IAI Kfir C2 FAE-901 Fuerza Aerea Ecuatoreana - AMK 1/72 - update 13mar25 final decalling (I hope) and a little more

[RidgeRunner]

With the lights now being switched off at conclusion of the "South of the Rio Grande" GB, I'm continuing and finishing my entry here.

 

 

[RidgeRunner]

Today was the day for fiddly masking and then the application of the darker green. For the paint I used Vallejo Model Air FS34102 (thanks @drake122 and @Giorgio N). My camouflage masking was, as always, using a drawn pattern based on reference photos and then by cutting out each section and adding holes for the tape to stick to the model. I cut the holes (as shown) before cutting the shape with the Gyrocutter. Any taped bits that don't stick are stuck with Bluetack.

 

 

After a couple or hours I get to this (I’m not sure what happened to the colour in this photo below!):

 

 

Then it is a matter of firing up the Badger 200 and getting a few gentle passes of paint on, working around the edges of the masks at first so as not to get ingress underneath. Its a bit tricky with a complex pattern like this. This should give a fine diffused demarcation line. After painting she looks like:

 

 

 

 

 

This last image shows the true colour better. I will give her upper surfaces a final light dust with FS34102 with a drop of white-grey to show a little sun bleaching. It will probably end up being very subtle but I will try

 

Martin

 

 

[Courageous]

Well you left that on a cliff-hanger Martin, I was hoping for a reveal to see how the demarcation worked as I've never seen your method before.

 

Stuart

[RidgeRunner]

12 hours ago, Courageous said:

Well you left that on a cliff-hanger Martin, I was hoping for a reveal to see how the demarcation worked as I've never seen your method before.

 

Stuart

Monday, Stuart. I still need to give her a few passes of slightly lightened green. I’m am trying to mimic the bleaching of the upper surfaces as shown in many photos of these machines. My aim is to get all of the painting done next week 🤞. M 

[RidgeRunner]

After a very light dusting with a 5:1(ish) mix of FS34102 and White Grey on the vertically facing surfaces I got the masks off. What I was trying to mimic was where the sun had bleached these areas. I'm not sure that I succeeded. I'll try on another build one day. For now the camouflage is on and I'm very happy, both with the paints (Vallejo and Lifecolor), the colours and the finish. There is certainly some paint ingress here and there but that is just how it goes. I will get a soft, fine brush and touch those areas up soon. Before that I need to remove the last of the Bluetack blobs ;). Here she is after my dusting of the green:

 

    

and then with the masks off:

 

 

Next will be getting the final little bits painted - seat, control column, canopy interior, nosewheel leg (which I forgot!), missile rails, and others. The shackles on the MER need metallics, as does some detail on the MER and legs. There are also a few items to paint on the model itself, such as the red surround for the fin intake, the black nose, anti-glare, RWRs, etc. Nearly at the decalling stage :).

 

Back again soon.

 

Martin

[RidgeRunner]

@drake122 Did you have problems getting the jet installed. Mine (resin, like yours) sticks and wont gon in enough. What happened for you? Thanks.

 

Martin

 

[drake122]

17 minutes ago, RidgeRunner said:

@drake122 Did you have problems getting the jet installed. Mine (resin, like yours) sticks and wont gon in enough. What happened for you? Thanks.

 

Martin

 

Hi, I think I did. If I remember correctly, the diameter of Reskit parts is too thick, particularly on the exhaust part itself, and even if I whittled down the fuselage from inside, I still didn't get a perfect fit. On my model, the exhaust "sticks out" about half a milimeter too much in the rear, but thankfully it is not very noticeable.  Perhaps me using weld action glue when joining fuselage halves was to blame, as I squeezed the parts together and reduced the fuselage in diameter...

I think Aires also do resin exhaust set for this model, that one supposedly fits better, but is less detailed than Reskit.

[RidgeRunner]

10 minutes ago, drake122 said:

Hi, I think I did. If I remember correctly, the diameter of Reskit parts is too thick, particularly on the exhaust part itself, and even if I whittled down the fuselage from inside, I still didn't get a perfect fit. On my model, the exhaust "sticks out" about half a milimeter too much in the rear, but thankfully it is not very noticeable.  Perhaps me using weld action glue when joining fuselage halves was to blame, as I squeezed the parts together and reduced the fuselage in diameter...

I think Aires also do resin exhaust set for this model, that one supposedly fits better, but is less detailed than Reskit.

I might revert to the kit part . I have assembled the kit parts. There is very little difference between it and the resin part

[Courageous]

The mask removal shows a very fine feather to the demarcation, looks great. I'll have to give it a try sometime.

 

Stuart

[RidgeRunner]

25 minutes ago, Courageous said:

The mask removal shows a very fine feather to the demarcation, looks great. I'll have to give it a try sometime.

 

Stuart

This time I got some paint ingress here and there but overall you get the idea .   M

[exdraken]

colors look great!

