A great picture of an Iraqi MiG-23BN taken during Baghdad Air Show 1989 (March 31st) while hostilities of the Iran-Iraq War were still ongoing and only one year and half before the begining of the Gulf War. There are numerous available photographs of this machine taken during this event.
The 5-digit serial numbers were adopted after 1988, as in the case of this number 23173.
Note the multitude of stencils still visible on this machine delivered to Iraq together with the replacement batch of 1982.
The small elongated fairings below the cockpit are housing the SPS-141 ECM system, which was included only with the batch of 1982. This system together with other features were "forgotten" by the Soviets from the first batch of the 1976, although Iraq explicitely asked and paid for them.
The KP kit of the MiG-23BN is only a less succesful copy of the original RV Aircraft kit. The RV aircraft kit includes a good quality resin exhaust pipe and somewhat better casted plastic parts.
I found this nice and relatively cheap detail set from Karaya with control surfaces. These parts should be an eye catcher with the wings swept forward.
And the content. The resin parts are almost copies of the styrene parts in terms of details (see for example the comparison to the plastic wing), so there should be no new compatibility issues, apart from the already known ones.
The vertical tail from the kit includes the large (and unfortunately very flat) rudder hinge, known to have been used only later starting from the MF version. You can see the difference in the two resin ruders. For the MiG-23BN, the small, simple hinge was installed. Can you guess which one I actually installed first without checking?
The very end of the fuselage is here an oval, instead of round, a known problem of this kit. The circular exhaust cannot possible fit without extensive sanding of the fuselage side
And the unlimited fun goes one with the air intakes.
As I mentioned for a previous project (an MF version), there are transparent parts included in the kit for the taxing lights, but there are no corresponding holes beneath the air intakes, just a circular contour for where they should be.
The drilling starts with bits of different sizes and continues with a circular sanding stick. By using one of these, the hole will stay perfectly circular and you have more control with respect to the final diameter.
And now it's starting to look more like a MiG-23. There are still gaps and steps between the air intakes and the rest of the body, but nothing compares to what's coming next. 🙂
Next up is the missing wing leading edge part above the air intakes, which is by far the worst area of this kit. I can barely wait the fun that comes with it.
The leading edge slats were unfortunately warped and had to be corrected first. The flaps and ailerons were not wide enough, leaving a too large gap between each other. Half of them required a small extension from a styrene sheet.
The fuselage area just behind the wing's trailing edge was very ugly for the configuration of fully forward swept wings. So I did some own minor additions.
The rudder and elevator have several air bubbles (you can see them in light), but the outer surfaces are perfect.
The MiG-23BN had some unususl bomb racks im this area. They are included in the original RV Aircraft kit as resin parts, but since they are so sensitive, they should be added only at the end.
Unfortunately, the beautiful resin engine is included ONLY with the original RV Aircraft kit. You will only get a blump of plastic for an engine with the KP copy of the MiG-23BN.
A first primer layer. Finally a more clean view from the previous mess, but more defects are visible, which I couldn't see before (such as the wing's leading edge)
Since we're talking lately again about scribing, I would like to show you the tool I'm using for irregular surfaces.
For such contours, I'm using some tape used for insulating electrical cables. It's elastic enough to take the shape of the model, but with stiff enough edges for gentle scribing. It also has sufficient adhesion for one or two uses and does not leave glue marks.
I'm using the previously shown tool with very, very little pressure and it takes maybe 20-30 runs before the line is nicely defined. No need to adjust the tool's angle that much.
Another example of irregular surface rescribed with the same method.
Tape applied, where the new panel line should land. Then apply little pressure and numerous runs with this sharp tool.
The wheels from the kit are notoriously bad, so I opted again for resin ones, this time from Armory. Although far better, I am just a bit unhappy by the very soft detail on the tires. The details might be "in scale" and realistic, but too soft to be highlighted or visible later.
The national insignia was applied on the wings in an unusual position, much closer to the fuselage than to the wing tip. This photograph of a derelict Iraqi MiG-23ML taken by the US troops in 2003 reveals the exact insignia position on the upper surfaces of the wing. The question that arises is if this applies also to the the earlier Iraqi MiG-23 versions.
Unfortunately, there are extremely few images of any Iraqi MiG-23 from the second half of the 1980s, especially with the new batches of additional MiG-23s.
Several blury photograps published in "Wings of Iraq, Volume 2" and "MiG-23 Flogger in the Middle East" by T. Cooper et al. are showing the lower wing surfaces of some Iraqi MiG-23 from the late 1970s and early 1980s, where a similar insignia position can be distinguished.
