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David Smigielski
smigield@hotmail.com

This is Kopro's 1/48 Su-17/22 which I built in the fall of 2002. It was my first foray back into modeling after several years and I wanted something that was unique and Russian. The Fitter fulfilled those requirements quite nicely. 

Kopro's kit wasn't the nightmare I'd expected and went together easily. I wanted to pose the plane with its flaps and slats extended, so I bought the Cutting Edge external detail set along with their Su-17 tailpipe to replace the poorly done kit part. The cockpit was replaced with Neomega's set. It's a jewel and I'm totally sold on their products now. (insert FitterCockpitLeft.jpg here)

I painted the model using Tamiya paints thinned with 91% isopropyl alcohol. I used Metallizer Sealer to prep for decals. The markings came from Linden Hill's beautiful Fitters Over the Panjshir Valley sheet. Linden Hill really should be commended for their decals. They are well researched and of exceptional quality. The stencils came from the kit.

Fitters in Afghanistan were quite weathered and I decided to try pastels instead of washes (which I've always been wary of) to capture this look. To replicate fading I placed lighter pastel versions of the base colors at the center of each panel and worked them out towards the panel edges. I used darker pastels to accent the panel lines. The result is extremely subtle (and wasn't adequately captured in these photos) but I'm very happy with it. 

The Fitter is armed with a combination of rockets, bombs, and missiles- probably not accurate but I was going for something a little different. The AS-7s came with the kit but were heavily modified to look more like the real thing. The rocket pods came from the kit as well. The bombs, to which I added some minor details, came off of an old Mi-24 that I had lying around. Where they originally came from, I have no idea. (insert FitterLoadout.jpg and AS7.jpg here).

I'm pleased with how this kit turned out. It's not 100% accurate but it looks good to me and was a pleasure to build.

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