DONE +++ MiG-21MF of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria Air Force, 1994

Dizzyfugu · November 08, 2020, 11:32:51 PM

Project #3 on the bench now - a "simple" late MiG-21 of the Russian Air Force, captured and shoehorned into a real-world scenarion that had a lightly different development.
The basis is the new KP kit for the MiG-21MF/MA/R, I had a trio joy pack stashed away some time ago and now is the occasion to build the first of these kits. So far I am very impressed by the kit's details. The cockpit has a full tub, with side walls and consoles up to the canopy, rich detail everywhere (there is probably ANY rivet represented on the surface, finely recessed). There are things like a free-standing shock cone, options for all air brakes to be built in opened position and even an opening for the air outlet in front of the windscreen. However, fit is not stellar, and any surface detail is a separate part. For instance, the small wing fences have to be glued into place - not that problem if they would fit... The fences are rectangular parts, but the wing surfaces are curved - that does not work. You find locator pins on many parts for which there's no hole to put them into. And the worst bummer so far is that the main landing gear wells are somehow located too far ahead, they do not match with the very nice and deep wheel wells in the fuselage - I am not certain how this blatant flaw on such a good and new model could find its way into the mold?

Nevertheless, so far I am impressed by the many details and options of this kit, but feeling are ambiguous.

Some early impressions and interior details:

1:72 Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21bis (Izdeliye 75B; NATO "Fishbed-N"); "02 White Outline" of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria Air Force; Khankala air base, during the 1st Chechen War, December 1994 (What-if/Kovozavody Prostejov Model kit) - WiP by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

Dizzyfugu · November 09, 2020, 11:20:21 PM

Building went straightforward, the kit is basically very similar to the old KP MiG-21, just with some detail improvements. The instructions are crap, though, as well as the fact that the part numbers are not part of the sprues, so that you have to refer to the (rather small) A5 size booklet for every small bit - and search it on the sprues. I also found out that the landing gear well issue is partly mended by the fact that the builder has to add filler plates to the wells (odd construction, I have never seen this solution). But IMHO they are still too far forward in the wings, and too narrow. Something is not right, and the instructions do not help at all due to their small size, abstraction of graphics and clutter. $:-\$

Painting started yesterday evening.

Dizzyfugu · November 11, 2020, 06:06:19 AM

Visual updates from the painting process (and addition of more pics to previous post):

1:72 Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21bis (Izdeliye 75B; NATO "Fishbed-N"); "02 White Outline" of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria Air Force; Khankala air base, during the 1st Chechen War, December 1994 (What-if/Kovozavody Prostejov Model kit) - WiP by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

NARSES2 · November 11, 2020, 06:21:10 AM

Like the scheme

Dizzyfugu · November 11, 2020, 07:02:16 AM

Yes, pretty disruptive and "colorful". It's based on a real Russian MiG-21, I just used slightly different colors.

BTW, here's a simulation of the benchmark aircraft - which actually existed. It's probably resting today in a Swedish museum, waiting for restoration:

This scheme is also an option among one the RV Aircraft kits, and that's where I got the scheme from. Note the switched tones of the pattern.

Dizzyfugu · November 12, 2020, 12:05:17 AM

A live update:

1:72 Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21MF (Izdeliye 75B; NATO "Fishbed-J"); "02 White Outline" of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria Air Force; Khankala air base, during the 1st Chechen War, December 1994 (What-if/Kovozavody Prostejov Model kit) - WiP by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

PR19_Kit · November 12, 2020, 03:29:27 AM

That version of the -21 looks a lot better than the original 'skinny' ones to my mind. And it has a bigger intake as well, doesn't it?

Looking forward to the beauty pics.

Dizzyfugu · November 12, 2020, 04:23:56 AM

Yes, it's a 3rd generation Fishbed (from the early Seventies), the one that introduced the final, bigger intake and the deeper fin.

ChernayaAkula · November 12, 2020, 05:48:27 PM

Nice work! Really like the idea/backstory and the camouflage!

