The Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15 (Russian: Микоян и Гуревич МиГ-15) was a jet fighter developed for the USSR by Artem Mikoyan and Mikhail Gurevich. The MiG-15 was one of the first successful swept-wing jet fighters, and it achieved fame in the skies over Korea, where early in the war, it outclassed all straight-winged enemy fighters in daylight. The MiG-15 also served as the starting point for the development of the more advanced MiG-17 which was still an effective threat to supersonic American fighters over North Vietnam in the 1960s.
The MiG-15 is believed to have been the most widely produced jet aircraft ever made, with over 12,000 built. Licensed foreign production perhaps raised the total to over 18,000. The MiG-15 is often mentioned along with the North American F-86 Sabre in lists of the best fighter aircraft of the Korean War and in comparison with fighters of other eras.
Trumpeter 1/48 Mig 15 bis Fagot
This is the 1/48 scale Mig 15 bis Fagot from Trumpeter Models. Wandering around my stash and begging me to put it together and side to side its old nemesis, the F-86F Sabre. This model kit has a fair amount of details to make an acceptable build out-of-the-box for those with a chronic AMS.
As seen, here, it was the kit was built OOB. The engine is included which could be displayed separately although you will have to build its own stand. The Cockpit is simple yet not that plain. Although I would have preferred raised details on the instrument panel, I didn’t have any problems with the clear sheet of dials.
Trumpeter’s Mig 15 bis Fagot model, in general, has a very good fit, however, my wishful thinking is that the fuselage should be a one piece deal. Academy’s 1/48th scale F-86F Sabre is molded in one piece. Should the modeler decide to show its engine, all we need is a fresh #11 x-acto blade and cut the fuselage on the pre-marked line.
Since I opened the model kit, I knew I wanted a whole plane to display with its engine on the side. In my honest and personal opinion, having the fuselage already opened makes it a 4 parts deal instead of 2. This also adds a critical seam on the model which can result in a mismatch of panel lines and other details.
The VK-1 Russian Jet Engine
The model features a nice engine which is a good base for further detailing. I wanted a nice VK-1 Russian Engine to be displayed by the model. At 1/48 scale and little to no scratch building skills, this is my humble representation of the VK-1 engine. The stand was scratch built with I beam styrene from Evergreen (#275) and painted with Utility Orange from PollyS paint.
This is a nice model kit but for some reason is getting harder to get at local hobby shops and online. This was acquired at Scale Hobbyist about 3 months before the date of publication of this article.
This might sound a bit ambiguous, the Mig 15 along with the F-86F Sabre is among my favorite subjects from the Cold War Era. I will definitely build another version. But I’d like to try another manufacturer. My next locally available option is Tamiya’s Clear Edition.
I’m just a bit reluctant to pay a premium for the clear parts I won’t be using. Speaking of versions, this Mig 15 bis Fagot is a fictitious scheme base on a ducted fan R/C model. However, Red Bull has a similar red Mig 15 Fagot for their shows. Colors used Tamiya XF-7 Flat Red and Alclad 2 Airframe Aluminum airbrushed with the trusty Aztek A470 Airbrush System.. Sludge wash with Lamp Black Artist Oil.
