I had built one of
these a long time ago, when a girlfriend gave it to me. That model
got lost in a move, so I decided I better do another one, just for fun.
Except I had some definite ideas on how to improve the model this time. I
think this is a pretty cool concept, but you can't help but see the cold-war
bias behind its design. There's this thing about Soviet aircraft being
less advanced and therefore somehow inferior. In actuality, Russian
aircraft are built to be simple, tough and effective. If they had
undertaken MiG to design a stealth fighter, it would be fast, tough and
stealthy.
So first, I got rid
of those dumb pods on the wings, tail and intakes. I lengthened and
sharpened the nose. I also scribed a whole bunch of panel lines
(this kit has almost none to begin with), including a hatch for the mid-air refueling
receptacle. I revised the engine inlets to better hide the turbine faces
(making it more stealthy!). My Russians are frugal, so the intakes
are tan to simulate an uncoated composite surface. I also added a few
bogus cockpit details made from scratch.
Click on
images below to see larger images
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I see the MiG-37 as
filling a role similar to the Kamov Ka-50. The Ka-50 is designed mainly
for hunting and killing other attack helicopters. So my version of the
MiG-37 is a hunter-killer of other stealth aircraft. Sure, it isn't nearly
as stealthy as an F-117, but it is stealthy enough to sneak around and dump a
couple of missiles or some cannon fire into an unsuspecting enemy.
It is armed with a
low-observable version of a Gsh-23 gunpod which is deployed from the rear
weapon bay (sorry for no pic, my camera is terrible at doing close-ups), and two
small AAM's in the front weapon bay. Originally, I was going to use Aphids
in the front bay, but they wouldn't fit. I didn't take the time to enlarge
the bays, so I just used the 'stealth' missiles provided in the kit.
They're kinda dumb, but oh well. . . I made a panel for a pop-up type IR
sensor (but no sensor), and part of my reason for lengthening the nose was to
provide room for a larger search and fire control radar.
I discarded most of
the decals that came with the kit. They just aren't that convincing, and I
really dislike the way this kit looks with all of the various warning decals
stuck on. All I used were the red stars, numbers, and a couple of the
smaller 'danger' decals.
This is sort of a
fringe kit, and it's a little hard to take it too seriously, but I'd actually
like to do another one now, and add the pop-up IR sensor, enlarge the weapon
bays and add some good AAM's. I would also include an on-board gun, and
maybe hack up an aftermarket cockpit to fit. This is a really simple kit
to build, and it lends itself to a bazillion different modifications. Or
maybe it would be more interesting to do a complete scratchbuild on a Sukhoi
stealth concept. . .
John
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