The new KP kit is actually based on the R.V. Aircraft kit, but not a simple reboxing. The original RV kit used some resin (cockpit, front landing gear well,...) and PE (wing fences,....) that were substituted for plastic versions in KP's kit. I must say the plastic parts for the cockpit look pretty decent.
Those wheel wells however do look odd. Did they perhaps get the numbers wrong and have you install the triangular parts (73/74) in the wrong wheel well? I mean, the also have the shell casing ejection chutes on the gun facing the wrong way in the instructions (yours are fine, though

)....
EDIT: Looking at the instructions online and comparing them to a Eduard 21, it seems KP indeed mixed up the numbers. The triangular parts have a shorter and a a longer leg. The shorter leg should rest against the fuselage, the longer should point towards the wingtip. The landing light in the port wing should be further forward and farther out from the fuselage than the starboard landing light. END OF EDIT

If you want to build a really nice Fishbed, do get the Eduard kit. If you don't care for the PE and masks in the Profipack boxings (personally, I love the masks - wonderful timesaver), get the Weekend versions. In the Weekend versions probably still a bit more expensive than a KP Joypack - or most other Mastercraft/KP/... 21s for that matter -, but well worth it. Hasslefree build, superb fit, no filler needed etc. and with time being money and all that....

Quote from: Dizzyfugu on November 12, 2020, 04:23:56 AM
Yes, it's a 3rd generation Fishbed (from the early Seventies), the one that introduced the final, bigger intake and the deeper fin.

Not... quite.

The bigger intake was introduced in the 2nd generation (PF/PFM) for the larger radar and the basic fuselage (without dorsal tank) continued to be used in the 3rd generation (R/S/M/MF). The 4th generation (bis) had an even bigger intake, albeit just by a few millimetres (on the actual aircraft), but that's frequently overlooked. The bis intake also has a slightly different shape in profile. The curvature of the nose is continuous on the MF, but slightly bulged close to the intake on the bis - an MF stung by a bee, sorta. Eduard didn't care for that difference and has their 1/48 kits use the same intake on all their Fishbeds. But once you know it you can't really unsee it.
The deeper fin was introduced in the middle of the 2nd generation. India had some MiG-21FL (PF) that used both the thinner and deeper fin.
Got to love the mix 'n' match nature of MiG-21s. It's also not helped by the fact that different authors will attribute a version to a different generation.

And that's just the single-seaters!

Quote from: Dizzyfugu on November 12, 2020, 12:05:17 AM
A live update:

1:72 Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21MF (Izdeliye 75B; NATO "Fishbed-J"); "02 White Outline" of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria Air Force; Khankala air base, during the 1st Chechen War, December 1994 (What-if/Kovozavody Prostejov Model kit) - WiP by dizzyfugu, on Flickr <...>

Very effective camouflage!

Dizzyfugu · November 12, 2020, 11:20:43 PM

Finishing touches - almost done.

1:72 Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21MF (Izdeliye 96F; NATO "Fishbed-J"); "02 White Outline/Ӏожалла я маршо" of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria Air Force; Khankala air base, during the 1st Chechen War, December 1994 (What-if/Kovozavody Prostejov Model kit) - WiP by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

The problem with those triangular plates is that they do NOT fit at all. They have spacers(?) on the back which are much too tall, and the (nice) structure inside of the wing opening prevents any good fit. Whatever I tried, nothing worked, and I eventually sanded everything down and tried to glue them into position, since this area is not in direct field of view.

About the 2nd generation Fishbed, you are correct - the PF/PFM introduced a wider opening, but the 3rd generation had again a different opening - wider, and the whole nose was shorter, what became the definitive layout also for the 4th/final versions. That's what I was referring to.

ChernayaAkula · November 13, 2020, 10:36:21 AM

Quote from: Dizzyfugu on November 12, 2020, 11:20:43 PM
<...> The problem with those triangular plates is that they do NOT fit at all. They have spacers(?) on the back which are much too tall, and the (nice) structure inside of the wing opening prevents any good fit. Whatever I tried, nothing worked, and I eventually sanded everything down and tried to glue them into position, since this area is not in direct field of view.

You have the plastic in hand. Do you think they switched the numbers? I can only go by the instructions found online. Not sure switching parts would help the fit, but it could explain why the opening for the landing gear leg where it connects to the fuselage looks too far forward the way it is.

Quote from: Dizzyfugu on November 12, 2020, 11:20:43 PM
About the 2nd generation Fishbed, you are correct - the PF/PFM introduced a wider opening, but the 3rd generation had again a different opening - wider, and the whole nose was shorter, what became the definitive layout also for the 4th/final versions. That's what I was referring to.

