The Airfix MiG-15 is a shining example in the literal sense – the finished model is a nice shiny silver colour. The actual aircraft was natural metal and in the good old days, that meant gloss silver paint. Whereas the process of building this kit could be a bit of a dull experience.
Not a bad example to start with, it’s where I started in my youth. Although that may not be a good reason to start there now. After all, the whole point was supposed to be about learning from these experiences.
Anyway, the Airfix MiG-15 offers us insights into life, evolution and other stuff too. “Evolution” doesn’t mean we’re getting into Charles Darwin territory, so please don’t be alarmed. Any actual biology lessons are elsewhere, but they might get a mention.
As far as I can recall, this was the first kit I actually bought and made myself. That could be wrong, of course, but remembering something from childhood is easier than e.g. where I left my keys. It was either this or a Ju88 which came first, but the Airfix Ju88A-4 doesn’t seem a sensible starting point for a seven year-old. The MiG-15 had less bits and was a lot cheaper (2/-, equivalent to about two quid in today’s money). Compared with 4/6d for the Ju88 although you did get a box.
Not so much “classic” as just “old”
It’s not a bad kit for its original 1958 release date, despite alleged inaccuracies in the shape, and slightly dubious markings. This actual kit stayed in production in one form or other for 50 years. Its final incarnation was a set with glue, paint and a brush – a package deal to entice new potential modellers, presumably. As opposed to squeezing the last drops of income out of a “classic” kit which hadn’t aged well. An old saying about dead horses comes to mind… This might look like good value in the short term, but will it attract the repeat customers who are tomorrow’s obsessives?
By 2008 serious competition from Eduard was arriving, for the grown-up market…
Like 1970s biology lessons, the Airfix instructions miss out essential information, leading to great disappointment in the future. But in this case, you won’t need to wait very long for the disappointment to arrive. If you just follow what the instructions say, the finished model sits on its rear end with the nosewheel in the air. It needs extra weight in the nose to sit on its undercarriage properly. The people who designed the kit would surely have known about this and the result is seriously irritating.
So the Airfix MiG-15 teaches us about finding out important stuff when it’s too late. Also that simply following instructions leads to disappointment. More on this another time – there are better (i.e. worse) examples, like the Dornier Do217 of similar vintage.
Into the swinging 60s
My original MiG-15 kit would have looked like this 1963 re-packaged version. Not exactly like this, of course, because c.1963 I hurriedly stuck all the parts together and roughly covered the result in silver paint. Some time later it was broken, lost, or broken and then lost. So my old MiG-15 will be part of a future archaeological trove in the ruins of North London. Unless it’s disintegrated completely, and joined all the microplastic debris we’ve ingested since the 60s.
Anyway, it would have looked like this in Woolworths, before an impatient small boy got his hands on it:
One element of the overall challenge was working out how the kit parts related to the numbers on the instructions – another mystery. Fortunately there weren’t many parts to identify.
1973 – ten years after…
The next incarnation (around 1973) came in a blister pack, with part numbers helpfully moulded into the sprues. In the early 1970s MiG-15 kits of any sort no longer appealed to me, but this is what it looked like – maybe not so battered:
More misleading information in the painting instructions… The version in Polish markings is unlikely to be a Lim-2. The most plausible inspiration is this Polish MiG-15bis, which made news in 1953. Most likely Red 346, the Soviet markings should perhaps have been Red 27. Airframe details strongly suggest it was supposed to represent a MiG-15bis rather than the original MiG-15. (The shape of the air brakes should be a giveaway, if you must know). But compared to some contemporary kits it’s not bad.
Forty years on
There were some other re-releases in the 70s/80s… but that’s not important right now.
The 1998 re-release came in a cardboard box, just like this:
The component parts are now moulded in a tasteful pale grey, which is probably easier to paint. Although a lazy/impatient person might get away with not bothering to paint the old silver plastic version:
Then there was a brand new model around 2009, from new tooling. Allegedly it’s got some inaccuracies in the shape so let’s move on. Instead, we can have a proper look at the Eduard Profipack MiG-15bis another time.
So we’ve learned about misleading instructions; authoritative information which isn’t all it should be; and evolution. Not bad for two bob.