Hobby Master Archive

The Mig-21 was originally built by the Mikoyan and Gurevich Design Bureau in the Soviet Union with a NATO nickname Fishbed. No other jet has had as many planes produced as the Mig-21. Depending on the reference source 3,000 - 8,000 planes of all versions were made in the Soviet Union, under license to allied countries and China without license. At the time of its introduction into the Soviet Air Force service in 1959, it was exactly what they wanted. A small, fast, agile, dependable and most importantly simple making it easy to turn out great numbers of the plane. The skies of Eastern Europe, Africa, Asia and Central America seemed to be filled with thousands of the Mig- 21. Because of its relatively low cost since it was heavily subsidized by the Soviets, it became the plane of choice for many third world countries. Taking this into account this plane has seen more wars then any other modern day jet. The Mig-21 was used in front line service for over 30 years equaling that of the McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II. There were 5 generations of the plane in many versions and each generation brought with it great improvements over its predecessors. There are/were some 21 countries that flew the Mig-21.

On January 1, 1959 when Cuban President Batista was overthrown by Fidel Castro’s Cuban Revolution Forces the Fuerza Aerea Revolucionara (Revolutionary Air Force) was formed. After the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962 the name was changed to Air Defense Anti Revolutionary Armed Forces (DAAFAR) in 1963. The role of the DAAFAR was to protect Cuban airspace, support the Cuban army and navy. Cuban airspace is divided into 3 sectors, Eastern, Central and Western comprised of 6 interceptor regiments. The Western Air Zone is covered by the 2° Brigada de la Guardia “Playa Giron” (“Bay of Pigs” Guard Brigade). The USSR delivered 60 Mig-21MF aircraft to help the Cuban Air Force.

Mig-21MF Specs:

Power Plant: One 41.55kN (9,340lb st) or 64.73kN (14,550lb st) with afterburner Tumansky R-13-300 turbojet Dimensions Wingspan: 7.15m (23ft 5½in) Length: 15.76m (51ft 8½in) - including Pitot boom Max T-O weight: 9,400kg (20,725lb)

Performance Max speed: Mach 2.1 (2,230km/h - 1,385mph) above 11,000m (36,000ft) Mach 1.06 (1,300km/h - 807mph) at low level Range: 1,100km (683 miles) - internal fuel only 1,800km (1,118 miles) - with three external drop tanks, one under fuselage, one under each wing Armament One 23mm twin-barrel GSh-23 cannon with 200 rounds in belly pack Various air-to-air and air-to-ground stores carried on four under wing pylons including: K-13A “Atoll” or “Advanced Atoll” a-a missiles, UV-16-57 rocket packs, S-24 a-s rockets, 250kg and 500kg bombs 1 X centre line drop tank.

Hobby Master 1/72 Air Power Series HA0148 MIG-21MF “665” Brigada de Guardia “Playa Giron” 21° Regimento de Interception, Cuban Air Force, 1993

Die-cast metal. Superb detailing in 1/72 scale. Pre-painted with pad applied markings. Fully assembled. Canopy can open Pilot figure Display stand included. Option to display model with wheels up or down. Minimum use of plastic. Very collectable