display. According to photos from Airliners.net, the pitot boom and antenna rods were removed, so I felt relieved to omit those pieces from my model. The pitot boom-and the Atoll missiles-were damaged by ejector pins and in the case of the boom, short-molded.

The decal sheet is the best thing about this release. All the decals are easy to work with, sharply printed and the colors are nicely opaque. I was expecting problems with the likelihood of them silvering or failing to stick on the metallic paint, but I had no problems whatsoever.

This model is mostly satisfactory on its own but really needs help from the aftermarket if a modeler is serious about making a detailed replica. The intake and pitot parts should be replaced, and this model would also benefit from some aftermarket enhancements. This must have been fabulous when it first appeared a decade ago, but it since has been eclipsed by better versions of the subject.

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MiG-17

The Fresco is the better of the two kits, albeit as simple and limited in details/features as the MiG-21 is. In some ways, the assembly is more straight-forward and less demanding, and the molds were cleaner and had none of the blemishing that the MiG-21 suffered. I took a lot more time with research and planning than in actual assemblage. (Luckily for me my friendly local hobby store had the Squadron "Walkaround" book on the MiG-17 on sale, so I had that as my main source!)

I decided to build this example as a faux MiG-17F so I could use the resin nosepiece, which is very well cast and fits fine with the existing fuselage parts. When cleaning it for fitting I accidentally removed the tab from the pieces port side, which is meant to fit into a socket on the port fuselage half and assure alignment. It turned out to be no big deal, but this really is a detail that builders should watch for.

The biggest challenges with the MiG-17 model turned out to be the landing gear components and the drop tanks. Making sure the landing gear doors were set the right way in the right place took multiple tries and plenty of Super Glue. And it is vitally important to make sure the drop tank sway braces are in the right order when being attached to the tanks themselves and to the underside of the wings. Otherwise, the fit was splendidly well-engineered.

For the paint scheme, I was inspired by a certain Equatorial Pacific Rim nation that had been on the West's side during the Cold War but had a time when the government might have gone to the Communist bloc. (Yes, another "What If?" scheme.) My camouflage plan was based on the nation's real colors, but drawn as a pattern interpolated from those on Israeli Air Force and U.S. Navy "Aggressor" A-4 Skyhawks. The upper surfaces were in three-tone green: Testors standard Flat Green, "suicide stew" Olive Drab Green (mixed mainly from Pactra International sets, with the Vietnam-era U.S. Army colors providing most of it) and an attempt at Forest Green made by combining Testors Beret Green with Model Master Zinc Chromate Green 50/50. The Flat Green seemed to be lighter in the bottle than it turned out on the model, so I'm not sure I'm happy with it. The undersurfaces were kept in the light gray of the kit's naked plastic. Wheel well and cockpit colors were in the same Zinc Chromate Green I used on the MiG-21. I painted the nose light gray with an Insignia Red "cowl ring" to give it interest, and used the Buzz number decal from the Polish AF option on the kit's sheet. National markings (and possible theater/squadron markings) will have to wait.

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Summary

Both of these kits need aftermarket to reach contest level but the Fresco is better off than the Fishbed. As said, an alternative canopy/windshield for the MiG-17F would have been very helpful, as out of the box you can't build a straight MiG-17F, just a hybrid of F and PF features.

Recommended for modelers with some experience with aircraft models. Thanks to Dragon Models USA and IPMS/USA for my review set, and to Squadron/Signal and HobbyTown USA for material and informational support on this project.

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