SebastianP Posted April 13, 2011 Share Posted April 13, 2011 I finally decided to get back to building again after having had everything packed up for eighteen months. Seeing as most of my old in-progress kits were busted beyond repair (after lifting out all the aircraft from the box, there was a pile of landing gear on the bottom...) I decided to start with some fresh kits, of which one is the Hobby Boss Rafale B. I also managed to salvage one of my Revell Typhoons, plus I have a Revell Super Hornet and an Academy Legacy Hornet to go with them, so I'm set for at least a while. Anyway, out of the kits on hand, the Hornets are pretty much good to go as they are - there's nothing missing that would be on an operational jet (at least a US one). The Typhoon and Rafale on the other hand... First question: Did anyone ever make a set of the missing hardpoints for the Typhoon? There's a grand total of four missing, two of which are critical (you basically won't ever see an RAF Typhoon without these), and two of which would be nice to have for air-to-surface loadouts. I have all the missiles I could ever want for the kit (one of the write-offs is an identical kit, I was going to paint them as one RAF and one Luftwaffe machine), but even cannibalizing the other kit won't give me the proper launchers. Second question: The Rafale comes with two options for the mid-wing station (APACHE or MICA launcher), but not the outboard rail. They've been clever about it though - except for the inboard stations (for the drop tanks), the rest of the stores stations mount using a pair of tiny posts on the wings (the hardpoint pylon has a notch where the posts go), and it just might be possible to modify the MICA launcher so it fits the outboard station. I don't have any decent pictures of the real thing though - the operational jets hardly ever mounts anything in that position... Third question: Drop tanks. The Typhoon only comes with two, but since I have a broken aircraft, I have four of them available so there's one for the centerline. How common is a three-tank loadout on the Typhoon, and will I need to change the hardpoint any (it's integrated in the tank...)? Fourth question: Drop tanks again. The Hobby Boss Rafale comes with two big tanks, and two small ones, and suggests a 2+1 arrangement. I did a bunch of googling, and found no pictures of this - it's pretty much always three large tanks. (I haven't found any pics of the small tanks at all, at least not on a Rafale). Is this actually a valid combination, or did Hobby Boss goof? Fifth question: The Rafale only comes with four valid AAMs (the Rafale doesn't carry the MAGIC), but it comes with six launch rails (out of ten possibles). It so happens that I have a bunch of Meteors left over from the broken Typhoon. Would these use the same launch rails as the MICA, or something different? Sixth question: Related to the two above - the Rafale can carry two MICA missiles in tandem on the centerline, like a Su-27. I've only ever seen that in diagrams, though, and I'm wondering what the hardpoints look like. This could be an alternative to using the wrong drop tank on the centerline... Cheers! SP Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Ichitoe Posted April 13, 2011 Share Posted April 13, 2011 Sebastian, I'm currently building the Revell Rafale B, and I too looked for confirmation on whether the smaller tanks (1250 L) are used. The only pics I found where they were used was on a Rafale M, and unfortunately, I don't recall where I found the pic on the internet. All the other pics I came across shows the larger tanks (2000 L) being used. Mike Quote Link to post Share on other sites
robonth Posted April 13, 2011 Share Posted April 13, 2011 Hello sir, For the Rafale, you might find some info here: http://florent1973.free.fr/FrenchAirWings/...is/indexuk2.htm Cheers Robert-Jan Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Bobski Posted April 13, 2011 Share Posted April 13, 2011 First question: Did anyone ever make a set of the missing hardpoints for the Typhoon? There's a grand total of four missing, two of which are critical (you basically won't ever see an RAF Typhoon without these), and two of which would be nice to have for air-to-surface loadouts. I have all the missiles I could ever want for the kit (one of the write-offs is an identical kit, I was going to paint them as one RAF and one Luftwaffe machine), but even cannibalizing the other kit won't give me the proper launchers. No, the outboard pylons would need scratchbuilding, as would the rail launchers that are loaded onto them in order to carry a second pair of ASRAAMs on an RAF jet. Two Mikes have done the inboard pylons in 1/32 and 1/48, and I believe in 1/72 as well but I'm not sure. Third question: Drop tanks. The Typhoon only comes with two, but since I have a broken aircraft, I have four of them available so there's one for the centerline. How common is a three-tank loadout on the Typhoon, and will I need to change the hardpoint any (it's integrated in the tank...)