Nederlandstalige lezers lezen het artikel hier....
MODEL: MiG-21F-13/S-106 "Vodochody Plant"
BRAND: Kovozávody Prostějov
SCALE: 1/72
KITNUMBER: KPM0502
Number of parts : circa 70
New Kit: Yes, new mould April/May 2025
PRICE: €25.95
THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE MiG-21
The MiG-21 jet fighter was a continuation of Soviet jet fighters, starting with the subsonic MiG-15 and MiG-17, and the supersonic MiG-19. A number of experimental Mach 2 Soviet designs were based on nose inlets with either recurved wings, like the Sukhoi Su-7, or tail deltas, of which the MiG-21 would be the most successful.
Development of what would become the MiG-21 began in the early 1950s when Mikoyan OKB completed a preliminary design study for a prototype named Ye-1 in 1954. This project was soon revised when it was found that the planned engine was underpowered. This project was very quickly reworked when it was determined that the planned engine was underpowered; the redesign led to the second prototype, the Ye-2. Both this and other early prototypes had wings. The first prototype with the delta wings of the production variants was the Ye-4. This aircraft made its first flight on 16 April. It made its first flight on 16 June 1955 and its first public appearance was at the Soviet Aviation Day at Tushino airfield in Moscow in July 1956.
Like many aircraft designed as interceptors, the MiG-21 had a short range. This was exacerbated by the poor placement of the internal fuel tanks in front of the centre of gravity, resulting in an endurance of only 45 minutes in a clean state. This could be countered somewhat by carrying fuel in external tanks.
The MiG-21 was widely exported and is still in use today. The aircraft's simple controls, engine, weapons and avionics were typical of Soviet-era military designs. Although the aircraft was technologically inferior to the more advanced fighters it often faced, its low production and maintenance costs made it a favourite with countries that bought military hardware from the Eastern Bloc.
The MiG-21 was built not only in Russia but also under licence in India and Czechoslovakia.
The Czechoslovakian version of the MiG-21 F13 was built at Aero Vodochody and was given the local designation S.106. A total of 194 of the S.106 were built which served only the Czechoslovakian.
Some of these aircraft were later modified to carry reconnaissance pods.
THE MODEL
The 1/72 kit of Kovozávody Prostějov, number KPM0502 is for a MiG-21F-13/S-106. This kit released in 2025 has Czechoslovak decals for three versions.
The kit is packed in an envelope box with the colour schemes on the back of the box. Personally, I don't like this kind of box. The kit has about 70 parts divided between two sprues of grey plastic and one sprue with the transparent parts. As with many kits from Eastern Europe, there are no part numbers on the sprues and you have to look in the manual to see which part goes where.
The larger parts have nice thin panel lines. The details in the cockpit and ejector seat are also nicely rendered. But you can choose to use an aftermarket seat. The intake is reasonably deep. The radar hood is reasonably shaped. The engine exhaust is nicely deep which is often not the case with other MiG kits. The air brake can be opened up. Also, the details in the wheel wells and also at the doors are neat.
The larger parts feature nice thin panel lines. The details in the cockpit and ejector seat are also nicely rendered. But you can choose to use an aftermarket seat. The intake is reasonably deep. The radar hood is reasonably shaped. The engine exhaust is nicely deep which is often not the case with other MiG kits. The air brake can be opened up. The details in the wheel wells and also at the doors are neat.
There are two different cockpit covers with the kit. But these are not quite the right shape. These are not convex enough.
The armament consists of two suspension points for the Atoll R-3S air-to-air missiles and the external fuel tank under the fuselage.
Armament consists of two suspension points for the Atoll R-3S air-to-air missiles and the external fuel tank under the fuselage.
Decals are present for three versions of Czechoslovak Air Force. These are of very good quality.
CONCLUSION
To build a nice Czechoslovak MiG-21, this kit is very suitable. It compares well with the Revell MiG-21F-13 although this kit has been out of production for a while.
Thanks to Erwin Stam (Aviation Megastore) for making this kit available to review.
Reviewer: Henk Hirs
published on IPMS.NL on May 27, 2025