In-box review of the Airfix 1/72 scale MiG-17 Fresco

Unboxing review of:

- Airfix 1/72 scale MiG-17 Fresco -

a peek inside the box

    Time for another review. This time it's Airfix's MiG-17F Fresco in 1/72 scale. A soviet Cold War era jet built for intercepting bombers, with some dogfighting capability. Let's get into it.

Box art

front of the box

    The box art features an American captured MiG-17 flying above the deserts of Nevada which is really nicely rendered. In the top left corner we can see the Airfix logo and down below is the scale, the name of the subject. We also have assembly model written out in several languages.

first long edge

    The first long edge features some general health & safety warnings written in several languages. We also see a cartograf logo, which means the decals are going to be top notch. Cartograf are among if not the best when it comes to printing decals, so that's a really good sign.

    We also have a Hornby logo as well as some contact info for Hornby. The kit is meant for children over 8 years and we also have a tooling date of 2019. So this is a fairly recent tooling and that means the quality of the molding should be quite good.

the other long edge

    On the other long edge we have a brief description of the real world aircraft. The item number which is A03091A in case you are interested in getting this kit. We then have two side drawings of the MiG with the two paint schemes Airfix have chosen for this model. A list of recommended paints and supplies from Humbrol needed to finish this kit. Of course, you can look for alternatives if you so wish.

    Then at the very right we are told that this is a skill level 2 kit, so it shouldn't be too difficult to put together. Above that is an Airfif Club logo, as well as 1 Flying Hour which you can cut out and send in to Airfix to redeem against any future model you might want to buy. But you must be an Airfix Club member in order to do so. Alternatively you could mail the Flying Hours to Models for Heroes if you'd rather do that. Be aware that if you decide you want to use your Flying Hours, you will need to pay postage.

short edge

    On to the short edge then, Here we have another depiction of the box art on the front of the box, with the Airfix logo, the item number, scale and name of the kit. This is mirrored on the other short edge as well, so there's no point in showing you that. And the back is completely blank.

Contents of the box

inside the box

    With the lid removed, we see a bag of sprues and underneath all this are the instructions and the decals.

box contents taken out

    This is everything inside the box spread out, with the bag of sprues on the left, the instruction booklet on the right and the decal sheet with its protective film underneath.

Documentation

front of the instruction booklet

    The cover of the instruction booklet has a more in-depth description of the MiG-17 in real life with specifications on the right. And at the bottom we have some basic modeling tips, next to the Hornby logo.

first page of instruction booklet

    Opening up the booklet we have some information on the right then we jump straight into the build. The most disappointing thing about the instruction booklet is the lack of a sprue map. There's not to be found anywhere in here, and that's really a shame.

assembly instructions

    At the top we have some basic assembly instructions. These should come in handy if this is your first foray into this wonderful hobby, or if you need a refresher.

assembly icons

    Underneath this are all the symbols you will encounter throughout this booklet as well as what each of these mean. I would advise you take a good look at these when building your own kit.

cockpit assembly

    We start this build as usual in the cockpit. We need to glue the instrument panel to the cockpit floor. On top of this comes the clear gunsight. And this all gets sandwiched in by the engine intake that doubles as the cockpit interior as well as the nose gear bay. There are several decals that need to be applied at this point, so make sure to paint and apply the decals before closing everything off as it will be a lot harder to do then.

seat assembly

    Next we need to assemble the seat which comes in two parts.

adding the pilot

    Then we can choose whether we want to add the pilot or not.

installing seat and control column

    Then we install the seat and yoke/control column into the cockpit tub. 

exhaust assembly

    Next we glue together the exhaust subassembly. And here we have the option of displaying the model with either the airbrakes deployed or retracted, so pay attention at this step. As for me I will go with deployed airbrakes.

adding subassemblies to fuselage half

    We now need to add the cockpit tub and exhaust subassemblies to the fuselage. We also need to install the lenses for the reconnaissance cameras. We are also given a diagram to help us properly align the engine intake in the fuselage. We also have the option to cut out holes for a stand if you wish to depict the aircraft in flight. I don't have a stand, so I will have the model standing on its gear. We are also told to add 20g of weight to the nose to prevent the model from being a tail sitter once complete.

