Mig 27 BOC3(T)

[Modelling_Mushi]

Hello everyone

Been away for a while, back now and bashing plastic.

Latest project just started is based on the Academy Mig 27 in 1/72 scale. This was a kit I was not going to make, having just finished one and being 1/2 way through its sister Mig 23 and getting thoroughly sick and tired of shocking shoulder joins. Had an idea for this one along the following lines.

Going to assume that the perestroika period did not end in the fall of the Berlin wall, but instead a crack down on east Berliners trying to defect and a tightening of communist rule in eastern Bloc. Gorbachev was overthrown by hard liners once he relaxed travel restrictions for Soviet citizens, the east German 'incident' being the last straw.Accompanied by a tightened embargo by the west in response to the "Berlin Massacre" (as it became known) and a more isolationist and paranoid outlook, the USSR was and cut off from Western technologies, forcing them to adapt and change existing hardware, systems and technology.

A backlash developed in east and west German citizenry as a reaction against both Soviet heavy handedness in shooting an estimated ten thousand east Berliners crashing through checkpoints and trying to breach the wall, and against NATO for launching a limited conventional strike against Checkpoint Charlie areas along the wall that were breached killing over five thousand west Berliners and East German troops. This culminated in East and West Germany re-uniting almost overnight and adopted a radically neutral stance to both NATO and Warpac. Only the immediate commitment of former West German military assets to the East German border, and the USSR's preoccupation in crushing a wide spread uprising in Chechnya and the Baltic States, prevented the USSR occupying the newly formed German Republic..

In the next few years the USSR, long critical of the first generation of VTOL aircraft in the west, viewed the advent of the AV8B family with shock, forcing them to re-assess the usefulness of VTOL. This led to a directive to both Sukhoi and Mig to produce an equivalent aircraft. The Sukhoi design, brand new from the ground up was rejected, with the Mig bureau's decision to re-vamp the Mig 27 being accepted and rushed into production. Once in volume production the Mig design was adopted not only by Warpac forces, but also by the now neutral German Republic. Designed as a high speed, maneuverable, ultra low level strike aircraft it retained the sturdiness of earlier Mig designs and, due to the new power plants, had a greater range / payload profile than the Mig 27 it was based on.

The Soviet designation for the VTOL Mig is Mig 27 BOC3(T) [in Russian "Mig 27 вертикальный оружие система забастовка (тактический)", in English "Mig 27 vertical weapons system strike (tactical)"]. The changes from the standard Mig 27 include:

- 2 new engines with forward plenum chamber burning and rear 2 D vectoring exhausts to replace the current single power plant;
- widened rear fuselage, air intakes and re-positioned main gear to accommodate the same;
- deletion of over and under fins, replaced with twin canted forward positioned fins;
- retention of swing wings with forward canards added for low level maneuverability
- addition of blower stabilisers and outrigger landing gear;
- adoption of a synthetic aperture passive radar system allowing ranging and detection of any emitting source up to 250 kms range;
- mounting of AA defence systems [flares and chaff] on rear fuselage;
- movement of stores stations from the fuselage to the wings; and
- terrain following laser guidance system.

So far I have managed to just place the spacers in the rear fuselage sections, next comes the relocation of the undercarriage and reshaping of intakes. Progress photo below, you can see the plasticard in white at the rear. Colours will be (at this stage) German Marine grey/grey, the same as the F-104s and early years Tornado IDS were.

Ciao

Mass

[srkirad]

list of changes to the origin kit looks pretty impressive and promises a good evolution of this MiG

looking forward to see some new progress!

[Modelling_Mushi]

 OK, done a little bit of work on it over the past week or so, WIP photos below. I've taped the bits together to make it a bit easier to see.

First shot here shows the front on width of the reworked intakes, they are an extra 5mm wide each side. Spacers and inside skinned with 5 thou plasticard, once finished compressor faces will be visible down each. You can see the filled slot fot the vertical tail (she will have twin fins) and the V shaped fillet to give her a wider rear end. Just poking out from the wing gloves is one of the forward vectoring nozzles.



Underside shot you can see how the intakes protrude, and you can see the forward vectoring nozzles blu tacked in place. The intakes will come back to these, at the same distance from the fuse. You can also see the wheel wells filled adn the new, single main wheel bay that has been cut into the underside. You can also see the new V shaped insert in the rear that now allows a twin engined layout to be made, and the horizontal cut and fillet that was needed to modify the back end of the fuse.



In this final shot you can see the scratch built and modified bits (at this stage) laid out.



From front anti clockwise you have the four twin ring formers for the jet efflux and vectoring nozzles; two scratch built compressor faces; reworked air intakes; scratch built forward vectoring nozzles; and a modified forward looking TV scanner.