 

[RidgeRunner]

Finally I found some time to get the last (🤞) paint jobs done before varnishing.

 

 

 

As always, the more you look the more defects you find! Its done now, though :).

 

Martin

 

 

[RidgeRunner]

An update on the Kfir! 

 

Finally, in between numerous grandchildren-related activities, etc . I got some Vallejo Gloss varnish on her before we both had a short holiday in the Wye Valley earlier this month. Having then had plenty of time to cure and dry it was time for decalling!  

 

Today was the start and it hasn't been straightforward. The two main gripes are i) that the AMK decal set has some out-of-register items on it. Secondly, the decals are actually very thin (fine) and they stick after only a minute of so. It means that you need to place them pretty accurately and cant fiddle about. And ii) I also pretty much gave up with the white line decals and replaced them with Xtradecal white lines. The out-of-register decals were replaced by using those from the Aztec Decals set. They are actually more accurate any way. So, here she is right now ....    

 

 

 

I'm really pleased. I now have a lot of small decals to add, on this and the bombs, etc. 

 

Back again very soon, fingers crossed!!! 

 

Martin

[cpoud117]

Looking good! 

The finish line is in sight at this point  

[Courageous]

Paint and stickers on Martin, looking smart and dare I say it, near completion.

 

Stuart

[RidgeRunner]

3 hours ago, Courageous said:

and dare I say it, near completion.

Ssshh …. The witches will hear you

[RidgeRunner]

On 11/29/2024 at 10:46 PM, RidgeRunner said:

Ssshh …. The witches will hear you

Stuart @Courageous, I’m now discovering that retirement brings lots of other “activities”, none of which include modelling!

[Courageous]

4 hours ago, RidgeRunner said:

other “activities”

So true my friend but I seem to have found a way where I maximise my hobbies/interests where I can model most mornings and after 10pm. Find the way Martin, you'll be happier as you start to see stash reduction.

 

Stuart

[cpoud117]

Hello @RidgeRunner

How's the Kfir going?

[RidgeRunner]

6 hours ago, cpoud117 said:

Hello @RidgeRunner

How's the Kfir going?

Hi mate!

 

Well, I have hit a bit of a lull in modelling activity :(. Family stuff - my ageing dad shifting from his house to a care home, family illnesses and medical conditions, my step-mum being ill for a month or so and staying with us, etc, etc - has taken its toll, sadly. It is also amazing how much grandchild care goes on for retirees, too! I hope to get this one and my Greek F-84F done in the coming weeks and I can then focus on the Argentine Mirage and my FAU Mustang. Beyond that my year might be quiet on the modelling front :(. If I move all those along I will be getting going with my Gabon and Zaire Mirage 5s. I know things like this hit us all but I never expected it to have such an impact :(. 

 

Martin

 

[cpoud117]

Ouch, sorry to hear that 

Life's got a way of reminding us that there are more important things than kits.

 

I hope you'll find time and energy to get the Kfir and F-84F away from the backburner when your schedule clears up a bit.

 

[RidgeRunner]

I’m closing in on the finish line, with the recalling done yesterday. In the coming week I intend to get her gloss varnished again in readiness for some”weathering” and accentuating. Thereafter it will be final assenbly and a final satin varnish coat  🤞

[Charles68]

Hi, that looks fantastic! I have the AMK kfir in 1/48 and was planning on the exact same Ecuadorian scheme but I'm struggling finding the lighter green. I looked thru your post so forgive me for asking but is the lifecolor the lighter green? And if so do you have any FS references? I did get an acceptable match reducing Olive Drab by 50% white but your color looks spot on. 

[RidgeRunner]

Hi Charles @Charles68. Yes, it is the Lifecolor paint. You will see many photos of these machines showing differing shades of green. I have tried to emulate this:

 

 

The faded lighter green is, in my view, closest. Lifecolor quote FS34257. Most references show it as US Interior Green! I have tried to vary the green here and there. As you can see in this photo, the vertical surfaces remained slightly darker. 
 

Good luck!

 

Martin

[RidgeRunner]

Gradually getting closer to completion! Today I had lots of small jobs to complete, including some last minute additional decals. These were mainly the many extra white line makings that are not on the decal sheet. In addition I drew out the "Armamento" panel in Photoshop and printed that. You can see it below. It is now installed on the port side of the cockpit. I also got some of the minute red lining marks inside the intakes. Other than decalling I have painted a length of 0.3mm rod that I hope I can glue around the inner lip of the canopy to represent the seal. In reality this was variously dark shades or a bright orange. I've gone with the latter. The bombs also got their yellow "nose" rings applied.  

 

 

I hope to get another gloss varnish on in a day or two and then she can sit and dry before I tackle weathering. This will be predominantly on the undersides and undercarriage, where there was more likely to be dirt and grime. The upper sides tended to be clean but faded.   

 

Back soon.

 

Martin