Duo build: Su-7BMK Iraq and Su-7BMK Algeria, 1973 Ramadan/Yom Kippur war
Left PAVLA, right EDUARD
Comments
32 27 March 2016, 10:08
Erik LeijdensOff course, everything is double.. Cleaning the parts will be a lot of work since OEZ made the connections to the sprues not very subtle 😄
27 March 2016, 10:59
Erik LeijdensUsed ventilation louvres from Quickboost, they are a real improvement from the kit ones. The Eduard boxing offers PE replacements but I preferred the resin ones. Not a perfect fit to the fuselage but easy to blend in with some putty.
29 March 2016, 20:30
Wim van der LuijtYou're a brave man, taking on two at once!, count me in. (were the pdf's helpful?)
31 March 2016, 11:06
Erik LeijdensYes Guido, only sanding down the connections will take a lot of work😄. All the airvents on the fuselage will also be replaced by Quickboost parts, they are indeed a vast improvement!
No Wim, I'm not brave.. It's just tactics, when I build 2 at the same time it also doubles the empty places in the stash 😄! Haha no, it's just the fact that when I build one of them the chance is that the other will never be build..
Thanks for the comments mates!
31 March 2016, 15:53
Wim van der LuijtI didn't consider the two empty spaces in the stash......that's a big plus 🙂
31 March 2016, 17:32
Erik LeijdensFinally a bit of progress that I can show now... These are for a injection moulded kit time consuming kits.. A lot of connection pins needed to be removed and fit is not very good, but that makes some of the charm of modelling 😉
The pit of the Smer boxing(white plastic) is out of the box with some painting of knobs and such, nothing much can be seen of it since this on will be with the canopy closed. The Eduard pit is a bit more detailed with PE so that one will be a bit more exposed with the canopy open. Eduard provided a resin ejection seat and for the Smer boxing I bought a resin seat from Pavla, but I don't know if Eduard or Pavla did something wrong but it seems to me that the Pavla seat is way oversized as can be seen on the picture.. Will use the box seat now since the canopy will be closed anyway...
3 May 2016, 20:01
Vasko ZugelNice work Erik, no easy kit at all. Nice improvement with the PE cokpit and the resin seats...
I'll be following this with interest
In my opinion, the most needed thing to correct are the wheel bay doors which are way over-sized. Most simple thing you can do is trim them... a lot...
Please consider Iraq and Algeria as other Arab countries used only BMK versions without skids...
15 May 2016, 18:03
Erik LeijdensThanks for your comment Vasko!
The BKL title was a typo of mine since I am building 2 BMK's, all those abbreviations all the time😄 Luckily Eduard points out which parts are needed for a BKL or a BMK. Only the correction for the fuselage is to late for my Fitters since I already glued the wing halves together.. But I can live with that..
Thanks for your heads up about the wheel bay doors, will look into it! Saw that you made scratch bay doors, maybe I can do that too 👍
16 May 2016, 18:50
Erik LeijdensAdded some air scoops from Quickboost, they are a nice improvement over the kit parts. As they can be clearly seen I can recommend them to the modelers that want to build a Su-7.
24 May 2016, 06:32
Erik LeijdensFinally, the Fitters have their base coat! Need to fill some sink holes before they will receive a pre shade. Really chunky kits these Kovozávody Prostějov products..
26 September 2016, 11:59
Wim van der LuijtI think I found what you asked for.....Source: Arab Migs by Harpia Pubishing Fitters for Erik Leijdens | Album by Loftinsulator
29 September 2016, 09:33
Erik LeijdensAlgerian Fitter also has his first camo now. This one is a bit more difficult since it has 3 camouflage colors.
29 September 2016, 19:37
Erik LeijdensThanks Clifford! Sprayed the camouflage freehand, it's a first timer for me. These Fitters won't be my best models so no man overboard if the outcome will be a bit disappointing 🙂
3 October 2016, 07:18
Murad ÖZERErik both are looking amazing but the brownie is a real eyecatcher.
loved 2 things, 1 soft edge is barely there which looks spot on in scale, 2 demarcations on the soft edges are consistent all around. extremely lovely job on both 👍, respect!
4 October 2016, 06:02
Soeren R.I really love the paintjob!