The second and third generations share the same basic fuselages (as far as dimensions and outline are concerned). The cylindrical part of the fuselage, so to speak. Only the "bolt-on" parts such as canopy, dorsal tank/fin, ventral strake, AOA sensor,... are different. Which may explain why some authors have, say, the MiG-21R in the second generation, while others include it in the third generation.
The inlet design was changed (larger intake diameter and slightly shorter nose) again only for the bis/4th generation.

Dizzyfugu · November 19, 2020, 12:17:37 AM

Nothing new to show (yet), but I eventually finished the model shooting for the Chechen Fishbed.

Dizzyfugu · November 20, 2020, 01:21:32 AM

After some time, finally finished with presentable beauty pics:

1:72 Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21MF (Izdeliye 96F; NATO "Fishbed-J"); "02 White Outline/Ӏожалла я маршо" of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria Air Force; Khankala air base, during the 1st Chechen War, December 1994 (What-if/Kovozavody Prostejov Model kit) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

Some background:
The First Chechen War (also known as the First Chechen Сampaign, First Russian-Chechen war, or, from Russian point of view, as "Armed conflict in the Chechen Republic and on bordering territories of the Russian Federation"), was a rebellion by the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria against the Russian Federation, fought from December 1994 to August 1996. After the initial campaign of 1994–1995, culminating in the devastating Battle of Grozny, Russian federal forces attempted to seize control of the mountainous area of Chechnya but were set back by Chechen guerrilla warfare and raids on the flatlands despite Russia's overwhelming advantages in firepower, manpower, weaponry, artillery, combat vehicles, airstrikes and air support. The resulting widespread demoralization of federal forces and the almost universal opposition of the Russian public to the conflict led Boris Yeltsin's government to declare a ceasefire with the Chechens in 1996 and sign a peace treaty a year later.

The conflict started in 1991, when Chechnya declared, in the wake of the dissolution of the Soviet Union, independence and was named the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria. According to some sources, from 1991 to 1994, tens of thousands of people of non-Chechen ethnicity (mostly Russians, Ukrainians and Armenians) left the republic amidst reports of violence and discrimination against the non-Chechen population. Other sources do not identify displacement as a significant factor in the events of the period, instead focusing on the deteriorating domestic situation within Chechnya, the aggressive politics of the Chechen President, Dzhokhar Dudayev, and the domestic political ambitions of Russian President Boris Yeltsin

1:72 Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21MF (Izdeliye 96F; NATO "Fishbed-J"); "02 White Outline/Ӏожалла я маршо" of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria Air Force; Khankala air base, during the 1st Chechen War, December 1994 (What-if/Kovozavody Prostejov Model kit) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

1:72 Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21MF (Izdeliye 96F; NATO "Fishbed-J"); "02 White Outline/Ӏожалла я маршо" of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria Air Force; Khankala air base, during the 1st Chechen War, December 1994 (What-if/Kovozavody Prostejov Model kit) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

1:72 Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21MF (Izdeliye 96F; NATO "Fishbed-J"); "02 White Outline/Ӏожалла я маршо" of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria Air Force; Khankala air base, during the 1st Chechen War, December 1994 (What-if/Kovozavody Prostejov Model kit) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

On 11 December 1994, Russian forces launched a three-pronged ground attack towards Grozny. The main attack was temporarily halted by the deputy commander of the Russian Ground Forces, General Eduard Vorobyov, who then resigned in protest, stating that it was "a crime" to "send the army against its own people." Many in the Russian military and government opposed the war as well. Yeltsin's adviser on nationality affairs, Emil Pain, and Russia's Deputy Minister of Defense General Boris Gromov (esteemed commander of the Afghan War), also resigned in protest of the invasion ("It will be a bloodbath, another Afghanistan", Gromov said on television), as did General Boris Poliakov. More than 800 professional soldiers and officers refused to take part in the operation; of these, 83 were convicted by military courts and the rest were discharged. Later General Lev Rokhlin also refused to be decorated as a Hero of the Russian Federation for his part in the war.

