Right I am making a start on Eduards recent release of their 1/48 Su 22/17M3 fitter, see my review here. First of all I would like to thank Jean-Luc for giving me the opportunity to build this cold war warrior.
I decided first of all to construct the elements that make up the vertical tail. The reason for this is that I am hopeless at lining things up properly and I thought I would stand a better chance if I assembled the tail to each half of the fuselage. I then left the assembly to set. There is a bit of a gap at the join that will need filling. Looking at the panel lines of the real thing panel lines are are very tight.
I have also assembled the fuel tanks after a little light sanding. The fore and aft parts of the tank half that fits between the half with the fins needs the width reducing slightly.
I will keep you posted.
tim

Hi all
Set the tail fin to dry last night and started to work on the jet pipe and the radar installation that sits inside the air intake. There is a little work to do with the inside surface of the two part jet pipe. Nothing major as the plastic is fairly soft. There is a noticeable step, which is the result of the bulkhead that has been moulded to the outside of the jet pipe.
Cleaned the four parts for the radar installation as there is a little flash. Packed the fairing for the radar with solder to prevent the fitter from being a tail sitter. Joining these parts needs a little care as there are no locating pins. I then glued the bulkhead behind the radar fairing, which prevents you seeing down the fuselage. I left on part of the bits where the sprue is attached to the bulkhead to aid the lining up of the parts. The nose cone was also added., looking a bit like Thunderbird I. Be careful lining up the nose cone as there is a recess for a camera beneath the tip of the cone. The profile of the nose cone is not quite correct, as there is a bulbous bit around the circumference of the radar fairing.
While the nose is setting, I attached the rear part of the cockpit to the fuselage. There is in a couple of marks in the fuselage halves to guide you. This is at odds with the instructions which suggest gluing all the cockpit components together. Because of the angle of the rear part of the cockpit, if you followed the instructions, it would be difficult to to get the angle correct. The resin rear cockpit is very nicely done, but be careful with the seat rails [looks like a ladder] as it is very delicate. The fit is very good and I attached it with cryo. When this had set I glued the front undercarriage bay in place, this is set 3.5mm to the aft. Don't fit it into the existing gap! The gap to the front of the wheel bay is filled with a piece of resin.
tim

Hi all.
Just a quick update on progress so far. I sanded the filler in the gaps around the tail fin joint. Also I glued, filled and blended the airbrakes into the fuselage. Looking at photos of the fitter the airbrakes sit very snuggly in their recesses. Joined the wing together and the fit is generally good. A little filler was needed around the join on the leading edge of the wing, where the outer wing meets the lower. One thing I have noticed about the movable surfaces on the real aircraft is that the gaps are a lot more obvious than on the model. You could cut the moving surfaces out or just emphasise the line more by scoring. I think I will do the later. Also be careful apply the glue as I found that if you use to much it affects the surface of the plastic. My wing was affected by this in a couple of places. No big deal as I simply filled and filed the areas, but it did take a little longer for the glue and plastic to cure. I tend to use a lot of glue as I like to see it oozing from the join and it usually results in an excellent bond not requiring filler. I will use liquid glue in future. Aplogise about he differnt colour the plastic appears in the photos. No it's not some sort of Chamelon effect developed by Eduard for the plastic, just that some photos are taken outside and some inside! Really enjoying the build so far and I will keep you all updated.
tim

Hi Tim,

Great work on your Su-22! I am following your build with great interest as I am a big fan of Sukhoi aircraft, particularly this series. I appreciate your detailed comments about the model. Eduard certainly breathed new life into this kit and I'm glad to see you taking on the challenge.

Cheers!
Mark

Hi Mark
Glad you are enjoying it so far. I have really enjoyed the build, the inclusion of the resin and PE bits will make a huge difference to what is a good and impressive kit. In fact I am tempted to buy Eduard's earlier release of the Su-7. Hoping to do the cockpit this evening.
tim

Hi all.
Latest update on the Fitter. Put the cockpit together and I must say I am very impressed with the PE parts. The designer at Eduard has done a superb job. There are small holes in the pieces so that some of the low relief switches fit through the holes. Brilliant!! I was pretty pleased with the results until I looked at the photographs and noticed a mould line down the control column. So I sanded down and resprayed. Just a few touch ups before it's finished.
I did have some problems with the jet pipe though. Try as I might I could not get rid of the seam on the inside. I had to call it quits though as the end of the jet pipe is thin and I was worried about damaging it. A resin replacement pipe would be a good idea me thinks. Wings glued together with no problem. I attached each wing before joining the fuselage and used cryo to spot glue the join and applied pressure. There is still a bit of a gap, but nothing to serious.
Hope to have the fuselage joined tomorrow.
tim

Great progress Tim!!

Looking forward to see it as a "whole aircraft" .... keep up the good work and keep posting

all the best

Steffen

Looks great so far. I will be watching closely as I may get one of these kits

Cheers

Hi Tim,

Any progress here? I am thinking about starting my build of this kit?

Mark

Thanks for the reminder Mark. I will return back to it in the next few weeks as soon as I have finished my current projects. Not quite sure why I have not finished it yet.
Watch this space. Good luck with your build Mark.
All the best.
tim

Because your a staff member and are not allowed to finish builds .
Andy

Youre right Andy, I forgot, it's in the contract I have just looked it up

All the best.
tim

Niiiice work!