In the upper picture, the itsy-bitsy door can be seen fixed under the main landing gear strut with itsy-bitsy rods. Luckily, the old RV Aircraft kit included PEs for this small structure, seen here in the PE set as part #4. It's now impossible to have that cable going through those minuscule rods like in the real structure, since in my case the cable is already firmly attached to the landing gear struts.
And the circus continues. The model is 98% finished, so it was the canopy's turn. I accidently noticed the MiG-23BN is the only version that didn't have that meridional canopy frame. There is no such canopy included in the RV Aircraft kit, only the generic one for the MF/ML/MLD versions which includes the meridional frame.
The dilemma was if to sand down that middle frame or just try to adapt a canopy from a MiG-21MF. Unfortunately, the MiG-21's canopy is much narrower and cannot be adapted to the MiG-23.
So I had a look at what MiG-23 kit offers any similar canopy without that middle frame. I found the venerable Hasegawa MiG-27 for only 10€. Basically I bought it only for the canopy...
And I got lucky that that the crystal clear canopy of a kit older than me generally fits in size to the canopy from RV Aircraft. And the middle frame is not there, as expected.
There will be many of these FAB-100 bombs under the wings. I initially tried the plastic ones from the Eduard MiG-21 kit. Their quality is more or less the maximum you can get with the styrene injection molding technique. The rear part with the fins looks okish, but I wanted more this time. Sure, one can say that those thin fins could have been replaced with thinner styrene sheets, but the ring at the rear end is a bit more complex to replace....and then this has to be done eight of times.
So I went with the resin ones, also from Eduard. Major difference.
The rear fuselage pylons will get two FAB-250M-56. Again I tried with some left overs from a Su-20 from Modelsvit, to which I added the fins of a different version of the FAB-250 from the Eduard MiG-21. It just didn't look good enough, so here again the resin parts are far better.
And the resin UB-32 launchers, superbly crafted by Eduard. You can't get much better than this in 1:72.
These one will be installed under the fuselage pylons.
So the canopy issue is mostly solved and we have a winner: the Hasegawa canopy. Although the two canopies (RV Aircraft - left, Hasegawa - right) differ in shape around the front frame, the Hasegawa canopy is much closer to reality in this respect. Not to mention the that it lacks the meridional frame, which is indeed correct and unique to the MiG-23BN version. Transparency is also far better.
Otherwise, I was used to apply that orange colour for the sealing between canopy glas and canopy frame, as very often applied by the Iraqis after overhauls or maintainance in the late 70s and 80s. I forgot to check the existing photographs of this specific MiG-23, where the sealing appears to be some dark brown (see first pictures of this album). Hopefully I will find the motivation to fix this.
And the bombs painted and sealed for weathering. This is probably the last major step.
Despite the outstanding quality of the FAB-100 and FAB-250M-56 sets from Eduard, there is one slightly annoying aspect. You have the choice between two different fuses and it took me close to an hour to install the eight super tiny fuses to the FAB-100. It took me that long because of my wrong installation strategy. Either the fuses were flying away from the tweezers or the adhesive (CA) was drying too fast, before I was managing to safely grab the fuses and intrall them. There are of course other better ways to do this faster.
After detaching the bombs from their resin base, there was unfortunately more material there to be removed (the middle cross). A very sharp knife did the job well, but some paint around was still slightly damaged. I am not sure that painting them before removing the resin base was the best strategy.
NOTE: of course you shouldn't grab a painted part with a metallic tweezer like I did here.
Łukasz Gliński I was just wondering - the cardboard hangar for this project wouldn't even require painting 😉 It really looks like made of paper on these airshow pics 😄
@ Lukasz: I never noticed the similarity to cardboard, but now thanks to you, I can't unsee it. 😆
@Cuajete: yes, that is the tool. I was looking for it last night, but couldn't find it. Thank you for the link!
@Thomas, I did greatly evolve in that respect since I switched to the Mr. Hobby paints. Since then, I do mostly or only free hand airbrush camo painting. I guess paint quality matters a lot.
@Clement: I know your comment is only 5 months old, but that IFR probe was intriguing to me too and until recently I had no answer to that. It seems that this is the only known documented Iraqi MiG-23 to receive the IFR probe, with a couple of more assumed or rumoured to have received this modification (although there is no evidence for that). I will go as far as assuming the Iraqis retrofitted the IFR probe from their Mirage F1s. Any resemblence is purely "accidental". airliners.net/photo/..age-F1EQ-5/4153627/L
On a side note, two Lybian MiG-23BNs are also known to have received a similar French style probe (with one crashed and lost in 2016): cdn-images-1.medium...gN8E1E-4s0LiiVw.jpeg
Clement It's good to see this one with her colors. Looks like the hardest part is behind you, I hope it will go smoothly until the finish line.
Thanks for the pics and article, very informative stuff.