The Chechen Air Force (as well as the republic's civilian aircraft fleet) at the time of the 1st Chechen War consisted of a small, mixed fleet of annexed former Soviet air force types that had been based on Chechen ground. The backbone of the "Chechen Republic of Ichkeria Air Force", how it was officially called, were a handful L-39 Albatros, L-29 Delfin and MiG-21UM jet trainers, augmented by single specimen of full-fledged combat aircraft like the MiG-21 and Su-25. Even a single vintage MiG-17, until then used as an instructional airframe, was revived and became part of the Chechen Air Force! However, many of these were not fit for sustained operations due to lack of service, spares, weapons and qualified pilots.

1:72 Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21MF (Izdeliye 96F; NATO "Fishbed-J"); "02 White Outline/Ӏожалла я маршо" of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria Air Force; Khankala air base, during the 1st Chechen War, December 1994 (What-if/Kovozavody Prostejov Model kit) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

1:72 Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21MF (Izdeliye 96F; NATO "Fishbed-J"); "02 White Outline/Ӏожалла я маршо" of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria Air Force; Khankala air base, during the 1st Chechen War, December 1994 (What-if/Kovozavody Prostejov Model kit) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

1:72 Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21MF (Izdeliye 96F; NATO "Fishbed-J"); "02 White Outline/Ӏожалла я маршо" of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria Air Force; Khankala air base, during the 1st Chechen War, December 1994 (What-if/Kovozavody Prostejov Model kit) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

1:72 Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21MF (Izdeliye 96F; NATO "Fishbed-J"); "02 White Outline/Ӏожалла я маршо" of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria Air Force; Khankala air base, during the 1st Chechen War, December 1994 (What-if/Kovozavody Prostejov Model kit) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

The few aircraft that could be brought into the air within the very first hours of the conflict only made minor impression on the Russian forces, rather acting as distractions than being effective combat units. A few air strikes were flown, but no air-to-air combat occurred. Beyond the poor condition, most of the Chechen military aircraft fleet was destroyed or damaged beyond repair in the air strikes that occurred on the first days of the conflict, which included massive attacks against Khankala air base and its infrastructure. Single machines that had been on missions at that time escaped and were able to land on other airfields, but they became unusable within a few days due to the lack of maintenance, fuel and ordnance.

Boris Yeltsin's cabinet's expectations of a quick surgical strike, quickly followed by Chechen capitulation and regime change, were misguided: Russia found itself in a quagmire almost instantly. The morale of the Russian troops, poorly prepared and not understanding why and even where they were being sent, was low from the beginning. Some Russian units resisted the order to advance, and in some cases, the troops sabotaged their own equipment. In Ingushetia, civilian protesters stopped the western column and set 30 military vehicles on fire, while about 70 conscripts deserted their units. Advance of the northern column was halted by the unexpected Chechen resistance at Dolinskoye and the Russian forces suffered their first serious losses. Deeper in Chechnya, a group of 50 Russian paratroopers surrendered to the local Chechen militia after being deployed by helicopters behind enemy lines and then abandoned.

1:72 Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21MF (Izdeliye 96F; NATO "Fishbed-J"); "02 White Outline/Ӏожалла я маршо" of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria Air Force; Khankala air base, during the 1st Chechen War, December 1994 (What-if/Kovozavody Prostejov Model kit) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

1:72 Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21MF (Izdeliye 96F; NATO "Fishbed-J"); "02 White Outline/Ӏожалла я маршо" of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria Air Force; Khankala air base, during the 1st Chechen War, December 1994 (What-if/Kovozavody Prostejov Model kit) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

1:72 Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21MF (Izdeliye 96F; NATO "Fishbed-J"); "02 White Outline/Ӏожалла я маршо" of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria Air Force; Khankala air base, during the 1st Chechen War, December 1994 (What-if/Kovozavody Prostejov Model kit) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

Yeltsin ordered the Russian Army to show restraint, but it was neither prepared nor trained for this. Civilian losses quickly mounted, alienating the Chechen population and raising the hostility that they showed towards the Russian forces, even among those who initially supported the Russians' attempts to unseat Dudayev. Other problems occurred as Yeltsin sent in freshly trained conscripts from neighboring regions rather than regular soldiers. Highly mobile units of Chechen fighters inflicted severe losses on the ill-prepared and demoralized Russian troops. Although the Russian military command ordered to only attack designated targets, due to the lack of training and experience of Russian forces, they attacked random positions instead, turning into carpet bombing and indiscriminate barrages of rocket artillery, and causing enormous casualties among the Chechen and Russian civilian population.
On 29 December, in a rare instance of a Russian outright victory, the Russian airborne forces seized the military airfield next to Grozny and repelled a Chechen armored counterattack in the Battle of Khankala; the next objective was the city itself. With the Russians closing in on the capital, the Chechens began to hastily set up defensive fighting positions and grouped their forces in the city. Russian Army forces were commanded into Grozny in 1994 but, after two years of intense fighting, the Russian troops eventually withdrew from Chechnya under the Khasavyurt Accord. Chechnya preserved its de facto independence until the second war broke out in 1999.

