Sukhoi Su-24MR Fencer E - 1:72 Trumpeter

[Paul A H]

Sukhoi Su-24MR Fencer E

1:72 Trumpeter

The Sukhoi Su-24 (NATO reporting name 'Fencer'), is an all-weather supersonic strike aircraft developed by the Sukhoi design bureau in the late 1960s. The need for an all-weather strike aircraft was identified around the time the smaller, simpler Su-7 entered service, but it was clear that a much larger aircraft would be needed in order to accommodate the necessary avionics. The original designed specification called for STOL performance. This was to be achieved by the use of four turbojet lift engines in the fuselage, but unsurprisingly the range and weight penalties of this arrangement proved to be too much. With the American F-111 entering service around this time, the decision was taken to adopt a variable geometry solution instead. The first production aircraft made its maiden flight in 1971, and three-and-a-half years later the Su-24 was accepted into service.

The aircraft signalled a significant step up in capability for the VVS. All weather strike capability was achieved courtesy of the advanced 'Puma' navigation/attack system, consisting of two superimposed Orion-A radar scanners, a dedicated terrain clearance radar to provide automated terrain following capability and the Orbita-10-58 onboard computer. Although frequently compared to the F-111, the Su-24 is slightly smaller and, owing to the use of turbojets instead of turbofans, somewhat shorter ranged. The Su-24MR ('Fencer E') is a dedicated reconnaissance version which does without the attack radar, laser/TV systems and 23mm cannon of the strike variant, replacing them with a pair of reconnaissance cameras, an RDS-BO 'Shtik' ('Bayonet') side-looking airborne radar and 'Zima' ('Winter') infrared reconnaissance system. Other sensors can be carried in pod form.

We haven't exactly been spoiled for kits of the Su-24 over the years. In fact until now, there have been just two injection moulded kits available in this scale. Dragon produced the first of these in 1992, and while their effort was neither particularly accurate nor detailed, it is easy to build and has been re-released at various points by Bilek, Italeri, Revell and Zvezda, proving there must be a fair amount of demand for a kit of the type. The other kit is the vaunted but difficult to find (and apparently difficult to build) kit from the now-defunct Streem. Trumpeter's kit has therefore aroused a considerable amount of interest, so let's have a look and see what it's like.

The kit arrives well-packed into a sturdy top-opening box adorned with a high-quality painting of a Ukrainian Fencer E in flight. Inside are now fewer than twenty-six sprues of grey plastic, a single sprue of clear plastic, two sheets of decals, instructions and a colour painting diagram. There are almost 200 parts in total. In common with other Trumpeter kits, the parts are extremely well packed and all of the sprues are individually bagged. The clear sprue is wrapped in foam for extra protection. The plastic parts are beautifully moulded and the engraved surface details are clean, consistent and sharp. The parts have a very slightly textured finished, but the panel lines should hold a wash nicely, which is just as well as Su-24s are often seen heavily weathered. While Trumpeter's kits are usually very nicely presented, it's fair to say they have something of a mixed reputation when it comes to the accurate representation of shapes and details. Some of their kits have hit the bullseye, while others have missed the target, sometimes by a fairly wide margin. Given this track record, we may as well address the issue of accuracy straight now, before I go any further.

Firstly, the overall shape and arrangement of parts appears to match photographs and plans of the real thing fairly well. The area between the jet exhausts, which was too wide on their 1:48 scale kit (just like the Streem kit) looks spot on this time around. A separate part for the cockpit and nose is provided, and it appears to be accurate for the MR variant. The underside of the nose looks a little shallow, in the sense that the upward curve begins too far back and therefore looks very slightly less bulbous than it should be, but if indeed there is any error here, it is very subtle. The engine air intakes look very slightly different to the real thing as well. They should sweep forward slightly from bottom to top, but instead they appear to be at a 90 degree angle to the fuselage. As before, any error here is very small. The only mistake that I would consider to be a serious is the omission of parts for the AFA AP-402M panoramic camera nose (just behind the nose gear bay) and the AFA A-100 oblique camera in the floor of the port engine air intake. The instructions advise you to fit the part for the Kayra laser rangefinder instead, but this part should be used only for the Su-24M.

So there you have it this reviewer's opinion of the accuracy of the kit in 222 words. Whether you think these issues are serious or not will depend very much on your perspective. Speaking from my own personal viewpoint, none of these issues would put me off buying this kit. The only real niggle, which is likely to have you thinking 'silly old Trumpeter, here we go again' is the omission of the camera fit as, without these parts, you can't really build an MR. I expect the aftermarket producers will magic up some clear resin parts to bridge the gap before too long, however. If it's any consolation, at least the M variant will be correct.

Now, on to the sequence of construction. This begins not with the cockpit, but the nose landing gear. This is made up of ten parts, including a crisply moulded mud guard, all of which fits into a nicely detailed multi-part nose gear bay. The whole thing then joins onto the bottom of the cockpit tub, which guarantees it won't become detached and end up rattling around inside the fuselage. Two slide moulded Zvezda K-36 are included, along with a nicely detailed instrument panel and control columns. Once completed, the whole sub-assembly then fits inside the vertically split forward fuselage.

Construction then moves on to the centre and rear fuselage. The main landing gear bay is made up of eight parts, and because the landing gear doors can be posed in the open position (unlike the Dragon kit), you can show all of the structural detail off to good effect. Before you can fit it to the lower fuselage, you must drill a number of holes in order to fit parts required later in the build. I would advise against drilling the foremost two holes, however, as these are required for the laser rangefinder which should not be used for this variant. Once complete, you can sandwich the landing gear bay and the jet exhausts between the horizontally split fuselage halves and then join the whole lot to the nose section. The rear fuselage halves are covered in beautifully engraved detail and have been slide moulded in order to maximise surface details without complicating construction.

