In 1968, after analysing the experience of Ilyushin Il-2 units during WW2, the Soviet Ministry of Defence decided to develop a modern descendant of the famous
Shturmovik (armoured assault aircraft) in order to provide Close Air Support (CAS) to the Red Army. The Ministry decided that the contemporary Sukhoi Su-7, Sukhoi Su-17 and MiG-21 did not meet the Red Army's requirement for a CAS aircraft. The Fitters and the Fishbeds lacked armour to protect the pilot and essential systems and that their high speed made it difficult for pilots to accurately aim their weapons. In 1969, the
Voyenno-Vozdushnye Sily announced a competition for a new battlefield CAS aircraft. Sukhoi submitted its T-8 design which was declared the winner against its Mikoyan-Gurevich, Ilyushin and Yakovlev rivals. In appearance, the T-8 resembles Northrop's YA-9 entry for the almost-similar USAF's A-X program (which was won by Fairchild's YA-10, which became the A-10 Thunderbolt II). The Su-25 is armed with a twin Gsh-30-2 30mm cannon and equipped with 11 hardpoints for up to 4,400kg of disposable ordnance.
Production started in 1978 with the first operational squadron taking shape in May 1981. The Su-25 received its baptism of fire two months later when the 200th Independent Shturmovaya Air Squadron were deployed to Afghanistan. It was there that the aircraft received its 'Grach' (Rook) nickname.By the end of the Soviet occupation in 1988, 50 Su-25s were deployed in-theatre, carrying out 60,000 sorties. 21 were shot down by the Mujahideen guerillas (including one shot down by Pakistani F-16s when the Soviet aircraft strayed into Pakistani airspace). The Su-25 also saw service during the First and Second Chechen Wars, South Ossetia War in 2008, Iran-Iraq War, the Persian Gulf War, Ethiopian-Eritrean War, Albanian Insurrection in Macedonia, Darfur and the Ivorian Civil War.
The Kit
I bought the kit some time in 2003 from the old Miniature Hobbies shop at Midvalley Megamall. I read somewhere that this kit is actually reboxed Italeri kit. The kit comes in two light grey sprues, a clear sprue and a small decal sheet. Assembly instructions was printed in a rough paper which reminded me of my Primary School exam papers! On cursory glance, the panel lines appear crisp on the wings but rather deep and rough on the fuselage. Parts were also thickly moulded, including the wing trailing edges, the dorsal aerial and wheel well doors. The nose laser designator window is just a raised pattern (of the wrong shape!) and I believe that the entire nose looks plain wrong when viewed from the front. The cockpit parts meanwhile look rudimentary. Weapons were included but with rather rough details. The decals supposedly were for aircraft based in Afghanistan during the Soviet occupation but the decal placement guide were ambiguous. Paint instructions were for the port side and half of the wing only!
Construction
As usual with aircraft models, I started with the cockpit. This time however I opted for Neomega resin replacement cockpit set. The set consists of the cockpit tub, instrument panel, side consoles, control stick, K-36 ejection seat and the overhead armour plate. Cleanup was quick for the smaller parts but I took some time to cut off the pour stub from the cockpit tub and the seat. Some cutting had to be done to the original kit parts especially for the instrument panel cover. Prior to attaching the cockpit to the fuselage, I painted them in XF-23 Light Blue with the seat and dials in XF-69 NATO Black. The dials then received a single drop of X-22 Clear each to simulate glass. The seatbelts were painted XF-49 Khaki.The overhead armour did not fit well though so I have to putty the gap between the fuselage and the armour piece.
Fit for the rest of the kit was not terribly well especially for the fuselage halves - a large amount of putty was needed here. Fit of the wing to the fuselage is OK, although the wing trailing edges were thick. Although I didn't glue it at this time, I realised that the landing gears are to be butt-jointed, rather the regular post-and hole joint - have to use superglue here. The kit also provided the extended flare/chaff dispenser, first used in Afghanistan to provide countermeasures against Stinger MANPADS, which I used. Finally before getting to the painting stage, I attached the weapons pylons. And talk about weapons, the kit did not provide the muzzle for the cannons (it's either that or I lost the part somehow!).
