The Su-7 was pretty much a Soviet equivalent of the Republic F-105: conceived in the late 1950’s, same type of mission, big, fast at low level and a reputation for toughness. It saw combat in the Arab-Israeli wars and in the 1971 war between India and Pakistan.  

At the end of the Cold War, there was a Czechoslovak company called OEZ. They released some of the best 1/48 scale models of Soviet jets: a Mig-21 in 1988, a Su-7 in 1989 and a Su-25 in 1990.

It has recessed panel lines which still look good to me today.

The kit came a number of  rockets, bombs, RATO bottles and droptanks.

There are 2 sets of lower wings, so the BKL and the BMK version of the Su-7 can be built. The BKL has reinforced landing gear for operations from semi-prepared strips.

Decals are provided for  Su-7 BKL’s of the Soviet and Czechoslovak air forces and Su-7 BMK’s of the Algerian and Indian air forces.

I gather that many Su-7’s had features of both the BKL and BMK version because of upgrades to older airframes. But very few if any of the Su-7’s exported to countries with hot climates like Algeria, Egypt or India seem to have had the reinforced landing gear.

 The kit was re-released by Esci in 1990, with Polish and Soviet decals and was also re-issued by KoPro. It is quite easily found.

May 2006