Introduction

The following introduction is a s provided by ICM:

There are still debates whether Ghost of Kyiv really exists. Can it be one person or a whole team. Some believe he died, many say he was ejected. Or maybe its just an inspiring story. However, despite all the controversy, we know for sure the ghost of Kyiv has become a symbol of indomitable struggle. The struggle that every Ukrainian feels and lives during three months in a row. The symbol of those selfless and courageous heroes who protect us in the sky. The symbol of pilots who defend us at the cost of their lives. In the air force of Ukraine Mig-29 is a significant part of the fleet of fighter aircraft. Some of these aircraft have been upgraded, which has improved the composition of on board electronic equipment. A characteristic external feature of the Ukrainian Mig-29 is the grey pixel camouflage, which has become as kind of signature of these aircraft.

Review

This offering from ICM arrives in a flip top cardboard box, containing a resealable plastic bag and a loose instruction booklet that also protects the decals inside. An examination of the contents reveals no obvious moulding issues to be confronted by the modeller. 

This being a 1/72nd scale release, the build can be tackled quite quickly. The cockpit of the model consists af a pre-moulded tub, control column and instrument panel and seat. The seat does have some basic harness detail and it will be up to the modeller to decide if this is sufficient for them. As soon as the cockpit is assembled, and the modeller is happy with the finish they have achieved it is secured to the top half of the fuselage and the lower half of the fuselage added. One concern I have is whether this model should have a nose weight to prevent a tail sitter - As I believe the centre of gravity will be very close to making this negative occur. 

The wings and tail assembly are single piece mouldings meaning there is not filling where they mate with the fuselage, and so making a clean construction a relatively easy task. The exhausts for the model have nice detail for such a small scale, however those that particularly like 1/72nd scale I am sure they could dress this model up further. The intakes of the engines do not have great detail on the interior, but due to the variable vain that controls the intake of air I do not believe this matters. The cockpit can be assembled open or closed, and unless you have done something special I would go closed. 

That covers the main parts of the aircraft model itself, only leaving the undercarriage and weapons systems. The undercarriage in quite a simple affair, and I would suggest not that strong and so care will need to be taken during its installation and after. The wheel bay doors are provided separately, and while not covered I believe could be shown closed. As far as weapons go I am not going to try and indentify them in this scale, but you do get three different types of air to air missile. 

The one finishing option the “Ghost of Kyiv” as you would expect, with its digital camouflage has been covered in an interesting way. ICM has provided digital camouflage decals for the model to accurately replicate the finish. The decals are reasonably thin, with my fingers only just being able to detect them on the paper. Looking at the second decal sheet provided in the model, you are given numbers 0 through 9 in three different designs and so depending on which number you believe the aircraft should have on it, it can be replicated unless it is a number 22,33 and so on. The rest of the decals look good to me, and I quite like the fact that there is a decals for the instrument panel.

With the release of this model ICM has release a set of paints specifically for it. There are acrylic paints, supplied in a box using 12ml pots. Six paints are included in the set, with the following colours provided:

1028    Off White

1033    Sky Grey

1034    Dark Sea Grey

1037    Dark Grey

1038    German Grey

2002    Varnish Satin

The paints can be applied by air brush or hairy stick, however, I have found it difficult to find a good thinner for these paints as yet, and ICM only supplies the information that paint mix has been designed for application with a hairy stick and the information that the paint should be thinned 40/60 with water or thinner. 

Conclusion

This offering from ICM is a small and easy to build model, that should not cause any issues for any modeller with the minimal of skills. The recessed panel lines are very small and so could easily be flooded, but other than that I cannot see anything to catch the modeller out. I suspect that this release will prove very popular, due to the number of persons who are pro Ukraine following the Russian invasion. The addition of a specific paint set does make the possibility of painting the camouflage, and if you decide to take this route you could use the decals to make your own masks.