Painting and Decaling (I)
As I have stated before, the instructions only showed camo pattern for half the aircraft only. The other half have to be sourced from elsewhere. As I was rather unknowledgeable about military camouflage application, I simply repeat the pattern shown on the instruction sheet for the 'dark side'. I used Tamiya XF-23 for the bottom and the camouflage were painted using Tamiya XF-64 Red Brown, XF-60 Dark Yellow and XF-58 Olive Green. Dieletric panels on the fin top and the front of the wingtips were painted XF-5 Flat Green.
Once cured, it's decaling time. As I have stated before, the instructions were quite vague about their placement. I was interested in using the 'sharkmouth' art but alas the instructions did not show which bort number goes with the option, or whether the 'rook' insignia is used or not. So I decided to use creative license and used 'Yellow 07' bort number and the 'rook' insignia on the left engine intake. However the Zvezda decals were translucent when applied...darn. So I thought to myself that this Shturmovik is a prime candidate for aftermarket decals! Despite that, I still finished the kit with ordnance loads (more of this later).
Painting and decaling (II)
A few years after I finished the Su-25, I came across Linden Hill 21st Century Shturmoviks decal sheet at Hobby HQ. The sheet features SU-25s from Soviet Union (during the Afghan War), Russia (Second Chechen War), Bulgaria, Georgia, Turkmenistan, Ukraine and Peru. So after a further wait, it was the Su-25s turn to be repainted.
I started by stripping off the paint using Kiwi Window Cleaner (any window cleaner with ammonia will do). But before that I detach the fixed ordnance load and put them aside. The decals were stripped using Dymo tape. This time I chose a marking from a Su-25 involved in the Second Chechen War in 1999, also with a sharkmouh on the forward fuselage and a tiger's head on each intake. And according to instructions, I painted the aircraft using RLM65 for lower fuselage (yeah, not accurate I think but it was the closest I could match), Tamiya XF-62 Olive Drab, XF-59 Desert Yellow and Gunze Light Ghost Grey. The Linden Hill instruction also missed showing the right side and upper wing surface patterns, but this time, thanks to the internet, I guessed the missing pattern by looking at photos of Su-25s in service (though not of the actual aircraft).
'If anything that can go wrong, will go wrong' - it happened this time. While I was applying the sharkmouth decal, it folded against itself and I can't get it right again. I decided to do the first option, 'Red 05' also from Chechen War but with a wolf's head nose art. However this aircraft, whilst having the same camo pattern as 'Red 27', has its Light Ghost Grey parts in light green. Having stripped the paint once, I'm not going to do it the second time. To compound my misery, I have already placed the 'Sukhoi wing' emblem on the tail and the Russian red stars (which was not painted on 'Red 05'). I decided to apply creative license again. After googling, I found that even 'Red 27' were painted differently from the decal instructions ( I guess the photo were taken at some other time). So, I made 'Red 02' using the bort number from another option (the Turkmen aircraft!) whilst using the wolf's head nose art from Red 05!
Finishing
Once everything settled, I used a 2B pencil to mark out panel lines. I then reattach the canopy and ordnance. The weapons were sourced from Dragon's Soviet Aircraft Weapons Set 3 : Rockets And Bombs. I arm my Su-25 with four UB-20-80 rocket pods and four PROSAB-250 cluster bombs. The two R-60 missiles came from the kit. As luck would have it, I broke the portside pitot tube...No matter
though as I replace it with one from the-now cannibalised MiG-23! Finally a spray of Flat Clear finishes everything.
Conclusion
Not my best effort, this one. The basic kit also have some problems especially around the nose. But I'm satisfied enough to have a modern Shturmovik in my collection.
