The Shenyang F-6 is really nothing more than a Chinese copy of the Mig-19. If you recall, there was a time in the early 1960s that the Soviets and China were less than buddies. However, before that time, the Chinese obtained a license to build the Mig-19 at the Shenyang plant (hence it is called the Shenyang J-6/F-6). Early Chinese planes were very poorly done and a major reorganization was done to improve quality. These new planes proved to be quite reliable and a pretty good deal for those who were not opposed to purchasing the planes. In fact, the Chinese offered them at a fraction of what Soviet or Western aircraft would cost.

The major difference between the J-6 and F-6 is that the F-6 is the export version. These planes were not always equipped the same as aircraft built for the Chinese Air Force. As an example, the Pakistani F-6s used a lot of Western equipment in them including Martin Baker bang seats, Sidewinder missiles and US avionics systems. Though there are a number of these planes still flying most have been retired in favor of more modern aircraft.

Allow me to take the cheap way out and refer you to the preview of the Mig-19 boxing of this kit for information on what's in the kit itself. This one is basically identical to that kit, with the only real difference being the decal sheet and instruction book. What this review does give me the opportunity to do is to provide a better look at the etched metal fret that is included with the kit. As you can see, it is extremely well done and produced by Eduard, a leader in this line of material.

What I found particularly impressive was the framework that is provided for the inside of the main gear doors. Applying this to the kit plastic will not be the easies thing to do, but since it is not supporting any weight, I'd be using clear paint to attach these and other non-load bearing bits. The paint provides a strong support when dry and gives you some fiddle room to move the parts around that super glue does not allow. It is equally useful to apply the clear instrument section to the back of the instrument panels that are part of the kit.

As usual, HiPM provides a very comprehensive instruction booklet; probably one of the best in the market. About half of it is for painting and decal instructions. Like Matchbox kits of old, all the painting info is provided separate from the construction sequences. What is really impressive is the decal sheet that comes with this kit. While several of the countries have multiple options, you can do any one of seven aircraft. Specifically, two Chinese, two North Vietnamese, two Pakistani and a single Somali example. One Vietnamese plane is in bare metal as is one Chinese plane. The other Chinese aircraft is in a banded camo scheme of cream and dark earth over light blue; the other Vietnamese one has large dark green patches over the bare metal. The Pakistani planes are quite eye-catching as well. One is white overall with black and yellow checkerboard markings while the other is in the four greys camo shown on the box top. The lone Somali plane is in a camo that was seen on several Chinese planes consisting of cream, dark earth and dark green over light sea blue. No paint cross references are given on the sheet, only generic names.

I should mention at this time that there is no Martin Baker ejection seat nor any Sidewinders provided in the kit to do the Pakistani versions. That material will have to come from some other source.

This kit is probably still your best bet for an accurate Mig-19. Apparently the Trumpeter version has fallen way short. What is really nice is that now I can can use some of those Scale Aircraft Modelling Pakistani unit markings that they provided in a decal sheet 20 years ago!

I know there is an In Action book on it somewhere, if only I could find it.

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