Cheranovsky BICh-17

Mossie · February 20, 2014, 07:32:09 AM

Another Unicraft kit... dum, de dum dum....

Started a thread so I can stop hijacking McGrieg's build. Mine will be the Cheranovsky BICh-17, which I picked up cheaply from Mike McEvoy at the Huddersfield show last weekend.

I've been very fond of Cheranovsky aircraft ever since I first saw some of them in Soviet X-Planes by Yefim Gordon. Tailless aircraft where mostly his thing, starting with a parabolic planform and later investigating deltas, he was very much at the forefront of this research. From what I can gather, most of his aircraft flew well.

The BICh-17 was typical of his early projects, it had a parabolic wing, no horizontal tail surfaces and the rudder faired into the cockpit. Apart from the unusual wing and tailless layout, another unusual feature was a pair of APK 80mm recoilless rifles were mounted in the wings. This seems to have at least contributed to the cancellation of the BICh-17, as Leonid Kurchevsky (designer of the APK guns) was arrested in one of Stalin's purges. The aircraft was 60% complete when cancelled.

I've started by cleaning up the parts and it doesn't look too bad. The fuselage fits reasonably well, there's a large gap on the underside but I've seen worse. I thought the rudder fairing might need some building up, but it's fine after clean up. Wings are going to take some persuasion to fit well. Rudder fits nicely. Due to the brittle resin, I managed to crack a tiny rudder hinge and one of the separate control surfaces, I might have to replace these with plastic card.

NARSES2 · February 20, 2014, 07:33:53 AM

Looking forward to this mate

McGreig · February 20, 2014, 08:49:14 AM

I'm pleased to see that you've decided to start this.

Quote from: Mossie on February 20, 2014, 07:32:09 AM
I've started by cleaning up the parts and it doesn't look too bad. The fuselage fits reasonably well, there's a large gap on the underside but I've seen worse.

And you're right - once you get started, a lot of Unicraft kits aren't really too bad - they just need patience (and filler

). I may complain about the fit, but nobody reading the Gu-VRD thread could really think that it's that difficult a kit.

Looking forward to seeing this take shape.

Captain Canada · February 20, 2014, 10:35:32 AM

Oh yeah....that is such a neat looking bird ! This is gonna be very interesting !

kerick · February 20, 2014, 10:40:17 AM

Looks like a Russian version of the Batplane!!
From the nomenclature I first thought it was a comment about the kit quality.

Doc Yo · February 20, 2014, 10:54:06 AM

This should be worth watching - I like the BIch, especially the big RCLs in the wings...I gather there were a fair number of Russian prototypes in
the early 'thirties that carried them.

Mossie · February 20, 2014, 01:30:07 PM

Cheers guys.

Quote from: McGreig on February 20, 2014, 08:49:14 AM
I'm pleased to see that you've decided to start this.

Quote from: Mossie on February 20, 2014, 07:32:09 AM
I've started by cleaning up the parts and it doesn't look too bad. The fuselage fits reasonably well, there's a large gap on the underside but I've seen worse.

And you're right - once you get started, a lot of Unicraft kits aren't really too bad - they just need patience (and filler ). I may complain about the fit, but nobody reading the Gu-VRD thread could really think that it's that difficult a kit.

Looking forward to seeing this take shape.

I think if I hadn't started this one straight away I'd have constantly picked up and put it down again. I nearly didn't buy it, I kept convincing myself it would be too much like hard work, then thought at a fiver, why not?

One thing I've noticed is that the cowling is a bit too long. It was supposed to be packing an M22 like the I-15, but looks more like it's fitted with something like a M25. Not a problem as the thing never flew, I can always say it was a developed variant. Might do something about it, might not.

Quote from: kerick on February 20, 2014, 10:40:17 AM
Looks like a Russian version of the Batplane!!
From the nomenclature I first thought it was a comment about the kit quality.

One of the guys at the show started humming the theme tune when I showed him what I'd bought!

Quote from: Doc Yo on February 20, 2014, 10:54:06 AM
This should be worth watching - I like the BIch, especially the big RCLs in the wings...I gather there were a fair number of Russian prototypes in
the early 'thirties that carried them.

While researching this build, I found a link on the APK guns flown on aircraft, some interesting types:
http://ram-home.com/ram-old/gun-drp.html

NARSES2 · February 21, 2014, 06:30:18 AM

Quote from: Doc Yo on February 20, 2014, 10:54:06 AM
This should be worth watching - I like the BIch, especially the big RCLs in the wings...I gather there were a fair number of Russian prototypes in
the early 'thirties that carried them.

Yup and Unicraft do a couple of them. It was an interesting concept, especially for the time

Mossie · February 21, 2014, 08:25:51 AM

Didn't get much done last night, got hung up on a minor part. The cockpit floorpan is too large by far and needs trimming down heavilly. I was pretty tired and just doing this little bit took me ages, trim-sand-dry fit, repeat.

I was trying to decide wether to trim the engine or not, still not decided on that one. I think a Hannants order is on the cards, I might add a few extra details and I've got an idea for markings, same with a difference.

Father Ennis · February 21, 2014, 11:38:00 AM

I like this designer's aircraft and I been thinking of getting this one. I'm so very glad you are building these kits. He does have some very strange and interesting kits and I'm not even an aircraft modeler. I can't wait to see more from you and Unicraft !!!

Mossie · February 24, 2014, 02:46:48 AM

Thanks Father! I only have one other Unicraft kit in the stash which I half started and dropped as it's a bit rough. I've got to admit, quality versus price puts me off buying more, I only bought this one as it was a bargain. I thought about buying a Mig-8 Utka for some time, for once, procrastination has worked out for me as Prop and Jet have released a much better quality kit of this quirky little trainer/GA aircraft. Might just pick one up for this GB, although I've got to many ideas!

A bit further on, some paint on the internal bits so I should be able to get the fuselage halves together tonight. I'm a bit further on sorting out the engine dilema. The kit one represents a M-25 (licence built Wright Cyclone), the protoype would have been powered by a M-22 (licence built Bristol Jupiter). I don't have one, but I do have a Perseus from the Matchbox Lysander. The Perseus was a development of the Jupiter, the cylinders are more bulky but it should do.

I've sawn off part of the protuberance so it better represents the M-22/Jupiter, I've then got to somehow force it to fit as it's a little bit bigger than the Unicraft part. I'll trim the cowling to look more like the verson in the period image above.

Mossie · February 25, 2014, 07:18:37 AM

Started to trim down the Perseus. I've attacked it from the back to try and preserve to cylinder tops as it doesn't quite fit into the space. Getting there, but it's taking longer than I thought.

I might actually have got the engine finished, except I had a

moment. I was painting a few parts and shook the pot to mix it. It slipped out of my hands, flew across the room and landed on the rug. Of course, three things happened to maximise damage; the lid popped open, it mostly went over the lightest coloured portion of the rug and it just had to be bl**dy black paint didn't it??? Finally cleaned it up over an hour later. Oh, some splashed onto the fire surround and got into the grain and wouldn't come out no matter how much I scrubbed, SWMBO wasn't impressed.