Zvezda Mig-29SMT - quite a fight with this one!

[Faust]

A challenge is one thing, but sometimes you just run into something that’s just difficult for no reason, and it seems as if the designers can be heard sitting in their conference room snickering “Hah! Let them figure THIS out!”

Sadly, the Zvezda Mig-29 SMT is one such kit. Don’t get me wrong; it’s a nice enough looking kit, and all the weapons and features it has still make it cool. However, there are some design choices that break the “questionable” boundary and spin off into the void of unnecessary complexity. A perfect example of this latter kind of design are the intakes on Zvezda’s lumpy Fulcrum.

I know a lot of people were eager to see this one built, so I thought I’d best warn everyone that this is one Fulcrum that might push YOU past the tipping point! Check out my build report below, and don’t say I didn’t warn you about this one!

https://adamrehorn.wordpress.com/2019/12/04/mig-29smt-update-more-work-than-it-ought-to-be/

[Mike999]

Good write-up on what sounds like a tough project. Fortunately I don't have any interest in tackling that one.

While on your site, I stumbled across the article on the 1/43 scale Lada Niva.  That brought back memories. When I lived in Egypt from 2005-09, those were a common sight.  The Niva was very popular as a military staff car. They were painted a light tan, though I don't know if they were an official govt. contract or if Egypt just bought a bunch of them from Russia.  As always, Rank Has Its Privileges. One General was chauffeured around in an '80s Jeep Cherokee.  It was black, always spotless, and had curtains in the rear doors.

Four-door Lada sedans were still very popular as Egyptian taxicabs back then.  I lived in Alexandria, right on the sea, so most of the poor Ladas were rusting and falling apart as you looked at them.  Most were equipped with a huge, cast-iron taxi meter under the dashboard.  The meters had Cyrillic writing on them, but none of them had worked since approximately the Brezhnev years.  

[Faust]

Hey Mike!

I love that Mig, and even I've been tempted to give up on it at times. However, I'll get there! 

I guess Nivas would make good staff cars. They're rugged and go just about anywhere. They are, however, ridiculously tiny! I guess armour isn't a big deal on a staff car, because I don't think they had the power do deal with any weight increases! 

It seems that those Ladas fall apart everywhere the temperature is high enough for iron oxide to form. I had two in my townhouse complex growing up... but not for long!

[El Roberto]

I built (sort of) a Zvezda SU 27.  Possible one of the worst aircraft kits I ever built.  It only vaguely looked like a Su 27 and the fit and finish of the parts was garbage.  However, I also built a Zvezda Yak 3 which was a great kit, tons of detail, good fit, good engineering.  I think the quality of their kits depends on when they were manufactured.  The newer stuff is nice.  

[bisc63]

Robert, you unfortunately got one of Zvezda's worst kits of an SU 27; I have the same monstrosity in my collection, and a bit of digging on the web taught me that it is nothing but a reboxing of the old Nakotne kit, which was always known for ill proportions and generally poor fit, etc. It's confusing, though, because Zvezda also makes some beautiful Flanker kits. You really have to do your homework with those guys!

[Faust]

I've noticed a wide variety of quality on the Zvezdas myself. 

One kit I put aside as unbuildable is their 747. I got the "Iron Maiden Ed Force One" version as a Revell Germany... Utter, total, unmitigated, savage BLAH_BLAH_BLAH_BLAH. And, in 1/144, a 747 is a big poop to polish! 

Note: I messed that up! I got confused and thought the 747 was an old Zvezda. My apologies to all, Zvezda most of all. I found some shots of the Zvezda, and it is LIGHT YEARS better than the Revell.  That's a shameful skeleton in Revell's closet, then. Bad, bad kit. 

My brother has the 1/144 787 and it's pretty nice. Not perfect, but not the unbuildable steamy heap that is the 747.

I like their middling kits, at least the looks of them; the T-50 (PAK-FA) and Su-39 look nice, but not fidgety. I have an Su-33 that looks more like the Mig-29 in that it looks nice, but a quick review shows they did the same thing with the intakes... this time I'll be ready, though!

Edited December 18, 2019 by Faust
I was misinformed on the origin of the "Ed Force One" kit, so I corrected that.

[peteski]

15 hours ago, Faust said:

I've noticed a wide variety of quality on the Zvezdas myself. 

One kit I put aside as unbuildable is their 747. I got the "Iron Maiden Ed Force One" version as a Revell Germany... Utter, total, unmitigated, savage BLAH_BLAH_BLAH_BLAH. And, in 1/144, a 747 is a big poop to polish!

That Revell kit is a repackaged Zvezda kit?  I thought it was a Revell original.

[Faust]

On 12/17/2019 at 1:21 AM, peteski said:

That Revell kit is a repackaged Zvezda kit?  I thought it was a Revell original.

Oh, well, let me check...

You're right! I do apologize, profusely in this case, to Zvezda. I thought it was a repack of their kit. So many Revell Germanys are, it seems. 

No, this is definitely a Revell. 

Wow... that's sad for Revell. That thing is garbage. I don't know how old the original moulds are, but the kit looks like it's 30 years old. You want to talk about flash?!

My apologies to everyone. I got the idea somewhere, but I didn't follow it up enough. I'm going to edit the original post too, with a note. 

Good catch, man!

Edited December 18, 2019 by Faust

[peteski]

7 hours ago, Faust said:

Oh, well, let me check...

You're right! I do apologize, profusely in this case, to Zvezda. I thought it was a repack of their kit. So many Revell Germanys are, it seems. 

No, this is definitely a Revell. 

Wow... that's sad for Revell. That thing is garbage. I don't know how old the original moulds are, but the kit looks like it's 30 years old. You want to talk about flash?!

My apologies to everyone. I got the idea somewhere, but I didn't follow it up enough. I'm going to edit the original post too, with a note. 

Good catch, man!

Thanks for checking again and for the correction.

I was surprised because I have couple of Zvezda airliners kits and while I have not built them yet, just from examining the parts they look like high quality kits, with fine details and engraving (do I dare to say "almost Tamiya quality").  I might change my mind if the fit is poor, but I don't think that will be the case. I suppose I could look for online build reviews for them to see what others (who actually built them) think.

[Faust]

I have the Zvezda Il-86, and it looks nice too. I'm not an airliner builder; they take up too much space for me, and they're just "targets" (i.e. they're unarmed), but the Il-86 is just SOOOOO beautiful. I know it's a crappy plane, but darn it's hot looking. That kit looks nice too. The engine detail on my brother's 787 was excellent.