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Two Rafales - Royal Navy and Ukrainian AF


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I have two old Italeri Rafale-M kits that are known for their inaccuracies, incorrect raised panel details and poor fit.

Besides, these two kits share one set of transparencies ( read - one sprue is lost )

I don't want to spend much time to build accurate replicas of this beautiful aircraft, neither I want these kits to be in the stash forever so I decided I will quickly build them in "What If" scheme where accuracy does not mean much.

The stories:

In growing tension of looming Cold War 2 it became evident that the fixed wing of newly deployed HMS "Queen Elisabeth" and HMS "Prince Of Wales" consisting of F-35B is vastly inferior to navalized version of Russian built T-50. An immediate response measures have to be taken however an absence of catapults and arresters on the carriers made it impossible to accept any existing naval aircraft type but F-35B. While it was technically possible to relatively cheaply refit the carriers with arresting gear and approach systems, installation of a catapult required full revamping of the vessel and therefore was prohibitively expensive. The solution was to use STOBAR system for aircraft launch and recovery, however this approach required extensive modifications of existing aircraft designs to provide required trust/weight ratio for ski-jump take-off. Revised versions of Naval Typhoon, Sea Grippen, F-35C and Rafale-M were submitted for assessment. Most of the designs provided ski-jump launch capabilities by reducing payload weight and increasing afterburner thrust however French engineers' approach was somewhat different. Rafale-MS offered flat thrust vectoring nozzles that along with sophisticated automatic launch control system and canards maintained optimal thrust/angle of attack combination before sustained horizontal flight is established. Additionally there was a dedicated "take off reheat" engine mode for which specially formulated high energy fuel from a separate tank in the fin was used that made it possible to launch the plane with full load of weapons. Although being optimized for STOBAR scheme Rafale-MS retained CATOBAR capabilities.

At about the same time the dormant conflict in Eastern Ukraine begun to flame up again and there were rumours that the separatists have obtained several ground attack planes. The aging fleet of Ukrainian Flankers and Fulcrums denied manufacturer spares and support was not in a shape to repel potential treat from the East, at the same time dire situation in economy prevented modernization of national air force. In this light the highly controversial credit from EU and subsequent order and quick delivery of 12 Rafales raised many questions and accusations of corruptions. Ukrainian Rafales were reduced capability versions visually distinguishable by absence of in-flight refueling boom.

As it was mentioned above, I'm planning to modify RN aircraft with flat thrust vectoring nozzles, Ukrainian plane will bear splinter camouflage.

I'm not too familiar with Royal Navy markings. I'm going to print my own decals, so the questions are

- could "Royal Navy" inscription be in black? I can't print white (yet) and I don't want to spend extra money on decals

- do RN aircraft bear LoWiz LightBlue-Pink roundels?

- is vessel name is written on the plane?

- no-nonsense serials / other numbers?

- any other suggestions for markings?

At the moment I did the following - copied transparent canopy parts in non-transparent resin, will use it as a punch for pushing missing canopy from transparent film

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I'm not too familiar with Royal Navy markings. I'm going to print my own decals, so the questions are

- could "Royal Navy" inscription be in black? I can't print white (yet) and I don't want to spend extra money on decals

- do RN aircraft bear LoWiz LightBlue-Pink roundels?

- is vessel name is written on the plane?

- no-nonsense serials / other numbers?

- any other suggestions for markings?

1. Yes. It was painted black on low-viz schemes during the Falklands Campaign, for instance.

2. Royal Navy Merlins do at present.

3. On the nose of helicopters during peacetime.

4. Just the standard UK serial number and possibly an aircraft number.

5. I'm fond of 899 NAS, "The Bunch With The Punch":

p1074829469-3.jpg

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1. Yes. It was painted black on low-viz schemes during the Falklands Campaign, for instance.

