1:72 IAI Kfir C.60; “542” Bulgarian Air Force, 1/3rd Fighter Squadron, Graf Ignatievo Air Base, 2010 (Italeri kit conversion/Whif)

+++ DISCLAIMER +++

Nothing you see here is real, even though the conversion or the presented background story might be based historical facts. BEWARE!

 

Some background

The Bulgarian Air Force (BAF, 'Bulgarski Voyenno Vozdushshni Sili') is one of the oldest air forces in Europe and the world. In the past decade Bulgaria has been trying actively to restructure its army as a whole and a lot of attention has been placed on keeping the aging Russian aircraft operational In recent times BAF aircraft have been actively taking part in numerous NATO missions and exercises in Europe. In 2010, the Bulgarian Air Force's inventory numbered around 137 aircraft, including 55-56 combat jets. But only the MiG-29s and about a dozen Su-25s and a few MiG-21bis were flight worthy, the L-39ZA only used for training.

 

Since 2000 the BAF planned to retire most of its Soviet-era aircraft, keeping only the Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-29 'Fulcrum' fleet (which was modernized only recently) as well as its Mi-24 gunships and the Su-25s. The MiG-21s in service were scheduled to be replaced with possible American or European aircraft – and in 2006, a proposal from Israel Aircraft Industries (IAI) won a deal: the delivery of IAI’s Kfir C.60.

 

The Kfir C.60 was an upgraded version of the C.10, a variant developed especially for export and sold to Ecuador and Colombia. The most important feature of this version is the adaptation of the Elta EL/M-2032 radar, an advanced pulse Doppler, multimode Fire Control Radar intended for multi-role fighter aircraft originated from the Lavi project. It is suitable for air-to-air and air-to-surface mode, including high-resolution mapping (SAR), and offers a high mission performance in all weather conditions. Other new features include two 127×177mm MFD's, HOTAS configured cockpit, a Helmet Mounted Display System (HMD) and in-flight refuelling capability.

 

A total order of 18 Kfir C.60 was placed, deliveries were completed in April 2008. The planes were actually converted from mothballed IAF C.7 fighter bombers, keeping costs and development time low. The Kfir C.60 is supposed to replace BAF’s vintage MiG-21bis completely, parts of the Su-25 fleet and fill the gap of the fighter bomber role the Su-22 (which had already been retired in early 2004) left.

The Bulgarian C.60 would primarily be used in the ground attack/CAS role, but also augment the small MiG-29 fleet in air defence tasks. Consequently, the Kfir C.60 can not only carry a wide range of air-to-ground ordnance, the planes were also equipped with IR-homing AAMs like the R-60 (AA-8 'Aphid') and R-73 (AA-11 'Archer') missiles of Russian origin, still making up most of the BAF's weapon inventory.

 

All Kfir C.60 were allotted to the 3rd Fighter Squadron at Graf Ignatievo Air base, where they replaced the leftover ten MiG-21bis at 1/3 Fighter Squadron and grounded Su-25 from 22nd Ground Attack Squadron, formerly based at Bezmer Air Base.

 

It is uncertain if more Kfirs will be acquired, but chances are good. In January 2011 the Bulgarian MoD issued a Request for Information (RFI) regarding the acquisition of 8 multi-role fighters. The main competitors are expected to be the Eurofighter GmbH Eurofighter Typhoon, Dassault Rafale, Saab JAS 39 Gripen, Mikoyan MiG-29 or MiG-35, or the Lockheed Martin F-16 and Boeing F/A-18 Super Hornet. On March 9, 2011 the Swedish Government submitted its response to the RFI containing 8 new Gripen C/D fighters. The Bulgarian MoD has extended the time limit for submittal of responses by two months due to the lack of responses from the other competitors.

 

In October 2011, IAI stepped in and offered the Kfir as a new combat aircraft for the Bulgarian Air force (see: www.timawa.net/forum/index.php?topic=29248.0) It coincided with the two days visit of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Bulgaria, which may bring another competitor for a new fighter for Bulgarian Air force – a modernized version of the Kfir C.60 already in service. Two weeks earlier the Bulgaria defence minister Anu Angelov was ‘tempted’ by such an offer when visited the IAI booth at the Paris Air show. The supposed price in times smaller compared to the ones offered by the companies requested by the RFI, sent in February to Eurofighter, SAAB, Boeing and Martin Lockheed.

 

Bulgaria and Israel held a joint session of their governments and signed a defence cooperation agreement on July 7 2011 in Sofia. "This is the first joint session that Israel holds with another country in the (Balkan) region," ministry spokeswoman Vesela Cherneva said. Cherneva added that the two countries will sign a bilateral agreement for defence cooperation, with Israeli companies encouraged to participate in the modernisation of Bulgaria's defence equipment.

 

However, as stated by the Ministry of Defense the contract for new multirole fighter should be signed by midterm of 2012 and the first machines should start arriving in 2015. Tactical UAV should be procured in support of the land forces operations, too. No decision has been settled upon yet.

