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Luke's Israeli adventure


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Hi all, been very unproductive recently so to try and turn things around I've recently bought AK's Israeli Air Force paint sets for modern and early aircraft.

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I love Israeli paint schemes and they've used a nice variety of aircraft, so what better way to get back into building!

 

I'm starting with 2 special hobby kits, their Vautour IIN and Meteor F.8 kits in 1/72

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I also have a Revell 1/48 Spitfire Mk.IX on the way and have picked up some Techmod decals for Israeli Spits (this will be my first go at a spitfire too)

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For the benefit of anyone passing through, I'm currently working on:

Hasegawa 1/48 A-4M(N) Ayit

Tamiya Beaufighter

 

And in the stash:

Special Hobby 1/72 Vautour 

Kinetic 1/48 F-16C Barak 

Italeri 1/48 F-4E Phantom

Italeri 1/48 RF-4E Phantom x2

Revell 1/32 Spitfire Mk.IX

Italeri 1/48 AH-1F Cobra 

Hobby2000 1/72 TA-4J

GWH 1/72 F-15I Ra'am

Eduard 1/48 Velvetta Spitfire Mk.IX

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3 hours ago, Luke1199 said:

I also have a Revell 1/48 Spitfire Mk.IX on the way and have picked up some Techmod decals for Israeli Spits (this will be my first go at a spitfire too)

Hmm, AFAIK the Revell 1/48 Spitfire IX is a rebox of the Hasegawa kit, noted for having a bit too small rear fuselage, which may cause problems for correctly sized decals. 

IIRC only a few Spitfires ever got the grey blue/brown scheme, most retained their delivery colours,  which were mainly RAF Dark green/Ocean grey/Medium Sea grey.  

the silver ones were painted silver Ex Italian IIRC,  I'd have to go an dig out THE book, which I'm not about to,  but I think Techmod maybe wrong on '26' being green/brown.

this THE book....  long OOP but does turn up

 

https://www.scalemates.com/books/spitfire-mkix-in-israeli-air-force-service-1-alex-yofe--108057

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3 hours ago, Luke1199 said:

Lastly, I've been sitting on an old Esci Mirage V for a while now because the Belgian scheme is a little dull, so hopefully I can pick up some decals and build it up as a Nesher- Ive had no luck finding any yet but if all else fails i can just pick up Kinetics Nesher and use the leftover decals.

Hmm, I think the Nesher has a different nose to Mirage V, Italeri reissued the Esci kit as a Dagger/Nesher, 

https://www.scalemates.com/kits/italeri-2721-nesher-dagger--179650

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You have enough posts to ask in the wanted section if anyone has leftover Nesher decals,  as the kit had 6 options...

 

If you want more on the Meteor

https://www.hannants.co.uk/product/IAFB-13

IAFB13.jpg?t=

 

HTH

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57 minutes ago, Troy Smith said:

Hmm, AFAIK the Revell 1/48 Spitfire IX is a rebox of the Hasegawa kit, noted for having a bit too small rear fuselage

Thanks Troy

 

I was leaning toward the silver scheme for the Spitfire anyway, thanks for the heads up with the fuselage- the '26' Spitfire has a slightly smaller fuselage roundel so if needs be i can just use that one.

 

I've posted about the decals in the wanted section a few days ago too, hopefully someone out there has some spares. As for the nose I'm happy to live with a little inaccuracy, its an old kit and lacking in detail in areas, I'd just be happy to finally get it built 😅

 

Thanks for the links to the books also!

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Might I suggest building the Mirage as a Belgian. To me they always looked the smartest of camouflages with a lovely sheen with that distinctive wavy demarcation line to the underside. Looking forward to your projects, especially the Vatour.

 

Keith 

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  • 2 weeks later...

Hi all, just a small update. I'm off work next week so planning on getting stuck in to building.

 

The Meteor is now going to be built as part of the Meteor STGB as that GB snuck up on me, so anyone interested in that build (or meteors in general) will have to check it out over there.

 

I've also got myself a few more Israeli Air Force kits for this project...

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The A-4 was an Ebay buy, need to have a look into the squadrons who used the A-4 as I'm not sure the squadron included exists (the paint sheet literally says "Squadron ?").

The S-199 looks a fantastic little kit, comes with the PE cockpit and masks too so can't wait to start that.

