Afterburner Decals 1/48 MiG-21 Fabulous Fishbeds Part 1 Decal First Look
By Michael Benolkin
| Date of Review | August 2012 | Manufacturer | Afterburner Decals |
|---|---|---|---|
| Subject | MiG-21 Fabulous Fishbeds Part 1 | Scale | 1/48 |
| Set Number | 48083 | Pros | 29 aircraft options from 11 different air forces |
| Cons | See text | Skill Level | Novice |
| MSRP (USD) | Out of Production |
First Look
Afterburner Decals is back with an interesting assortment of markings for the late-model MiG-21 Fishbeds. This set is the first of two assortments that provide a WIDE range of marking options for your choice of MiGs from Eduard, Academy, or OEZ. The coverage is primarily for the Generation Three MiG-21s (MiG-21M/MF Fishbed J and MiG-21bis Fishbed L/N) as well as one Generation 2 example, the reconnaissance MiG-21R Fishbed H (for which there is no kit available in this scale at this time.
The subjects included in this first assortment include:
- MiG-21bis, Bort 923, Afghan AF, early 1990s
- MiG-21bis, Bort 951, Afghan AF, late 1980s
- MiG-21bis, Bort C314, Angola AF, mid-1990s
- MiG-21bis, Bort C331, Angola AF, mid-1980s
- MiG-21bis, Bort 182, Algerian AF, 1978
- MiG-21MF, Bort 177, Algerian AF, 1973
- MiG-21MF, Bort C40, Angola AF, 1976
- MiG-21bis, Bort 243, Bulgarian AF, 2003
- MiG-21MF/J-7-III, Bort 30065, PLAAF, 1998
- MiG-21MF/J-7-III, Bort 30168, PLAAF, 1997
- MiG-21bis, Bort 117, Croatian AF, 2007
- MiG-21bis, Croatian AF, 1993
- MiG-21bis, Bort 125, Croatian AF, 1996
- MiG-21bis, Bort 7107, Cambodian AF, 1980s
- MiG-21bis, Bort 610, FAR, 1970s
- MiG-21bis, Bort 658, FAR, 2011
- MiG-21bis, Bort 665, FAR, late 1990s
- MiG-21bis, Bort 672, FAR, 1992
- MiG-21MF, Bort 517, FAR, 1973
- MiG-21MF, Bort 9805, Czech AF, 1995
- MiG-21MF, Bort 7702, Czech AF, 1980
- MiG-21MF, Bort 8208, Czech AF, 1984
- MiG-21R, Bort 1922, Czech AF, 1983
- MiG-21SM, Bort 37, Soviet AF, 1980
- MiG-21bis, Bort 24, Soviet AF, 1985
- MiG-21bis, Bort 35, Soviet AF, 1983
- MiG-21MF, Bort 8205, Egyptian AF, 1973
- MiG-21MF, Bort 8410, Egyptian AF, 1970
- MiG-21MF, Bort 8370, Egyptian AF, 2007
Take a close look at the decal sheet. The sheet is printed by Cartograf and the printing is very well done. What's more, none of these decals require the modeler to stack multiple layers of markings atop one another to recreate artwork. This trend by some other decal companies of producing multiple-layer decals is unfortunate as it puts the burden on you to do the work of what should have been done by the decal maker.
The only nits I have with this set are:
- The two side profiles for the bare metal MiG-21bis and MiG-21MF are labeled backwards - the one labeled bis is an MF and vice versa. In fact, the MiG-21bis profile (labeled MF) is a MiG-21bis Fishbed N with the RSBN antennas fore and aft versus the MiG-21bis Fishbed L that does not have these antennas.
- The unfortunate misuse of the Cyrillic alphabet that will give any of us that can read Russian a headache and may offend native Russian modelers.
- The color profiles which are nicely done provide color keys but no paint information as to what the closest paint colors or paint mix you'll need to replicate these schemes. In the profile example above, there are two different colors that are both labeled as Sand.
My sincere thanks to Afterburner Decals for this review sample!