assembling the fuselage

    Then, we attach the other fuselage half. Again, we are reminded to cut out holes for a stand (sold separately) if we wish to pose the plane in flight.

nose fuselage underside

    Next, we have to glue in the underside of the nose fuselage section. And we can also glue in the gear bay doors in the closed position at this point, if that's what you want to do.

engine nacelle ring

    We now have to install the ring that forms the engine nacelle, which gives the MiG-17 its distinct nose, which is somewhat similar to that of the F-86 Sabre (coming soon).

drilling some holes

    Next, we need to drill some holes in the bottom wing halves in order to install the wing mounted drop-tanks. You can of course skip this step, if you want to have a clean aircraft.

assembling the main wings

    In the next step, we get the option to chose whether to display the model with the landing gear raised or lowered. Pay close attention on this step as the procedure varies slightly between the two. We also install the under-wing mounted landing light now. Make sure to do this now. Otherwise you'll end up with a rather massive hole to fill in later.

installing the wings

    Then we mate the wings to the fuselage.

installing the horizontal stabilizers

    Next we need to install the horizontal stabilizers. 

rudder surfaces

    This is followed by the rudder surfaces. Given this, you might be able to depict the aircraft with a bit of rudder deflection if you wanted to. Although, I'd assume you'd need to modify the parts a bit. Or maybe not. We'll see once I get around to building this bird.

main landing gear assembly

    The next step is to assemble the main landing gear.

installing bay gear doors

installing the main landing gear

    This is followed by installing the landing gear bay doors. There is a helpful inlay to show you the correct position of the doors. Then the main landing gears also get to be glued in place.

installing the nose gear

    Then we need to install the nose gear.

installing nose gear bay doors

    Next, we have to glue in the nose landing gear bay doors.

landing gear diagram

    Then we get a really helpful diagram of how the landing gear should look like both from the front and the side. This will save so many people so many headaches.

chin mounted cannons

    Next we need to install the massive 37mm N-37D cannon and the two smaller 23mm NR-23 cannons in the chin to the left and right-side of the landing gear respectively.

airbrake options

    Here we have options to display the model with either open or closed airbrakes. Obviously, your decision here will be influenced by the decision you made earlier on in the build.

installing the canopy

    Now we need to install the cockpit canopy. Even though it's not shown here, I'd assume you do have the option to pose the aircraft with either an open or closed canopy. If not, I'm sure it can achieved with little modification.

antenna and pitot-tube installation

    Next we install the radio antenna aft and off to the side of the cockpit and two large pitot tubes to the tips of the wings.

drop-tank assembly

    Now we need to assemble the drop-tanks. There are two of them, one under each wing and they come in two halves. Then we glue in the pilons. Pay close attention at the part numbers here as the pilons are not interchangeable.

installing the external fuel stores

    Lastly, we need to glue the external fuel tanks underneath the wings. And we also get to build a barrel that goes underneath the tail. I assume this barrel was provided in case you either forgot to or decided not to add weights in the nose. This is a really nice touch from Airfix.

A variant painting and decal instructions

    Next we have the painting, stencil, and markings instructions for one of the included paint schemes. This one is for No. ! Squadron of the Egyptian Air Force from 1956 as flown by Shalabi el-Hinnawy. Although it doesn't make much of a difference for this paint scheme as it is a bare-metal finish, it is nice to see the instructions printed in color.

B variant painting and decal instructions

    The other paint scheme features a captured MiG-17 by the U.S. This was flown during the Have Drill Programme from Groom Lake, Area 51, Nevada, U.S. in 1969. By far the more interesting paint scheme and the one I will be going for. But I will want to get another kit of this model as I really want the Egyptian MiG-17 as well.

Decal sheet

decal sheet

    The decal sheet looks really good and that's to be expected given that they were printed by cartograf. At the top of the sheet we have a bunch of common stencils which are shared between both possible variants. In the middle and to the right are the markings for the Egyptian Air Force. And at the bottom are the markings for the U.S. captured scheme.

common stencil closeup

    Taking a closer look at the common stencils which are beautifully printed. There's a lot of detail clearly visible on the cockpit gauges, and the test is almost legible. I'd be surprised if you wouldn't actually be able to read them under a magnifying glass. This is really impressive.

more common stencil closeup

    The quality of the printing carries over into the rest of the stencils. And really across all the decals.

