Aires, as part of their Aerobonus line, has started issuing 90mm figures of mascots for popular planes or units. These have included the stinging bee for the Skyraider of VA-176 and the tomcat from VFA-31 for the F-14. They continue this with a mascot for the Mig-21 which is a caricature of a Mig-21 pilot in a full flight suit. I could find no further information about what unit it might represent or what specific pilot is featured.

The Kit

The parts break down is simple - the body and the head. Take your time separating the casting blocks - they are beefy. Once separated, there are some seams on the inner legs that need sanded and you’re ready for some paint. I primed the kit with Alclad gray primer and set it aside to dry.

Painting

The color markings in the instructions are basic with white for the helmet, black for the visor with silver hinges and a flesh colored face. The flight suit is three different shades of green - light green, middle green and green. The boots are black. In preparing to paint, I wanted to keep the figure on the cartoonish side. I painted the uniform the three shades of green using an include picture as a guide. I wanted to have it look like a caricature so I didn’t do washes or shading which is certainly a choice and would make the details pop even more. After some touch ups, I flat coated the figure and added a small plastic base as the figure needs the stability.

Conclusion

This is a great little addition to the already wonderful line of mascots. It looks great next to the Eduard Mig-21 kit. I posed both together for a couple shots. Definitely recommended but I would have liked some more background on this figure as it is not known in the west.

My thanks to Aires and IPMS/USA for the opportunity to review it.