Search

Home
 
 Where to buy Ventura Decals and Books
 
 Ventura products
 
 RNZAF Historial
 
 Historical
 Canada
 France
 German
 RAF
 Royal Navy
 RAAF
 P-51 Mustang
 Spitfire / Seafire
 US Air Force
 US Navy
 
 Detail photos
 American types
 Australian types
 British types
 German types
 Spanish types
 
 Aviation art
 
 Motorcycle pages
 Links to other sites
 
 Reviews
 American
 British
 French
 German
 Japanese
 Russian
 South African
 
 Aviation site links

Reviews : Russian Last Updated: Aug 21st, 2020 - 13:06:35

Sukhoi S-37 Berkut. Revell Germany kit 04623. 1/72nd
By Clarence Wentzel. IPMS USA
Apr 17, 2006, 02:42

Email this article
 Printer friendly page
The Airplane: The Sukhoi S-37 Berkut, Golden Eagle, is an experimental concept model that first flew on 25 September 1997. The aircraft was developed by Sukhoi to explore the concept of forward swept wings. The advantages of forward swept wings have been known since World War II and include improved performance in the transonic region as well as reduced overall drag, improved maneuverability and better landing and take-off performance. The problem was the structural characteristics of the wings. Normal structures would flex under loading which would increase the angle of attack of the wing tip, causing eventual wing structural failure. This is called structural divergence. To counteract this characteristic, initial forward swept wing designs utilized extreme wing stiffness, which tended to counteract some of the advantages of the feature. Modern advanced composite materials offer the engineer the possibility to tailor wing structure to eliminate the structural divergence. The Grumman X-29 was developed in 1984 in response to a Department of Defense proposal. The X-29 proved the feasibility of the concept and provided information to be used in future manned and unmanned combat aircraft.

In an ongoing effort to develop new state of the art combat aircraft, the Sukhoi design bureau developed the S-37. The X-29 was a smallish airplane, being based on fuselage components from the F-5. The S-37 is a much larger aircraft, utilizing as many of the components of the Su-22 and Su-27 as possible. While the “S” designation indicates the experimental purpose of the prototype, Sukhoi have recently given the Berkut the designation of Su-47 in an effort to generate some production sales. To date, no sales have resulted and in the current world situation, probably none will. In any case, it is a very interesting airplane and may represent the shape of things to come.

The Kit: The Revell - Germany kit of the Sukhoi S-37 Berkut comes in a large box and consists of forty-three nicely molded parts including a pilot. Panel lines are lightly recessed and the clear parts are thin and very transparent. The surface finish of the parts is rough – apparently to accentuate a flat finish. I would prefer a smooth finish but this turned out ok. The cockpit uses decals for the consoles and instrument panel, which is acceptable for the scale. Interestingly enough, the photos on the kit box show a conventional instrument panel with lots of round instruments. The actual kit decal shows four multi-function displays, which reflect the actual airplane. The seat provides a basic shape similar to the Soviet K-36 ejection seat. Wheel wells are basic and the landing gears provided an acceptable level of detail for the scale. A detailed 11-page instruction sheet walks the modeler through each step of the assembly.

Note – the Russian company Zvezda also offer a kit of the S-37, advertised as the Su-47. I don’t know if this is the same tooling as the Revell kit. I suspect that they are the same tooling but can not prove it at present.

Construction: Construction is simple and proceeded without problems. The basic airframe consists of about twelve parts. The only tricky areas were the intakes. Keep parts 10B and 11B separate so you do not interchange them. The other area of concern is the front canards. These are attached to the fuselage by very thin pins. It is best to glue them rigidly in place. Because the canopy can be displayed in the open position, I tried to improve the appearance of the cockpit to the extent that I could. Since the kit ejection seat resembled the original, I used it and added etched brass seat harnesses and handles from Airwaves. Judge the result from the photo at the side.

The landing gear consists of several individual parts and assembles readily. The gear accurately reproduces the stalky appearance of the prototype.

Markings: The prototype aircraft was finished in overall black with white radomes. The prototype also included a number of unique, vivid trim markings. These are all included on the decal sheet. The decals were very opaque and settled nicely onto the surface.

To add some character to the flat black finish, I applied a gray-brown oil paint wash to bring out the control and panel lines. Some of the photos of the prototype show a lot of collected grime so this can be accepted.

Overall opinion: I was pleased with the final result. It fits well into my “strange things with wings” category. Recommended as an easy build and a unique appearance model. It may be a one of a kind aircraft or it may be the shape of things to come. This way the modeler can have his version today.



© Copyright 2004-2015; VenturaPublications.com and contributors.

Top of Page

Russian
Latest Headlines
Sukhoi S-37 Berkut. Revell Germany kit 04623. 1/72nd
Sukhoi Su-21F Flagon (Su-15 Flagon F). PM Models. 1/72nd
IL-2M3 Stormovik, TokoKit Number 101. 1/72nd
Polikarpov I-1 (IL-400b). ICM. 1/48th
Yak-15 & Yak-17. A Model 1/72nd
Yak-1. Accurate Miniatures. 1/48th
MiG-3, A-Model & ICM. 1/48th
DI-6, A-Model, 1/72nd