Egyptian markings

    Moving on to the Egyptian markings, the story continues. The printing is near flawless. The colors are really good, they all seem to be in register (well centered). With one small nick apparent on the third roundel, which is a tiny bit disappointing. But since I'm not building the Egyptian variant (at least not yet), I'm not too bothered by it.

Egyptian markings continued

    Moving further across the decal sheet and the quality is just as sharp as the rest of the sheet.

Egyptian markings continued, again 😋

    I'm really struggling to find anything wrong with these decals. They are spot on across the board.

U.S. markings

    Moving on to the U.S. markings and once again, the colors are superb, with all the colors well in register.

U.S. markings continued

    Seriously, at this point, I'd have to take the entire decal sheet under a microscope to try and find a problem. The colors are fantastic, there are no blemishes or bubbles, perfect registry, stunning all around. 

The plastic

sprues and clear parts

    The kit comes on three sprues molded in gray plastic and a sprue with clear parts. All of the sprues are quite densely packed with parts, which makes me happy. I always tend to gush when I see so many parts in one place 😅.

sprue A overview

    Sprue A contains the fuselage halves, drop-tanks, external stores mounting brackets and pilons, pitot tubes, and a few parts I believe are for another variant of the MiG-17.

left fuselage half

    The fuselage presents nice recessed panel line and rivet detail. Perhaps a bit too deep. But I'd rather have them deeper than too shallow or raised. Although the plastic used is quite hard, so the details should be able to stand some sanding even if they were shallower.

right fuselage half

    The quality of the molding continues, and aside from minor signs of flash, it looks really nice.

unidentified parts

    Next we have a pair of parts which I assume are for a different version of the MiG-17. I have no idea what they could be, they weren't shown anywhere in the instructions. Regardless, the details are really good.

pilons

    The pilons are molded really simply and there's a wee bit of flash, but nothing a bit of sanding can't take care of.

    

more unidentified parts

    Next are another set of parts I can't tell what they are. By the way they are molded, I can only assume these are tips for rocket pods. The molding is once again quite good, but some drilling might be needed for the top array of launchers.

external fuel stores

    The drop-tanks are again, molded nicely, albeit a bit simplistically. 

even more unidentified parts

    We have even more parts I'm not quite sure what they are. But based on the shape, They might be missile racks, although I could be very wrong. Whatever they are, there's some detail here which is nice, not so nice, is a bit of flash. 

more unidentified parts again, part II 😵

    Following are another pair of parts I can't figure our what they are. There's detail here, but I'm not quite sure that they are supposed to represent. Since I'm certain, they are not going to go onto the model I'm building that's a non issue. But if you were to build a variant that requires these, you'd probably want to look for replacements, as the molding here is not fantastic.

reverse side of unidentified parts

    Flipping the sprue around and we return to these parts, I have no idea what they are. Despite this, the details are really nice. Whatever they are, they are molded really nicely. At a closer look, they seem to go somewhere under the wings based on the shape, maybe. I think these might be rocket pod bodies and hard-points.

fuselage inside

    Next e have the fuselage interior. These present no detail, but that's to be expected. The cockpit details are int the engine intake assembly. We can however, see some ejector-pin marks. I'm certain these will be covered up entirely, so they will not be visible, you can still address these if you want to, thogh.

sprue C overview

    Moving on to sprue C. This is the order I shott them in, so it's the order we're stuck with. If I had to suffer through the chaos, so do you 😂.

