Best 1/48 MiG 15 kit

This one shouldn't take too long. Simple shapes.

Looks like a nice little kit.  I'm looking forward to the JohnnyK finish on this one! 

The kit showed up in the mail this morning. There isn't a lot of parts to this kit. Two trees for the airplane, one clear tree, and one tree for the engine.  Plus, this looks like it is going to be a small airplane when finished.

Like the Czech S-92

GMorrison

The Klimov centrifugal compressor turbojet engine was a Soviet built copy of the Rolls Royce Nene, of which Britain sold 25 to the USSR.

Pratt & Whitney built a version called the J 42 which powered the F9F Panther.

The Nene, the Welland and the Derwent which powered the Gloster Meteor were all developed from the Whittle engine designed in 1941.

 

And if Britain hadn't sold them the Nenes we wouldn't have been fighting against anything like the MiG 15 in Korea.  One of the all time bad moves!  Russia would have still been working with Jumo and BMW turbines.

Stikpusher,

That's a great description of the two different engine types.

This is an F-86 turbojet engine.

This is a MiG 15 centrifugal-flow jet engine.

JohnnyK

The kit comes with a detailed model of the engine. It appers to be a very early, and  strange, version of a jet engine.

 

As explained above, it is a centrifugal flow engine. The other most common type of jet engine is the axial flow. The centrifugal flow engine was something of a dead end for fighters and bombers. To get more powerful engines, the diameter of a centrifugal flow engine had to be increased, resulting in more bulbous and drag producing engine nacelles or fuselages. The axial flow was the way to go faster, sleeker, more powerful jets, power was added by adding more compressor stages in the length. But the centrifugal flow engine lives on today in the turbines used by most helicopters, where the length of the engine vs the diameter of the engine is a factor.

It’s a centrifugal turbojet.  That’s why it has a weird “basket” thing in the front where you would normally see a compressor fan in an axial design.  The centrifugal compressor probably can be traced to the early designers of jet engines, most of whom were involved in water pump/turbine work.

The more familiar axial design offers higher pressure increase in the compressor section and has a lower frontal area.

The Klimov centrifugal compressor turbojet engine was a Soviet built copy of the Rolls Royce Nene, of which Britain sold 25 to the USSR.

Pratt & Whitney built a version called the J 42 which powered the F9F Panther.

The Nene, the Welland and the Derwent which powered the Gloster Meteor were all developed from the Whittle engine designed in 1941.

The kit comes with a detailed model of the engine. It appers to be a very early, and  strange, version of a jet engine.

I also found a set of cockpit paint masks and resin wheels/tires on Ebay.

I found one in original sealed bags on Ebay for $27.00. That doesn't seem like a bad price.

JohnnyK

The Monogram kit is closer to 1/40 scale than 1/48 scale. I'm going to build the Tamiya kit. It will be finished in Bare Metal Foil. 

 

Which makes no sense, as they had access to the one at the USAFM in Dayton Ohio at the time that they made that kit. Aside from it being “off scale”, it builds up nice enough for a kit of its age. Mine came out nice.

Other 1/48 Mig-15 kits out there:

Hawk, very old (50’s/60’s?), and I don’t think I’ve seen it boxed since Testors did that kit in their yellow box series along with many other 1/48 Hawk molds

AMT, mid 70’s vintage and typical of their 1/48 aircraft kits of that time...

Monogram, already discussed

Trumpeter, late 90’s or so vintage. I’ve never seen one up close, and from what I’ve read, it does not have a good reputation.

Tamiya. Early to mid 90’s vintage and still the best game in town in 1/48. I don’t think that Tamiya has made it for a few years now, so its getting a bit pricey due to supply vs demand.

The Monogram kit is closer to 1/40 scale than 1/48 scale. I'm going to build the Tamiya kit. It will be finished in Bare Metal Foil. 

Tamiya is probably the best to build, but I have read that the fin is off and maybe the wing sweep as well.

If I were a betting man, I would count on Eduard to do a 1/48 MiG-15 kit to end all 1/48 MiG-15 kits.

Yeah, in 1/48 the Monogram kit is off scale.  Tamiya is better although it is not as good as the stuff they are doing now.  Trumpeter also did a MIG 15 in 1/48 but it apparently has pretty bad fit issues.

When I finally do purchase a MiG-15 in 1/48, it will be a Tamiya: Here

I'd be curious to know what's out there.

Dating myself- the only game in town was the Hawk, and later the chrome plated Testor's.

Following.  I want to build one to display next to my F86