IPMS Philippines - Bert Anido

Trumpeter 1/32 Mig-23 (pre-production)

Disclaimer:
•    Kit came in without manual, decals, photo-etched and film parts.
•    Finished model is not completely finished. Several small parts were not installed pending the release of the actual instruction manual.
•    Decals used came from trumpeter su-27 kit.
•    Paint scheme copied from Internet sources.

First Impressions
The kit came in a huge transparent plastic bag. Several of the sprues came in two’s even if only one was needed. There were also “lost” sprues that are from the trumpeter 1/48 me-262 kit.
The parts breakdown was traditional and nothing was surprised. Aside from a complete mig-23, a sprue for an engine trolley (similar to Tamiya 1/32 F-16 kit) was also included, as well as your normal arsenal of weapons that come from a trumpeter kit.
Also included are metal and rubber parts for the landing gear.
Build
After sorting out the kit parts and giving all the parts a good detergent bath, I proceeded to assembling the kit. There were no surprises as everything went well together. Detail and panel lines were good, comparable to the trump A-10 kit.
One area where I have some concerns is with the engine and fuselage section. The kit intends the fuselage to be detachable thus revealing the engine inside. The two fuselage halves are joined together by plastic pegs on the tail section and holes on the front section. As per my assembling I found that this would be difficult because the join line will be very visible. I ended up gluing the two sections together.
I also needed to pay attention to the weight balance of the kit. Given that the kit sits down with the nose elevated and the complete engine at the back, the natural tendency is for the kit to sit on its tail. I had to add significant ballast on the nose to balance out the kit.
After a lot of guessing and consulting Internet sources, assembly was finished with relative ease and a lot of enjoyment. The kit put together nicely.
Painting was straightforward and I did my usual finishing on the kit.
Conclusion
I thought the kit was ok overall. In fact, I enjoyed building this more than the trump f-18 super hornet. I’m waiting for a copy of the manual to completely finished the kit altogether.
CHEERS!

At the start of World War II, Nazi Germany was already well in advance in developing jet engines. Of course the military application that came about was the elegant and deadly Me-262 “Schwalbe”. Because of this, many scale models of the 1st operational jet fighter has been kitted in different scales. Trumpeter now has decided to join this group, and I present to you the Schwalbe!……Actually from the sprue shots, they will be releasing in kit form ALL (and I mean ALL) variants that were operational and envisioned as listed here:
1. Me 262 A-1a/Me 262 A-1a/R-1 w/ heavy armament/Me 262 A-1a/U2 night fighter
2. Me 262 A-1a/U3 recon jet
3. Me 262 A-2a “Sturmvogel”/Me 262 A-2a/U2
4. Me 262 B-1a/Me 262 B-1a/U1
5. Me 262 E-1 Panzer killer
(Do note, I may have missed details so if anyone can point out anything I missed, please do so)

At the moment, there are 23 sprues present in the usual light gray. Now do remember these are test shots which means, they are probably the initial test batches before full production so a few flashes, mold imperfections and short shots are excused. I know humbly leave it to the viewer to look in detail at each sprue. I made some close ups especially the variant that I recall haven’t been kitted yet.

Of course, what’s likely in everyone’s minds is: Is the kit accurate? I’d say on initial bat: HELL YEAH! From most of my surfing, the 1/32 Me262 by trumpeter is hailed as one the most accurate and detailed representation of the aircraft, and based on the sprue, it appears to be a pantograph version of it.

I wish of course to thank our club, IPMS-Bert Anido for again giving me the chance to review and build this kit, Shakes of Lil’s Hobby, and of course Trumpeter for giving me, and our club these opportunities to see their upcoming kits.

NOW ON TO THE BUILD!