Afterburner Decals 1/48 MiG-21 Fabulous Fishbeds Part 2 Decal First Look
By Michael Benolkin
| Date of Review | August 2012 | Manufacturer | Afterburner Decals |
|---|---|---|---|
| Subject | MiG-21 Fabulous Fishbeds Part 2 | Scale | 1/48 |
| Set Number | 48084 | Pros | 29 aircraft options from 14 different air forces |
| Cons | See text | Skill Level | Novice |
| MSRP (USD) | Out of Production |
First Look
Afterburner Decals is back with another interesting assortment of markings for the late-model MiG-21 Fishbeds. This set is the second 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 second assortment include:
- MiG-21bis, Bort 1087, Ethiopian AF, mid-1980s
- MiG-21bis, Bort 1042, Ethiopian AF, late 1970s
- MiG-21R, Bort 1464, Ethiopian AF, late 1970s
- MiG-21bis, MG-130, Finnish AF, 1987
- MiG-21bis, Bort 899, EGAF, 1986
- MiG-21bis, MG-128, Finnish AF, 1998
- MiG-21bis, Bort 570, EGAF, 1976
- MiG-21bis, Bort 493, EGAF, 1984
- MiG-21bis, C2728, Indian AF, early 1990s
- MiG-21bis, C2133, Indian AF, early 1990s
- MiG-21M, C1531, Indian AF, early 1990s
- MiG-21M, C1503, Indian AF, early 1980s
- MiG-21MF, Bort 1184, Iraqi AF, early 1980s
- MiG-21MF, Bort 1019, Iraqi AF, early 1980s
- MiG-21bis, Bort 4086, Iraqi AF, Iran-Iraq War
- MiG-21MF, Bort 2349, Syrian AF, 1982
- MiG-21bis, Bort 704, Libyan AF, 2007
- MiG-21bis, Bort 804, Libyan AF, 2011
- MiG-21MF, 22+59, Luftwaffe, 1990
- MiG-21MF, Bort 51, Nigerian AF, 1977
- MiG-21MF, Bort 652, North Korean AF, 1985
- MiG-21bis, 17163, Serbian AF, 2006
- MiG-21MF, Bort 226, Somali AF, late 1970s
- MiG-21bis, Bort 2230, Yemeni AF, 2005
- MiG-21bis, Bort 9818, Ugandan AF, 2007
- MiG-21MF, Bort U-906, Ugandan AF, 1976
- MiG-21S, Bort 16, Soviet AF, 1968
- MiG-21bis, Bort 12, Soviet AF, 1988
- MiG-21bis, Bort 20, Soviet AF, 1986
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:
- As with part one, 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 little paint information is provided. A few have close FS 595 numbers provided, but most are generic 'light blue' (for example).
My sincere thanks to Afterburner Decals for this review sample!