Trumpeter Su-24M

[Harold55]

I was on a Russian kick last year so here is my Trumpeter Su-22M in 1/48 scale.  I used an Aries cockpit as the kit does not come with seatbelts but honestly the problems with the kit is not the cockpit.  The design itself is odd, most swing-wing aircraft kits will make the seam along the side but not this one, it is right down the middle and I need lots of backing pieces of plastic to keep it together that hold the putty for sanding.  Also, there is no trunking for intakes, which is an odd omission.  Also, all the stencils are nothing more that small lines, or random x’s and *’s so I could have replaced those but did not.  Otherwise it is a pretty good kit.

 

However, I wanted to build a specific aircraft, which is White 83 that was shot down by a Turkish F-16 on November 24, 2015.  For this I used the Begemot decals, which are excellent and well worth using.   The aircraft itself and those that deployed to Syria flew in tucked under the wings large Russian transport planes so they never showed up on radar.  I can not imagine flying that distance in close formation, it would be exhausting and nerve wracking but they did it, and the first anyone know there were Su-24’s in Syria is when the showed up in satellite photos.  I think Russia intended to turn them over to Syria as they painted over all national markings but they must have soon determined that if they did that the Americans or Israel would simply destroy them on the ground or the Syrians did not have the pilots for fly them so soon after arrival the Russian markings re-appeared.  The aircraft are Su-24M’s but they are different than older versions in that they lack the over wing fence and based on pictures the load-outs are quite a bit different that what you would have seen on earlier Russian Su-24’s. 

 

I do want to say something about the pilot: Lieutenant Colonel Oleg Anatolyevich Peshkov, was killed by ground fire.  He was killed as he parachuted to the ground after a successful ejection (which is against the Geneva Convention as if that matters to the so called “Freedom Fighters”).  Oleg Peshkov was posthumously awarded the Hero of the Russian Federation, the country’s highest Order of Courage.  His body was recovered and he was buried with full military honors in the Alley of Heroes of the cemetery in Lipetsk.  He is survived by his wife and two children, at the time of his death a boy of 8 and a daughter of 16.  Two Mi-8’s were sent in to rescue the WSO and Pilot and one of them was damaged by small arms fire with resulted in the death of a Russian Marine and a force landing.  Everyone else from the crashed Mi-8 was rescued.

 

 

Su-24’s have continued to serve in Syria and one was shipped back to Russian with over 1,000 strike missions.  They are currently being flown by Syrian pilots and recently two more were shot down by Turkey over Idlib. 

[Shorty84]

Hi Harold,

 

I have the Trumpeter Su-24 myself and while it has it's faults you certainly made the best out of it.

And thanks for the backstory of this machine and it's pilot. I think the contribution of Russia in fighting Daesh and other terrorist groups (which call themselves too often freedom fighters although they are often no better than terrorists) is downplayed in many media. That's not saying that there isn't any wrongdoing on their side too but in the whole "war on terror" no side is without guilt anymore.

 

Anyway, great result and great story attached 👍

 

Cheers

Markus

[RMCS]

Fantastic 

[Rod bettencourt]

I like the build as well as the story. Thank you for sharing this.

 

 

Rod

[Alan P]

Excellent build and a nice clean finish 👍 The load looks good, the Su-24 is a pretty handy bomb truck! 

 

Makes for an interesting subject, thanks for sharing the backstory. It's too easy for us to forget that real humans fly the real world versions of the things we build. 

[F-32]

Lovely build, you've done a great job on it

[Unfinished project]

Great looking Su-24 looks great with the weapons load out 👏👏👏

[Harold55]

2 minutes ago, Unfinished project said:

Great looking Su-24 looks great with the weapons load out 👏👏👏

Thanks for the encouragement.  The load out chart in Trumpeters instructions doesn't appear to reflect the load outs as used in Syria.  For example I found a video online that showed the 500lb bombs being dropped from the forward center pylon which Trumpy does not allow for - so a bit of surgery needed but not difficult.  The smart bombs on the first outer pylons are probably fictional as they used mostly dumb bomb but they looked cool.

[Valkyrie]

Really great build, the detail of the pilot and mission are interesting also.

Really nice 24!

[Gary Brantley]

Harold, I enjoyed the model and the history. 😀  Great work, thanks for sharing her with us!  

[JohnMcDonnell]

History behind a model always makes it more interesting. Great model, thanks for sharing it.

[28ZComeback]

Sorry if I am late to this but I really enjoyed your build and finish and just wanted to acknowledge your brilliant rendition of the Su-24. The blanked out Syrian insignia are a really nice touch, and the load out looks perfect. On a personal note, (and inspired by your build), I have readied myself with the 1/48 Trumpeter Su-24 including a new resin nose, Kompledt Zip cockpit and tail section. I also have new wheels, pitot tube and on and on.  My debate is whether I should go with the overall Gray scheme or possibly the green /brown camouflage scheme of a Kublinka training squadron. (The gray is IMHO uninspiring but historically significant, whilst the green/brown is one-off and atypical—probably to sway mideastern customers). Thank you again for the history lesson and thoughtful dedication.

Edited August 18, 2021 by 28ZComeback

[GiampieroSilvestri]

Splendid Sukhoi Su-24!

 

Saluti

 

Giampiero

[Harold55]

17 hours ago, 28ZComeback said:

Sorry if I am late to this but I really enjoyed your build and finish and just wanted to acknowledge your brilliant rendition of the Su-24. The blanked out Syrian insignia are a really nice touch, and the load out looks perfect. On a personal note, (and inspired by your build), I have readied myself with the 1/48 Trumpeter Su-24 including a new resin nose, Kompledt Zip cockpit and tail section. I also have new wheels, pitot tube and on and on.  My debate is whether I should go with the overall Gray scheme or possibly the green /brown camouflage scheme of a Kublinka training squadron. (The gray is IMHO uninspiring but historically significant, whilst the green/brown is one-off and atypical—probably to sway mideastern customers). Thank you again for the history lesson and thoughtful dedication.

Either scheme you pick I am excited to see your build - its a worthy subject for your talents.  I have seen a number of your other projects on here and they are always brilliant.