bianfuxia Posted February 17, 2021 Share Posted February 17, 2021 I'm going to join in with the old Airfix Alpha Jet kit in 1/72. I think I will do it as a Togolese example. I'm not paying $25 for a decal sheet to put on a kit I got for three bucks on eBay, so it will be a freelance job. For this reason I may go with a Cote d'Ivoire one as the roundels seem easier to handle! I'll decide as I go along and post up the starting pics soon. Already some super interesting subjects coming up in this build! 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RidgeRunner Posted February 17, 2021 Share Posted February 17, 2021 Ah, yes, very nice Martin 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Col. Posted February 17, 2021 Share Posted February 17, 2021 Either choice sounds cool. It is an Alpha Jet after all 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wez Posted February 17, 2021 Share Posted February 17, 2021 A good choice and one of the options I was thinking of doing for this GB using the Heller kit and a Pavla resin interior. Looking forward to this one. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
modelling minion Posted February 17, 2021 Share Posted February 17, 2021 A very good choice, I was considering a 1/48 one for the GB. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bianfuxia Posted February 17, 2021 Author Share Posted February 17, 2021 (edited) Here is the kit: I like the Togo one mainly because I'm kind of fascinated with the country of Togo (fascination does not amount to knowledge, of course). Next choice is Cote d'Ivoire. Then Morocco, because although the two-tone brown scheme is maybe not the greatest, I can probably mock up the roundels using Japanese ones as a basis. I've done this before with a Hercules I made in Moroccan colours. The Cameroon one has a similar scheme but a harder roundel. A google image search brings up plenty of pics of each one, though none apparently copyright free. Last of all, thee Nigerian Alpha Jet - seems like an easy back up plan if the Togo or Cote d'Ivoire ones prove too hard. The following image via wikipedia is copyright free: Edited February 17, 2021 by bianfuxia 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vppelt68 Posted February 17, 2021 Share Posted February 17, 2021 I think Togo is the way to go 👍 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bianfuxia Posted February 17, 2021 Author Share Posted February 17, 2021 🤣 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bianfuxia Posted April 22, 2021 Author Share Posted April 22, 2021 Finally off the start line with this little jet. There isn't much to it so I hope to make swift progress, at least until I get to the point of the markings. So far I've painted the interior parts, done the pilots to about 90 per cent complete, and decided it's going to have a pair of rocket pods under each wing (plus the fuel tanks). I snatched those from my Airfix Hawk of the similar era and the same job lot on ebay (I got the AlphaJet, the Hawk, and the Thunderjet I did for the Christmas Blitzbuild all in the one lot for ten bucks, boom!). Not much to show yet but more will follow. Sorry for the slightly fuzzy phone pics. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spejic Posted April 22, 2021 Share Posted April 22, 2021 One choice you make early is going to decide which paint schemes you can chose - the shape of the nose. Togo, Morocco, Ivory Coast, Egypt, and Nigeria have rounded nose Alpha Jets. Cameroon, Egypt, and Nigeria have pointy nose Alpha Jets (using various definitions of pointy). 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bianfuxia Posted April 24, 2021 Author Share Posted April 24, 2021 Yeah I was hoping to do the pointy one because I think it looks cooler and I already have a snub-nosed one sitting on the shelf. But actually I prefer the Togo scheme, I think. Still it's a bit confusing - in at least one photo of the Nigerian jets, there seems to be one snubnosed and one pointy. See the fist pic in this article. Once I get to the point (haha) of doing the nose I will make up my mind I guess. But it's probably going to be the Togo one or the Cote d'Ivoire - both snubnosed Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spejic Posted April 24, 2021 Share Posted April 24, 2021 1 hour ago, bianfuxia said: Still it's a bit confusing - in at least one photo of the Nigerian jets, there seems to be one snubnosed and one pointy. See the fist pic in this article. They have some of both. Their initial purchase was of the blunt-nose type, but a few years ago they bought some pointy ex-German ones. Egyptian ones will also have different noses depending on where they were built and what systems they have installed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bianfuxia Posted April 29, 2021 Author Share Posted April 29, 2021 Made a little more progress today. The pilots now have really cool green helmets. They just need their visors painted and they're ready to fly. The kit came with no cockpit decals. I took a few dials from the decal from an old Fujimi Mig-21 - it's all I could find in my decal stash. Of course the finished product bears no relationship to an AlphaJet instrument panel except that it also has instruments on it. Some were drawn in with marker because the Fujimi decal was so old. I used generic fuselage warning labels on the side panels, figuring they look a little like banks of switches. They'll barely be visible once the pilots are in and the canopy is on. I think the AlphaJet didn't have radar, so I guess that green display on the panel is...something else. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bianfuxia Posted April 30, 2021 Author Share Posted April 30, 2021 (edited) These guys are suited up and ready to go: Although now that I see the pic I should probably do their seatbelts. Meanwhile, the cockpit is done. This is not the world's most superdetailed build, remember. I put some noseweight in just to be certain. Edited April 30, 2021 by bianfuxia 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bianfuxia Posted May 3, 2021 Author Share Posted May 3, 2021 More progress today: Fuselage together: Wings and tail installed: It passed its tail-sitting test - easily. At this point, I have still not installed the bottom panel on the fuselage. I left it off in case I needed to add more weight, but I am confident it will be fine. Those missiles are for another build, not for this one! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Col. Posted May 5, 2021 Share Posted May 5, 2021 Nice progress and surely the extra cockpit detail will look fine once the canopy is on Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bianfuxia Posted May 11, 2021 Author Share Posted May 11, 2021 Standing nicely on three legs now. The tape is there to hold the big bottom piece in place while the glue dries. I also had to smear some filler onto the back of the cockpit wall there, because the gap was too big even for my slap-dash build philosophy. Generally the fit is ok especially for a 1980 kit but it'll need some filler in most places. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Col. Posted May 11, 2021 Share Posted May 11, 2021 This one's taking shape nicely 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bianfuxia Posted May 11, 2021 Author Share Posted May 11, 2021 Slowly slowly but getting there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bianfuxia Posted June 9, 2021 Author Share Posted June 9, 2021 I've skipped a few steps before photographing this, I see from my older posts. I've now finished the putty and sanding phase. Next up I guess I will add the nose and the intakes and then get going on the painting. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Col. Posted June 9, 2021 Share Posted June 9, 2021 Taking shape nicely 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bianfuxia Posted February 3, 2022 Author Share Posted February 3, 2022 I can't believe it's so long since I worked on this one. It ground to a halt because I needed to put the intakes on. For some reason that totally threw me. Anyway today I painted the walls where the intake tunnel would be on a better kit, and then put on the intakes, in about three minutes of work. And I masked it off and painted it blue for good measure. Still shooting for the Togo version. I have bought some decal paper and will try to print the roundels myself. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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