Klimov VK-1 Project

[Raja Ahsani]

Good morning fellow paper modelers!

Yesterday was the independence day of my country, and i originally planned to build a MiG-17F of our air force with removable rear section, so the engine would be visible. But since i can't find free model of MiG-17 for repaint and apparently someone else had done this before, i cancelled this plan.

But then i became interested in building MiG's powerplant, the Klimov VK-1 engine. I decided to make a stand-alone model of the engine, the kit i'll be using is from here: B@F's paper models gallery. The model is not quite detailed, but i will add more enhancement to it.

About the engine

The Klimov VK-1 was the first Soviet jet-engine to see significant production. It was developed by Vladimir Yakovlevich Klimov and first produced by the GAZ 116 works. It was derived from the British Rolls-Royce Nene. The engine was built under license in China as the WP-5.

Immediately after World War II, the Soviet Union manufactured copies of first generation German Junkers 004 and BMW 003 engines, which were advanced designs with poor durability, limited by Germany's availability of rare metals at wartime. However in 1946, before the Cold war had really begun, the new British Labour government under the Prime minister, Clement Attlee, keen to improve diplomatic relations with the Soviet Union, authorised Rolls-Royce to export 40 Rolls-Royce Nene Centrifugal flow turbojet engines. In 1958 it was discovered during a visit to Beijing by Whitney Straight, then deputy chairman of Rolls-Royce, that this engine had been copied without license to power the MiG-15 'Fagot', first as the RD-45, and after initial problems of metallurgy forced the Soviet engineers to develop a slightly redesigned (and metallurgically closer) copy, the engine had then entered production as the Klimov VK-1 (Rolls-Royce later attempted to claim £207m in license fees, without success).

The RD-45 was further improved to produce the VK-1, which differed from the Nene in having larger combustion chamber, larger turbine, and revised airflow through the engine. The VK-1F added the afterburner.
The engine featured a centrifugal compressor, requiring a larger-diameter fuselage than aircraft featuring the more progressive axial compressor designs that had already appeared in WWII Germany and Britain. - Wikipedia

[richkat]

Happy Independence day......this is a cool idea, will love to see your build.....Rich

[Raja Ahsani]

Thank you Rich!

Anyway, yesterday i have finished the first part of the engine: The intake
The parts first printed in 80 gsm paper then laminated into 0.5 mm card before rolled and glued into shape
Rivets on the front part of the intake were made by embossing piece of paper using pencil
For painting i use watercolour paint, however some area that covered with glue smear are impossible to paint with watercolour (i use uhu glue),
so i use black permanent marker and for smaller area i use fine OHP marker



Photo above shows part after painting, the rivet details were covered with paint and not quite visible
But a little touch from hairspray (cheaper substitute to clear varnish) bring the details out again, and gives the part 'metallic' look

[Raja Ahsani]

Next part of the engine will be the rear intake

Unlike axial turbojet, airflow in centrifugal turbojet doesn't necessarily follows the axis of the engine. In VK-1 the air enters through intakes on sides of the engine the compressed by impeller located in between.

Shape of rear intake is basically similar to the front one, the rear part of intake houses a smaller impeller and turbine shaft

[Leif Ohlsson]

I'm following this with interest. Are the two intakes used simultaneously? Or are you - as I think - making two versions, one for front intake aircraft, and one for side intake aircraft?

Kind regards, Leif

PS. Here is a more direct link to the page where the model can be downloaded. From the kit, I now realize that both intakes are indeed used. Did not know that!

[Raja Ahsani]

Thank you Leif! i didn't know this either until i started this project

The next part supposed to be the compressor. The compressor cover contain some matt-silver coloured part, i do have some silver paper but mine is way too shiny for this part. i recall a local bookstore sells matt-silver paper at low price (5000 IDR / ~50 US cents per sheet) but don't have time and transport to go there

So in the meantime i'll just messing with my overly-shiny silver paper...



...and watch sumo tournament (lol!)

[Raja Ahsani]

Hello again friends!
Sorry for the delay, i finally had time to buy the silver paper, turns out they're cheaper than i think (~40 US cents for A2 size sheet)
So here's the next part: compressor. Unlike compressor in axial flow turbojets, which use stators and rotors, compressor in VK-1 is consist of single impeller, and work more or less like turbocharger. The impeller accepts air from both intakes then sent to diffusers around the impeller, each leading to combustion chambers

[Leif Ohlsson]

Very nice. And interesting to learn more about that classic jet engine. - L.

[MacSongLi]

Wow, very nice meticulous work. You're doing a great job!

Gary