1:72 Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21MF (Izdeliye 96F; NATO "Fishbed-J"); "02 White Outline/Ӏожалла я маршо" of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria Air Force; Khankala air base, during the 1st Chechen War, December 1994 (What-if/Kovozavody Prostejov Model kit) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

1:72 Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21MF (Izdeliye 96F; NATO "Fishbed-J"); "02 White Outline/Ӏожалла я маршо" of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria Air Force; Khankala air base, during the 1st Chechen War, December 1994 (What-if/Kovozavody Prostejov Model kit) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

1:72 Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21MF (Izdeliye 96F; NATO "Fishbed-J"); "02 White Outline/Ӏожалла я маршо" of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria Air Force; Khankala air base, during the 1st Chechen War, December 1994 (What-if/Kovozavody Prostejov Model kit) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

1:72 Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21MF (Izdeliye 96F; NATO "Fishbed-J"); "02 White Outline/Ӏожалла я маршо" of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria Air Force; Khankala air base, during the 1st Chechen War, December 1994 (What-if/Kovozavody Prostejov Model kit) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

General characteristics:
Crew: 1
Length: 15.76 m (51 ft 7½ in) incl. pitot
Wingspan: 7.15 m (23 ft 6 in)
Height: 4.13 m (13 ft 6½ in)
Wing area: 23.0 m² (247.3 ft²)
Empty weight: 5,843 kg (12,870 lb)
Gross weight: 8,200 kg (18,060 lb)
Max. TOW: 9,400 kg (20,700 lb)

Powerplant:
1× Tumansky R-13-300 turbojet, rated at 40,30 kN (9,040 lbf) dry thrust
and 60,70 kN (13,650 lbf) with afterburner

Performance:
Maximum speed: 2,230 km/h (1,385 mph/1,205 kts) at 11.000 m
1,300 km/h (807 mph/702 kts) at sea level
Cruising speed: 1,200 km/h (745 mph/650 kts)
Landing speed: 350 km/h (217 mph/190 kts)
Range: (internal fuel) 1,210 km (751 miles)
Combat radius with two AAMs and three drop tanks: 465 ml (750 km)
Service ceiling: 19,000 m (62,200 ft)
Rate of climb: 180 m/s (35,375 ft/min)
Thrust-to-weight ratio: 1.03 maximum

Armament:
1x internal 23 mm GSh-23 cannon with 200 rounds
5x hardpoints for a wide range of ordnance of up to 2.870 lb (1.300 kg)

1:72 Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21MF (Izdeliye 96F; NATO "Fishbed-J"); "02 White Outline/Ӏожалла я маршо" of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria Air Force; Khankala air base, during the 1st Chechen War, December 1994 (What-if/Kovozavody Prostejov Model kit) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

1:72 Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21MF (Izdeliye 96F; NATO "Fishbed-J"); "02 White Outline/Ӏожалла я маршо" of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria Air Force; Khankala air base, during the 1st Chechen War, December 1994 (What-if/Kovozavody Prostejov Model kit) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

A relatively simple whif project, but I like the exotic touch of the Chechen markings – this fictional Fishbed looks pretty believable. I also like the "colorful" livery, despite being a camouflage scheme. However, I am not 100% sold on the relatively new KP/RV Aircraft kit. It looked so good in the box, and it is full of many minute details. But building it revealed some weaknesses and even lethal flaws, like the mispositioned/crippled main landing gear wells in the wings. There's something fundamentally wrong. WTF?

PR19_Kit · November 20, 2020, 01:47:24 AM

That's really splendid Thomas, and the camo works a treat.

I LOVE the worn slogan on the cockpit side especially.

Welcome to the 'Don't they EVER test build these things?' Club...... $:-\$

zenrat · November 20, 2020, 02:44:22 AM

Can't go wrong with a MiG 21.
Good job Dizz.