#024 Kitty Hawk Su-22M4 Fitter-K "The Polish Lady"

Maciej Bellos
Michael check the following link:

doogsmodels.com/2017..wk-su-17m3m4-fitter/

It looks rather grim...

I will be following this polish bird.

Marko
Definitely watching.

Michael Phillips
Thanks Maciej and Marko! Now I just need to get the ModelMaker decals that feature this particular Fitter. This kit may get moved WAY up in the queue, so be ready! I am in a Russian built jet mood of late.

Maciej, I have read and watched Doogs' reveiws. I see his point, but I also think he is a bit overly critical. Does this kit have some engineering issues? Yep. Challenging fit? Yep. But it is also the best Fitter kit in my scale and the HB kit seems like it is going to have some issues of it's own (particularly the windscreen). With all that said, I am looking forward to tackling the challenge as I really love this odd bird.

David Barclay
Followed your lead on this one Michael! My kit is shipping today from KH! So add this to the list! Lol

Michael Phillips
Awesome! I think maybe this one should be our next buddy build??? I am pretty eager to start this one. 🙂

Jeff Owens
Looking forward to seeing this come together Mike

David Barclay
Sounds good too me! Just need to find some Libyan Markings!

Michael Phillips
Thanks Jeff!

David, check this out... CE Decals still has decals for sale, including one that has the Libyan Fitter.

fineartofdecals.com/..8-treasures-postwar/

Scroll down about halfway for the "Su-22 Colorful Fitters" decals.

David Barclay
Thanks Michael! But I ordered a polish sheet! lol kinda like that grey camo too!

Holger Kranich
Oh i´m in here! The kit is on my wishlist and i´m eager to see how it is to build. And aside of that - the grey camo looks pretty cool!

Maciej Bellos
Oooohhh it went up the list blindingly fast. Looking forward to it mate.

Michael Phillips
Uh oh, David and I are doing the same kit in the same markings... I better step my game up!!!

Welcome aboard Holger, buckle up, this one has been moved up to next after the ICM MiG-25 I am working on now. I will try to give my thoughts as best I can as I work on this one.

Yessir Maciej, this one is next now! I am really looking forward to building it, as well as the ICM MiG I just started.

Alistair Graham
I'm interested in this one Michael. I had it on back order from Hannants but removed it after watching Doog's video. I was very disheartened as I had wished for a good 1:48 model for a while. Well soon find out any major errors I guess once the experts get their hands on it.

Kurt Reichert
I love this bird. Following with great interest!

Kurt Reichert
By the way, check thoroughly the fuselage between Su17 and Su22. The exportversion Su22 has a different fuselage.

Michael Phillips
I am still waiting on my Decals from Hannants, apparently my order went to Australia instead of the US and the tracking shows it has not moved from its Sidney scan since the 13th of March. So I may have to move something ahead of this, perhaps an Eduard MiG-21...

Kurt, I have read that the Su-17M4 and Su-22M4 are identical externally. Is that not true?

Kurt Reichert
If I remember correctly are the jet engines different and so the tails too. I check my references. Yefim Gordons Book "Sukhoi Su7/-17/-20/-22 Soviet Fighter and Fighter-Bomber Famaly" is highly recommendable.

Michael Phillips
Hmm, my understanding is that it's the M3 and M4 that has the different engine and tail. But I will look more into this.

Kurt Reichert
I hope i'm wrong, i wait over 10 years for an accurate Su22 or Su17. Has the kid specific parts for different versions?

Alistair Graham
I thought the Su-22M4 had a larger diameter engine and hence fuselage was different. Im no expert but i read that somewhere

Kurt Reichert
I am looking forward to your build report.

Kurt Reichert
Yes this was in the back of my mind. The soviets equip generally their exportet plains with lower engine, radar, avionic and so on.....

Maciej Bellos
From what I recall:
- Su-17 is the version as it served in USSR
- Su-22 is the designation for the export version of Su-17, different electronics and some equipment missing.
- the M3 uses the Tumanski R29 engine
- the M4 the Lyulka AL21 engine, which is a bit fatter than the the R29.
- Poland got the M4 version

I think that the kit can build only the M4 version since it has the rear fuselage for the AL21 engine.
However I suppose only rivet counter modelers will see that, since the difference in diameter of the two engines is a mere 3.2 cm which in 48th corresponds to less than 1 mm.

Mat

Michael Phillips
Thanks for the clarification Maciej, that is a fantastic post! That is exactly what I thought, the 17 and 22 M4s are basically externally the same. It's the M3s that are different. And since I am building a Polish M4, I am good to go with the kit parts. The kit does not come with the parts needed to build an M3.

Kurt Reichert
Thanks Maciej, this sounds good.

Günther Debiscop
Nice to know that.... The kit can stay on my whish list 🙂

Christian Borchmann-Backhaus
I will take a seat....

Maciej Bellos
In my previous post I think I made an error with respect to the "fatness" of the two engines. Well, wikipedia (it's a source sometimes) states that the AL-21F is 1000 mm in diameter while the R29 is 968mm. But, Yefim Gordons book mentions that the R29 was quite larger in diameter and despite it being a bit more powerful, the performance of the Su-22M (export version of the Su-17M3) was worse with the new engine. The Su-22M4 which was the export version of the Su-17M4 retained the Lyulka AL-21F engine, thus no changes were made at the rear end of the fuselage.

So the title Kitty Hawk used for the kit is 25% misleading. You can build a Su-17M3, a Su-17M4 and a Su-22M4 but not a Su-22M3.

Michael Phillips
Thanks for the update Maciej. This is good info for any looking to build this kit.

By the way, since my decals for this build are MIA in Australia right now, I went ahead and bought another sheet from a US seller. Soooooo, if anyone is interested in the Polish Su-22 sheet listed in this project, I might have one for sale when my original sheet finally arrives here, whenever (if) it does. LOL

gtiery
Very Nice !!!