Eduard continues to lead the pack in taking older kits and upgrading them with PE and resin upgrades. In this case, we have the Academy MiG-29A, which in its own right is an excellent kit, with several items added to bring the basic kit to the next level. In this case, Eduard’s own PE instrument panel and detail set, combined with their in-house “Brassin” resin upgrades. Oh yeah, there is also one outstanding decal sheet included with no less than five variants to finish your model; Two Soviet, one Polish, one Czech Republic, and one Iranian. All are in register, and make for quite a variety of color schemes. The decals also include a comprehensive stencil suite, including missile and launch rail details. Outstanding!

Watchagit? First, the complete Academy kit, a bunch of resin, two PE sheets, and the aforementioned decals. Also included are canopy and wheel masks in Kabuchi tape. Included in the resin are a cockpit tub and aft bulkhead, rudder bar, K-36 ejection seat and details, various antennas, and even red clear resin rotating beacons for the Polish version. There are two PE sheets, with a new instrument panel and side consoles, details for the ejection seat, and a lot of external details including replacement intake FOD (Foreign Object Damage) prevention doors with fine detail. A couple of really cool details: The wheel FOD deflector behind the nose gear wheels is one; the PE item is about perfect for this scale. The kit exhausts include a PE Flame holder grid to add depth to the abyss behind the nozzle. A myriad of antennas and static dischargers are also included, but I opted to avoid sticking those in my eye at a later date and left them off.

Things I DID use outside of the build: a new nose radome, as the kit item is really off in profile. I got it from Linden Hill about three years ago, and don’t remember the company; same for the engine Exhausts nozzles; I had them sitting around without the packaging and don’t recall who does them. Aires makes an exhaust set, (which are out of stock at my supplier) and I believe they also have their own version of a corrected radome as well. I know they also have a pitot tube, but those are hyper-fragile resin and (I know, since I reviewed them a year or so ago on a previous build) tend to snap into oblivion. I fabricated a metal pitot tube from steel wire using the Dremel ^® grinding wheel and electric drill chuck holding the wire method. Had to drill DEEP into the resin nose to install it, but it won’t be plinking off anytime soon! I also scammed the control column from a Neomega Mig 29 interior.

Last additional bits are Equipage wheels and tires. The kit tires have lettering on them, and actually are pretty well done, but I used the Equipage items because I had them and didn’t have to paint the wheels and tires. (I hate that job!) . I also used MV railroad lenses for the main and nose gear door taxi lights; they are very visible, and the MV lenses look far better than those which are just painted.

The basic kit goes together well; there are no fit items that a modeler can’t overcome. The horizontal nose seam comes to mind, but that is what putty is for. The resin cockpit insert fits perfectly, as do the instrument panels and side PE panels. The ejection seat is a work of art, and the pre-painted color harness adds just the right touch. I added those details when the model was finished… there are even rear-view mirrors provided! Additionally, the avionics suite and canopy/seat actuator details are included in the “BRASSIN” add-on resin bits. Nice.

The intakes take a bit of work, but come out well with the new PE doors…USE THEM! Soon I was ready to paint… (dang day job gets in the way, particularly since we are approaching the end of the Fiscal year). I left off the missile rails and weapons as “last to add” items, along with the horizontal stabilizers. Paint was Modelmaster’s Mig-29 colors, with the topside green camo being toned down with white and a bit of USN Blue-gray added to bring the color in line with what I remember the MIG’s looking like during my time in USAFE.

Decals are excellent; they went in position well, and after about 30 seconds started to snuggle in. Use a wetting agent or they will be permanently locked in place if you have them off center. I opted for the jumping cat markings on the basic Russian aircraft, as I don’t care for sharkmouth schemes on anything but P-40’s and A-10’s. This one also has a similar “Bumblebee” tail flash as the A-1H Skyraider that shot down a MiG back in the Vietnam conflict… no data on this one. The instructions do provide abbreviated, interesting history for each aircraft.

The aforementioned missile rail decals and weapon markings went on without difficulty, and add immeasurably to what is frequently an overlooked area. The kit items worked just fine, thank you!

Final detail work was done, including antennas and cockpit canopy interior railing (an often overlooked detail, THANKS EDUARD) and I had a new MiG on line.
Final assessment: One serious, appropriate upgrade to the Academy MiG 29A. Eduard did a Bang-up job on this one, 9 of 10 for detail (would be nice to fix the radome and exhausts in the same kit). Decals are a 10. All in all, well done Eduard, keep them coming!