 

 

General characteristics:

 

Crew: One

Length: 16.27 m (53 ft 4½ in)

Wingspan: 8.22 m (26 ft 11½ in)

Height: 4.55 m (14 ft 11¼ in)

Wing area: 34.8 m² (374.6 sq ft)

Empty weight: 7,285 kg (16,060 lb)

Loaded weight: 11,603 kg (25,580 lb) two 500 L drop tanks, two AAMs

Max. take off weight: 16,200 kg (35,715 lb)

 

Powerplant: 1 × IAl Bedek-built General Electric J-79-J1E turbojet, rated at 52.9 kN (11,890 lbs) dry thrust and 79.62 kN (17,900 lbs) with full afterburner

 

Maximum speed: 2,440 km/h (1,317 knots, 1,516 mph) above 11,000 m (36,000 ft)

Combat radius: 768 km (415 nmi, 477 mi) (ground attack, hi-lo-hi profile, seven 500 lb bombs, two AAMs, two 1,300 L drop tanks)

Service ceiling: 17,680 m (58,000 ft)

Rate of climb: 233 m/s (45,950 ft/min)

 

Armament: 2× Rafael-built 30 mm (1.18 in) DEFA 553 cannons, 140 rounds/gun; 5,775 kg (12,730 lb) of payload on seven external hardpoints, including guided and unguided missiles and bombs, air-to-air missiles, reconnaissance pods or drop tanks.

 

 

 

The kit and its assembly

While the kit and its livery are a whif, the IAI Kfir C.60 was/is a real proposal to the BAF – and this kit is a guess of what the plane might have looked like in real life, if it had been actually introduced about 5 years earlier. A kind of semi-whif, I think.

 

The basis is the 1:72 Kfir C.7 kit from Italeri (#163) which has been around for years. I have already built about a dozen of them, and foremost it is a kit if you are on a budget - the Hasegawa kit, for instance, is IMHO much better, concerning fit and production quality.

The Italeri Kfir is good at detail, easy to build, but production quality has definitive flaws. You get sinkholes in the upper and lower wing parts, ejector markings from the mould almost everywhere, and the fit of the parts is rather so-so. The cockpit element just does not fit into the fuselage, and the area at the air intake/wing roots intersection needs major attention (read: putty work). This is not to bash the kit, but if you want a "pretty" Kfir, look elsewhere. Because I know the kit by heart and wanted to convert it, anyway, I went with the Italeri option, though.

 

Since there’s no C.10 kit available, not even a conversion kit, I built the new nose sectionj for the bigger radar according to pictures from C.10 and C.12 Kfirs from scratch. Basically, the new nose is the front half of a Tornado F3 drop tank, but with some sculpting for a more slender look. Other additions I gleaned from C.10 pictures are the refuelling probe (from an A-4 Skyhawk), some new antennae and pitots, a new seat and a Matchbox pilot figure. Detail changes include the slightly dropped flaps, the open cockpit hatch and opened auxillary blow-in doors.

Additional weapon stations were fitted under the wing roots and just outside of the main landing gear wells, plus the respective ordnance. The R-60 missiles come from the scrap box (ESCI, maybe?), the KAB-500kr guided bombs come from an ICM weapon set, the drop tank comes from the original kit.

 

 

Painting

The whif comes with the looks, and the Kfir C.60 makes no exception. Since the plane was supposed to replace MiG-21MF and Su-25, I did not apply a MiG-29-like air superiority scheme. I rather went for a juicy ground attack livery and settled for a typical and contemporary BAF three-tone camouflage with blue-grey lower sides. Benchmarks were online pictures and Yefim Gordon’s fascinating MiG-21 book. Another very good reference are the French books from the “Planes & Pilots” series – here, the profile books for the MiG-21 and the Mirage III and derivates were handy sources for details.

 

The scheme was puzzled together through pictures and profiles of BAF’s MiG-21R "55 White". It appears as if there’s no valid pattern (or even colour!) paradigm, so the overall impression counts.I guesstimated the BAF colours with:

 

● Humbrol 120 (Light Green, FS 34227), toned up and later even dry-brushed with Testors 2071 (RLM 02 Grey) and even Humbrol 90 (Sky Type S)

● Testors 2091 (RLM 82 Dark Green), shaded with Testors 2081 (RLM 71 Dark Green)

● Testors 1701 (Military Brown, FS 30117), toned and dry-brushed with Humbrol 118 (FS 30219 Tan) and even Humbrol 63 (Sand)

● Testors 2123 (Russian Underside Blue) for the undersides, shaded with Humbrol 128 (FS 36320, Compass Grey)

 

All active BAF planes I found look worn and a bit ratty, so I decided to weather the C.60 accordingly, despite the machines’ young age in fictional real life. Hence, sun-bleached areas were painted on the top sides through dry-brusing with paler hues. On the other side, some panels and panel lines were emphasized with Tamiya's X19 'Smoke', an experiment which turned out satisfactory but not perfect. Additionally, a light wash with black ink was applied to enhance engravings and depth effects, plus some good soot stains around cannon muzzles and the exhaust area with grinded soft pencil mine. The result is a nice workhorse.

 

Bulgarian national roundels are surprisingly hard to find as decals, but I finally found a matching set on a Su-25 decal sheet from Balkan Models (hunted down in Canada!), from which I also took the registration number, just switching digits. It turned out to be a bit large, but: why not? Other stencils and warning signs were taken from the original Italeri decal sheet and from the scrap box - the Kfir wears more warning signs than one would expect!

 

 

Overall, the impression of the kit is very good - and time will tell if this one even turns out more realistic than I'd expected in the first place, when I took the idea of a Bulgarian Kfir to the (mdel kit) hardware stage.

Done