The engine air intakes are next. Each is made up of inner and outer halves with the protruding radar warning receivers moulded separately. The large horizontal stabilisers are each moulded in one piece but do not join together in the fuselage, so you'll need to make sure that each side is fixed in place at the same angle. The wings are nicely detailed and feature an option for dropped flaps, although the slats are fixed in place, which is somewhat strange. You can fix the wings in either fully forward or fully swept positions, but once fixed in place they cannot be repositioned. The large vertical stabiliser features a separately moulded rudder.

Each main landing gear leg is made up of five parts (excluding the beefy wheels) and appears to capture the look of the real thing rather well. As mentioned above, don't fit the laser rangefinder as it wasn't fitted to the MR. In order to complete the model, you'll need to scratchbuild an appropriate part from clear sprue or wait for the aftermarket firms to fill the void. An annoying omission to say the least, but there you have it. The full range of lumps, bumps, strakes and ducts are included, and you do get a choice of cold air intakes for the upper rear fuselage, including the larger versions with chaff/flare dispensers built in.

A very extensive range of ordnance is included, which is handy for the spares box but, with the exception of the R-60 AAMs, effectively useless for this particular variant. All told, you get:
24 x FAB 100 bombs;
2 x KH-31 missiles;
2 x B-8M rocket pods;
2 x KAB-500L LGBs;
4 x R-60 AAMs;
1 x PTB-2000 drop tank; and
2 x PTB-3000 drop tanks.
As well as one pod which is labelled as a ZB-500, but doesn't resemble a napalm bomb (nor the ELINT pod usually fitted to MRs). Answers on a postcard please. Ignore the instructions as they would have you fix this veritable arsenal to the underside of a variant that is usually unarmed. The painting diagram for the ordnance includes a whole range of exotic weaponry not included in the kit, so perhaps the M variant will get even more plastic in the box.

The clear parts a beautifully realised and can be finished in either open or closed positions. A choice of two schemes is provided on the decal sheet:
Su-24MR '33 Blue', Ukrainian Air Force; and
Su-24MR '34 White' RF-33780, Russian Navy.
The decal sheets are nicely printed and you get a full set of stencils too, which is a distinct bonus.

Conclusion

Trumpeter get a fair amount of flack on modelling forums, sometimes justified, sometimes not. In this case they have produced a fine kit that, one or two small errors aside, is a fairly decent representation of an important and interesting aircraft. The only real fly in the ointment is the omission of the camera parts that are a characteristic feature of the underside of the aircraft. In order to rectify this mistake, you'll either need to raid the Zvezda reboxing of the Dragon kit (not a bad idea as it includes the ELINT pod too), scratchbuild a replacement or wait for the aftermarket producers to come up with a solution. Those awaiting the M variant can rest easy though, as all of the necessary parts (with the exception of the sprue holding the nose and the instrument panel) are all present and correct. In spite of this issue, the basic shape of the aircraft looks to be about right. As it is both more accurate than the Dragon kit and more accessible than the elusive Streem version, it will no doubt find its way into the collection of a great many modellers. Recommended.

Review sample courtesy of
UK Distributors for

[Flankerman]

Great review Paul - it looks promising.

Re.....

The engine air intakes look very slightly different to the real thing as well. They should sweep forward slightly from bottom to top, but instead they appear to be at a 90 degree angle to the fuselage

Here's my pic, taken at Lipetsk, which shows it nicely........

A little judicious sanding/filling should fix it though.

Ken

[IGKent]

Great review Paul - it looks promising.

Re.....

Here's my pic, taken at Lipetsk, which shows it nicely........

A little judicious sanding/filling should fix it though.

Ken

I'm agree with Ken.....Cool review!

[Julien]

This looks really nice, considering one of these now, my wallet hates you!

[Platypus]

So it's basically a M variant packaged in a MR variant? Or is it more subtle than that?

[Paul A H]

No, it has the correct MR nose with SLAR, so you cannot build an M variant from the box. The problem is that the cameras fitted under the forward fuselage are missing, so you can't build a complete MR straight from the box.

[Antoine]

Great review, Paul, Thanks a lot!

[Gene K]

Great review, Paul, Thanks a lot!

Exceptional!

Gene K

[James G]

A very thorough and useful review....I wanted one before, more so now!

[Radleigh]

One of my favourite aircraft in it's range.. Would love to have the time to build an Iranian, Ukraine, Sudan, Algerian, Belarusian & Russian/Soviet.

[Paul A H]

Thanks everyone I've done a quick tape together of the main parts to give a better idea of shape:

[IGKent]

This model will be very popular now as show last events in Syria

[sofiane1718]

Thanks for the review!

Do you think the price will drop in the next months/year?

[IGKent]

Do you think the price will drop in the next months/year?

Unlikely.....

[Flankerman]

A couple of nice colour schemes.......

Photos from http://russianplanes.net/

Ken

Edited October 7, 2015 by Flankerman

[Flashman]

Great review! I'm currently working on the Zvezda Fencer so it was certainly interesting to see how they differ. I didn't personally think it was too bad a kit, although the munitions could certainly have been better.

[CurrantBunbury]

Thanks for the review. This is not a kit that I was aware of, but it's an aircraft that's right up my street, so it's useful to see what you think of it.