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Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-17 Colours & Markings

By Chris Banyai-Riepl

Author: Michal Ovcacik & Karel Susa
Publisher: Mark I Ltd
ISBN: 978-80-86637-16-7
Binding: Softcover
Pages: 28

The MiG-17 was a follow-on design from the highly successful MiG-15, and like its earlier brother the 17 went on to become quite favorable with its pilots around the world. This widespread success means that there is no shortage of markings for the type, and this latest title in the Mark I Dozen Set provides several interesting examples.

The Dozen Set concept is to provide detailed information about twelve aircraft, and document them through photographs and a detailed four-view drawing. Complementing these are the decal sheets, which provide decals for all twelve subjects. For this book, there are two releases: one with 1/72 scale decals and one with 1/48 scale decals. The contents are identical, and the only difference is the decal sheet, so make sure you get the right set.

This book contains three Soviet and two Czechoslovak MiG-17s, and one each from Poland, East Germany, Bulgaria, Egypt, North Vietnam, China, and the United States. All except for the Polish and US examples are overall natural metal. For the Soviet examples, these include one MiG-17F, Red 41, and two MiG-17PFs, Blue 34 and Red 21. The Czech examples cover one each of the MiG-17F (EP-01) and MiG-17PF (Black 1015). The Polish example is a Lim-6R, an improved MiG-17F, and is coded Red 522 while finished in dark green, middle green and dark  brown over light blue.

The East German example is Red 477, a Lim-5P, the Polish equivalent of the MiG-17PF, while the Bulgarian example, Red 15, is a Soviet-built MiG-17PF. Egypt has a MiG-17F, coded Black 8047, and the North Vietnamese MiG-17 is coded Red 2014. China did their own production of the MiG-17, and this example is their home-grown MiG-17PF equivalent, the Chengdu J-5A, coded Red 51623. Finally, the US example is an ex-Syrian Lim-5, the Polish-built MiG-17F, coded White 002. This plane is camouflaged in sand and medium green over pale blue.

This is a great book with some diverse MiG-17s presented, and it would be rather fun to build the whole dozen. The decals are very nicely printed, with good color registration and density. They should have no problems in application. My thanks to 4+ Publications for the review copy.