Probably one of the best armed of the former states of the Soviet Union is Kazakhstan. Bordering the Caspian Sea on one side and China on the other, it is probably the largest of the the former Soviet states so has a need for a relatively large military.

The 604th Air Base units are undoubtedly the best in the country so they have the 'big guns' when it comes aircraft. Many were left by the Soviet Union and many were obtained in trade for Soviet aircraft not needed by Kazakhstan, mostly Tu-95s. The base was, at one time, a depot for MiG-23/27 aircraft, so thanks to the abundance of spares, Kazakhstan is one of the few nations still flying these swing-wing aircraft, principally the MiG-27D.

The sheet covers eight Su-27s of various marks and four MiG-23/27s.

The Su-27s are all in a disruptive scheme of blues and a grey. While there are variations in the patterns, they are generally quite similar.

There is one MiG-23 UB and three MiG-27Ds on this sheet. Like the Flankers, the Floggers all have similar paint schemes with variations. In this case, befitting ground attack aircraft, they are in greens and browns.

The Linden Hill instruction sheet contains a copious number of photos of both of these aircraft types, including at least one shot of each of the subjects on the decal sheet. There are also several nicely done side and upper drawings of the various schemes. All of this (including the photos) is in full color. There are copious notes on each of the aircraft to help make yours the most accurate as can be. There are no kit recommendations, but finding 1/72 Flankers is not difficult. For the MiG-27D, Italeri and Academy (I believe) are the current choices.

The sheet provides color references in generic colors and in AKAN paints. I would have been nice to have more of a choice on paint brands, but since AKAN is pretty much exclusively a Linden Hill import, they chose only to use that lone brand. The decals themselves are very nicely printed with most of the markings being in at least two separate layers to prevent registration issues.

All in all, a very nice sheet and one that you should seriously consider if you are a Russian aircraft fan.

October 2011

My thanks to www.lindenhillimports.com  for providing the review sample. Get yours direct

If you would like your product reviewed fairly and fairly quickly, please contact the editor or see other details in the Note to Contributors.

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