The AIRES Mig-15bis engine replacement is a model kit in and of itself. It replaces the 3 part “engine” of the Eduard 1/72 kit. The AIRES kit is made up of 30 resin and 19 photo etch parts. The kit gives you a complete Klimov K-1 engine! The resin is fantastic with great detail and is very easy to remove from the pour plugs. The photo etch is very fine but has strength, so it doesn’t feel flimsy at all.

Build-wise this engine goes together very well and the instructions are pretty easy to follow. The only thing they don’t provide is a list of colors to paint the parts. There are many photos though on the web of Klimov K-1s, so it isn’t too hard to find the color scheme, but it would be nice if they told you what colors each part needed. I used Alclad aluminum, burnt iron, steel and, dark aluminum along with Model Master flat black.

To add the engine kit to your Eduard 1/72 Mig-15Bis - I think you could use a regular Mig-15 as well but I didn’t test it - you do need to do some major surgery to the donor kit. AIRES shows you where to cut the fuselage to install your engine. They even give you the air ducts that lead into the engine! A little bit of sanding is needed inside the fuselage to get the ducting and backing plate to fit, but it’s not hard. The rear fuselage will fit over the engine when installed, but make sure your cut is accurate as it will be noticeable if you don’t have it just right. Also there is no real way to attach the rear of the aircraft back on, so that attachment will have to be made from scratch. Honestly though, with as good as this engine replacement is, why would you want to hide it? I would not be surprised if we don’t start seeing Mig-15 engine change dioramas or even as a Soviet Railway Track Snow Remover in shows and contests.

I can’t recommend this aftermarket engine kit enough. It really adds to the model and can be a show-piece by itself!

My sincere thanks to AIRES for the product and to IPMS for allowing me to review the parts.