30 March, 00:53
Nicolas I missed this one. Looks very good so far. I Will follow across the finish line.
Erik Leijdens Great craftmanship along the way Marius! You sure know how to turn this kit into a masterpiece. great work!
5 April, 09:44
Marius Thank you mates, the finish line should be near!
21 April, 05:39
Album info
While initially an independent project based on VVS requirements for a supersonic attack fighter, the decision was taken in 1967 to merge this new design with the Izdeliye-23MS (MiG-23MS). The ensuing aircraft became known as the MiG-23BN (Izdeliye-32-24B), a dedicated ground attack aircraft with its own specific weapons system but which had mostly a common airframe to the MiG-23MS. Nevertheless, the MiG-23BN was a downgraded verson of the "B", which was still considered too sensitive for export. With the first flight in 1971 and high demand for export, the type became wide spread in various Arab Air Forces by the end of the 1970s. Although the MiG-23 did not see a long service in Egypt, the Air Forces of Syria, Iraq, Libya and Algeria operated the MiG-23BN almost two decades.
Wanting to replace the obsolete Hawker Hunters and MiG-17Fs, Iraq placed an order for MiG-23MS and MiG-23BN in early 1973. Contrary to the situation in Syria and Egypt, the Iraqis were deceived and influenced by the Soviets in this decision, which advertised the new MiG-23 as a "single engine F-14". The service introduction of the MiG-23 in the Arab Air Forces is a saga of its own, with the Soviets not delivering any technical documentation whatsoever, while the new foreign pilots undergoing training in the USSR were not taught or shown the aerodynamic limitations of the structure nor they were shown how to use the weapons systems. The Soviets also refused to train the Iraqis in the use of the pre-programmed navigation systems. After Iraq received their first batch of MiG-23MS, the Iraqi pilots could only describe the new aquisition as a "technical catastrophy, ill-fitted to most tasks it was intended to. No wonder the first Iraqi MiG-23MS unit became operational only in 1976. It took long years of experience and reinventing the wheel to bring the availability and reliability of the MiG-23s to an acceptable level. At least 12 MiG-23s of different versions were lost by the IrAF due to accidents by 1978, with Syria having had an even worse record (see MiG-23MLD - Syria - 1989 | Album by Redicus (1:72))
While the first batch received by Iraq in 1974-1975 comprised of only 18 MS and a few UB machines, further deliveries between 1976-1978 introduced also the MiG-23BN to the IrAF service. A total of 36-40 BNs were delivered, later divided in two squadrons (29th Sq. and 49th Sq.). Altough the Iraqis explicitely demanded and paid for the delivery of aircraft equipped with the SPS-141 ECM system and guidance installations for the KH-23M, this batch did not include these systems. Two BNs were already written off from accidents by September 1980.
On the 22 September 1980, Iraq invaded Iran in what was to become the largest and most violent war the world has seen since the end of the Second World War, the Iran-Iraq War (1980-1988). All MiG-23 units were to be actively involved since the very first hours of the conflict. MiG-23BNs have flown more than 60 sorties in the first hours, attacking Iranian Air Bases and air defenses. On the 23 September, two BNs are lost to SAMs and one to an Iranian interceptor. Among the losses was the commander of the No. 29 Sq., a Hawker Hunter veteran of the October 1973 War. Another BN was lost on the 27 September, with the pilot captured and paraded on national TV in Iran. Two more were lost on 16 October to Iranian F-14s and SAMs during another attack on an Iranian Air Base (TFB.4). On the 24 November, a further Iraqi MiG-17 veteran of the October 1973 War was shot down in his MiG-23BN. After safely ejecting, he was captured by Iranian troops, but he never returned.
The IrAF MiG-23BNs continued giving close-air support to the advancing Iraqi units into the Iranian Khuzestan province, suffering two more losses in December 1980. The air strikes against Iranian air bases will cost the IrAF two further BNs shot down during a raid on the TFB.3. Overall, by the end of 1980 the IrAF already lost 11 MiG-23BNs, a third of the entire fleet of this type. Due to a complex political situation between Iraq, Iran and the USSR together, the USSR imposed an arms embargo on Iraq as soon as the Iraqi invasion was underway. This made it impossible for Iraq to replace in 1980 the heavy losses of its MiG-23 fleet altogether.
The beginning of 1981 did not bring better prospects for the Iraqi fighter-bombers, with air hostilities remaining as intense as in the previous months. On 9 January 1981, further two MiG-23BNs are shot down by AIM-54 Phoenix missiles launched by Iranian F-14s.
