COBI Lim-5 ( MiG-17F ) East Germany Air Force Set 5825

COBI's Lim-5 (MiG-17F) East German Air Force is a 1:32 model built from 575 blocks, 36 cm long, in East German camouflage reproduced in brick colours. The wheels move, the canopy opens for the German pilot figure, and a display stand with a nameplate and national marking is included. All markings are printed; no stickers.

A Soviet design, built in Poland, flown by East Germany

The Lim-5 is a MiG-17F, built under licence by WSK-Mielec in Poland, engine and all — the WK-1F was made under licence too. Lim stands for Licencyjny Myśliwiec, licensed fighter.

Poland then exported them. 120 Lim-5s and 40 Lim-5Ps went to the German Democratic Republic, and East Germany went on ordering Polish parts for repairs and modifications for years afterwards. They served in the East German air force from 1958 until 1985.

This is how the Warsaw Pact worked in practice, and it is easy to miss: a Soviet aircraft, manufactured in Poland because Poland had been given the industrial capacity to do it, sold to East Germany, which did not have that capacity. The licence production was as much industrial policy as arms supply — Poland's aviation industry was built by it.

In the COBI range

COBI makes the same family in several markings, including the Lim-1, the Soviet MiG-15 and MiG-17, and the Czechoslovak S-102. Set 2424 is the MiG-17 at this scale in the livery of the aircraft aboard the USS Intrepid.

Specifications

Pieces: 575 · Figures: 1 pilot · Scale: 1:32 · Display stand and nameplate included · No stickers
Model dimensions: 36 × 30 × 11 cm (14.2 × 11.8 × 4.3 in)