1:48 MiG-21PF OVERTREES

An interceptor version with a large radar

While the later variants took a cannon into the fuselage, the PF went the opposite way. A bulkier radar fitted into the intake cone, the gun armament disappeared entirely and the machine relied on a pair of guided missiles. It was a thoroughbred interceptor built for a single task: to climb, to pick up the target and to launch. Experience from the fighting over Vietnam then showed why the cannon returned in the following versions.

A package without accessories

In the box the modeler finds injection-molded sprues and nothing more. That makes sense where one fully equipped box of the same type has already been at home, since the surplus decals and metal accessories usually stay unused while the plastic gets used up.

• Injection-molded parts of the MiG-21PF interceptor, 1:48 scale
• The package holds no accessory equipment and no decal sheet
• A choice for a second example of the same machine in a collection
• Supplied unassembled and unpainted, the build is up to the modeler
• The box holds no metal or masking accessories

Building a supersonic machine with a long fuselage has its pitfalls. Without weight in the nose the model will sit on its tail, so it pays to think in advance about where to hide the lead. The joints around the intake are delicate when it comes to filling, so it is sensible to try the parts dry and to glue in short sections.

A rewarding subject on this version is precisely the intake cone. It sits exactly in the middle of the nose, the eye goes to it first and every irregularity around it shows. It is therefore worth giving it more time than the whole rest of the fuselage put together.