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MiG-15UTI

OzMods

HyperScale is proudly sponsored by Squadron.com

Reviewed by Brett Green

OzMods is an Australian company with a small range of products in diverse scales, media and subject matter.

Their range includes a 1/48 scale vacform and multimedia Caribou, a 1/144 scale resin and white-metal Caribou, 1/72 and 1/48 scale accessories and conversions including parts for Hercules, F-111, Macchi MB326, Super Constellation and DC-3. A selection of resin Australian Destroyers in 1/600, 1/700 and 1/350 are also available, and the diverse subjects even include a 1/40,000,000 scale resin Australia!

OzMods latest release is a 1/144 scale MiG-15UTI. The two-seater MiG trainer is tiny in this scale, but OzMods have packed in a surprising amount of detail including a cockpit tub with integrated side consoles, ejector seats with harnesses and mounting rails, wiring detail in the main gear wheel wells and an intake ring with splitter plate.

The whole package is supplied in a package about the size of an Eduard Photo-Etched set.

The little MiG is supplied as 23 parts in dark grey, low pressure injection moulded plastic, and two canopies (including one spare). The plastic is shiny, with no real blemishes and crisp, consistent engraved detail.

Cockpit detail is really quite good for this scale. In addition to the aforementioned cockpit tub, the control columns and instrument panels are also supplied. A wash over the basic interior colour will highlight the engraved instrument and switch detail in the cockpit. The seats are well shaped, and the inclusion of basic representations of harness and rails is appreciated. The tub itself is way too shallow, but this will barely be noticeable in this scale by the time the cockpit assembly is installed.

The main parts, fuselage halves and wings, are equally good. The fuselage includes a separate intake ring with a splitter plate moulded on. This is a sensible arrangement. It is very pleasing to see that a slot has been moulded in the mid fuselage to assist the mounting and alignment of the wings. However, there is no tailpipe or interior bulkhead supplied, so modellers may wish to block off the fuselage or daylight will be visible from the front of the fuselage at the jet intake to the exhaust at the back. 

The wings are moulded in one piece each. They include wing fences and basic wheel well detail - more than acceptable in a 1/144 scale model. Trailing edges are thin.

Minor parts are impressive (click thumbnails below to view larger images of detail parts). 

The wheels/gear legs (moulded as one part for each), gear doors and drop tanks are flawlessly moulded and recognisable - even without magnification! The vacform canopy is supplied with a spare, and I suppose the truly demented small-scale modeller could even depict the MiG with its canopy open.

The tiny decal sheet is printed perfectly. All the markings are crisp and in register.

Instructions are supplied on the cardboard backing sheet. The small number of parts mean that the single exploded view diagram is sufficient. A marking guide is on the back of the packaging.

OzMods 1/144 scale MiG-15UTI is an impressive and inexpensive little package.

Recommended.

Thanks to Greg Anderson from OzMods for the review sample.

OzMods products are available from Australian hobby retail outlets 
or direct from OzMods via their email address ozmods@optushome.com.au