When Eduard released its first 1/72 MiG-21MF kit last summer, it continued its recent trend of splitting the decals into two separate sheets, one with the unique markings for the aircraft depicted in the kit, the other being a full sheet of stencils. This method not only simplifies the decal printing process when Eduard decides to release additional boxings of the kit with new markings, but it also allows Eduard to release the stencil sheet as a stand-alone decal sheet.

The sheet provides complete, and I mean complete, stencils for at least two models, depending on whose aircraft you are building. This is due to the fact that on some MiG-21MFs most of the airframe stencils are done in black, while on other aircraft, they are in blue, and others have almost no stencils at all. You will need to check your references to see which color you need. The decal sheet provides a full set in each color so you can do decal one with black stencils and one with blue ones. There are also a number of stencils in red which seem to be common to both stencil styles and there are enough of these for two aircraft as well.

The sheet is packed as there are 171 different stencils on the sheet. Eduard provides not only a full set of stencils for the airframe itself, but also the markings for the various missiles, bombs, pylons and external tanks included in their kits. You will also need to set aside a few evenings for decaling if you are applying a full complement of stencils. Eduard includes a nice two sided color placement guide showing where all of the airframe stencils go. I recommend photocopying it and marking off the decals as you apply them, otherwise you will probably get lost due to the sheer number of decals to apply. Interesting, the instructions show you were all of the airframe stencils go, but there is nothing about where to apply the ones for the weapons or pylons, so you will need to download the decaling section of the instructions for one of their MiG-21MF kits to determine how to decal the weapons and pylons.

The quality of the decals is excellent and they react extremely well to MicroSet and MicroSol conforming to the kit surfaces and snuggling right down over details, both raised and engraved. As with other decals, you will need a nice smooth and glossy surface to apply them to. Once everything had dried and the decaling residue was washed off, I sealed the decals with a coat of Future followed by a top coat of clear flat. Once the flat coat had dried, I was unable to find any decal film or silvering.

This is an outstanding decal set from Eduard and while the instructions clearly state that it is designed for only for Eduard’s MiG-21MF kits, I suspect a number of modelers (including myself) will be using them on some of the Fujumi MiG-21MFs in their stashes.

Highly recommended. Thank you to Eduard for the review sample and to IPMS-USA for letting me review it.