KittyHawk MiG-25 PD/PDS Foxbat 1/48 - "Red 31"

[BlackMamba]

This is my first kit as a "grown up", and my first step back into the hobby after about 15 years. I've had quite a few kits during my childhood, but the only thing that mattered at that point was to assemble them as quick as possible... :rolleyes: This is the KittyHawk MiG-25 PD/PDS, slightly modified to represent Belenko's "Red 31" Foxbat A (MiG-25P) from his defection to Japan in 1976. The kit itself had more than just a few flaws and errors. I also added a few mods of my own, such as the hydraulics on the landing gear and the home made "FOD cover" in order to hide KittyHawk's faulty attempt at a closed intake ramp. There are of course a few things that I could have done different. All in all, I'm reasonably satisfied, as this was a tremendous increase in building experience for me.

 

[tr1ckey66]

Good job Marius. That is a great result and a model to be really proud of, even more so considering this is your first kit back to the hobby in some years!
I love the subject (I was considering this kit for an iraqi Mig 25 a while back, although i do understand the kit does have some accuracy issues).

I'm looking forward to seeing more of your work Marius if this Foxbat is a taste of things to come.

Cheers
Paul

 

[Gern]

Beautiful.

 

[BlackMamba]

Thank you very much, guys I've always been fascinated by the Foxbat (and Foxhound for that matter), but I was completely caught off-guard with the fitment issues in this kit, some of them requiring "spacers" of plastic cut from an ice cream box... Luckily, I picked up a few tips in this excellent build thread: https://www.scalespot.com/onthebench/mig25/build.htm
I also came across a thread describing the main differences between the various Foxbat models.
I currently have a 1/48 Trumpeter Su-11 Fishpot on the bench, and I'm going to get the AMK MiG-31 B/BS 1/48 kit in the not-too-distant future :D Cheers!

 

[Polux]

Nice work!!!

 

[eddiesolo]

Lovely work, think it looks superb mate.

 

[yak face]

Superb looking foxbat marius ! A quality build of a tricky kit so ive heard . Looking forward to seeing the su11 , cheers tony

 

[BlackMamba]

Superb looking foxbat marius ! A quality build of a tricky kit so ive heard . Looking forward to seeing the su11 , cheers tony

Thanks! Yes, it was a bit tricky with those warped fuselage halves and a few special surprises here and there from Kittyhawk :rolleyes: Nevertheless, it is an impressive model with its large size and "cold war appearance", and should definitely appeal to all russian aircraft fans. This is, as far as I know, the best kit of the MiG-25 in any scale - at least until AMK decide to release their version... (unless it's already released?)
Cheers :D

 

[Gern]

ICM do a version of the MiG-25RBT which is supposed to be pretty good (I hope so 'cos I got one in the stash!)

 

[BlackMamba]

ICM do a version of the MiG-25RBT which is supposed to be pretty good (I hope so 'cos I got one in the stash!)

Please give me a feedback of your first impression once you got hands on it?

 

[Gern]

Marius:

I've not opened mine completely, but first impressions while it is still in it's cellophane are good. I'm really impressed with the level of detail, and I've seen no evidence of flash or mould seams. I was also impressed with the price as I got mine for less than £40.

This guy does a full in-box review:

There's lots of comments and info about the kit here, although I can't find a detailed build review:

http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234994939-icm-148-mig-25rbt/&

The interesting news is that Revell are also producing a re-box of this kit. I'm guessing that will only involve new decals though. I can't see why they would want to change any of the plastic.

 

[BlackMamba]

Marius:

I've not opened mine completely, but first impressions while it is still in it's cellophane are good. I'm really impressed with the level of detail, and I've seen no evidence of flash or mould seams. I was also impressed with the price as I got mine for less than £40.

This guy does a full in-box review:

There's lots of comments and info about the kit here, although I can't find a detailed build review:

http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234994939-icm-148-mig-25rbt/&

The interesting news is that Revell are also producing a re-box of this kit. I'm guessing that will only involve new decals though. I can't see why they would want to change any of the plastic.

That looks like a promissing kit, indeed. Revell's old MiG-25 kit is supposed to be so-so from what I've read, so this might be their shot at getting back into the game and to conquer some turf simply by re-boxing the ICM kit.

Edit: I came across this thread: http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/235018437-148-icm-mig-25rbt-foxbat/
The kit does look really good. The first thing that struck me was how the shape of the radome/nose section differs from the "Kittyhawk-bat", it looks sharper/pointier, even slightly better in my opinion. Judging by the looks of it, the nose landing gear should have been a tad longer to give the correct "nose up attitude" from the real aircraft, just as with the Kittyhawk-bat. I addressed this problem simply by lenghtening it with a piece of sprue (approx 5mm).

 

[flyjoe180]

Great looking MiG Marius

 

[THANT Z W]

Its very beautiful.