MiG-21UM Mongol B

Trumpeter

Reviewed by Dave Williams

Trumpeter's 1/32 scale MiG-21UM is available online from Squadron.com

As this kit shares many parts with the single-seat MiG-21MF kit (kit 02218), this review will be short and will only focus on the differences.

The sprue containing the forward fuselage and cockpit, and the clear parts sprue are replaced with new sprues containing the appropriate parts for the two-seater.

 Click thumbnails below to view larger images:

Parts for an additional KM-1 ejection seat are also included. Like the single-seater, the cockpit is pretty good, although the clear windbreak and associated frame between the front and rear cockpits is a notable omission. The landing gear and new smaller nose shock cone/radome are provided in metal as before. As the –UM has no internal gun, the ground crew sprue and associated resin ammo loading parts are not included. However, the pilot figure remains in the kit. Only one armament sprue remains in the kit, which provides parts for a centerline 490-liter tank and a single R-3S IR missile under each wing.

The decals are spread over two sheets, with most of the markings being used for a very colorful MiG-21UM flown by the Czech Air Force at air shows (click thumbnail to the left to view the larger image).

Unfortunately, the included decal sheet contains some errors for this aircraft. No markings are provided for the painted-on nostrils on the lower sides of the nose in front of the nose gear well, although these are shown on the box art. Also, the large tongue on the belly is orange on the sheet, when it really should be red. On the real aircraft, the upper surfaces of the wings and stabs are painted to resemble wooden surfaces. The kit has you paint these surfaces in a base orange (!) color and then overlay decals that consist of black stripes on a clear background to represent the grain of the wood. The black striping appears somewhat overdone, but a more serious problem is that there is no representation of the prominent red-brown “stain” which outline the panel lines on the wing and stab.

For the brick decals on the landing gear doors, some decals are given in full color, while others are provided as a white mortar grid what goes over parts that you paint red. This presents a color-matching problem and, in any case, the “red” on the color brick decals is much too brown. Tiger Wings has released a sheet with these markings that may be worth looking into to see if it is any better than what you get in the kit.

Additional basic markings are provided for a standard camouflaged Czech –UM, and a Finnish aircraft (click thumbnail to right for larger image).

The Czech national insignia are incorrectly printed on the decal sheet as they are not properly handled. The insignia on one side of the aircraft should be a mirror image from that on the other side. On the wings, the white segment is always outboard with blue forward, while on the tail, the white segment is on top with blue forward again. This is correctly shown in the painting instruction, but the insignia on the decal sheet are all identical.

Unfortunately, Trumpeter also forgot to include the second upper surface camouflage color in the painting instructions for the Finnish aircraft, although the missing color is listed in the color callout at the bottom of the page. You’ll have to consult your references to complete the camouflage pattern.

Overall, a nice kit of a “Sparka”, although I’d recommend not using the kit Stress Team decals if you are concerned about accuracy.

Recommended.

Sample kit courtesy of my wallet.

Dave Williams

IPMS/USA 19050

Review Copyright © 2001 by Dave Williams
Page Created 21 July, 2001
Last updated 22 July, 2003

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