The Kfir is one of my favourite jets and I'm planning on building it as a C.7 as I want to have it in the camouflage as opposed to the air superiority grey.

 

Looking forward to cracking on this week, thanks for looking in!

Edited by Luke1199
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  • Luke1199 changed the title to Luke's Israeli adventure

Well the S-199 cockpit is pretty much together, waiting on the tail wheel and joystick to dry before the fuselage goes together.

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Finding 1/72 to be a little too small for my liking here but hopefully that's the hardest part out of the way. Thanks for looking in!

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7 hours ago, Stew Dapple said:

I've been quite tempted by the Eduard S-199 and to be honest you're not helping me resist that temptation :D 

Its an absolutely fantastic kit, a joy to build so far (not trying to tempt you further, Stew 😉)

 

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Pretty much ready for a prime and a spray now, just a tiny bit of filler needed on the underside.

 

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Think I'm going to make a start on the A-4 now this kit is in the painting stage, want to paint a camouflage scheme.

 

Thanks for looking in!

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14 minutes ago, Silenoz said:

Looking good. What is that seam above the instrument panel?

The PE is layered and a little thick as a result, once the front canopy piece is on it shouldn't be noticable (or i can just file the top of the panel down if it is)

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I have the 199 in the stash.  Your build seems to confirm it is standard high quality Eduard kit.  I'm looking forward to the A-4.  It's a good looking aircraft in any plumage. I also have a Kfir...I forget which maker.  

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1 hour ago, John Masters said:

I have the 199 in the stash.  Your build seems to confirm it is standard high quality Eduard kit. 

Yeah it's fantastic John, my first go at an Eduard kit and I can confidently say it won't be my last either.

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Paint is on, first impressions of these AK paints is very good. Perfect consistency for brush painting which is very reassuring as I like to spray a base coat then hand paint any camouflage schemes. This is the older IAF paint set too so hopefully the 3rd Gen stuff is even better.

 

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Wheel bays still need doing but very happy with how this is progressing.

 

Thanks for looking in!

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This looks like a fascinating project, will follow if I may. (Why Israel, if you don't mind my asking?)

 

I'm with you on the Eduard kits, just started my first and it's a dream. I predict an Israeli Spit somewhere in my future...

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45 minutes ago, TonyOD said:

This looks like a fascinating project, will follow if I may. (Why Israel, if you don't mind my asking?)

 

I'm with you on the Eduard kits, just started my first and it's a dream. I predict an Israeli Spit somewhere in my future...

The more the merrier Tony!

 

I like the IAF's desert paint schemes, I also like the variety of aircraft they've used over the years- I'm a sucker for a Mirage. Plus the IAF has a very interesting history, some very cool stories behind a lot of their aircraft.

 

& couldn't agree more, one of the most stress-free builds I've ever done. 

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Hi all, Avia is glossed and drying, decals to go on tomorrow hopefully. In the meantime I've painted the propeller, gunpods and gear doors.

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Here's the scheme I'm going for, it had a short lifespan after crashing during takeoff on its first sortie (a common occurrence with the S-199).

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Also started the A-4, cockpit is very basic but its an old kit so thats not a shock. Dry fitted the parts and the fit seems good, I've seen a lot worse.

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Thanks for looking in!

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The Mezek has (most of) its decals on now, but they were fighting me every step of the way. They really wanted to fold in on themselves- I left the majority of the stencils off too because they were just so small and I'm not very good at working with such small decals. The rudder is left to do now as I need to paint it white.

 

Just the undercarriage and few small bits to go on, hopefully I can cover up some of the decal issues with some weathering. The white and blue ID band on the fuselage could do with being patched up too. 

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A little frustrated but this build had been going too smooth anyway so I was due a headache 😅

 

Thanks for looking in

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Hi all, been working on the A-4 today. The bulk of it is together now, the avionics hump had warped quite badly so took a while to fit together but it's on now, going to require some filler though. 

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Also began to fill the gaps on the underside. Didn't take long at all really as the fit was pretty solid. Just need to work on that centre seam now.

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Next step is a prime and spray, looking forward to using the new 3rd Generation AK paints and seeing how they compare with the older ones. 

 

The kit is missing the extended exhaust found on the Israeli Skyhawks -like the A-4N this kit is supposed to depict. Its likely just a result of the kits age and information available to the designers at the time (same goes for the unknown squadron included). 

