. . . or Close Air Support (CAS), Soviet style.
Battlefront sells Su-25 as its representative Warsaw Pact aircraft. This seems reasonable, as Su-25s were among the most modern aircraft the Soviets had for CAS. I wasn't that impressed with the model, especially the price, so I looked around and purchased a couple of Academy models of the same aircraft. These were substantially cheaper. There were also a royal pain in the neck to build as they are models, not wargame pieces. So I built them, and cursed the numerous really small pieces and the glue that seemed to only stick to my fingers, not the parts, and numerous other things. I subsequently purchased a Battlefront SU-25 set as well. These were designed to be rapidly constructed with few fiddley parts, though not as detailed as the Academy models. As they are mostly a one piece resin body with a few added weapons, they are also a bit studier. I painted them all using my airbrush and an assortment of paints. The Battlefront sludge that goes for paint on the aircraft underside had to be significantly diluted and mixed with gray to get the more subdued color you seem on most images on the web. I used some Tamiya colors for the greens and yellow/buff segments. I also used panel liner paints for the first time, and that worked out much better than the airbrush attempts, at which I am less than novice level. At any rate, they can add another threat domain that the NATO player has to respect. No more using his M163 VADS platoon to chew up my BMPs and infantry horde! I don't know if they are worth the points, but any Soviet thrust should have air support. The other CAS option was a MiG-27, so I am looking for those as well (of course!) to buff up the attendant fighter bomber division in support of the attack on Wurzburg.
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| Su-25 conduct a low level attack down the autobahn, searching for NATO tanks and SAMs. The two Battlefront Su-25s are in the higher altitude/stand positions to the rear. |
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| The view from an escorting fighter. The Academy models are to the front/bottom, with the Battlefront ones to the rear/top. |
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| The front view of the Battlefront Su-25. It has rocket pods and antitank missiles. The model comes with 4 ATGMs on the pylons, but I only glued on 2 as it is a real pain to get in between the pylons and paint. |
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| Another view of the Battlefront Su-25. The canopies are pretty easy to paint as the black/window portion is recessed. |
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| The underside of the Batttlefront Su-25. The panel liner paint shows up well here. |
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| The Academy Su-25. It comes with rocket pods, fuel tanks and bombs. |
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| The Academy model canopy is a flush piece of clear styrene. I painted the black to be consistent with the Battlefront ones. The Academy model is more detailed, but I wonder how long those fragile pitot tubes will last . . . |
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| The Academy model underside brimming with weapons. No one likes to get bombed! |
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Battlefront Su-25 to the left, Academy to the right. Both are nice models and will add to the firepower being expended in the Fulda Gap.
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Now I just need to get the Hinds done . . .
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