Sukhoi SU-17M-4 Fitter K
20th Guards Fighter Bomber Regiment, 16th
Air Army
Group Soviet Forces Germany,
Gross-Dolln, East Germany
The Sukhoi SU-17M-4 Fitter K (Export designation SU-22M-4) is the final
refinement of the Sukhoi Design Bureau’s long line of fighter-bombers that
began with the SU-7 series. Optimized for the long range low level attack role,
the Fitter K incorporated state of the art attack and navigation avionics,
improved engine performance, and the ability to carry the latest Soviet air to
ground weapons, to include the latest family of Soviet air to ground missiles.
Although having been replaced for the most part in the long range strike role by
the SU-24 Fencer, the SU-17/22 series continues to provide first line attack
capability in numerous ex Soviet bloc air forces.
Using the KP 1/48th SU-17/22M-4 kit, I decided to build a Soviet
Fitter K based in what was then East Germany. Although the KP kit is accurate in
outline, the kit lacks a lot of the detail "Finesse" found in
comparable 1/48th scale kits of the time. Starting with the fuselage,
I completely gutted the kit cockpit and replaced it with a combination of the Cutting
Edge, Eduard, and Part cockpit detail sets. Next I cut out the small
auxiliary intake doors located in front of the cockpit, replaced them with new
doors fashioned from sheet styrene and positioned all four doors in a slightly
opened position. The detail in the rear speed brakes was rather crude and I
elected to completely cut out and rebuilt the speed brake wells and replaced the
speed brake doors with those provided in the Eduard set. I discarded the kit
nose gear well and modified a Mongram F-105 nose gear well to fit. I used the
F-105 gear well since it contains a fair amount of detail and plumbing and looks
"Busy" like the real one. Lastly, I replaced the kit provided burner
can with The Cutting Edge resin burner can.
Next came the really fun part,…. The wings. I decided that I wanted my
Fitter to have a more candid appearance so I decided to drop the slats and
flaps. Since the excellent Cutting Edge flap/slat set was not available at the
time, I went to work on the kit wings with a Xacto Jeweler’s saw and a lot of
patience (Not to mention some occasional cursing) All the slat/flap surfaces
were cut from the wings and the appropriate areas were rebuilt. The the rebuilt
flaps/slats were glued in position after all final painting and decaling was
complete. Like my FB-111, the variable geometry portion of the wings were
constructed to allow me to position them after all painting/decaling was
finished. As with the nose gear, I completely gutted the main gear wells and
scratch built news ones. All the gear struts were detailed and with brake lines,
etc.
After mulling over several possible ordinance options I decided to configure
my Fitter as it would have been for the defense suppression role, in short, a
Soviet "Wild Weasel". The configuration consists of two external
tanks, two R-60 (AA-8 Aphid) AAMs for defense, two Kh-58E (AS-11 Kilter)
anti-radiation missiles, a Bh-58 Vjuga emission location pod on the centerline,
and a full compliment of ASO/KDS chaff/flare dispensers. I used the kit supplied
tanks, AA-8s from the Academy Mig-29, The Cutting Edge AS-11s, the Bh-58 pod was
scratch built, as were the pylons/launchers for the AS-11s. A word of caution
concerning the kit supplied pylons, they are not keyed for left and right.
In order to get the pylons to fit, you must shape the corresponding side of each
pylon in order for them to fit correctly to each side of the wing (Left/Right).
My Fitter represents a late model K assigned to the 20th Guards
Fighter Bomber Regiment, 16th Air Army, Group Soviet Forces Germany
in the late 1980’s time frame. I finished my Fitter using Model Master II
paint matched as closely to the FS standards listed on the Cutting Edge Fitter
decal sheet. Decals are from Cutting Edge and the spares box and a very thin
Burnt Umber wash was applied to all the panel lines. Although not up to the
detail standards as most other comparable 1/48th scale kits, with some patience
and ingenuity, KP’s kit can be built into an excellent representation of
Sukhoi’s massive attacker.
Scott
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