2. Royal Navy Merlins do at present.

3. On the nose of helicopters during peacetime.

4. Just the standard UK serial number and possibly an aircraft number.

5. I'm fond of 899 NAS, "The Bunch With The Punch":

p1074829469-3.jpg

3. Procopius is right, but more common (even in wartime, I think) is the flight deck letter(s) (or home airfield for shore-based squadrons) on the tail. So on most Sea Harriers, for instance, you'd see an N (Invincible), R (Ark Royal) or L (Illustrious) on the tail (trust PC to choose a picture without one!). CU is Culdrose, VL Yeovilton, LM was Lossiemouth. BY Brawdy, and so on. Non-carrier aircraft do the same, only their parent ships have 2 deck letters; BW Broadsword, FS Fearless etc. Assuming your Rafale is deemed to be operating from the new carriers, they'll have one letter. Not sure whether QE & PoW have deck letters yet, but Q for Queen Elizabeth & P for Prince of Wales seems a fair guess! Stick a black Q on the tail at the top & you won't go far wrong.

5. 899's winged fist is indeed fun (and relatively easy to find decals for), but strictly they were a 2nd line squadron (the OCU), at least in Harrier days (they were a front line Sea Vixen squadron, but that's nearly 50 years ago). They had an 8- squadron number (second line squadrons usually start with a 7) because in theory they made up part of the air group for the 3rd carrier (assumed to come out of refit in time of war); 810 Squadron, the Sea King OCU, was the same. 809 Squadron is a more likely Rafale unit; it's been chosen as the first RN F35 squadron. Their Badge is a Pheonix - see the tail of (old) Ark Royal Buccaneers for details!

But it's WHIF; as long as it's a Naval squadron, you can choose whichever markings you like!

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(trust PC to choose a picture without one!)

Well, I'm not about to pick one that proves the lie to what I said straight out of the gate!

A very useful post, I should add, I knew almost none of it and feel quite foolish but also now very wise.

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No need to feel remotely foolish. Those of us who used to do this for a living kind of find it obvious - no-one ever explains it to you, but you sort of pick it up by osmosis. It's only when you try to explain it to someone who hasn't been steeped in it for years that you come to realise how complex it is, and how much useless knowledge it leaves clogging up your brain.

P.S. The deck letters weren't just for show. In my era the carriers very, very rarely operated anywhere near one another, but for some reason in 1987 Illustrious & Ark took part in the same exercise in the North Sea. You got so used to your Mum being the only flat top around that if you saw one you instinctively assumed it was yours. I got to within about 100 yards of Lusty before I looked up and noticed the large white L on her starboard quarter, and had to overshoot, embarrassed, to land on Ark 5 miles away. Luckily I was flying a test flight following maintenance; if it had been part of the exercise we'd have been operating strict "Charlie times" (wheels on deck +/- 30 seconds of your briefed Charlie, so the ship could minimise time on a steady flying course and could operate silently ). Miss one of those and it's a very public broadcast over the flight deck of "Aircraft Captain report to Flyco" for a one-way de-brief with an irate "Wings" (what the USN calls "Air Boss"). It feels a very long walk from the aircraft into the island in those circumstances.

I got loads of abuse & banter (photos of Ark Royal in every recognition quiz for the rest of the trip, and that kind of thing), but at least nothing official!

Edited by Ex-FAAWAFU
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Good luck with the Rafale`s,......great backstory!

No need to feel remotely foolish. Those of us who used to do this for a living kind of find it obvious - no-one ever explains it to you, but you sort of pick it up by osmosis. It's only when you try to explain it to someone who hasn't been steeped in it for years that you come to realise how complex it is, and how much useless knowledge it leaves clogging up your brain.

P.S. The deck letters weren't just for show. In my era the carriers very, very rarely operated anywhere near one another, but for some reason in 1987 Illustrious & Ark took part in the same exercise in the North Sea. You got so used to your Mum being the only flat top around that if you saw one you instinctively assumed it was yours. I got to within about 100 yards of Lusty before I looked up and noticed the large white L on her starboard quarter, and had to overshoot, embarrassed, to land on Ark 5 miles away. Luckily I was flying a test flight following maintenance; if it had been part of the exercise we'd have been operating strict "Charlie times" (wheels on deck +/- 30 seconds of your briefed Charlie, so the ship could minimise time on a steady flying course and could operate silently ). Miss one of those and it's a very public broadcast over the flight deck of "Aircraft Captain report to Flyco" for a one-way de-brief with an irate "Wings" (what the USN calls "Air Boss"). It feels a very long walk from the aircraft into the island in those circumstances.

