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Rafale B French Airforce - Opération Harmattan 1/48 - AASMs


exdraken

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I spontaneously started another kit yesterday night....

 

French Airforce Rafale B

 

1/91 Gascogne

Opération Harmattan

 

DMold seamless, full length intakes

Wolfpack-d upgrade to series production standards

Decals: either Syhart or Authentic Decals (or a combination ;) )

 

 

20171212_211617_1

 

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more than enough decals I guess,

have to find out which squadrons where used back in 2011 over Libya... probably Scalp mission, or Hammer AASM...

 

quick fit of the excellent kit: (my son needed something to play with ;))

20171212_211333_1

 

Scalps mounted, they look great!

 

 

 

one of the weak point of this kit are the intakes, that are simply open at the back....

but there is an expensive, but likely well worth solution by DMold :

20171212_222300(1)_1

 

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some surgery needed:

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fit is excellent then!

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more soon hopefully!

 

any input eagerly awaited!

best regards,

Werner

Edited by exdraken
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Great start Werner. :D

And a great project as well. 

I'll be following this closely as I've got something similar  planned down the line, but I’ll be doing an Rafale M instead of a B.

 

/Bosse  :cheers::popcorn: 

 

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Nice start werner, you've got the decals covered i see, i too have an "m" version, i think they look really well  detailed on the surface, i have dry fitted mine like you as i was going to build it only a couple of months ago, ill watch you build yours for an inspiration boost now

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22 hours ago, Marlin said:

Great start Werner. :D

And a great project as well. 

I'll be following this closely as I've got something similar  planned down the line, but I’ll be doing an Rafale M instead of a B.

 

/Bosse  :cheers::popcorn: 

 

thanks Bosse!

I have this one waiting since 2014... maybe even longer .....

and 2 Ms also.... probably in some special marking one day! (I am hoping someone wil release the white tiger scheme from this year!)

 

18 hours ago, Hewy said:

Nice start werner, you've got the decals covered i see, i too have an "m" version, i think they look really well  detailed on the surface, i have dry fitted mine like you as i was going to build it only a couple of months ago, ill watch you build yours for an inspiration boost now

thanks Hewy!

yeah, the Revell (or ACE) Rafale kits are really great! (I had on hobbyboss copy once, but resold it was not comparably quality-wise. they also took shortcuts with some transparencies....)

if you buy a new kit, take care to shop for a recent boxing, as these cover the production version rear fuselage chaff and flare dispenser recesses already.... no need then for the Wolpack-d update!

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some work on the rear fuselage, as already mentioned in before's post, no need for cutting on newer (Revell and ACE) boxings ;)

20171213_001840_1

 

regarding the wing tip pylons, obviously there were some small changes from the prototypes:

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I did not fancy cutting the kit pylons from the wing and decided to modify them myself instead....

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best, Werner

 

 

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I also like the Rafale, we are starting to see them more frequently over here. I've had one in the stash for some time but have not started it mainly because of the intakes, or lack of them. Perhaps yours will give me the incentive to start it soon.

 

Cheers

 

John

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moving along:

27335978119_24c817bd57_b.jpg

the new main landing gear bay is necessary because full length intakes are in their way (actually the other way round) ;)

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glued in :)

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looks all good and fitting!

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before moving ahead, the cockpit also needs to be finished. (not all my work I have to admit, I bought it used and started already ....)

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quite some resin and long glue lines to adjust, 

I started from the front and let it dry, only then moved on to the rear.

main surgery done, wings next :)

 

 

 

 

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not sure what to do about the nose yet:

the Wolfpack nose hase better (but not correct either) lightnig stripes (seem 6 are places symmetrically in reallity...) but is a bit small in diameter, so needed another styrene ring....

apart from that, I think the WP nose is not symmetrical, I needed to alter the angle quite a bit to have it look ok.

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quite a lot better are the WP resin exhausts :)

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not really necessary, but still an improvement! :)

 

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bad photo for, bu still shows some detail -.....

 

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lower wing halfs mounted, some filler will be needed , but better here than on the top side!

 

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finally decided to use the WP nose with my home made spacer ;)

38518440064_e3ff6920a3_b.jpg

 

my ordnance as of now:

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radar guided MICA missiles as found in the kit

 

only noticed today that the B Rafales are a bit limited regarding missiles load out... compared to real life and the Revell Ms.... :(

2 Magic IIs... not anymore

2 MICAs   - only 2! Radar guided only in the early boxing

sp I'll hav to rob 2 MICA IRs form another boxing it seems!

 

additionally, there are no fuselage pylons for the MICAs.... so an M will provide them I recon!

 

strange moves by Revell....

 

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pylons mounted, weapons readied for unpainted display

 

ordered Montex mask today... hope they will arrive soon!

 

thanks, and happy hollidays!

 

       *

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   /        \

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  • 1 month later...

some small break in order to finish the Starfighter in the respective GB, and also build an entire Sherman as well......

but on it again :)

 

Wolfpack-d resin nozzles:

20180126_223919_1

 

20180126_223913_1

 

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20180126_233450_120180126_233543_1

they are made for the Hobbyboss kit. no idea if the transparency dimensions are different there..probably!  they did not perfectly fit the Revell kit though :(

 

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the Rafale's frontal appearance is unique for sure!

 

Edited by exdraken
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On 28.1.2018 at 10:43 AM, Valkyrie said:

Very nice great update keep it coming!

here you are :)

20180128_102237_1

 

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as it will be painted uniformly grey, I though some base coat would be good.... black was at hand, that might also help highlighting the panel lines...

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some real paint on :)

 I used Revell 374 as per instructions... a bit light maybe , although already on top of black...

20180203_133442_120180203_133506_120180203_133515_1

still need to remove the antenna on top of the fin (TELEMIR I was told on a French forum , thanks!), that is a Navy thing....

 

Edited by exdraken
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as I needed to add 2 IR MICAs, I went to the upgrade M boxing, that also had the fuselage pylons for the radar guided ones :)  why Revell not in the B kit???

 

as the tripple ejector rack pylons look so nice, I also build them.... maybe will provide an alternative load out with AASMs....

 

20180206_233331_120180206_234234_120180206_234314_1

 

 

Edited by exdraken
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