    Jokes aside, this sprue contains a whole manor of internal and external details. We'll go through them one by one in more detail, So I'm not going to list everything now. There's just too many to list, and I can't be bothered 😅. 

first set of airbrakes

    We start off on sprue C with one set of the airbrakes, specifically, these are the ones meant for a deployed configuration. As you can see, one of the parts is already twisted and nearly broken off. This might have happened during shipping, or maybe even at the factory during packaging, whatever the case, this is not something you want to see. Thankfully though, the part itself is not damaged.

second set of airbrakes

    Moving along, we have the other pair of airbrakes, meant to be used for a retracted configuration. Other than a bit of flash, there's not a lot to talk about here.

antenna and actuators

    Next up are the actuators for the speed-brakes with some detail molded into them. And the radio antenna mounted at the side of the cockpit. There's minimal flash here, but some cleanup will be required.

outboard gear bay doors

    The outboard gear bay doors present very little flash.

gear bay and nose gear bay doors

    Then we have the main gear bays, these are required if you want to have the aircraft posed in flight. Above these are the nose gear bay doors. There's a bit of flash here and there, but nothing too serious.

pitot tubes and cannons

    We then have the two very long pitot tubes as well as the chin mounted cannons. They look absolutely fine. Although, I will probably try to drill a hole in the barrel of the 37mm canon to make it a bit more realistic. The 23mm cannons will remain as they are as I don't have a small enough drill bit. But that's a future me problem.

inboard main gear bay doors

    These are the inboard gear bay doors. I believe one set, the blank ones are for raised gears and the detailed ones to the right are for lowered gear configurations. The image is a bit blurry, but the detail on the doors on the right are really nice.

landing gear legs, wheels and doors

    Here we have the doors for the nose gear bay, these are fore the raised configuration. Below that are the main wheels, molded really nicely, with quite a bit of detail. To the right is the nose gear and above that are the landing struts/legs for the main landing gear.

instrument panel

    Next is the instrument panel which is molded really simplistically, with barely any detail present. This means you'll have to rely entirely on the decals to bring in any detail. A bit of tough luck if you prefer hand painting your own. You could still do it, but it would look quite flat. Well, it will look flat, regardless.

control column, seat and access doors

    Here we have the control column which presents some detail. Then are the two parts that make up the ejector-seat, these also show a decent amount of detail. And lastly are two small doors that get installed in the rear of the aircraft just behind the airbrakes in case you go for the deployed configuration.

cockpit floor, main landing gear actuators, exhaust nozzle

    Next up is the cockpit floor with minimal detail. That's quite alright, as I'm sure it will hardly be visible. We also have the main landing gear actuators which present a bit of detail, as well as the exhaust nozzle.

exhaust fan

    Then we have the exhaust fan, the detail of the fan blades don't quite look right, but since this will be nestled deep inside the exhaust subassembly, it will barely be visible. As such, I will give them a pass.

engine intake/cockpit interior

    This is the cockpit assembly. It serves three purposes in this particular kit. It forms the inside of the cockpit, the nose gear bay, and it also serves as the engine intake. The detail inside are quite nice, albeit a bit on the more simplistic side. But it will still do its job 😉.

exhaust subassembly body

    Next are the casings for the exhaust subassemblies. On the left are the ones required for having the airbrakes deployed, which present a decent amount of detail, should be fun to pick out all that detail. On the right for the airbrakes retracted, these are really simplistic, but they will be covered up by the airbrakes themselves, so that's OK.

reverse side of landing gear doors

    Flipping the sprue around, we take another look at the main landing gear bay doors. They look really nice, with some detail to play around with whilst painting if you wish to.

gear parts revisited

    And lastly for this sprue, are the landing gear parts. Once again the detail is really good on this side as well. Nothing to complain about, really.

inside of airbrakes

    Lastly, lastly, 😂 are the airbrake surfaces. These are the ones used for the deployed configuration, and once again, the detail is really nice. That said, I am still a bit disappointed about the nearly broken off part. Thankfully, it doesn't look damaged, so I shouldn't need to order a replacement.

sprue B overview

    Sprue B contains the wings, control surfaces, a barrel, the pilot and the chin of the MiG-17.

horizontal stabilizers

    The horizontal stabilizers present a decent amount of surface detail. 

top right wing half

    The top of the right wing presents some nice details as well. Although, the leading edge looks quite jagged. This seems to be flash, which will need cleaning.

top left wing half

    Here again, the detail is really nice, not a lot to complain about. If there's one criticism I could bring is that the vanes on the top, look a little out of scale. They should be a bit thinner.

