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Super Étendard : Link to Super Étendard : http://www.britmodel...showtopic=79182 Étendard IV Link to ÉtendardIV : http://www.ffaa.net/...ard/gallery.htm Lockheed Neptune : See through Mirage F1 : Wing : Draken : Note that the nose gear caliper has been unclipped and the gear reversed, as to enable towing. More : http://www2.capitole-kit-club.fr/walkarounds/draken/

Dassault-Bréguet Super Étendard 1:48 Kittyhawk Model Developed from the Étendard IVM, the Super Étendard (SuE) was engineered to replace the nascent navalised Jaguar M that was cancelled due to political pressures as much as anything. It benefitted from the political clout of Marcel Dassault, as well as a more powerful engines, redesigned wing and of course updated avionics, and eventually gained an order from the French Navy that started at 100 airframes and was whittled down so that only 71 were built in the end. With the first squadron taking delivery at the end of the 70s, and the Argentinians ordered a squadron-worth that would be used infamously during the Falklands War. Iraq also loaned five airframes in the 80s, and used them in the Iran-Iraq war along with their stash of Exocet missiles, returning all but one to Dassault a few years later, which placed serious doubt on Iran's claim to have shot down the majority of them. During the 90s new avionics were installed in a proportion of the fleet, which also received a new radar and a more modern HOTAS cockpit to reduce the pilot workload. More upgrades were done over time, but like all airframes (except the B-52) it reached its limit and was officially retired in the summer of 2016 after 42 years of service, which is quite a feat in the rapidly evolving world of aviation. The Kit This is a new tooling from Kittyhawk, hot (more like warm, actually) on the heels of another new tooling from a competitor. From the box you can build either the original SuE, or the Super Étendard Modernisé as the upgraded version was known, and decal options are included for both. The box as always with KittyHawk is a top opener, and inside are eight sprues in a blue/grey styrene, four of which are for the airframe, the balance for the weapons, which will be somewhat familiar if you have a stash of KH models. Additionally, there is a clear sprue, a sheet of brass Photo-Etch (PE) parts, and three decal sheets of varying sized, rounded out by a combined instruction booklet with painting guide distributed amongst the pages. First impressions are good with reference to the airframe, although there were six parts loose in the bags, some of which were truly tiny. This has to be a record for any kit I have debagged before, so perhaps take care when removing your sprues from the bag. In fairness, there are a number of small parts that are slide-moulded on the edge of one box-sized sprue, plus a couple of parts that stand clear of the main plane of the other large sprue, but a little foam around those parts would have prevented this. There are also some aspects of the build that are considered by some as gimmicky, such as the opening of the fuselage to expose the engine, and the positioning of the flaps in the down-only position, with the refuelling probe only able to modelled deployed without alteration. Others will have no problem with this however, or will put in the effort to ameliorate these things, but it is better to be aware of them from the outset to make an informed decision. Construction begins with the ejection seat, which is well-detailed and has a set of slightly simplified crew belts in PE. The cockpit tub is build up from individual panels on the floor plate, with separate rudder pedals and control column, detailed side consoles and instrument panel, which benefit from some undocumented decals to detail them further, and these are to be found on the mid-sized decal sheet in between a pair of scary tigers (seriously). The coaming and HUD are added at this early stage too, with two clear parts finishing off the glazing of the latter. Which will look good with some transparent green to the edges of the clear parts to give them a little extra realism. Although the nose gear bay is near to the cockpit, it isn't connected, so is built up separately from panels for extra detail, and although the nose gear leg is shown built up and installed at this point, it can just as easily be left off until later. As with many KH kits, the nose is then closed up around the cockpit, nose gear bay and the shallow refuelling probe bay on the nose. The ATAR engine is built up next, with front bullet, stator vanes and initial compressor face moulded as a single part at the front of the two part engine housing, and the final turbine blades with PE afterburner ring bringing up the rear. A two part exhaust trunk is then added, after which the fuselage front is begun, having a main gear bay and air-brake bay on each half. The two halves are split vertically, and brought together round a bulkhead, through which the front of the Atar engine is slotted, the rear being held in place by pegs that interface with the fuselage sides. A spine insert is added to the top, and the rear fuselage is assembled separately with an angled bulkhead at the leading edge, and the arrestor hook bay at the rear on the underside. These parts can be left loose to display the engine, or glued together for a more operational look to the finished model. The nose is then added to the blunt front of the fuselage along with two U-shaped fairings that form the basis of the intake trunking, which the splitter plates and outer trunking sections are added to. There are a number of ejector pins on the interior of many of these parts, from the engine to the intake/exhaust, so set aside some time to establish which will be seen so that you don't waste time filling/sanding back any unnecessarily. The nose cone is also added as a single part, which gives its nose that distinctive look and hides the Agave radar on the real thing. Don't forget the nose weight, as some is bound to be needed, although it isn't mentioned in the instructions. Another spine insert is dropped in behind the cockpit with a selection of blade antennae that will be better left of until later if they're to survive handling. A choice of parts for the later version is included here, so choose wisely pilgrim. The two-part canopy is added later, and can be posed open or closed at your whim with no extra effort, but check the correct angle before you do. The fuselage is tail-less at this point, which is remedied by building up the main fin with its separate rudder, choice of rear fairing for early or late version, and