Beyond The Sprues
Current and Finished Projects => Physical Models => Aero-space => Topic started by: ScranJ51 on February 12, 2021, 10:24:10 AM
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With the economical troubles in several ex-Soviet States, the Finnish Air Force saw an opportunity to increase their inventory at bargain-basement prices, acquiring 20 MiG-29's to form an additional fighter squadron to supplement the F-18's.
Seen here, two of the aircraft prepare for a sortie, armed with Soviet Air-to-air missiles.
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50933725963_55d39f6e76_z.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/2kAQEe2)Finn 29 Pair-1 (https://flic.kr/p/2kAQEe2) by David Freeman (https://www.flickr.com/photos/153018533@N06/), on Flickr
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50934413866_42ec52a077_z.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/2kAUbHq)Finn 29 Pair-2 (https://flic.kr/p/2kAUbHq) by David Freeman (https://www.flickr.com/photos/153018533@N06/), on Flickr
The aircraft bear little markings as to what unit this is, with just a stylised Eagle Head on the tail. All aircraft bear a "type" number of 7, with four digit serials, with the last three numbers displayed forward.
7-8319
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50934413846_d8318eaaf7_z.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/2kAUbH5)29-319-1 (https://flic.kr/p/2kAUbH5) by David Freeman (https://www.flickr.com/photos/153018533@N06/), on Flickr
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50934535942_827105c50b_z.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/2kAUP1b)29-319-2 (https://flic.kr/p/2kAUP1b) by David Freeman (https://www.flickr.com/photos/153018533@N06/), on Flickr
7-8351
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50934535862_e04ec25c30_z.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/2kAUNYN)29-351-1 (https://flic.kr/p/2kAUNYN) by David Freeman (https://www.flickr.com/photos/153018533@N06/), on Flickr
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50933726028_24d5dac640_z.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/2kAQEf9)29-351-2 (https://flic.kr/p/2kAQEf9) by David Freeman (https://www.flickr.com/photos/153018533@N06/), on Flickr
Interestingly, there are a number of differences between the two kits.
319 is the ACE Kit, while 351 is from Hasegawa.
351 has slightly smaller tails, the tail leading edge fence is a little different. The most noticeable differences is the size of the tailplanes, with the Hasegawa version being a little smaller but longer. Also, the vents over the intakes are a different direction between the two models.
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Interesting....
One thing that I notice is that the markings do not fit the pattern that the Finnish air force has been using for near 100 years: two letters to denote the type, followed by two or three numbers.
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Yup - that's why they are Fantasy............
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Neat! :smiley: Nice might-have-beens.
Taking your storyline a bit futher, maybe the Finns eventually wanted to update their Fulcrums, but the Russians wouldn't support any MiGs bought second-hand, leaving the Finns to adapt Western avionics and weapons on their Fulcrums.
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Yup, that would be a good storyline ;)