MiG-19S Farmer C
MiG-19PM Farmer E
and FT-6 Trainer

Trumpeter

Trumpeter's 1/48 scale family of MiG-19s are available online from Squadron

Reviewed by Dave Williams

Following the release of their MiG-19 kits in 1/32 scale, Trumpeter has now released the Farmer in the smaller scale for the shelf space challenged crowd.

Essentially, the kits are scaled down versions of the large kits and many of the comments in the previous review of the 1/32 scale kits also apply to the 1/48 scale kits. The main difference between the two scales is that the 1/48 scale kits delete the complete engines and mold each fuselage half in one piece instead of splitting them front and back.

Other minor differences are the deletion of the nose avionics boxes, although the hatch is still a separate piece and the nose splitter has a well where the boxes would be, different breakdown of the KK-2 ejection seat parts, and the smaller kit only includes non-flattened wheels. Otherwise, the parts are almost identical to the larger kits.

Like their 1/32 scale cousins, the three kits consist of a mixture of sprues common to all three versions and sprues specific to the version being kitted. The common sprues contain the wings, the landing gear, the cannons and the drop tanks. Specific sprues contain the fuselage, cockpit, and clear parts. The PM kit also contains an extra sprue with the missile armament and has a different tail sprue. Although the pictures in this review are only of the Farmer-C kit, the other two kits are essentially the same in quality.

Overall, the molding quality is about the same as in the larger kits. The main exterior parts such as the wings and fuselage are free of sinkmarks and exterior defects, although the separate speed brakes have some surface ripples on the exterior and ejector pin marks on the inner detail. Also, there is a sink mark on the front of the F/FT-6 parabrake housing. Again, the portion of the tail below the rudder is a separate part to allow for the parabrake housing on the Chinese-built versions. The control surfaces are separate parts, although the flaps are not designed for repositioning. Like the big kits, most of the air scoops on the fuselage are molded separately; however many are one solid piece and need to be drilled out to represent the actual intake. The instructions make no mention of the need to add any nose weight, which seems strange considering the distance of the large tail from the main gear struts. Given that the HiPM kit requires weight in the nose; one should consider taping together the major parts to check the balance about the main gear attachments before closing up the forward fuselage halves.

Click the thumbnails below to view larger images:

As noted previously, each fuselage half in one piece, with each kit having a unique fuselage mold. Unfortunately, the new fuselage omits some notable details that were present in the larger kits. The most obvious item is that Trumpeter has failed to represent the four auxiliary intake doors on the fuselage that are located above the wing roots and were frequently seen open while the aircraft was on the ground. These doors, as well as the panel they are on, were molded as separate parts in the 1/32 kits. Like the large kit, the Mig-19S fuselage has the late gun blast panel configuration which had two square pads replacing the large oval panel. The 1/32 scale kit had these pads correctly represented as raised surfaces, but the 1/48 scale kit merely provides recessed outlines of the pads. You are own your own in painting the darker area of the fuselage that was originally covered by the large oval panel as there is nothing to provide a guide for masking the panel.

The wings are molded without the cannons in the root. If a cannon-armed version is built, a portion of the wing root must be removed to install the cannon. Cannon barrels both with and without the muzzle brakes are included. The cannon barrels are one piece; however their muzzles are already hollowed out. In addition, a separate panel is provided for the upper wing root which contains either the three vents seen on cannon-armed aircraft, or is plain for non-cannon birds. Identical to the 1/32 scale kits, the wings lack the conventional tab-and-slot attachment point. Instead, they are a butt joint to the fuselage with the rear wing root fairing molded on the forward fuselage halves providing positioning. There are also some sinkmarks on the alt part of the lower wing root.

The level of cockpit detailing is similar to the larger kit and makes for an acceptable cockpit out of the box if no one chooses to make an aftermarket set. The KK-2 seat consists of 5 parts (down from 11 parts in the 1/32 scale kit) and just needs the addition of some belts (not included) for completeness. The instrument panel consists of a clear panel that is placed over an acetate sheet with printed instrument dials.

The clear parts are relatively thin and free of distortion. Antenna lines are molded inside the tops of the single-seater canopies. Trumpeter’s use of a multipart mold results in a center seam on the canopy which must be removed. The single-seater canopy slides along a track in the cockpit panel aft of the seat and appears to be movable after building.

The wheel wells are separate pieces which ensures the surface detail on the upper wings is not marred by sinkmarks. The gear struts look good, although there are some ejector pin marks on one side that should be filled. Only non-flattened tires are included.

All kits include the wing tanks and associated pylons, and the pylon fitted under the inboard leading edge of the wing. The inboard pylons were popular on Chinese-built aircraft and East German Farmers, but were not fitted to Soviet and other Warsaw Pact aircraft. The strange backward pylons fitted aft of the main gear wells and used for carrying ORO-57K rocket pods on the MiG-19S are not included.

2803 MiG-19S

Like all of the kits, includes the option of braked or unbraked cannon, and optional parabrake housing for the J-6/F-6. Although the instructions tell you to use the unbraked cannon and parachute housing on the Chinese aircraft, note that early F-6 aircraft lacked the chute housing and had the muzzle brakes on the cannon, so check your references for the particular aircraft you are doing.

Markings are the same as the 1/32 scale kit, namely: Soviet “Red 37” and Chinese J-6 “Red 2207”, both in NMF, and “Red 872”, a colorful East German Farmer C specially painted for the Fifth Word Aerobatic Championship in 1968 (the real aircraft crashed before the competition ).

Unfortunately, like the larger kit, only the nose number and national insignia are included for “Red 872”. You are left to your own devices to paint the colorful scheme, which includes a large red lightning bolt down the side with a thin white outline. The bolt should probably have been provided as a decal as it will be very difficult to paint the outline. Some stenciling is included on the decal sheet, but the instruction sheet makes no mention of where they go.

2813 FT-6

Markings are included for Pakistani FT-6 “Black 10106” and Chinese JJ-6 “Red 41483”, both in NMF. This is a slight change from the 1/32 scale kit, in which the Pakistani markings were for a camouflaged bird.

2804 MiG-19PM

The kit contains an extra armament sprue which contains four RU-2U and four RU-2US missiles and associated missile rails. The kit also contains various OFAB bombs and the instructions mention how to assemble them, but they are not shown in the loadout table included in the instructions, and it seems doubtful that –PMs would be used for ground attack duties. Save the bombs for other kits. Markings are included for Soviet MiG-19PM “Blue 30”, East German MiG-19PM “Red 723”, and Chinese F-6B “Red 14121”. All aircraft are in NMF.

It has been a long road to getting a decent 1/48 Farmer kit.

In recent years, we have been treated first to the AA kit, which was more of a toy than a true representation of a MiG-19. Besides lacking detail, the fuselage was noticeably too short. Then came the HiPM kit, which isn’t a bad kit and is relatively accurate, but suffers from some of the downsides of “limited run” kits such as thick parts and lack of detail on parts such the landing gear.

While not fully Tamigawa quality, the Trumpeter kits are easily the best of the lot and should build up nice out of the box, although at $50 USD, they might seem a little pricey for some wallets.

Recommended.

Sample kits courtesy of my ever dwindling bank account.

Dave Williams
IPMS/USA 19050

Review Copyright © 2001 by Dave Williams
Page Created 08 December, 2002
Last updated 22 July, 2003

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