rudder control surfaces

    These are the surfaces for the split rudder assembly of the MiG-17. Once again, nicely detailed.

bottom right wing half

    The bottom of the right wing half also presents a nice amount of detail, with loads of hatches and access panels molded, as well ass the hole for the landing light.

bottom left wing half

    The left bottom half of the wing also presents the same amount of detail as the other side. However, here there is a bit of flash on the leading edge as on the top right wing half. So cleaning will be required.

chin of the aircraft

    The chin also presents a good amount of detail.

pilot figure

    The pilot is also nicely molded, however, he does present a bit of flash around the seamlines, but you should be able to easily scrape this away with a sharp blade.

oil drum

    This is the oil drum Airfix included to place underneath the tail of the airplane in case you didn't add weight to the nose. I do plan to add weights, so I'll probably use this to create a small scenic base for the model.

underside of top wing halves

    On the underside of the top wing halves there is some molded detail for the landing gear bay, so another opportunity for those who like to take their detail work to the next level.

clear sprue overview

    Lastly we have the sprue of clear parts. This contains the windshield, with the landing right next to it. Then we have two versions of the main canopy. I believe, for this version, the bottom one is used. But you can certainly use the top one if you wish to build a different variant of the MiG-17. Then we have the lenses for the recon cameras located in the belly of the aircraft and the glass gunsight.

    

landing light and windshield

    The landing light seems to have an air-bubble inside, which is not ideal. But since this goes underneath the wing, you'll rarely see it, but it's still disappointing to see. The front of the canopy is nicely molded with some really positive framework around the armored glass at the front making home-made masking really easy. The front glass is also a bit thicker than the rest of the canopy to better simulate the armored glass.

gunsight and camera lenses

    The gunsight is nicely molded, this is nice to see as I know that it is quite hard to cast clear plastic into intricate shapes. The camera lenses are also nicely molded, with no air-bubbles or blemishes. And they are perfectly see-through. You can clearly see the spots of paint on the cutting-mat underneath.

main canopy version A

    The main canopy is once again nicely molded, with really positive frames all around which will aid in creating masks. The framework is also made to look a bit more translucent to more easily differentiate between it and the clear glass. 

main canopy version B

    The same can be said about the other version of the main canopy. It all looks really nice, and I don't have any negative things to say about the canopies.

transparency demonstration

    And lastly a quick demonstration of the clarity of the parts. They really are nicely made. You can almost make out my finger prints underneath. Or you cold if the camera would have focused properly 😂.

The good and the bad

    Instructions.

        Pros:

• clear step by step build instructions
• helpful diagrams that aid in positioning tricky parts
• full color paint guides

        Cons:

• lack of sprue maps
• can feel a bit overwhelming in places

    Decals.

        Pros:

• beautifully printed
• nice colors
• everything in register

        Cons:

• a small nick on one of the Egyptian roundels on my example

    Main sprues.

        Pros:

• nicely molded
• crisp panel lines and detail
• a good amount of plastic for the price
• no ejector-pin marks where they shouldn't be

        Cons:

• some parts lack detail
• one part almost fallen of the sprue (it may have been caused during shipping, not necessarily a manufacturing error)
• some flash in places

    Clear sprue.

        Pros:

• nicely molded
• near perfect transparency
• well defined framework

        Cons:

• air-bubble in the landing light (on my example)

Final verdict

    The kit presents itself really nicely, and aside from a few small issues here and there, there's not much to complain about. It is important to note that these are issues with my copy of the kit, yours however could be perfectly fine. The tooling for this kit is fairly recent, being tooled in 2019 so the kit benefits from modern tooling. And is a great example of Aifix doing a 180 in terms of the quality of the products they release. They have really managed to turn everything around and it shows.

    I do plan on building this kit at some point this year, and looking at the quality, I'm really looking forward to making space for it on the workbench. I'm sure it will be a fun build, and I don't expect any major issues. But we'll have to wait and see.

    Let me know your own thoughts on this kit. And whether you consider my assessment too harsh or not harsh enough. With that, I hope you have a wonderful day, and happy modeling, everyone. Cheers! 😁