Bolkhovitinov I-1 2M-107

[McGreig]

Working on the Unicraft Gudkov Gu-VRD for this Group Build reminded me of another Unicraft kit that I had started and then abandoned several years ago. This seems to be a good time and place to resurrect it.

The Bolkhovitinov S was an interesting, late Thirties design for a fast light bomber.  To combine high speed with good aerodynamics, its two M-103 engines were installed in tandem in the fuselage nose, driving two contra-rotating, coaxial, three-blade propellers. The S had a distinctive look, with a long fuselage nose, rear cockpit position, double tail fins and relatively short span wings. Detail design of the aircraft began in 1937with construction in 1938 and first flight in 1939.



Depending on which source you believe either: (1) one prototype was built which suffered constant engine problems and eventually had the rear engine removed, continuing testing on one engine until the project was abandoned in 1941 or, (2), two prototypes were built, the first having only the front engine and being intended for initial flight tests only with the second, fully armed, prototype being tested in summer 1940 and showing lower range and speed than expected, leading to the abandonment of the project. Oddly, this picture of the single engine version appears to have had the front engine removed:



With regard to the kit, you have the normal Unicraft problems of brittle resin and very poor fit. However, the Unicraft S also completely omits the observer's large, square windows on either side of the fuselage and the similar ventral bomb-aiming window and the thickness of Unicraft's resin makes adding these virtually impossible.

I considered building a notional production machine, which could plausibly have done away with at least the side windows, and representing the bomb aimer's window with paint or decals. But then much better kits were issued (of both single and twin engined versions) by, firstly RV Resins and, secondly, Planet Models (I now have considerably more copies of the S than the Soviet Air Force ever did!).



Looking around for something to do with my now redundant Unicraft kit, I came across a description (in Bill Gunston's "Encyclopedia of Russian Aircraft 1875-1995") of the Bolkhovitinov I-1 2M-107, which was, essentially, a projected single seat fighter version of the S.

This seemed ideal and I started work on the conversion, using plastic card to cover the rear cockpit opening. Unfortunately, I then came across a three view drawing of the I-1 2M-107. My vision of the I-1 was essentially of an S with an La-7/Yak-9 style canopy and no observer's cockpit or fuselage windows, but otherwise unchanged. However, the actual I-1 project had a single fin and rudder in place of the twin fins and the canopy was faired into the rear fuselage and fin rather like a Yak-7 or Hurricane.



Now, on the one hand, I thought that the actual I-1 proposal lost a lot of its appeal without the twin fins and I couldn't come up with an easy way of producing the canopy and fairing (which is quite deep and long). However, on the other hand, I like my "what ifs" to have at least one foot in reality and, if the actual I-1 project had a single fin and a faired canopy, then my model should probably have one too.

In the end, I couldn't make my mind up, my enthusiasm ran out and the project went into storage.

Looking at it several years later, I can't see what my problem was. The production versions of the Il-2, Pe-2 and Tu-2 were substantially different from the project drawings (and prototypes) and, if the S had gone into production it is likely that any single seat derivative would have been done on a minimum change basis, in which case the La-7 style canopy and retention of the twin fins doesn't seem unreasonable.

So, back to the work bench. As you can see, I haven't got that far – the rear fuselage has been plated over, the tail planes fixed to the rear fuselage, the outer wings joined to the centre section and a circular plastic card backing plate has been added to the nose to act as a base for the propellers (and, of course, this has involved a lot of filling and sanding!).



The next stage will be to add cockpit details and then fix the wing to the fuselage (which will lead to even more filling and sanding, judging by the test fits).

[Captain Canada]

Nice ! That's the first time I've seen / heard of that thing...pretty neat !

[NARSES2]

I've got that kit, so interested to see what you are doing with it.

Must admit it's a typical Unicraft box. Good artwork to entice you to buy it and then you open it 

[Father Ennis]

Very Kool !!!

[Dizzyfugu]

  Worthy entry!

[PR19_Kit]

Oddly, this picture of the single engine version appears to have had the front engine removed:

And the wheels too! Unless it has skis that are hidden in the snow.

A cracking idea nonetheless, looking forward to seeing how the model progresses. 

[Mossie]

Spartak is a very interesting machine, it'll look ggod as a single seater.  I've sometimes wondered about using the same approach to produce a two engined Battle.

[McGreig]

Well, some progress has been made while waiting for the Gu-VRD canopy sealing to cure.

I have added a cockpit floor and assembled all the main components:





As expected, there were considerable gaps to be filled. Rather unexpectedly, I had to snap off the starboard wing and reset it - it looked OK when the three part wing was still a separate sub assembly, but, when the wing was attached to the fuselage the starboard dihedral was much too great. However, I think that we'll have to put that one down to me, not Unicraft 



Also, the filler requirement is not quite so bad as the photos suggest. I paint over all model fillers with thick white paint, as I find that this helps achieve a smooth finish when sanding, especially where the edge of the filler has to be smoothed into a flat plastic surface. However, in the photos, this technique makes it look as though I'd used twice as much filler as was actually needed (For those interested, I use a tin of Humbrol matt white which has been allowed to sit and then had the oil poured off).

And the wheels too! Unless it has skis that are hidden in the snow.

A good point. I looked at my Planet Models kit of the single engine version and it is modelled with the front engine removed and with a ski undercarriage. So I suppose that the skis in the photo are under the snow  rather than in the more conventional and slightly more useful on-the-surface position 

[Gondor]

They could have been in a rut or there could be more snow hight wise between the aircraft and the camera.

Gondor

[Captain Canada]

Looking good ! The tails and blue plastic make me think PBJ....

[kitbasher]

F+W C-3605 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/F%2BW_C-3605) in disguise?

Ooh, ooh, paint it in Swiss colours as JMN bait!