Mark I 1/144 MiG-17PF/PFU
By Matt Bittner
Since I really don't think the MiG-17 needs introduction I'm going to jump into looking at the kit.
The Mark I 1/144 MiG-17PF/PFU consists of 32 pieces of grey, injected plastic, one injected, clear canopy and a resin cockpit. Decals are for four aircraft:
- MiG-17PFU Fresco E, Army Air Forces of the USSR, unknown air base, Soviet Central Asia, late 1950s
- S-104 (MiG-17PF) Fresco D, 1st Sq, 1st Fighter Regiment, Czechoslovak Air Force Ceske Budejovice Air Base, 1956
- MiG-17PF Fresco D, 50th Fighter Regiment, Hungarian Air Force, Taszar Air Bae, late 1950s
- MiG-17PF Fresco D, Air Defence Air Regiment, United Arab Republic (Egypt) Air Force, unknown air base, the Six Day War, June 1967
Decals are really nicely printed and appear to be in register.
Since the cockpit is one-piece, including a molded in-situ ejection seat, all that needs to be accomplished is painting it and adding some sort of seat belts if desired (note that Brengun has released a photoetch set for the kit which includes a complete replacement for the kit's resin cockpit tub). There are two important items to mention. First, the original Attack kit came with a closed-off cockpit so you'll need to open that up. The second item is that Mark I shows weight needs to be added to the nose but doesn't mention how much. After adding the cockpit, weight and exhaust can to one fuselage half then both halves can be glued together and construction commences.
To the assembled fuselage halves you add the wings, horizontal tail surfaces and nose (and pay close attention to the one being used because Mark I provides both the PF/PFU nose and "other versions" nose on the same spue). If you decide to close the canopy then you might want to add it now to be sure any gaps are dealt with and to help with painting. (Also be aware Brengun has released a vacuum-formed canopy for the kit as well.) Finally before painting you'll want to add the guns to the underside of the nose.
Once painting the entire airframe is finished then construction concludes with adding all landing gear, landing gear doors and external fuel tanks, if used. Also included in this release are four missiles so if you decide to use those they are added at the end as well.
Conclusion
This is a great kit of the MiG-17PF/PFU and with a little work will result in a great looking model. Add the Brengun accessories and a truly stunning model can be made.
My thanks to Kits-Shop for sending this kit.
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