Attack Hobby

1/144 MiG-15

Kit Number 14404

Reviewed By Jack Kennedy, #12511

Now we are talking really small.  This little gem is only about 2 inches in length.  I have always loved the MiG 15 because of its simplicity and this kit fits that description to a tee.  Upon opening the box one finds a myriad of tiny parts molded in light gray plastic.

The wings and tailplane surfaces do not have tabs for alignment so one must be careful to line up everything straight.  I first assembled the fuselage.  There are plenty of scribed panel lines but I’m not sure that they would be seen in this scale.

I was a little disappointed to note that the cockpit was not opened up.  This might have been OK for models manufactured in the ‘50’s but it just doesn’t cut it in 2005.  Since this was supposed to be built “out of box” I didn’t cut out the cockpit.

On my next one, I will and also add details.

The fit on all the parts was very good considering the size of them.  The landing gear doors had to be cut into three pieces which was difficult because of the size and I almost cut the tip of my finger off in the process.  I wish that the instructions were a little clearer on the placement of the doors.  The landing gear struts and wheels were very nicely cast and would lend to washes and dry brushing.

One of the most difficult parts was the placement of the tiny guns on the nose of the aircraft.  They were so tiny that I had to take a few tries to get them in the right position to glue them.

Once all the parts were assembled I primed the kit with a light gray primer and then sprayed it with a matt aluminum.  After that dried, I ran a black wash into the panel lines and then applied the decals.  Actually the decals were some of the best that I have ever used.  The markings were for several countries including the USA.  They conformed very well with a minimum of setting solution.

The last item I added was the canopy which was scribed nicely and very easy to paint.  I hand painted the canopy frame since masking in that scale would have been impossible.

Overall I think this is a nice kit and worth the $10.00.  I believe that it is the only game in town as far as MiG 15’s in this scale.  Aside from the lack of cockpit detail I would recommend this kit.

I wish to thank Attack Models and John Noack for allowing me to build this kit for review.

Information, images, and all other items placed electronically on this site are the intellectual property of IPMS/USA ®.