Thanks to Pavel at Profimodeller for providing IPMS USA the opportunity to review one of their products, and IPMS USA for forwarding it to me to do the review!

I did not know what to expect when I agreed to this; I was surprised to learn it’s an interior bay located in front of the right stabilator on the MiG 23-series aircraft!

In the clear sleeve are a brass sheet with micro-level detail parts, a resin duct, and a length of Pb rod (anyone know what Pb is? Poly bromethane?). The instructions are excellent and show where everything is supposed to go. I set about with the work, and after about 2 hours had what you see in the pictures – excellent!

Involved is a bit of metal folding for the basic bay, to which you add detail parts. The PB rod was extremely flexible and easy to cut, and the resin part fit right in. I used tape for the duct clamps instead of the brass items; the brass was too tough, and I didn’t want to try to burn them up in an attempt to anneal them, given the nature of their miniscule size. The only other parts I did not use were some of the bits smaller than my tweezers would hold (literally), and I used white glue to simulate them. I also did not build up the valves, as once I put paint on them they looked fine. I did not use a wash, and what you see is what’s in the upgrade. The #11 Xacto ® knife gives you an idea of the size of this thing.

This upgrade will be an easy addition to the kit once I get it going…all I have to do is remove the panel, lightly cut out the area to fit, and insert this bay. Included on the fret is a separate etch panel with screw holes; these match the screw holes in the mounting flage (which would hold the blind nuts) on the panel of the bay. The wiring worked out better than I thought it might; you will, however, have to be careful removing these fine parts from their frets, as they are fine as frogs’ hairs (literally).

In the end, this is an excellent effort by Profimodeller, the proverbial 10 of 10 rating applies. No filler used, parts fit is exquisite, and the upgrade is a unique subject which would be a worthy addition for a diorama. Thanks again to Pavel for providing us this item!