the low-T elevators and their swash plates from PE, as well as the large horizontal blade antenna on the sides of the fin. It fits into a slot in the rear of the fuselage, and you'll have to be careful of the long probe that sits on the leading edge. The main landing gear are built up with separate oleo-scissor links, brake details and two-part wheels, and are fitted after the wings are added, along with their bay doors and the air-brakes, which have PE inserts for the perforated sections. The wings have separate leading edges, wing-tips, two-part ailerons and flaps, plus a set of PE spoilers that can be set flush with the wing, or up if you wish. If you are fitting pylons and weapons, you'll also need to drill a number of holes on the underside to save you looking silly later. Clear tip lights and a separate leading edge strake give the wings good detail, but as the flap actuator fairings are set to pose them deployed, you will need to cut and reposition them if flaps down don't suit your plans. The wings slot into the fuselage via the usual slot and tab mechanism, with an additional section of fairing added as an insert before they are mated. The usual profusion of antennae, aerials, lumps and bumps are added hither and thither, and an optional recce pack gondola can be attached limpet-like behind the nose gear, after which only a handy crew-ladder and a profusion of weapons are still to be added. The weapons sprues have been seen on a number of kits so far, with varying appropriateness, depending on which kit we're talking about. They are well detailed for styrene parts, and there certainly is a wide choice for the SuE, but as always check your references for plausible loads and their locations, or go crazy and add a whole bunch of munitions if the mood takes you. From the box you get the following: 2 x 68mm rocket pods 1 x PHIMAT pod 2 x Magic 2 missiles and adapter rails 2 x GBU12 on a dual adapter rail 1 x AM-39 Exocet Missile 2 x AS-30 Bunker Busting Missile 1 x Buddy refuelling pod with choice of baskets 1 x ATLIS targeting pod 1 x Barracuda ECM pod 2 x Fuel tanks 2 x chaff & flare pods Two of the sprues are marked as from the Mirage F.1, while the other two are Jaguar sprues. The more Étendard specific gear will be found on one of the main sprues Markings This is where it gets confusing due to the distribution of the schemes throughout the booklet. One scheme is at the front, two to the rear, and another five in the centre, which are a lot easier to look at if you remove the centre pages by lifting the staples temporarily. So that's eight scheme. I think. From the box you can build one of the following: SuE Modernise Flotile 11F, 80 Years Anniversary, Sept 2002 – grey-on-grey camo, with a stylised French flag on the tail and spine SuE Iraqi Air Force – dark grey over light. SuE Flotile 11F RIAT Jul 1997 - grey-on-grey tiger-stripe camo with a tiger on the tail. SuE Modernise Flotile 11F Orland Tiger Meet, Sept 2007 – light grey all over with black tiger stripes and a tiger on the tail and rear fuselage. SuE Modernise Flotile 17F ISAF, 2007 – All over mid grey. SuE 0753, 3-A-203 of 2 Escuadrilla de Caza y Ataque – dark grey over light grey and Argentinian colours on the tail. SuE Flotile 11F, Cambrai Tiger Meet, 1986 – Dark grey over light, with tiger-striped Marine and 7 stencils. SuE Flotile 17F, No.49 - grey-on-grey camo. The rear page is devoted to the painting and decaling of the weapons and pods, although no stencils are supplied for the pylons, which is a shame. The decals are of good quality, although there are a few artefacts on the main sheet where the blue on the French flag appears a little pale and has bled in one or two places. The grey serials have also been fudged by using a dithered black ink, which although it fools the eye from the distance, it can be seen under magnification. The middle-sized sheet has subtle shading on the tiger motifs, and although the large tigers look odd flat on the sheet, this effect should disappear when wrapped around the SuE's fuselage. Conclusion Crisp moulding and the option to leave the rear fuselage off for maintenance diorama commends this kit, as does the choice of decal options. Plenty of weapons and gas tanks are also present, and as always with KittyHawk plastic, test fitting and fettling is the best way to get good results. Review sample courtesy of and available soon from major hobby shops

Super Étendard Upgrade Sets (for Kinetic) 1:48 Eduard As is almost standard now with a new release, Eduard have produced a number of sets to improve on the kit detail in their inimitable style. As usual with Eduard's Photo-Etch (PE) and Mask sets, they arrive in a flat resealable package, with a white backing card protecting the contents and the instructions that are sandwiched between. Interior (49776) Consisting of one fret of nickel-plated and pre-painted brass, plus a small fret of bare brass, this set gives the cockpit a comprehensive spruce-up, replacing the side walls, consoles and HUD with more detailed and realistic parts, plus a lamination of either the SuE or SEM instrument panels with alternative fuse-box detail on the sides of the consoles. The ejection seat is detailed with side-panels, a full complement of seatbelts and new cushions. The headbox is then stripped of detail and replaced by either a one- or two-loop ejection handle with top details. An ancillary instrument is added to interior of the windscreen, while the rear-view mirror a demister loop are added to the canopy section. Exterior (48890) Contained on one brass fret, this set contains the expected upgrade to the detail of the landing gear bays, their doors and even the gear legs themselves, which is pretty comprehensive and includes lots of detail skins, structural elements, plus some useful wiring and hosing looms. In addition there parts for the air-brakes, their bays, perforated wing spoiler panels, hinge details for the wing-fold, and even details for the refuelling probe bay, and the recess for the arrestor hook. The rear of the missiles are also provided with exhaust ring parts too for good measure. Masks (EX519) Supplied on a sheet of yellow kabuki tape, these pre-cut masks supply you with a full set of masks for the canopy, with compound curved handled by using frame hugging masks, while the highly curved gaps are in-filled with either liquid mask or offcuts from the background tape. In addition you get a set of tyre masks for the wheels, allowing you to cut the demarcation perfectly with little effort. You can see Muzz building the Kinetic kit using these sets here if you would like to see more. Review sample courtesy of