MiG-23BN - Iraq - 1982
Note the multitude of stencils still visible on this machine delivered to Iraq together with the replacement batch of 1982.
And that should be almost enough.
On the good side, the overall structure looks realistic with the elevator in the actuated/rotated position.
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.
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.
So far most major parts are installed. The model now is including more after-market parts than parts of the original kit.
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.
The three pylons in dark grey styrene are from a MiG-21 kit from Eduard.
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.
Tape applied, where the new panel line should land. Then apply little pressure and numerous runs with this sharp tool.
The riveting rarely makes sense in 1:72, but I added it to maintain the consistency and overall aspect with respect to the rest of the model.
The fuselage pyloms are not yet attached, I am still thinking if they are worth adding.
I can barely wait to bend them while removing them from their frame, so that they can look really sloppy at the end.
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.
Next, the doors need to be attached, including the notorious itsy-bitsy small ones (see next picture) with their adjacent PEs.
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.
These one will be installed under the fuselage pylons.
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.
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.
NOTE: of course you shouldn't grab a painted part with a metallic tweezer like I did here.
Commentaires
ClementVery cool project, the French-style refeuling probe looks wacky (but in a good way?)
Best of luck!
Michael KohlCount me in. Seeing this kit I promise I will not complain about the Clear Prop kit anymore. 😉
Łukasz GlińskiI 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 😄
CuajeteFantastic job so far, Marius!
Could that scriber be like this other one? I think it's 1mm thick:
Scriber (Vallejo T10001, No)
MariusThank you guys for following.
@ 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 KolbThe camo paintjob looks splendid! I am really impressed with such consistent soft color transitions.
MariusThank you Thomas, Ekki and Finn!
@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
Full article on the Lybian ones here:
medium.com/war-is-bo..mig-23s-af840188b278
ClementIt'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.
NicolasI missed this one. Looks very good so far. I Will follow across the finish line.
Erik LeijdensGreat craftmanship along the way Marius! You sure know how to turn this kit into a masterpiece. great work!
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