 

Thanks for looking in!

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17 hours ago, Luke1199 said:

Hi all, been working on the A-4 today. The bulk of it is together now, the avionics hump had warped quite badly so took a while to fit together but it's on now, going to require some filler though. 

 

Also began to fill the gaps on the underside. Didn't take long at all really as the fit was pretty solid. Just need to work on that centre seam now.

 

Next step is a prime and spray, looking forward to using the new 3rd Generation AK paints and seeing how they compare with the older ones. 

 

The kit is missing the extended exhaust found on the Israeli Skyhawks -like the A-4N this kit is supposed to depict. Its likely just a result of the kits age and information available to the designers at the time (same goes for the unknown squadron included). 

 

Thanks for looking in!

Israeli used three versions of the single seat Skyhawk, A-4E,H & N.  The A-4H & N were new build versions unique to Israel and the A-4Es were transferred from US Navy inventory as attrition replacements.  The H was a stripped down A-4F with Israeli avionics.  The N was an Israeli variant of the USMC A-4M.

 

That kit represents an A-4H no matter what is printed on the box. The shape of the canopy sill is a dead giveaway. The later A-4N the canopy sill was a straight line from the windscreen aft to the behind the seat and the canopy is larger. It's honestly the simplest way to ID the early A-4E/F/H/K from the later A-4M/N/KU.  Until Hasegawa released an A-4M in 1/48 there was no way to make an M or N out of the box without a conversions. The square vertical fin tip makes it an H, rounded would make it an E. 

  1. A-4H was delivered without the avionics hump and with 20mm cannon and fought the '67 war in this configuration
  2. Best I can tell, the 30mm DEFA cannon were installed after the '67 war.
  3. The hump was added in '72 to upgrade the A-4E/H to the same standard as A-4N just entering service.  The hump and 30mm DEFA cannon installation was the common configuration for the '73 War.  I've seen at least one source indicate this upgrade also replaced the engine and intakes, but this difference is subtle.  A-4Es were upgraded to match the A-4H configuration, but retained the curved vertical fin tip though their career.
  4. The extended tailpipe was added after the 1973 war and would have fought in Lebanon in this configuration up until retirement.

For your kit there is no need to add the extended tail pipe unless you want to, but you should track down a set of 30mm cannon if the kit doesn't have them. Also a braking parachute was installed under the tail on the A-4H from the start and should be on all planes with humps.

 

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1 hour ago, Steve McArthur said:

Israeli used three versions of the single seat Skyhawk, A-4E,H & N.  The A-4H & N were new build versions unique to Israel and the A-4Es were transferred from US Navy inventory as attrition replacements.  The H was a stripped down A-4F with Israeli avionics.  The N was an Israeli variant of the USMC A-4M.

 

That kit represents an A-4H no matter what is printed on the box. The shape of the canopy sill is a dead giveaway. The later A-4N the canopy sill was a straight line from the windscreen aft to the behind the seat and the canopy is larger. It's honestly the simplest way to ID the early A-4E/F/H/K from the later A-4M/N/KU.  Until Hasegawa released an A-4M in 1/48 there was no way to make an M or N out of the box without a conversions. The square vertical fin tip makes it an H, rounded would make it an E. 

  1. A-4H was delivered without the avionics hump and with 20mm cannon and fought the '67 war in this configuration
  2. Best I can tell, the 30mm DEFA cannon were installed after the '67 war.
  3. The hump was added in '72 to upgrade the A-4E/H to the same standard as A-4N just entering service.  The hump and 30mm DEFA cannon installation was the common configuration for the '73 War.  I've seen at least one source indicate this upgrade also replaced the engine and intakes, but this difference is subtle.  A-4Es were upgraded to match the A-4H configuration, but retained the curved vertical fin tip though their career.
  4. The extended tailpipe was added after the 1973 war and would have fought in Lebanon in this configuration up until retirement.

For your kit there is no need to add the extended tail pipe unless you want to, but you should track down a set of 30mm cannon if the kit doesn't have them. Also a braking parachute was installed under the tail on the A-4H from the start and should be on all planes with humps.

 

Thanks for this Steve, the kit comes with cannons but i suspect they're just the 20mm as the main scheme for the kit is a USMC scheme.

 

I'll have to see what I can find, I can always scratch build new cannons if needs be.

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