Lemkits 1/32 scale Sukhoi-7/ 1970 Egyptian air force

 LEMKITS 1/32 RESIN KIT OF THE SUKHOI-7

 

The Sukhoi-7 

The Egyptian air force in the 1970s, was the largest operator of the type in the middle-east. It's rugged design and powerful Lyulka AL-7 engine put it at the forefront of  Egypt's air force attack capability.  It   was well known and respected for it's ability to absorb damages incurred in the numerous instances of air combat against the Israeli air force. The SU-7 design however was flawed by a limited operational range and weapons load capacity requiring the attachment of auxillary fuel tanks to accomplish any mission longer than a local flight.  Other design issues were eventually improved in later Sukhoi designs, SU-17 & SU-20 also provided by the Soviets to their middle-eastern clientele.

 

The model

The Lemkits SU-7 is a full resin kit in 1/32 scale that is very well designed with adequate surface details and a simple but well appointed cockpit.  The model is quite heavy so some extra support to the landing gear struts was necessary.  The fit overall was good and rivalled any injection molded kit on the current market. Some of the parts requiring structural strength have imbedded copper wires. The  necessity for application of putty was minimal and seams were generally tight.  I had a slight mismatch in the overall length of one fuselage side part which I shimmed and blended in with putty but that was really the only issue that I had in assembly. The decal markings that I applied are for the Egyptian air force from the early 1970s which scavenged from my decal collection. The Arabic numerals were sprayed onto clear decal material through a  stencil which I fabricated.

Out of the box

After assembly

The cockpit and ejection seat

Primer coat used is Mr. Surfacer 1500

Photos of the finished model painted with Testors Modelmaster enamel paints