? Fairly rare. The only time you really see a three-tank load is on a long-range ferry, but it is a cleared load. The tank is identical and no modification will be necessary to fit it to the centreline. That said, if you're thinking of loading some LGBs onto the jet (UK Paveway IIs only at the moment) then you're better off scratchbuilding the centreline pylon and loading a LITENING III LDP on there. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
SebastianP Posted April 13, 2011 Author Share Posted April 13, 2011 Thanks for the information, guys! I actually found some photos of a Rafale B (one of the Ocean Tiger aircraft) with the 1250 liter tanks - but it had three of them. Still no luck finding one with two 2000 liter and one 1250 liter, or the opposite. On the other hand, there were plenty of pics with nothing on the centerline. Also, those missing outboard hardpoints are really rare outside of the development aircraft... Anyway, with only four MICA on hand they're not important. Two Mikes does not (yet?) offer anything except the intake covers for the Revell Typhoon. Some of the other Typhoon kits on the other hand have the full set of pylons - I've built the Italeri kit once upon a time (pylons are thin with no detail), and the Airfix kit appears to have them (I've only heard that this is a repop, but of which kit, and did they change anything at all?) Anyway, the kits do build up into valid configurations with what's on hand, so they're not terrible. Also, the Typhoon kit actually has unopened mounting holes for the missing stations, so there is some hope for a repop with added bits eventually. Cheers, SP Quote Link to post Share on other sites
SebastianP Posted April 16, 2011 Author Share Posted April 16, 2011 Work progresses on my kits, and now I'm in need of some accurate painting instructions: Exactly what color is used on operational Rafales? The kit instructions say Light Ghost Gray on the Rafale B, which looks like it could be right, but what about the others? Cheers! SP Quote Link to post Share on other sites
dthank Posted April 16, 2011 Share Posted April 16, 2011 (edited) Work progresses on my kits, and now I'm in need of some accurate painting instructions: Exactly what color is used on operational Rafales? The kit instructions say Light Ghost Gray on the Rafale B, which looks like it could be right, but what about the others?Cheers! SP Sebastian, Check here: http://www.smds.ws/proddetail.php?prod=SMDS72001D&cat=12 At the bottom of the page, click on the instructions link. I am currently building a Hobbyboss 1/72 Rafale B and I have been waiting for this decal set to arrive from Switzerland (waiting about 4 wks now). Good luck, Joe Edited April 16, 2011 by dthank Quote Link to post Share on other sites
pollie Posted April 17, 2011 Share Posted April 17, 2011 I can't answer any of your questions because I simply lack the knowledge, but I have a tip re the Rafale you might find useful. Syhart decals just released a pair of 1/72 sheets, one having all the badges of French AF sqns from 1991, the other having letters and numbers which are used on French AF sqn. It allows you to build a modern Rafale, with the correct codes and badges. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Finn Posted April 17, 2011 Share Posted April 17, 2011 Here is a Rafale configed for air to air refuelling with the 2 types of tanks. Jari Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Bobski Posted April 20, 2011 Share Posted April 20, 2011 Two Mikes does not (yet?) offer anything except the intake covers for the Revell Typhoon. Some of the other Typhoon kits on the other hand have the full set of pylons - I've built the Italeri kit once upon a time (pylons are thin with no detail), and the Airfix kit appears to have them (I've only heard that this is a repop, but of which kit, and did they change anything at all?) The intake covers are very good and help with the Typhoon as there is no intake trunking in the kit. As for the pylons in other kits, the Italeri pylon aren't brilliant and I can't say much about the Airfix kit other than the fact that it is a very old and very poor kit based around Typhoon before the first prototype flew and it was still known as EFA. Suffice to say I don't believe they will be very accurate either. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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