I got loads of abuse & banter (photos of Ark Royal in every recognition quiz for the rest of the trip, and that kind of thing), but at least nothing official!

Was that exercise Purple Warrior in 1987 where we did a re-run of the Falklands but after sailing well out into the Atlantic we invaded the Stranraer area of Scotland instead? If so, then I was on that one too, stuck in a STUFT Danish car ferry until we had to jump across into landing craft and hit the beaches! We used to do PT on deck every morning and during one of these sessions one of the carriers was directly alongside in the convoy flying off SHAR`s,.....great fun! We were also almost swept off deck by the Junglie Sea King doing the mail drop on another morning as it hovered 10 feet above us as we gripped the rails like mad and later while flying in a Chinook it had to land on one of the carrier`s to refuel so we were all told to get of,......however as it was on the rear spot we were almost swept overboard off the back end,....again!

Cheers

Tony

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Was that exercise Purple Warrior in 1987 where we did a re-run of the Falklands but after sailing well out into the Atlantic we invaded the Stranraer area of Scotland instead?

My logbook suggests it was. There is no mention of my Lusty almost-landing, but I did note at one point that I flew a sortie in a "borrowed 814 cab"- and since 814 were Lusty's equivalent of Ark's 820, I guess it was then. In one sortie my log notes that we spend an hour trying to prove that HMS Churchill was underneath the splash target being towed astern of Mum. No-one believed us ("Move on; you're just picking up the noise of the target")...until Churchill fired a simulated torpedo salvo from exactly where we said she was. WAFUs 1 Fisheads 0!

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Not sure whether QE & PoW have deck letters yet, but Q for Queen Elizabeth & P for Prince of Wales seems a fair guess! Stick a black Q on the tail at the top & you won't go far wrong.

Yes, Q and P are the flight deck letters for HMS Queen Elizabeth and HMS Prince of Wales - and for the aircraft tails.

Dave

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This is what I like most about Britmodeller - entertainment and education in equal measure.

Cracking ideas for these two and great work realising it Pin :thumbsup:

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Good luck with the Rafale`s,......great backstory!

Was that exercise Purple Warrior in 1987 where we did a re-run of the Falklands but after sailing well out into the Atlantic we invaded the Stranraer area of Scotland instead? If so, then I was on that one too, stuck in a STUFT Danish car ferry until we had to jump across into landing craft and hit the beaches! We used to do PT on deck every morning and during one of these sessions one of the carriers was directly alongside in the convoy flying off SHAR`s,.....great fun! We were also almost swept off deck by the Junglie Sea King doing the mail drop on another morning as it hovered 10 feet above us as we gripped the rails like mad and later while flying in a Chinook it had to land on one of the carrier`s to refuel so we were all told to get of,......however as it was on the rear spot we were almost swept overboard off the back end,....again!

Cheers

Tony

I was on that lovely exercise too...just got wet on the Mull of Kintire after days bobbin around the Oggin.....had the pleasure to be in an overloaded Junglie that had an engine failure over the sea and aborted to a rather heavy landing on Kintire......

Edited by Tim Moff
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... later while flying in a Chinook it had to land on one of the carrier`s to refuel so we were all told to get of,......however as it was on the rear spot we were almost swept overboard off the back end,....again!

During the Falklands, I worked on Fearless' flight deck - I was there as a seaman officer (bridge watchkeeper), but since I had already been selected for flying training the Captain made my action station down the back end. I ended up doing a swift local (probably highly irregular) FDO's course to ease the burden on the professionals who ran the deck, since the ship was not complemented on the assumption that she'd end up conducting flying ops for weeks on end without a break.

One day I happened to be on deck when BN, the sole surviving Chinook, appeared. He was picking up an underslung load with the relative wind well to port, so he came into a hover pointing about 45 degrees to port, leaving me staring at the top of the flight deck ramps waving my arms at him. By this stage I was used to Sea Kings and smaller, but had never worked with BN before, He came into the hover.... and I found myself first staggering backwards, and then sliding on my backside down the ramps from the flight deck to the tank deck, with the rest of the boys not laughing every much at all.... Chinook downwash is something else!

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