My good friend Adam Coleman sent me photos and a brief writeup on this very obscure kit. It’s neat to see what Adam did with it- great work Adam!
My last build for 2012 looks to be one that was built more as a quest than a serious build! It’s a Su-7BM (S-22M) “Fitter – A” of the former Soviet Air Force, ca. late 1970’s. It is the old “Master Modell” (a former East German mold I think) in 1/72. The inspiration for this originated for me when wargaming in the 70’s. I played SPI’s “Oil War” which has several Su-7s featured, all with pretty low attack and range factors, which made me curious as to why these had such low value numbers. So – curiosity kills the cat! – and I discovered that operationally, Su-7s were hampered by a high landing speed of 340–360 km/h due to the thin, highly-swept wing. They had poor visibility from the cockpit, and lacked an instrument landing system, which made operations very difficult, especially in poor weather or on poor airfields. Apparently they were pretty fast and rugged. So, that said, I found pretty much the same with the characteristics of the model kit too!
Modeling as a hobby requires multiple mental levels and directions, and the process was as follows:
First, find something to build that would look basically Ok – and I discovered a “Fitter” kit somewhere in my stash. Second, over about a 12 year period I would occasionally look at the kit box and remind myself never, ever buy cheap model kits.
But the intrigue and interest drove me to see what a cheap Fitter would look like built. Finally, with some determination, much chopping, cutting, sanding and an on-line visit to an obscure Russian company to buy some decent looking wheels, I managed to put together the aforementioned kit, and make it look something like it would have been years ago as a member of the Frontovaya Aviatsiya.
Enjoy the Fitter–A!
