IBuildEmBig Posted May 11, 2015 Share Posted May 11, 2015 So here is something you don't see built everyday - a full resin Su-7 BM Fitter from Ukrainian Ebay seller Ruporator. Personally, I haven't seen one built, so I figured I should try to be the first one. The kit came in a generic white cardboard box with a B&W side profile of the Fitter on the box top. There was no brand name - it doesn't get any more no-name than that. All the resin parts were carefully wrapped in bubble wraps, no breakages were found (Aires could learn a packaging lesson from Ruporator). There was a CD-ROM with a bunch of pictures of the various parts that show how the kit progressively can come together. Calling it an "instruction" is a bit of a stretch, because there was no text and some guessing was needed to build this thing. There were also a bunch of pictures of the real Fitter taken from various boneyards as reference. Decals? LOL. None. I used generic Russian bort number decals from Delta One. The build started with the cockpit, which was reasonably detailed, although the details were more approximation than "highly accurate". I added some extra bits using plastic stock. The ejection seat was quite nice, and I added some PE seat belts from a left over Italeri 1/32 F-104 kit. The radome/intake cone was intentionally cast hollow because you would need every bit of space in there to fit ballast. I stuffed a bunch of fishing weights in there. Still, it wasn't enough, I had to fit more in the space behind the cockpit AND behind the canopy bulkhead to ensure the jet sits on its gears. The canopy was vacform. The plastic was uneven so I had a very hard time cutting it. I ended up using the spare as well. There were no details in the canopy inside so I added some framing using plastic stock. The nose was cast as one piece, with the radome, cockpit tub, and nose gear bay as separate pieces. The fuselage was left-right halves, and there was a full jet exhaust tube that comprised of 4 pieces. The exhaust tube was what made the model very tail heavy. Each wing was cast as a single piece including the wing fences. Vertical fin was two pieces - front and rear; each horizontal stab was one piece. Imagine the parts break down of a 1/72 kit scaled up to 1/32 - the build was that simple. I glued most fuselage and structural pieces using epoxy glue. The landing gears were resin with metal rods cast inside. The details were good, but the instruction (ahem, CD-ROM) was not very clear so I'm sure I missed installing a strut or two. Due to the tail-biased weight distribution, the rear gears still sag even with the interior metal rods. Therefore I am using a clear plastic cradle (otherwise known as a CA glue bottle) to support the jet's a$$ end in the display case. The kit is missing some minor things, such as canopy details, the leading edge guns/cannons, sway braces etc. Some of them I scratch built, some I said "eff it, this is not a contest winner so whatevs". The paints used were Gunze and Tamiya acrylics. It's a complex camouflage, so lots of back-and-forth touching up, and paint fading and post shading was done to give it that "pop". Please don't ask me where this jet was based, or what its back history was. I gave up researching in this thing two months into building it. So here it is. I enjoyed the build a lot - a relatively easy to build resin kit. Enjoy the pics. Thank you. Terry wisa, Anthony in NZ, dutik and 6 others 9 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IBuildEmBig Posted May 11, 2015 Author Share Posted May 11, 2015 a couple more: Terry Whitey, dutik, Kagemusha and 6 others 9 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ericg Posted May 11, 2015 Share Posted May 11, 2015 Very cool! You have done a great job on that kit and it looks great in your display cabinet. Eric Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tucohoward Posted May 11, 2015 Share Posted May 11, 2015 Terry, that looks great! Really nice work. The finished product is excellent. Jay Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dutik Posted May 11, 2015 Share Posted May 11, 2015 This is a Wow-huuu! :punk: Really outstanding to tackle such an uncommon subject and to achieve such an impressive result! - dutik Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LSP_Ron Posted May 11, 2015 Share Posted May 11, 2015 Well A for effort big time. I've never seen a kit of this plane nor did I know it even existed. It looks great Ron Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amurray Posted May 11, 2015 Share Posted May 11, 2015 That is a beauty! From your build description I was not prepared for how good the finished model looks. Wonderful paint job to boot. Does this company make any other kits? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LSP_Kevin Posted May 11, 2015 Share Posted May 11, 2015 Excellent work Terry! It really looks fantastic. May I publish it on the website? Kev Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LSP_Kevin Posted May 11, 2015 Share Posted May 11, 2015 Does this company make any other kits? They certainly do, but they're generally only available through their eBay store. From memory, LSP member upor is behind it. Kev Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LSP_Kevin Posted May 11, 2015 Share Posted May 11, 2015 And here's a list of their kits in our Kit Database: http://www.largescaleplanes.com/kitdb/list.php?act=search&kitMaker=lem Terry, do you happen to know the kit number for yours? That info is missing from our database. Kev Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kagemusha Posted May 11, 2015 Share Posted May 11, 2015 (edited) Great to see her finished Terry, and a little sad too as I was enjoying following the build, hopefully the exchange rate will improve and I'll be able to snaffle one up. Terrific work, such an elegant aircraft, and a fantastic model, thanks for sharing. Here's their ebay listings http://www.ebay.com/sch/ruporator/m.html?_nkw=&_armrs=1&_ipg=&_from= Edited May 11, 2015 by Kagemusha Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IBuildEmBig Posted May 11, 2015 Author Share Posted May 11, 2015 Excellent work Terry! It really looks fantastic. May I publish it on the website? Kev Certainly, Kev. Please go ahead, thank you. Terry Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Peterpools Posted May 11, 2015 Share Posted May 11, 2015 Tewrry WOW ... magnificent build and the first I've seen. :clap2: Peter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reconspit Posted May 12, 2015 Share Posted May 12, 2015 I love it, very cool and very rare. Very inspiring... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blackbetty Posted May 12, 2015 Share Posted May 12, 2015 followed your build on ARC and i love it! wish i couild afford one of their big sukhois, sigh Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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