R-23

The Vympel R-23 (NATO reporting name AA-7 Apex) is a medium-range air-to-air missile developed by the Soviet Union for fighter aircraft MiG-23. Several air kills have been recorded with this missile. One of Eduard’s latest release is this missile as Brassin product.

Product with stock item 648088 presents the R-23 missile in 1/48 scale. Packed in a nice black box, inside is resin parts for two R-23 missile with pylons. There is also a small sheet with etched parts as well as a small decal sheet. Quality of the molds is top and details are outstanding! Parts are very easy to remove from the mold base and after that you need to sand its bottom a bit. Main work on missile body includes attaching four front stabilizers and four rear stabilizers on missile body. On the body is included a base slot to insert stabilizers and I have never seen before such a precise element match as on this kit. Parts fit is so good  that they stand in slot without cement. Off course, it is better to fix it.

Etched parts ring need to be place at the missile body bottom and after that parts have to be painted. Main paint is white. After that as final work on the same missile you need to place optional etched belt with red plates.

The pylon is also simple to use, just remove it from mold base and it is ready for painting. The painting present a bit problem so please refer to the kit you will plan to do before painting it. The reason is that there are many variations of external finish of this pylon. Also, decal sheet is very rich with service labels but the other problem is that not every pylon have them, almost all images I have seen present it blank of any letters.

Eduard did a perfect job on this missiles and provide very accurate products. Only problem is on which kit to place it asl not every MiG-23 in 1/48 scale is correct and pylons simply would not fit. But this does not reduce value of the Eduard product which is excellent and I warmly recommend it! Direct order is possible to have here!

Thanks to Eduard for sample product!

Srecko Bradic