Recently I purchased the Zvezda 1/72 MiG-31 as I did not have the type in my collection and had heard that the Zvezda was one of the more accurate kits. As is my wont, I then started looking around for aftermarket decals. I knew that these planes were anything but flashy, but still wanted something better than the kit decals. An internet search came up with several possiblities and this one looked to be the best. I duly found a place selling the sheet and ordered in.

In just a few days, the set arrived at my door. I was quite surprised at the heft of the package and upon opening it soon saw why. Begemont supplies two of their full size sheets with a smaller one on which are a ton of markings. As you can see, thee are a lot of stencils provided and you are given a wide variety of bort numbers in blue, white, and red. There are also more stencils than I know I'll ever use and this includes markings for pylons and various weapons as well.

Several sheets of greyscale profiles are provided with 50 different markings options, making choosing a bit of a task. All the planes are overall grey and the instructions state the shade is 25237, though I might take that with a grain of salt as they state that the radomes are dark gull grey and then give the FS 595 number of ADC grey. There are a couple of MiG Bureau air show birds with rather flambouyant color schemes and a few other factory aircraft with a bit more than the normal markings. Some planes have badges or artwork or other names on them. One of the options is for the Kazakhstan Air Force, which I think is the only other country that has operated the type.

The decals themselves are superbly printed and will be quite thin. I'm hoping these are a bit more opaque than the earlier sheets I've used. Instructions are superb and provide quite a bit of information on each marking option in both Russian and English. I'll let you now how these work out when I get around to building the kit

March 2016

Review sheet courtesy of me.

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