On the 24 September 1981, Iran launched a large counteroffensive in order to lift the siege of Abadan, leading to very intense air confrontations. The IrAF fighter-bombers suffered heavy losses trying to stop the Iranian advance, with three MiG-23BNs lost to IRIAF F-14s on the 27 September. Three more MiG-23BNs were lost only days later.
In February and April 1982, the Iranian ground forces broke the main core of the Iraqi Army, with 5 Iraqi divisions ceasing to exist. An Iraqi victory could no longer be achieved. This year was to become the hardest for the IrAF as well. The already battered IrAF was thrown into intensive ground support missions to stop further Iranian advances. On 15 February 1982, two MiG-23BNs were shot down by IRIAF F-14s. Iranian SAMs shot down a MiG-23BN on the 11th of March, three more on 11 May and one more on 18 May (out of 9 Iraqi fighter-bombers lost that day!).
By June 1982, the IrAF most likely had less than a dozen MiG-23BNs still available. As fortune turned around and the USSR raised the arms embargo imposed on Iraq, 18 new MiG-23BNs were delivered in June. The new machines finally had also the SPS-141 ECM-system, mounted under the cockpit in the two separate fairings.
By August 1984, the IRIAF was slowly retired from the front line due to high attrition, excessive fatigue of air crews, airframes and maintainance issues. This opened new oportunities for Iraqi fighter-bombers, which could once more operate deeper in the Iranian airspace. On the 21st of March 1985, a major IRIAF early warning radar on Mount Subashi was targetted by Iraqi Su-22s and MiG-23BNs.
In February 1986, Iran launched another highly succesful counteroffensive, which managed to cut off the entire Iraqi coast at the Persian Gulf. The resulting air combat has lead to heavy losses for both sides. Nevertheless, Iraq was still in the position to deploy at once groups of 10-12 MiG-23BNs with further 10 escorting fighters.
In January 1987, Iran launched once more a large counteroffensive, menacing to capture the major Iraqi city of Basra. The MiG-23BN units suffered accordingly, with 5 machines lost in January to Iranian air defences, with a further MiG-23BN lost in March. After the Iranian counterattack stalled, the IrAF returned to its strategic campaign to hit economic targets in western Iran with the already usual large groups of aircraft at once. This continued throughout 1987 and 1988. By June 1988, despite the technological superiority of the Iranian F-4s and F-14s, the IrAF nevertheless achieved total air superiority over western Iran. Still, ocasional losses occured with the last MiG-23BN being lost to a SAM on the 28th of July 1988.
Relevant numbers of MiG-23BNs could be maintained operational even to the very end of the war, with a full squadron of MiG-23BNs performing the last strike deep into Iran against a turbine factory on 4 August 1988. Two weeks later, the Iran-Iraq War ended through a cease-fire.
According to official Iraqi archive data, a total of 38 MiG-23BNs were lost during the war, representing the entire pre-war fleet. Less than 20 MiG-23BNs are assumed to have remained in service of the IrAF into 1989, owing to the additional resupply from the USSR of 1982. Overall by the end of the war, the IrAF was by no means on its knees.
Further arms aquisitions strengthened the IrAF in the 2 years period of peace, with Iraq invading Kuwait in 2 August 1990. By then, the IrAF possesed 38 MiG-23BNs, which fully participated in the opening acts of the Kuweit invasion. One IrAF MiG-23BN is lost to a SAM in the opening act og ground attacks. Altough Irak was planning to replace the MiG-23s with custom variants of Su-27 or Mirage 2000, the new UN arms embargo blocked any such hopes. The overwhelming Operation "Desert Storm" allowed for no close air support opportunities for the IrAF. On the contrary, seven MiG-23BNs were to be evacuated and flown to Iran among numerous other aircraft types. These machines were not to return any time soon. In 2007, Iraq asked Iran to return some of the aircraft flown there in 1991, with 130 aircraft of different types refurbished by Iran and returned to the IrAF in 2014 to fight the expanding ISIS. Likely no MiG-23s were part of the returned machines, ending their saga in Iraqi service.
References:
T. Copper, "MiG-23 Flogger in the Middle East", Helion & Company Limited
T. Copper, "Wings of Iraq, Volume 2", Helion & Company Limited
T. Copper, E.R. Hooton, F. Nadimi, "The Iran-Iraq War, Volume 1", Helion & Company Limited
T. Copper, E.R. Hooton, F. Nadimi, "The Iran-Iraq War, Volume 2", Helion & Company Limited
T. Cooper, F. Bishop "Iranian F-4 Phantom II Units in Combat", Osprey Publishing
T. Cooper, F. Bishop "Iranian F-14 Tomcat Units in Combat", Osprey Publishing
Clement
Michael Kohl
Łukasz Gliński
Cuajete
Marius
Thomas Kolb
Nicolas
Erik Leijdens
