Mark I. - Mikoyan-.Gurevich MiG-17PF/PFU Fresco D/E "Soviet All-weather Fighter" - 1:144

Developed from the successful MiG-15 jet in 1949, the MiG-17 constituted a marked improvement in transonic handling over the previous model. Both the clear weather interceptors (the MiG-17 and MiG-17F) and the all-weather fighters (the MiG-17PF and MiG-17PFU) were evolved in the USSR, with the total number reaching 10,500 examples including the licence-built machines in Poland and China.

The MiG-17PF/PFU was a single-seat, radar-equipped all-metal monoplane powered by the afterburning VK-1F engine. Both variants were designed for all-weather interception, while the MiG-17PFU only carried missiles instead of guns.

Except the Soviet Air Force, which was the sole operator of the MiG-17PFU, the MiG-17PFs served at least with ten other air forces worldwide.

Colour schemes included in the kit:

1) MiG-17PFU Fresco E, Red 15, VVS USSR (Soviet Air Force), unknown air base, Soviet Central Asia, late 1950s

2) S-104 (MiG-17PF) Fresco D, Black IW-13, 1st Fighter Regiment (1. slp), Czechoslovak Air Force (vojenské letectvo ČSLA), České Budějovice Air Base, 1956

3) MiG-17PF Fresco D, Red 401, 50th Fighter Regiment (50. HVE), Hungarian Air Force (Magyar Honvedseg Repülö Csapatai), Taszár Air Base, late 1950s

4) MiG-17PF Fresco D, Air Defence Air Regiment, United Arab Republic (Egypt) Air Force, unknown air base, during the Six Day War, June 1967