How was the build so far? Can you recommend those kits or should I wait for hopefully new tooled kit in the future?
4 October 2016, 06:18
Bart Goesaertsuperb paintjob on both, I can totally agree with Murad with regards to the edges...
4 October 2016, 07:26
Erik LeijdensThanks guys! Really appreciate it 🙂.
@Murad; thanks mate you are to kind! The demarcations are not perfect but good enough for a first time spraying the camouflage freehand.
@Sören; well it's a bit chunky and off course nothing like modern kits. Altough the fit is not perfect it still is quite nice. See my album for more pictures. But when building it I laid it aside a couple of times and continud some other projects to prevent a building dip 😄
4 October 2016, 15:25
Erik LeijdensThanks Stefan, Clifford and Oleg 👍
Faded the camouflage a bit, these Fitters were based at Egyptian and Syrian airbases in the Ramadan war in 1973 and I think they were exposed to a lot of sun 🙂
4 October 2016, 20:08
Wim van der LuijtVery impressive paintwork, you might not call it your best work but the pics look good
6 October 2016, 08:20
Erik LeijdensWell Wim, the building process was a bit hard but the painting goes well so far 🙂
6 October 2016, 18:32
Michael PhillipsThe camo on these two is just so striking and well executed. Looking forward to seeing the end results!
7 October 2016, 02:09
Erik LeijdensBoth received a coat of future and their decals. It's not certain if the Iraqi Su-7's wore the Iraqi roundel on top of the wings but I think it looks nicer. Funny to see how different the stencilling are of Eduard and Hi-Decal. But they are hard to see on the pictures 😄. Next up is to fade the decals a bit so they will more look like the faded camouflage. Will do that with a heavily thinned H313 Sand.
12 October 2016, 18:38
Aris Greywow, wow , what a project. They look great man, you will need some weathering on the decals at the end
13 October 2016, 21:43
Erik LeijdensThanks mates! Applied some weathering on the Iraqi Fitter and faded the decals a bit.
14 October 2016, 03:45
Murad ÖZERthey are YUMMY. i've changed my mind tho! for some reason the iraqi one is looking much more attractive - no idea why tho. don't get me wrong both are lovely still. 🙂
17 October 2016, 12:45
Maciej BellosBoth are great, the Iraqi one seems more appealing though. The algerian one looks like a toad, like a marine as my father calls the toads in our garden.
17 October 2016, 14:55
Michael PhillipsI will take the opposite side, I actually like the Algerian one better because it does look like a toad, or a snake even. But that is just splitting hairs, both are really sweet!
17 October 2016, 14:57
Erik LeijdensHaha nice mates! I like the Iraqi more too but tonight i will give the algerian one a wash so we will see how it turns out. The fight will continue...😄
17 October 2016, 15:54
Erik LeijdensThanks mates! Algerian has a wash too now on the upper surface. I used AK enamel washes, a first timer for me. Used to use clay or home made water paint washes.
17 October 2016, 20:29
Maciej BellosAll that mud in the garden made the toad look much better (not that it didn't look good before). Stunning work on both your birds.
17 October 2016, 21:11
Erik LeijdensFitters got their semi matt clear cote. Still a lot of work to do before they are finished.
26 October 2016, 14:47
Michael PhillipsThat matte coat really brings these two to life! I am really diggin' these both!!! PS - I still like the Algerian one better. LOL
26 October 2016, 14:59
Greg BVery nice work on a very crappy kit 😄 I love this strange plane. I hope for a new tool in the future.
26 October 2016, 23:55
Erik LeijdensThank mates.
@Greg, it sure is quite crappy but apart from the fit and engineering of some of the parts it is a very nice kit. But I'm sure I will never build another one from the OEZ tool😄 Most noticeable fault is the position of the inlet cone, should be 4mm more to the front...wish I had checked my references and build reports from others more thorough since it is easily taking care of, if you haven't closed the fuselage off course...😢
27 October 2016, 06:33
Greg BAh yes, you are right, I remember putting some spaces to mine... At some point I would like also to do a camo scheme... Your paint job is lovely
27 October 2016, 10:22
Erik LeijdensThanks mates! They are not finished yet... I decided that the kit pitottubes needed to be replaced by a more down to scale version from Master.. Think I'll have them by Tuesday..
