| MiG-29 Fulcrum | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Site Content HomeUS Navy & Marine Aircraft
US Air Force Aircraft
Foreign Aircraft & Others
Credits & Bibliography
|
About the models: The Revell-Monogram MiG-29 was not the best kit I've ever built. For starters, the vertical tails should not be canted outwards, but straight up and down. Next, the MiG's weapons are normally loaded on three (not two) underwing pylons, with one weapon per pylon. Although this kit was fairly accurate otherwise, I was not happy with it because of those flaws. However, it does build very easily, and as with all Revell-Monogram kits, has an excellent instruction sheet and good decals. The smaller MiG is an Airfix kit. In general, Airfix kits are very inexpensive, and you get what you pay for: a cheaply done, lousy kit. This MiG does had some more serious engineering defects, and requires putty work, but just happens to be the most accurate MiG-29 model on the market. No other company makes a more dimensionally accurate MiG-29 than AirFix. Still, it's a box of pain. The horizontal and vertical tails are assembled together in units (one port, one starboard), and barely fit . The wings also did not attach very well to the fuselage. The landing gear is a tad flimsy and difficult to work with. However, the weapons are pretty good. I'd recommend this kit if your looking for a good MiG-29, but only if you have a fair amount of building experience. About the MiG-29 Fulcrum: Entering Soviet service in 1982, the MiG-29 Fulcrum is rivaled only by the Sukhoi Su-27 Flanker. Roughly (very roughly) equivalent in size, shape, and maneuverability to the F/A-18 Hornet, the Fulcrum has some capabilities that make it much deadlier in the air combat role than the Hornet. It was originally assumed that the look-down/shoot-down radar system on the MiG-29 was a crude imitation of the Hornet's radar, but it was soon learned that the MiG-29's radar was equivalent, if not superior, to that of the Hornet. The Fulcrum has an IRST (infrared search and track) system, which allows it to intercept and shoot down enemy planes without activating its radar. The MiG-29 can carry a wide variety of air-to-air missiles in addition to the 30 mm cannon in its left wing root. The standard load would comprise AA-10 "Alamo" medium-range active radar-guided missiles and the Sidewinder-like AA-11 "Archer," although the Archer is somewhat superior to the AIM-9. Other weapons include the AA-8 "Aphid," and AA-9 "Acrid." There has also been a naval version of the Fulcrum, the MiG-29K, for use aboard Russia's Admiral Kuznetsov-class aircraft carrier. Since the collapse of the Soviet Union, there has been almost nothing new to learn about this impressive Russian design. In fact, the US Navy Blue Angels flew their F/A-18s to Russia in the mid-90s and gave the Russians a chance to fly them, in return for the opportunity to fly the MiG-29 and Su-27. Although the USSR no longer exists, Fulcrums, Flankers, and Su-25 "Frogfoot" attack planes remain on the front line of the Russian Air Force.
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Copyright ©2003 David Jong [Jong Productions, Ltd.], All Rights Reserved. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
Updated: December 8, 2003. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
