Eduard 1/48 Stribrne Sipy (Silver Arrows) Kit First Look

By Michael Benolkin

First Look

Last month, we took a look at a special edition kit from Eduard entitled ' Prvni doma' which was actually a special edition book with two kits included. Eduard has followed that with this new special edition entitled 'Stribrne Sipy' (Silver Arrows) and like Prvni doma, this is a book with a kit included. The book is 88 pages and features some very nice period color and black & while images showing the so-called 'generation two' MiG-21 in Czech Air Force service. Like Prvni doma, this title is published only in Czech, but the wealth of photos and associated color profiles will be of great interest to the Warsaw Pact aviation modeler and historian.

The kit that accompanies this title is a bit of a mystery to me. Included in the box are three fuselage sprues, three wing sprues, three vertical stabilizer/dorsal spine sprues, and one one set of 'core parts' (cockpit, landing gear, nose cone/radome, etc.). The instructions (36 pages) show how to assemble your choice of MiG-21PF, MiG-21PFM, or MiG-21R. With all of the airframe parts in this box, just a few more 'core sprues' would have rendered three models instead of one. One set of color-printed photo-etch is included which is for the MiG-21PF option.

To recap, the MiG-21PF (Fishbed D) was the first so-called 'generation two' MiG-21 which featured an airborne intercept radar and deleted the gun(s) from the 'generation one' day fighters. The aircraft retained the forward hinged canopy of the 'generation one' as well as two wing stations and a centerline station. The MiG-21PFM (Fishbed F) replaced the forward-hinged canopy with a fixed windscreen and side-opening canopy. The early MiG-21PFMs retained the Fowler flaps of the earlier MiG-21s but these were replaced with engine-blown boundary layer flaps during the production run which is sometimes noted as MiG-21PFM(SPS) (also Fishbed F). The MiG-21R (Fishbed H) is the reconnaissance version that started with the MiG-21PFM(SPS) airframe, added a strengthened centerline station for reconnaissance pods and two outboard wing stations for external fuel or weapons stores.

Oh yes, there's another book in this box - it is a 36 page reference containing 32 color profiles for the three decal sheets included with this release. Among the subjects covered here:

• MiG-21PF, Bort 0301 , 1. slp, České Budějovice, 1971
• MiG-21PF, Bort 1215, 1. slp, 2. letka, České Budějovice, 1968-69
• MiG-21PF, Bort 1215, 8. slp, 3. letka, Brno, 1989
• MiG-21PF, Bort 1214, 1. slp, 2. letka, České Budějovice,1969-70
• MiG-21PF, Bort 1214, 1. slp, 2. letka, České Budějovice, 1969-70
• MiG-21PF, Bort 1214, 1. slp, 2. letka, Všechov u Tábora, 1971
• MiG-21PF, Bort 0302, 9. slp, 2. letka, Bechyně, 1986
• MiG-21PF, Bort 0302, 9. slp, 2. letka, Bechyně, 1986
• MiG-21PF, Bort 1303, 11. slp, 3. letka, Žatec, 1968
• MiG-21PF, Bort 1304, 8. slp, 2. letka, Brno, 1989
• MiG-21PF, Bort 1311, 8. slp, 2. letka, Brno, 1988
• MiG-21PFM, Bort 5408, 1. slp, 3. letka, České Budějovice, 1968-69
• MiG-21PFM, Bort 4608, 1. slp, 3. letka, České Budějovice, 1969-70
• MiG-21PFM, Bort 7207, 11. slp, 3.letka, Žatec, 1987 - 1991
• MiG-21PFM, Bort 4404, 1. slp, 3. letka, České Budějovice, 1969-70
• MiG-21PFM, Bort 4404, 1. slp, 3. letka, Všechov u Tábora, 1971
• MiG-21PFM, Bort 4410, 11. slp, 3. letka, Žatec, 1990
• MiG-21PFM, Bort 4411, 11. slp, 2. letka, Žatec, 1987-91
• MiG-21PFM, Bort 5406, 8. slp, 1. letka, Brno, 1987
• MiG-21PFM, Bort 8001, 9. slp, 3. letka, Bechyně, 1968
• MiG-21R, Bort 1501, 47. pzlp, 1. letka, Pardubice, 1969-75
• MiG-21R, Bort 1501, 47. pzlp, 1. letka, Pardubice, 1976
• MiG-21R, Bort 1501, Letecký zkušební odbor, Čáslav, 1994
• MiG-21R, Bort 1502, 3. sbolp, 2. letka, Malacky, 1993
• MiG-21R, Bort 1625, 28. sbolp, 3. letka, Čáslav, 1994
• MiG-21R, Bort 1701, 28. sbolp, 3. letka, Čáslav, 1993
• MiG-21R, Bort 1701, 28. sbolp, 3. letka, Čáslav, 1993
• MiG-21R, Bort 1921, 47. pzlp, 1. letka, Pardubice, 1969-75
• MiG-21R, Bort 1922, 47. pzlp, 1. letka, Pardubice, 1969-72
• MiG-21R, Bort 1922, 47. pzlp, 2. letka, Hradec Králové, 1992
• MiG-21R, Bort 2066, 28. sbolp, 3. letka, Čáslav, 1994
• MiG-21R, Bort 1922, 3. sbolp, 2. letka, Malacky, 1994

This is another interesting release which provides a rare look into the MiG-21s and crews of the Czech Air Force during the Cold War. Grab a piece of history!

My sincere thanks to Eduard for this review sample!