Sukhoi Su-7BM "Fitter A" - 1:144 Mark I Models

[Mig88]

Hello! Here is the other of two kits I completed this past weekend.

It's Mark I Models' 1:144 scale Sukhoi Su-7BM "Fitter A" built as 5024, 28th Fighter Bomber Regiment (28. sbolp), Czechoslovak Air Force, at Caslav Air Base, in 1964.

This kit was Attack's Su-7B repackaged by Mark I with resin parts added to make a nuclear-armed Su-7BM. Apart from the nuke itself, the resin parts included the fuselage spine ducts and a nose probe.

The kit was built mostly OOB with only the missing wingtip probes and some main undercarriage arms added from stretched sprue as on the Su-7B. As with the Su-7B, I replaced the wing guns with thinner ones also from stretched sprue. I also added a missing duct along the port underside, also from stretched sprue.

The blister on the top of the nose (for the Su-7B data boom) had to be removed (not mentioned in the instructions) and a side blister for the new nose probe had to be made since it didn't come with the nose data boom as seemed to be indicated in the instructions. The new data boom was slightly bent and I didn't manage to get it straight.

When I had completed the kit I discovered that the outer wing pylons shouldn't have been added as these were only used on the later Su-7BMK and retrofitted to Indian AF earlier Fitter As. The instructions were very unclear and/or misleading in various aspects.

Although it is doubtful Czechoslovakian AF Fitters ever carried nukes (unlike on the illustration of the card - this was a bagged kit), probably not even training rounds, I put the nuke on this kit in a bit of a "what if" had things turned for the worse. Of the four options in the kit, the only one we could "safely" have carrying the nuke would have been the Soviet machine but I didn't want two Soviet Fitters and the Czech machine had an emblem in the nose making it different and a little more colourful so I took that option.

The kit was fully painted and varnished with brush.

 

Thank you for looking and all comments are welcome

Miguel

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[exdraken]

Very nice!

But not so nicely armed.... living here in Austria over the border...

 

 

[Dazzio]

Very nice! I've kept away from the Mark1 and Attack models for some reason, but that one does look very nice. Think I may have to invest in some.

 

Kind Regards,

 

Dazz

[Mig88]

On 27/03/2019 at 20:19, exdraken said:

Very nice!

But not so nicely armed.... living here in Austria over the border...

 

 

😉

 

34 minutes ago, Dazzio said:

Very nice! I've kept away from the Mark1 and Attack models for some reason, but that one does look very nice. Think I may have to invest in some.

 

Kind Regards,

 

Dazz

Attack models are harder to find since they have been out of production since Mark I took over the moulds.

 

Thank you very much everyone

Miguel