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Latest What If? RNZAF AMX A-1B Kārearea (Falcon)


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Thought I'd post this for consideration...my current build, in progress for several weeks.  I'm a bit of a manic builder and usually knock a build out in a week or two once I start, but it's been a busy summer so far so this one is going a bit slower.  

 

Kit is the Hobby Boss 1/48 AMX A1-B Trainer.  So far fit and detail are pretty decent except for the total lack or anything but empty open fuselage inside the intakes.  I toyed with the idea of scratch building some intake ducting but decided to be lazy and display it with intake covers installed instead.  

 

Major construction is close to finished and I'm getting close to painting.  I'm still trying to decide on how I'll paint it up, currently going back and forth between a blue/gray camo for a mission focused on maritime strike or a desert scheme for a Red Flag deployment.  Weapons would be Penguin ASMs for anti-ship role or Mavericks/LGBs for Red Flag. 

 

As always thoughts and comments welcome!

 

saMyJ9.jpg

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After debating gray/blue scheme or desert scheme I ended up going with two tone green over gray.  

 

WLWmw5.jpg

 

I'm still torn on the vertical stabilizer.  I like it gray, but I'm also thinking about overall red with a yellow diamond as in the RNZAF 75 Sqn insignia as a 2012 75th anniversary special.  

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I like what you're doing with this, I thought for a long time these would have been a good Skyhawk replacement, then suddenly, we didn't need one. :( It will look good in the Euro 1 scheme that you're doing, pretty much my Favourite Skyhawk scheme & the scheme I plan a  F-20 Tigershark whif in one of these days.

Steve.

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Thanks Steve!  

 

I'm done for the night.  Starting a busy week at work tomorrow so there wont be much progress for a while.  Just like with the overall scheme, the tail ended up being neither of the main options I was thinking of.  I went with  US Dark Green to match the upper surface.  I'm still planning special markings for the 75 Sqn 75th Anniversary, but more subdued.  The RWR is red and will have a yellow diamond in it, as in the squadron insignia (Fin top will be black as on real AMXs as it's an antenna).  I think somewhere I have some special decals from an RAF 75th something or other with a large "75" decal that will fit on the tail nicely.  Hopefully I can find it.  I'm leaning towards full color red/white/blue roundels and fin flash for the anniversary scheme just to give it some more color.  The radome is painted US Aggressor gray (the NZ AMX would have an improved radar over the real world ones, with the AN/APG-66 radars salvaged from the Kahu fleet). Like a moron I forgot to mask the leading edge slat areas before paining the gray, so I removed most of the acrylic green with alcohol and will go back over it with a coat of white.  ''W84Lhe.jpg 

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1 hour ago, stevehnz said:

 I thought for a long time these would have been a good Skyhawk replacement, then suddenly, we didn't need one. :( 

Been there, done that and still got the scars

Though in our case they were supposed to be Sea Harriers

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4 hours ago, stevehnz said:

I like what you're doing with this, I thought for a long time these would have been a good Skyhawk replacement, then suddenly, we didn't need one. :( It will look good in the Euro 1 scheme that you're doing, pretty much my Favourite Skyhawk scheme & the scheme I plan a  F-20 Tigershark whif in one of these days.

Steve.

FWIW I agree. This struck me as a capable and relatively affordable Skyhawk replacement but it never stood a chance.

Never got a chance I should say.

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