1/48 Rafale B, Escadron de Chasse 1/4 'Gascogne', Op 'Chammal' 2018. Finished 19/10.

[DaveJL]

Hello all,

 

Here is my entry for this GB and one that I have been planning for some time - Revell's 1/48 Rafale B in the markings of Escadron de Chasse 1/4 'Gascogne' during the French Operations over Iraq and Syria during 2018. I've collected a few bits for this over the last couple of years and glad to be finally building it!

 

Kit:

 

 

Nice, crisp, plastic unlike some other Revell kits.

 

Extras:

 

 

Will be using Wolfpack Designs ejection seats and update set, l'Arsenal Damocles targeting pod, Syhart decals, New Ware mask, Mica missiles from a Skunkworks weapons set and two lovely sets by @arnobiz - seamless intakes and Rafale update set.

 

The decals are great and include all stencils, both for the airframe and weapons:

 

 

Some of the many options!

 

 

I plan to load it with 4x GBU-12, 3x 2000 litre fuel tanks (the third kindly donated by @exdraken), 3x Mica and the Damocles pod. Something like this:

 

 

 

Only with GBU-12s in place of the ASSMs.

 

Looking forward to this one!

 

Cheers and stay safe

 

Dave

[Wez]

Great choice Dave, nice to see some modern French hardware (and an impressive amount of hardware it is too)!

 

Welcome and good luck.

[DaveJL]

Cheers Wez! Might end up going with 6x GBU-12, though I haven't seen many pictures of that load operationally.

[wellzy]

Looking  to your build  , love this aircraft  have built  one got a two seater  to build  ,will watch  your build  with interest 

[Flyingdutchman]

Very nice Dave, like the detail with the French patch. Will follow with interest.

 

Evert

[alex]

Nice choice. The decals are excellent, I built a Rafale a few years ago in 1/72 with the Syhart decals, too.

 

Alex

[DaveJL]

Thanks chaps!

[Biggles87]

Wow! Where’s the kitchen sink? 😉

Waiting to see how the seamless intakes work.

 

John

[Cummulus]

I'll be watching this build closely.

Do you have any picture of WSO station? I haven't found any... Does WSO have contol sticks like pilot?

[Marlin]

Great choice Dave.

Any progress yet?

 

/Bosse

[DaveJL]

Thanks chaps! No progress yet as I'm trying to progress on the 109 and F-16 currently on the bench, but the current temperatures are limiting painting time etc. Hopefully make a start soon!

[Jasonb13]

Am waiting impatiently for this, I need all the advice I can get around the Rafale!  

[DaveJL]

On 8/4/2021 at 1:25 PM, Jasonb13 said:

Am waiting impatiently for this, I need all the advice I can get around the Rafale!  

Sorry mate, still no progress! Plodding along with the F-16 and haven't even started my Hellcats yet. The F-4 GB is slowly approaching too 😬

[helios16v]

4 minutes ago, DaveJL said:

Sorry mate, still no progress! Plodding along with the F-16 and haven't even started my Hellcats yet. The F-4 GB is slowly approaching too 😬

 

Too many great GBs rolling at the moment.  Very hard to decide which ones to allot time for.  I could be retired and still have a full plate right now.  

[DaveJL]

12 minutes ago, helios16v said:

 

Too many great GBs rolling at the moment.  Very hard to decide which ones to allot time for.  I could be retired and still have a full plate right now.  

I know the feeling! The only good thing is that this GB runs until November so should be able to get all my planned builds done. But then there's the F-14 GB....

[Jasonb13]

Yep, I voted for two GBs this year, this one and the High Wing one (for a 1:48 Mig-31!). They ended up being scheduled to run almost concurrently, so that put an end to the MiG being done!

[DaveJL]

 

On 8/5/2021 at 11:45 PM, Jasonb13 said:

Yep, I voted for two GBs this year, this one and the High Wing one (for a 1:48 Mig-31!). They ended up being scheduled to run almost concurrently, so that put an end to the MiG being done!

I vote for too many

 

I am hoping to make a start this week, though that Tamiya F-4B is calling out to me.... Hellcats need done too!