6 November 2016, 13:49
GuusOh by the way ! If you haven't used the Indian decals can I buy those off you ?
8 November 2016, 19:01
AugieI have to say, especially as i know the kits very well.... bloody good job!
11 November 2016, 21:41
Michael PhillipsAbsolutely stunning Erik. I can't get over how beautiful those two are!!!
11 November 2016, 23:13
Erik LeijdensThanks Michael and James! I'm very pleased with the result too. But I'm sure there is room for improvement, maybe for a third Su-7 😄
12 November 2016, 07:10
Mats BengtssonI can only agree with the chorus of praise; a couple of fantastic Fitters 👍
12 November 2016, 09:01
Bernhard SchrockGreat Job Erik especially with the airbrush! The color demarcation lines looks in my opinion very realistic.
12 November 2016, 15:37
Erik LeijdensThanks mates!
@Berhard, was the first time free hand! Good to see a Master modeler likes it 🙂
12 November 2016, 22:30
gorbyVery interesting build Erik, and the outcome on both of them is remarkable – I love the camouflage on both as well.
13 November 2016, 08:02
Bart Goesaertcongratz with these beauties... and that's what they are... nicely build, painted and weathered... congratz..
14 November 2016, 08:43
Erik LeijdensThanks mates!! Really nice to see so many reactions! Never thought they would receive so many thumbs up when I started them 🙂
14 November 2016, 16:24
Vasko ZugelYour Fitter couple looks wonderful. Not an easy kit at all and making two is truely demanding and you did a great job. Love the painting.
16 November 2016, 15:31
Maciej BellosBeautiful work these two fitter. Two demanding kits but you got the best out of them. Congrats.
16 November 2016, 16:12
Erik LeijdensThanks mates. Nice to see a project from last year still gets attention 🙂
7 March 2017, 22:11
Alec KSweet Sukhois, Erik, great job! I had no idea that the Eduard kit used the ancient OEZ kit's plastic. That mould was well done, obviously.
8 March 2017, 12:37
Gary BrantleyWow, what a great pair o' models Erik! They really do look good together. For a while, I taught with an expatriate Russian who had worked as an Su-7 ground-crewman. Of that aircraft, he said, "very tough airplane, very tough!" I'd say those models are very tough too! Very nice work 👍
8 March 2017, 13:30
Alec KThese were apparently one of the loudest jets in service. They also allegedly did not like heat very much, which makes me wonder, if that's the case, how they operated in the Middle East and Africa. Czechoslovakia used these also there are some great videos/comments on Youtube.
8 March 2017, 13:39
Erik LeijdensThanks Clifford, Bill, Alec, Gary and Arash!
@Gary, it was indeed a tough kit!! I was impressed on the weight if this kit when assembled.. very thick plastic!
@Alec, indeed a loud jet. I only have seen Su-17 and 22s in the flesh and they are also very loud. Time for a bloody rich American who will put a private Su-7 to the air haha 😉
8 March 2017, 15:34
Erik LeijdensThanks guys very much appreciated. Really nice that they receive so much attention, even months after completion 🙂
21 June 2017, 05:00
Helge LippertJust Excellent. I have still the Revell Kit in my stash. It was a really bad startet flea market found. Hopefully I an turn it into the same great cold war fighter you did.
15 February 2018, 19:19
Alexander GrivonevAwesome paintjob and overall result! Built the Revell one myself many years ago, i love the shape of this plane! Great pictures also!
15 February 2018, 21:23
Roland SachsenhoferA great couple! The paint application shows the use, abrasion and dirt - but in just the right measure, without overdoing it. I like it very much!
19 June 2021, 09:09
Robert PodkońskiPerfect job! (even more than that, taking into account the quality of basic kits...)
19 June 2021, 09:21
Gary VictorySomething we don't see often. The SU-7 often overlooked. Really great work. Many Congrats. Top Work Erik.
6 October 2021, 10:34
Clifford KeeslerThey still look great. I have 2 of them myself, maybe I will build them soon, after seeing these two great ones.
6 October 2021, 21:10
Erik LeijdensReally nice this duo still receives attention every once in a while 🙂. KP released or will release a two seater Su-7 soon, a kit I have to build, will sit nicely next to these two.
12 October 2021, 06:49
