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Chengdu's Firebird - J-10S Vigorous Dragon


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同志们好!Sticking with the Chinese theme here's my next 1/48 kit, the Chengdu J-10S Vigorous Dragon (NATO reporting name: Firebird).

 

This aircraft is the two-seater variant of the J-10A- the easiest way to tell a J-10A from later models is the old-style intake reminiscent of a Eurofighter intake, as opposed to the divertless supersonic inlet used on later variants.

 

The kit looks good, a nice level of detail and nice recessed panel lines. It has a simple grey scheme, dark on top, light on the bottom. 

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I'm also having a go at using a PE detailing set, this will hopefully help the cockpit look better as cockpits are my weakness. The set is by Dream Model and features lovely crisp instrument panels, added detail for the ejection seats and even some external sensors.

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Looking forward to starting this, though maybe once it cools down a little more. Thanks for looking in!

Edited by Luke1199
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  • 2 weeks later...

Made a start on the cockpit, started small with the pilot's instrument panel photoetch. Using Mig ultra glue for the PE and it's working well so far.

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The glue takes a short while to dry fully so hopefully it'll look a tad cleaner once dry. Painted the original instrument panel which comes with the kit green so the transparent film has the appearance that it's turned on once laid on top.

 

Thanks for looking in!

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3 hours ago, Graham T said:

I have to be honest, "Vigorous Dragon" sounds like a"knock-off" impotence treatment that you'd pick up in a Thai market!

Don't knock it until you've tried it 😏

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Been a frustrating few days to say the least. The PE side panels didn't look very good and were a nightmare to assemble so I was going to just use the decals that came with the kit... but they folded in on themselves. I've had to just paint comically basic panels which look very funny next to the detailed MFDs.

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The intake section is drying at the minute so I should be able to have the fuselage together later and see how it looks in the aircraft- if it looks especially bad i can just close the canopy but given the way the side panels sit in the aircraft they may not be very visible anyway. 

 

Thanks for looking in!

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On 30/08/2022 at 12:00, Serkan Sen said:

I have all variants in 1:72 scale and hopelfully your project will motivate me to build at least one of them 😁

Serkan

If an interesting scheme could get you motivated it looks like the PAF are painting their new batch of J-10Cs in the same camouflage scheme as their Mirage's- a nice change from the usual grey schemes out there.

 

WhatsApp-Image-2022-08-28-at-9.09.00-PM

Source: Pakistan Strategic Forum

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Fuselage is together, the shoddy side panels arent that visible so it should look passable especially once the ejection seats are added later (which come with some nice PE belts). 

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Unfortunately the fit around the intake is pretty poor, its a little loose at the minute so i may be able to tighten up the fit a touch but it looks like a fair bit of sanding may be required here- shame as the rest of the fit is pretty spot on.

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Thanks for looking in!

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Hi all, after a lot of sanding and some filler the intake has been sorted...

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Wings assembled and its been primed now, the scheme is fairly simple so hopefully crack on later.

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Thanks for looking in!

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