[DaveJL]

Was able to get a start made today, namely with the ordnance et al. Firstly, the fuel tanks:

 

 

A bit of clean up required, especially around the nose sections. Seam line removal on fuel tanks is one of my pet peeves, one piece fuel tanks would be most appreciated!! GBU-12 racks were next:

 

 

Followed by the GBU-12s and MICA missiles:

 

 

I'm only going with the four bombs as the majority of in theatre pictures I've seen of the Rafale only shows this number carried. I do recall a picture showing six, but this was over Mali if I recall, with no A2A missiles fitted. On that, the MICA from both Revell and Skunkworks are poor. The kit examples have the Infrared seeker heads fitted while the Skunkworks example has the radar guided nose. The detail is poor as is the fit of the nose sections. But they'll have to suffice as I can't find a replacement.

 

The L'Arsenal Damocles pod on the other hand is very nice indeed:

 

 

Not much but it's a start!

 

Dave

[exdraken]

nice start,

I would also say that 4 GBU-12s are a realistic loadout (6 seem to be very dragy....!)

 

the best to my knowledge MICA missiles are from Renaissance Flight:

 

https://www.renaissance-models.com/ter/index.php/avions-toutes-echelles/echelle-1-48/produits/2549-mica-em-1-48e

https://www.renaissance-models.com/ter/index.php/avions-toutes-echelles/echelle-1-48/produits/2550-mica-ir-1-48e

 

e.g. here:

https://the48ers.com/missiles-mica-ir-x-2.html

https://the48ers.com/missiles-mica-em-x-2.html

 

 

[DaveJL]

8 hours ago, exdraken said:

nice start,

I would also say that 4 GBU-12s are a realistic loadout (6 seem to be very dragy....!)

 

the best to my knowledge MICA missiles are from Renaissance Flight:

 

https://www.renaissance-models.com/ter/index.php/avions-toutes-echelles/echelle-1-48/produits/2549-mica-em-1-48e

https://www.renaissance-models.com/ter/index.php/avions-toutes-echelles/echelle-1-48/produits/2550-mica-ir-1-48e

 

e.g. here:

https://the48ers.com/missiles-mica-ir-x-2.html

https://the48ers.com/missiles-mica-em-x-2.html

 

 

Cheers Werner.

 

48ers no longer post orders under £150 to the UK due to the whole VAT debacle so I'll have to make do.

 

I had an unexpected hour or so at the bench today so I decided to do the only bit of surgery needed on this kit and that was fitting the Wolfpack wing tip missile rails.

 

 

The kit parts, to my knowledge, represent early launchers. You can see the difference between the two:

 

 

A quick chop later and they were fitted:

 

 

A very minor gap to fill on each which some sprue gloop has sorted. Meanwhile, I've cleaned up the fuel tanks (I really hate this job as they always look such a mess) and as per usual, some detail lost. The raised lines around this tanks are quite defined so for the small parts that were lost, I ran some Mr Dissolved putty across them with a needle. It worked quite well and looks like raised detail, albeit not the cleanest line! Should look fine under some paint and weathering:

 

 

More interesting stuff to come!

 

Dave

[exdraken]

I understand...

You can try RFlight directly as well, they were very helpful last time I needed DEFA cannon barrels..

 

Nice start,

the newer launch rails do not have the small protrusions, I think that is all. Are you going to use the nosecone as well?

 

[DaveJL]

14 minutes ago, exdraken said:

I understand...

You can try RFlight directly as well, they were very helpful last time I needed DEFA cannon barrels..

 

Nice start,

the newer launch rails do not have the small protrusions, I think that is all. Are you going to use the nosecone as well?

 

Thanks Werner, I'll maybe try them.

 

Yes, I plan to pop the nosecone on as it has some nice detail on it.

[Jasonb13]

Great work so far!

[DaveJL]

1 hour ago, Jasonb13 said:

Great work so far!

Thanks mate. Hopefully those tanks will look ok under primer!

[Jasonb13]

Have to agree with you, I hate getting the seams sorted on fuel tanks! I usually just don't put fuel tanks on, but considering I'm doing a refuelling Rafale, I don't have much option!