with Eduard photo-etched detail set and Linden Hill decals
4th Air Army, Russian Air Force, Russia 1999
I purchased Revell’s Su-25 ‘Frogfoot’ way back in 1996. Having bought it I discovered it was full of minor errors and I was unhappy with the markings provided in the kit. Eventually, someone (Linden Hill) made some decals for the Frogfoot, which I obtained. I made numerous small changes to the base kit to try and make it more accurate. These included adding an air intake at the base of the fin, modifying the nose gear, altering the chaff dispensers, and other stuff I’ve forgotten. Some changes I didn’t make, such as the wing pylons, which should all be the same size, but aren’t in the kit. I added an Eduard photo-etch set, which was designed for the OEZ kit (and I think was Eduard’s first set in 1/48), so it didn’t fit that well. This set included cockpit upgrade parts, grab handles, ladder and antennae. The most useful addition it provides are the blanking plates for the wingtips that shield the wingtip lights from the canopy. The missiles are from an Academy Flanker. The paints are mixed from Humbrol enamels, except the undersides, which are Xtracolour. An oil wash was applied over Klear, and the decals applied using setting solutions. The decals are very good. The sharkmouth looks like it has the wrong colours — I would expect the teeth to be white and the mouth black (this is how Italeri have it on their 1/72 version of this ‘plane). I wrote to Linden Hill, and they stand by their research, so I guess that’s the way it is. Kit went together okay, but the nose is the wrong shape and it’s apparently more inaccurate than the OEZ kit.
Year bought: 1996 (Antics, Guildford)
Year built: 2002 (Maid’s Causeway, Cambridge)
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