Just when I was about to start 1/48 Fulcrum B Mig-29UB, I came across the Academy Mig 29AS from the Slovak Air Force. Neat! I always wanted to have one of those digital camouflage schemes but never had the guts to paint it myself. So with this model from Academy I’ve got the best of both worlds, a subject I didn’t have in my collection with a camouflage scheme that would take years for me to either try or achieve. So this is a single-seater version of Academy’s Mig 29UB I have in my stash. Starting the build by the cockpit, you will immediately notice the lack of detail. A plain and simple seat.
Academy Mig 29-AS ‘Slovak Air Force’
The rest of the cabin has more sorrow than details with poorly represented dials and knobs. It is evident that not having a counterpart on this scale, there is no need to go back and revise the old tooling. So, I’m not saying this is a bad kit, but there is certainly room for improvement instead of making us OOB builders have to shed another $30+ in aftermarket resin and photo-etched parts to glorify a little that cockpit.
Overall, the Academy Mig 29 builds into a nice representation of this aircraft. Worth mentioning is the fact that Academy also has other 1/48 models of Russian subjects neglected by other model makers like the Su-27 FLANKER B and the Su-27UB FLANKER C.
The FOD Covers came from Quickboost.net. For some reason, the nozzle covers although for 1/48, did not fit on the nozzles at all. I did contact Quickboost with the provided pictures in hand and 2 weeks later I have yet to hear from them. So as affordable as their products are, for the moment I wasted $11 (good for other modeling goodies).
So, how big is the Mig 29? I was expecting a larger aircraft. Not having seen one in person, here is a comparison picture against the 1/48th scale Artic Agressor F-16 Viper.
Painting and Decals the Mig 29
According to Academy a Special Edition with a limited run, how many of these kits will be made? I honestly don’t know. Painting is very straightforward. You need a base color of Light Ghost Gray 36320 as per the kit instructions. Also, Dark Gull Gray 36231 for the cockpit and Gunship Gray for the 36118 for the radome. All of them were Acryl from Model Master. Coated with Acryl Clear Gloss, I started the detailing session.
The decals are printed by Cartograf, so Kudos to Academy for such an affordable kit yet featuring top-notch markings. I found the decals a little bit thin, good thing is that they fell in place so nice, that the decal solution was almost not needed to fit into rivets, panels, and other crevices. However, Walthers Solvaset was used to fuse the decals to the surface.
The decals worked like a charm, but be careful, being so thin, it is not easy to work with large sections and you might end messing them up. In order to have more control, I decided to cut the larger decals along with the solid colors of the pattern.
It will help you a lot and the whole process will be less stressful. Once dry, another coal of Acryl gloss followed for a sludge wash. Once this was finished, the entire model was sealed with Acryl Clear Flast.
It was a simple build, the instructions are very self-explanatory. The fact of having a plain cockpit and ejection seat is no reason to pass on this model. There are plenty of aftermarket products to dress this Mig-29 and take it to the next well-deserved level.
Highly Recommended! Get this edition while you can.
Just finished this, I wish i would have read your review first, as I did have some trouble with a few of the larger decals. But on the whole the model was simple, and outside of the cockpit, I thought the detail was really nice. This think looks just like the real deal.
This is one beautiful Mig 29. I came across your site looking for some reviews of this model. I love what you have done with it. I’ll be ordering one soon. Thanks a lot for posting these pictures.