1/48: MiG 23BN #1428, No.29 squadron, Iraqi Air Force

[David.D]

Hello,

My name is David, I´m from Germany and I have been an aviation enthusiast for many years now, but this is my first post on ARC.

As I am very interested in small air forces in general and in the middle east particularly, I have read a good deal of books about the Iran-Iraq-War. A few days ago, i opened the book "Iraqi Fighters" searching for inspiration for my next project, and I found a nice sideview of MiG 23BN #1428, No.29 squadron, Iraqi Air Force, as used in the very first attack on Iranian targets on the afternoon of 22 september 1980. The plane was armed with FAB-250ShN parachute-retarded bombs (M46 I think ?).

 

I now have three questions:

1. Is the FAB-250ShN in any way different from the "normal"  FAB-250 M46 ? Or can I use an ordinary one for my model, because I don´t know any firm which produces FAB-250ShN bombs in 1/48 scale.

 

2.Is there any information wether the bombs used were M46 or M54 ones, apart from the picture in the book which shows M46 (but the text says the primary bomb type was the FAB-250 M54) ?

 

3. Near the wing root of the MiG 23BN there is a small, oval  "thing" which looks like a guidance pod of some sort. Was this "thing" ever built in on Iraqi MiG 23s and if so was it built in on both wings or just one of them ?

 

Thank you for reading,

Best regards

 

David