More to come later on. Ciao

Mass

[Taiidantomcat]

You are a Machine!!  ...and yet you have incredible imagination 

[ChernayaAkula]

This looks very promising!

[Weaver]

Excellent project and some really impressive scratchbuilding there! 

May I make a suggestion?

Why not replace the fin AND the tailplanes with a butterfly tail? That would remove the problem of side-nozzle-wash turbulence over the tailplanes that dogs the Harrier, and it wouldn't compromise pitch maneuverability because you're going to have canards anyway.....

Just my twopenn'th.......

[ysi_maniac]

Excellent project and some really impressive scratchbuilding there! 

Absolutely agreed!!

[John Howling Mouse]

Watching, drooling, and more watching...   

[Captain Canada]

Ya, what Baz said ! Looking great so far !

[Modelling_Mushi]

May I make a suggestion . . . Why not replace the fin AND the tailplanes with a butterfly tail . . .

Hadn't thought of that at all, was going to fill the gap between the tailplanes and swept back mains with twin vertical surfaces, same as an F-15, however . . . I made the "mistake" of seeing how a butterfly tail (canted tails at 45 degrees right at the rear) would look, and I gotta tell you Weaver, that was a good idea you had  so it's now butterfly with canards.

Thanks for the comments guys, hopefully more progress in a week or so

[Weaver]

May I make a suggestion . . . Why not replace the fin AND the tailplanes with a butterfly tail . . .

Hadn't thought of that at all, was going to fill the gap between the tailplanes and swept back mains with twin vertical surfaces, same as an F-15, however . . . I made the "mistake" of seeing how a butterfly tail (canted tails at 45 degrees right at the rear) would look, and I gotta tell you Weaver, that was a good idea you had  so it's now butterfly with canards.

Thanks for the comments guys, hopefully more progress in a week or so

You're welcome. There have been various proposals to put V-tails on Harrier developments, both for the reasons I gave and simply to save weight.

[Cobra]

Great Work Can't wait to see More. btw, have You Decided on Paint & Decals for Your Plane Yet? just asking because i Think it would look good with a Shark's Mouth on it!!!!!! stay Cool Dan

[Joe C-P]

Then the Soviet Navy would have to finish the Varyag, and therefore have an useful fleet of two large STOL/STOVL and 2 VTOL carriers, all armed with ASMs as well. That's as powerful as any navy but the USN. And this aircraft is much more useful than the YaKs. Therefore, I like it! 

[Modelling_Mushi]

Gday all

A bit more progress has been made, I have managed to get the basic fuselage shell together, and get the intakes to sit properly with the compressor faces. I've added some ECM / Sensor bits to the tails, and sorted out the canards. Most time has been spent on the rear 2D vectoring nozzles. I had a think about external hydraulic rams, electric actuated tracks, even cogs etc like the Tornado. I've settled on a 3 tiered petal system that has hidden electric actuators, with each layer lying inside each other, then extending and rotating as needed. What it meant build wise was gluing the 4 co-joined rings together in a series of angled joins and then cladding the outermost two with 1mm wide strips, the next one outwards with 2mm strips, then the final coupling with 3mm strips. A tedious job but it looks like I want and should look better when painted up.

I've taped and blu tacked her up as follows:

This first shot shows the site of the rear efflux and the weapons fit. I'm still tossing up putting on a 3rd stores station on each wing with an unguided rocket pod on each. I've used the kits drop tanks and stolen 2 harpoons that I have to make some slight changes to.



The next shot shows the side underside view. This gives you another view of the rear efflux (hope the description of the petals makes sense) and also a look at how the forward nozzles and intakes sit. I need to bridge the gap from the extended intakes to these nozzles with card. Just behind the forward undercart bay you can see the AA defence missile fit, 2 semi recessed IR homing missiles. You can also see the laser TFR / TV target acquisition pod under the nose, lifted from an F14 kit.



This next shot from behind and above shows the butterfly style tail (thanks Weaver) and the drooped rear efflux.



This one from the front shows the canards and general layout. I've built 3 Academy / Italeri Mig 23/27 kits so far, and this one did not have the huge step between the main fuselage and the forward part, moulded separately. A pleasant surprise.



And finally an obligatory head on shot showing the compressors, canards, and weapons fit.



Next stage is to fit the intakes and extend them back to the vectoring nozzles. After that the rear boat tail.

I'm still of a mind to do her up in Luftwaffe (Modern) Marine colours. The outriggers have gone out the window, I'm going to do F-111 style splayed undercart from the central bay.

Ciao

Mass

[GTX]