I tidied up my workplace yesterday.
Monogram MiG-15 will be on my to-do list when I can use my airbrush again after recovering from my eye operation last week. Removal of a cataract was long overdue and the waiting period was such that I had to go to a private clinic. There are some instructional videos about the procedure on the Internet so you can go and see how it is done.
Getting back to the MiG-15… After building Monogram F-86 it was written in the sky that I had to build its nemesis.
The box art is 1980 vintage and not eye catching but will be helpful for positioning the decals if they are still usable of course.
We’ll see what happens when I get there in January 2021.
Here are the parts. The instructions will follow later.
As always I will be documenting this build and search for more information. This was found on Scalemates. It’s the instructions for the 2005 release of the same kit.
From the instructions sheet…
The MiG 15bis is one of the best known and most successful fighter planes of all time. It was built from German data by Artem Mikoyan and Mikhail Gurevich after the second world war. The special feature of this design was the all-swept wing with a 35° sweep angle that had proved to be the optimum shape for a jet in German wind tunnel tests. With the aid of these experiments – which were later used for the construction of the F-86 Sabre also – the design for the new fighter was produced in record time, but it was still missing an engine. As at this time the British government had released the Rolls-Royce Nene engine for export, the first prototype of the MiG 15 – then known as the I-310 – flew for the first time on 30th December 1947 with a Nene engine. Production of the MiG 15 began in 1949 – with a non-licensed Nene derivative, the RD-45 – and still in the same year the
first machines went into service with the Russian fighter units.
The new Russian fighter distinguished itself for its exceptional manoeuvrability and excellent flying and climbing capabilities. The machine was also very robust and easy to control. The Russian pilots quickly gave it the nickname “Soldier Aircraft”.
At the beginning of the Korean War on 25th June 1950, MiG 15s were also supplied to North Korea. With their 37 mm cannon they very soon presented the greatest danger to the American B-29 bombers. Losses of B-29s ultimately proved so high that the US Air Force was obliged to discontinue daylight attacks and carry out all their activities under cover of darkness. In Korea, on 8th November 1950, one of the most famous air battles between jets in aviation history took place over Sinuiju, in which American Lockheed F-80C Shooting Stars and North Korean MiG 15s took part. Over the years about 7,500 aircraft of the type MiG 15 were built, including an unknown number in Poland, the Czech Republic and China. Many other eastern bloc states and countries in the Near East were also supplied with these aircraft built under licence. In March 1953 East Germany also received Russian produced planes for their air force (presumably) – 102 MiG 15s still in their packing cases that were later used in JG-1 fighter squadron 1 “Fritz Schmenkel” in Holzdorf/Brandenburg and also with FAG 2 – fighter training squadron 2 – in Preschen/Brandenburg. One each of these machines can be built with the Revell model kit. In addition to purely military applications, aerobatic teams in many countries were also equipped with the MiG 15bis. Another aircraft that can be built is from the famous Kubinka team that flew in 1951 at the Tushino air show. Over the years, the MiG 15 flew in a whole series of wars including in the near and far east. Although they seem totally out-of-date today they are still in use in ever diminishing numbers in small countries. In particular the two-seat version, the MiG 15UTI, has demonstrated its longevity.
Technical data:
Wing span 10.07 m
Length 11.05 m
Height 3.39 m
Engine Klimov VK-1F
Output 2,695 kn
Max. take-off weight 6,444 kg
Weight empty 3,768 kg
Max. speed 1,074 km/h at sea level
Max. speed 1,055 km/h at 3,048 m
Range 901 km
Service ceiling 15,544 m
Armament 1 x NR-37 37 mm cannon
2 x NR-23 23 mm cannon
Crew 1 man
Maybe building the MiG-15 was written in the sky last February…
My Forgotten Hobby III 