New 1/48 Rafale detail sets

[arnobiz]

Hello all!

 

Being quite frustrated with the absence of any intake trunking in Revell's 1/48 Rafale kit and the price/level of detail of available options I decided to make my own using 3D printing.

 

The objective is to capture the internal auxiliary intake and to make it easy to build as I have quite a few Rafales in the stash

 

The real thing looks like this:

 

3D printed parts dry fitted into Revell's intakes:

 

Blended with Tamiya Putty:

 

I basically have two questions for the community:

1/ Would there be interest for this upgrade (i.e., should I setup for my own limited consumption or I should go a bit bigger)?

2/ Would you prefer to have the 3D printed parts and assemble them yourself or have the entire intake cast together as a drop-in part? I would estimate the 3D-printed part price around €15, the drop-in intake around €25

 

Thanks a ton for your inputs, it's the first time I take such a bold step in modelling!

 

Best,

Arnaud

[arnobiz]

Good news: design is now finalized, printed and assembled. Plan for the week end: 

1. Complete the master
2. Make the molds
3. Cast a first test

I'll post pictures of the process as I go, stay posted!

 

Arnaud

[RobertF]

This almost makes me want to build a Rafale. Almost (so many beautiful aircraft kits, only one life).

 

Would love to see you try your hand at the F-16 mouths, both small and large.

 

Excellent work!

 

Robert

[arnobiz]

Thank you Robert, I hope this will convince you 😄 By the way what's the issue with Tamiya's F-16 intake mouths?

 

Final mold is now ready, three sets cast 🥳

 

Here you can see both left and right intakes, with the added panel engraved on the left intake (the one without gun):

 

Which colour do you find easiest to use, blackor cream? I tend to prefer black as it makes priming easier but I can adapt to your tastes quite easily

 

A first set's primer is curing as we speak so I can post better pictures of them assembled on the kit, gloss resin is quite tricky to make good pictures of...

 

Packaging is ordered and should arrive shortly, I'll let you know as soon as I get it - stay tuned!

 

Arnaud

[arnobiz]

And the inside, much easier to photograph with a bit of grey primer!

 

 

 

I hope you like it,

 

Arnaud

[exdraken]

14 minutes ago, arnobiz said:

I hope you like it,

 

a lot!

 

let me know when you have some ready to send over

 

[Shorty84]

Nice, like it a lot  I even have a Rafale on which I could put your intakes to good use. The black cast looks good, the details are easier to see than on the cream coloured example.

 

Cheers

Markus

[Narciarz]

Arnaud great work!

When and how can we order your seamless intakes for 1/48 Rafale ?

Thanks

 

Arek

Edited September 15, 2020 by Narciarz

[arnobiz]

Continuing to find areas to improve on my Rafales, I will add the lower fuselage rear RAM to the intakes, using plotter-cut vinyl parts.

 

The Revell kit lacks the last row of RAM:

 

With the vinyl parts in place:

 

And a light coat of Alclad grey primer:

 

Notice that there are more rivets on the vinyl parts, I followed the actual pattern.

 

Cheers,

 

Arnaud

[Iceone]

hy I'm interested in the intakes, but I live in EE.UU, could you send to my country?

[DaveJL]

@arnobiz great work! I'd take a set of the intakes and the vinyl pieces too if you're making more of those!

 

Dave

[coneheadff]

I would also take a set 😃😃😃

[exdraken]

got my 3 sets yesterday!

 

I can only say they look fantastic!

 

I just quickly put them on the most recent Revell single seater (not that it should matter which one ... ) and without any clean-up fit, detail and ease of use seem already be exceptional!

 

[arnobiz]

Thank you Werner for your kind words, I'm very glad you like them.

 

Looking forward ot your build now! 😃

 

Arnaud

[Shorty84]

Got my set today too and I can only confirm @exdraken's impression. They are really nicely cast and a necessity if you don't want to look into the kit's innards. If you think about just a single upgrade set for your Rafale, this is it 👍

 

Cheers

Markus

[John B]

On 10/6/2020 at 12:55 PM, Shorty84 said:

Got my set today too and I can only confirm @exdraken's impression. They are really nicely cast and a necessity if you don't want to look into the kit's innards. If you think about just a single upgrade set for your Rafale, this is it 👍

 

Cheers

Markus

I would like to echo everyone else's praise.   I have a set in-hand and they make me itch to start a Rafale right away.

IF Arnaud ever produces a Rafale M extended boarding ladder, I'll definitely queue up for one.

 

[Stephen]

I've just pre-ordered a set from the 48ers.

[arnobiz]

Thank you all for your support, I was not quite expecting so much traction - the vacuum pump has been working more in the past month than in the year before!!

 

Pre-ordered sets will be shortly at the48ers, you can also order directly from me.

 

Another set to update your Rafale both in details and in standard (F3/F3R) is nearly complete too

 

Best,

 

Arnaud

[coneheadff]

Oh boy...I feel more money leaving my wallet. 

 

The intakes are beautiful!

Wish my desk and the shelf of doom were empty to start the Rafale immediately, but...

 

Regardless...keep those great sets coming

 

Alex

[arnobiz]

Thanks Alex! The detailing set is well underway and will cover the highlighted areas below (along with the rationale as to why I felt they are required):

• Under fuselage RAM panels, both the B/C and M versions - half missing in the kit
• Head-Up Display (HUD) - flat in the kit, and I will run a test on Monday to make a holographic, curved HUD
• Fuselage sides grills - wrong shape and location in the kit, 
• New F3/F3R spine antenna - missing
• New DDM-NG on either sides of the vertical stabilizer - only the old version in the kit
• Flare launchers detail (3 versions) - just a flat, featureless area in the kit 
• Auxiliary exhaust - just a hole in the kit
• Front fuselage slime lights - these get destroyed when assembling the kit as they are at the upper/lower fuselage joint

 

 

 

 

More to come soon,

 

Arnaud

[arnobiz]

VHF antenna and attaching plate prototypes are ready:

 

As are the fuselage grills:

 

and the auxiliary exhaust:

 

DDM-NG coming soon

 

Arnaud

[exdraken]

So essentially you mean I should wait a bit with starting my C Modell, no? 

[arnobiz]

1 hour ago, exdraken said:

So essentially you mean I should wait a bit with starting my C Modell, no? 

Not very long, I'm producing the sets now but waiting for packaging to arrive, I ran out of boxes 😄

[arnobiz]

Quick post to explain the BAM philosophy of making things as easy as possible for the modeller  The Rafale updgrade set will not only contain the necessary parts to address what I see as the most visible shortcomings, but also provide the modeller with everything needed to make this painless: jigs!

For example, the front formation lights are right on the kit's top/bottom fuselage seam, making it a pain to preserve while removing the seam. Using the set, it will just be a matter of fully removing the seam (including the lights), position the jig and set the lights - et voila!

Some (bad quality, I'll do better ones for the set's instructions) pictures to explain:

 

Original kit parts:

 

Seam removed and adhesive jig in place, aligned with the panel on the right:

 

Light in place, in the jig's clearance:

 

Formation light perfectly located

 

Arnaud

 

[John B]

On 11/1/2020 at 11:07 AM, arnobiz said:

Quick post to explain the BAM philosophy of making things as easy as possible for the modeller  The Rafale updgrade set will not only contain the necessary parts to address what I see as the most visible shortcomings, but also provide the modeller with everything needed to make this painless: jigs!

...

Formation light perfectly located

 

Arnaud

 

"C'est facile!"   Maybe even for me.