Trumpeter’s 1/32 scale MiG-23MF “Flogger-B” comprises 32 sprues of light gray plastic individually bagged, with a couple of identical weapons sprues sharing a bag. Trumpeter has even wrapped some of the more delicate parts in foam to further guard them.
The engraved panel lines and rivets are delicate and consistent, the nicest surface detail I’ve seen in a Trumpeter kit.
As you begin building, you’ll find plenty of options, with a posable canopy, speed brakes, wing spoilers, slats, and flaps. The distinctive swinging wings of the MiG-23 are movable, too, and the engine nozzle can be displayed open or closed. A fully detailed engine can be displayed on a dolly that holds the rear fuselage. The wheel wells capture the busy look of the MiG-23, especially in the main well. The landing gear has optional white-metal inserts for added strength (I used them).
The cockpit features raised detail and optional decals along with a nice ejection seat. The photoetched-metal seat belts are a fine touch.
Decals cover two aircraft (Czech and East German air forces). Trumpeter has really gone all out with 14 sprues of weapons and a nice decal sheet with stencils to really make the missiles pop.
I painted the cockpit its distinctive Soviet interior blue-green with long-out-of-production Aeromaster paints. The decals for the cockpit side consoles and instrument panel conformed to raised details with the help of setting solution; I gave them a flat overcoat to tone down their sheen.
The instructions fail to mention adding nose weight for balance, but with the separate engine I did not want to take any chances on ending up with a tail sitter; I super glued lead fishing sinkers upfront. The main-wing center section went together well, though it was a little tricky to hold the wings and the gears that allow them to sweep in sync while gluing the upper and lower halves together.
Even though the slats and flaps appear to be posable, they really are not. There’s no way to mount the leading-edge slats in the down position. As for the flaps, their forward edge is square and would have to be rounded off to look right in an extended position.
By not displaying the engine, I skipped those details and kept weight out of the rear. Before assembling the center section and rear fuselage, Part B1 must be slotted; the instructions fail to mention it, but it needs to be opened up to receive a tab in the front of the vertical fin. The rest of the kit posed no problems, though I did need filler on the vertical fin-to-fuselage join.
There is an extra set of noncompressed main-gear struts, but the instructions don’t mention them. I was impressed with the level of detail on the landing-gear legs and in the gear bays as Trumpeter captured the rugged look of the Flogger’s landing gear. The ventral fin is movable, but when a Flogger’s gear is down that fin is folded over; the instructions make no mention of this, though the box art is correct. The model will not stand properly with the fin down.
Although there are plenty of them, the kit’s weapons store falls short. The missile rails don’t fit the pylons, the pylons don’t fit their fuselage stations, the mounting holes on the glove vanes don’t match, and not all the pins on the drop tanks fit the holes in the wing.
I painted my Flogger in the East German scheme using a combination of Model Master enamels, Tamiya acrylics, and Alclad II for the metal areas. The decals performed well; I used the Microscale system to get them to settle down, but still had silvering on some of the stencils.
Nevertheless, I was impressed with the Flogger’s perfectly fitting photoetched metal, crystal clear canopy, and movable wings. Trumpeter has captured the MiG-23, and, if the leftover parts are any indication, there are more 23s in the works.