Subject: Re: Hi Steve - Review for Eduard Su-22 follows...
From: "Submissions for ARC" <[email-masked]>
To: "Nicholas Moore" <[email-masked]>
Date: Sat, 14 Aug 2010 12:57:38 -0700

Hi,
I just wanted to let you know your article went on ARC today.  Thanks again for sending it in.

Steve Bamford
Aircraft Resource Center
http://www.aircraftresourcecenter.com

Live like there is no tomorrow;
Love like you've never been hurt.
Work like you don't need the money.
Dance like nobody's watching.
Sing like nobody's listening.
Live like it's Heaven on Earth.

  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Nicholas Moore 
  To: [email-masked] 
  Sent: Tuesday, August 10, 2010 2:38 AM
  Subject: Hi Steve - Review for Eduard Su-22 follows...

              Eduard 

              1/48 Su-22/Su-17M3 Fitter Limited Edition 

              EDU1149  from HobbyLink Japan http://www.hlj.com/ 

              Product article by Nick Moore 

              Eduard provide a limited edition of the Su-22/Su-17M3 Fitter containing five sprues of injection moulded parts, three bags of additional resin components, two frets of photo-etch, canopy and wheel masks and decals. Aircraft such as the Fitter seems to be somewhat of an acquired taste for modellers and those who will build this kit will probably know its history. Briefly it could be described as a typically robust 1970’s Soviet product with a strong signature carrying over from the Su-7 and a similar visual profile to the Mig-21. It found use in Afghanistan and Middle East conflicts and later in a number of clashes on behalf of some scrappy nations wanting to thrash out various issues in their exotically camouflaged jets. So historically it is in fact quite a cool plane and not least because it wasn’t just painted dull old grey like the big player’s birds. Eduard’s instructions provide a detailed history of the aircraft’s technical development. 

              Beginning with the plastic parts you should find these moulded to an adequate standard and you will see what I mean by that in the accompanying photographs. Surface engraved detail such as panel lines and access panels are just a little soft and the actual plastic surface as a whole appears slightly pitted. Other stand alone parts are frequently soft and simplified.  So I guess what you have here is the basic plastic platform courtesy of the old Kopro kit moulds (interesting subjects – challenging builds) and the excellent resin and PE enhancements that will push this kit up a few notches in quality. 

              Resin components come in three separate bags that are stapled to the inside of the box wall to isolate them from the more robust plastic.  All the resin is nicely done but the Brassin parts in particular are fantastically crisp and fine. They are cast in a pale grey colour and indicate a perhaps more sophisticated form of manufacture than what has come before.  Rather than hand crafting an object like a seat by painstakingly constructing it piece by piece from traditional scratch building materials which results in a casting that closely approximates reality, the master for these exceptionally clean castings appears to have been machined from a single material or produced by an additive manufacturing method such as rapid prototyping. Or maybe it’s just damn good sculpting! Either way what is created is the illusion of near perfect miniaturisation. Naturally a cockpit outfitted with these parts will really shine. Further resin parts are applicable to certain markings options and are of the more usual quality of resin we are used to. 

              One fret of PE components adds yet another level of detail to the ejection seat and other cockpit parts. The other fret adds a layer of detail that is missing from the plastic parts particularly details along the difficult to capture edges of the fuselage halves. 

              Five marking options are provided with the kit: 

              A         Su-22, Grupo Aereo No11, Escuadron Aereo 111, Talara Airbase Peru 

              This scheme is reproduced very effectively on the box art. 

              B         Su-22, No.1032 Squadron, Okbabin Nafaa El’Woutia’ Airbase Libya 

              C         Su-17M3, Soviet Naval Air Forces, 1980-1990, Soviet Union 

              D         Su-17M3, 1st AE, 168TH APIB, Bolshye Shiraki Airbase, Soviet Union 1982 

              E          Su-17M3, 101st ORAP (Independent Reconnaissance Regiment), Soviet Union , late 80’s 

              The kit contains a substantial decal sheet for all of these markings plus extensive 

              stencilling and a clear guide to their locations in the instructions. They are printed by Cartograf and appear to be of excellent quality. 

              In summary this Eduard limited edition has the contents you will often find in Czech limited run kits but with the added value of the inclusion of some of Eduard’s latest product. They really are very well done and given there are already some excellent builds of this tooling floating around the net, this extras edition is bound to look pretty fantastic when put together by a competent modeller. Recommended to all fans of Soviet aircraft and those who like a little something away from the mainstream. 

              This kit is available here: http://www.hlj.com/product/EDU1149 

              My thanks to HobbyLink Japan (http://www.hlj.com/) for supplying this review sample. 

              Nick Moore 10 August 2010