1/72 Fujimi MiG-29 Fulcrum

by Charles Kalina

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Iraq received 41 (of a planned 48) FULCRUM fighters prior to its 1990 invasion of Kuwait.  Most were destroyed or flown to Iran during Operation Desert Storm. Those remaining were cannibalized for parts or lost in accidents, with the last being withdrawn from service and stored in 1995.  The FULCRUM depicted here is one coalition forces found at Al Taqqadum airbase on 8 July 2003 -- one of the famous "Raiders of the Lost MiGs" aircraft found buried under sand.

MRC donated a box of these Fujimi kits to the Baghdad hobby club:  I started this one in Baghdad but didn’t get around to finishing it until over a year after I got home.  Fujimi’s kit is quite good, but the decals that come with the kit are wildly inaccurate.  I used the stencils from the kit, but printed my own bort number for the intakes.  ARC regular Ken Middleton was also kind enough to send me Iraqi insignia from spares.

Ma’as-sala’am,

-CPK

Photos and text © by Charles Kalina