Acorn Posted May 5, 2012 Share Posted May 5, 2012 Hi all, I've been away from modeling for about ten years - oddly it didn't stop the stash from growing.. ;-) Anyway, a year ago I started a what-if (my favourite theme) project, determined to return to the hobby. The idea of the project is to describe what would have happened if the J29 Tunnan was chosen by the IAF instead of the Ouragan. Actually the Tunnan was tested by the IAF and was considered a good airplane but political considerations prevented this from happening.. Anyhow, HAD the Tunnan won, it would probably be followed by the Lansen (instead of the Super-Mystere) and the Draken (instead of the Mirage IIIC). I chose to depict the Mirage lineage in the IAF in a Draken guise - starting with an NMF fighter scheme, continuing with a 3-tone recon bird and the final scheme - 2 tone grey precision ground attack version (this is actually a Kfir role, but it's a Whif so let's be flexible..) The kits of course are the 1/48 scale offering from Hasegawa, two standard fighter kits and one recon kit (including two different noses). I must note that the last weeks "Draken mania" (especially the amazing "Viggen Draken") encouraged me to finish the project so I wouldn't be late for the party.. :-) As stated, this build diary actually starts about a year ago, you're getting the time-lapsed version here. I started with the cockpits; the IPs are the kit decals. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Acorn Posted May 5, 2012 Author Share Posted May 5, 2012 In my opinion, the Hasegawa Draken is almost flawless. No filler was needed, just a careful pre-fit, some sanding and final fit. I used the Aires flaps which didn't fit well (maybe due to my inexperience with resin..) and Quickboost air-scoops (a huge improvement over the kit part). Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Acorn Posted May 5, 2012 Author Share Posted May 5, 2012 On to the paint-shop! Paints used for the schemes - NMF is various Humbrol metalizers , 3-tone scheme is Humbrol 121,119 and Xtracolor X148. 2-tone grey is Humbrol 127 and Xtracolor X136. The grey Draken got an Imaginary Pave-penny pod instead of the IRST. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Acorn Posted May 5, 2012 Author Share Posted May 5, 2012 Time to choose tail numbers and squadrons (also known as the "Whif most fun part") NMF unit is the hornet sq. - I just had to paint black-yellow checkers over metal somehow and this was a too good excuse. 3-tone unit is the flying dragon sq. with a fictitious stabilizer inspired by the unit's A-4 tails for colors and the 101 sq. motif. for geometry. 2 tone grey unit is the Smashing Parrot sq., obviously inspired by the Kfir service with this unit. I used a cutter-printer at my work for the tail masks: http://www.rolanddga.com/ it turned out to be a great method. Red is Humbrol 153, Blue is Humbrol 109. airbrakes warning borders were masked and sprayed. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Acorn Posted May 5, 2012 Author Share Posted May 5, 2012 A low-res. color scan of the decals was used to determine final positions of the sq. emblems and tail numbers. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Acorn Posted May 5, 2012 Author Share Posted May 5, 2012 Weathering and final assembly. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Acorn Posted May 5, 2012 Author Share Posted May 5, 2012 (edited) See the final pics at critique corner! http://s362974870.onlinehome.us/forums/air/index.php?showtopic=249110 http://s362974870.onlinehome.us/forums/air/index.php?showtopic=249109 http://s362974870.onlinehome.us/forums/air/index.php?showtopic=249108 Edited May 5, 2012 by Acorn Quote Link to post Share on other sites
FAR148 Posted May 5, 2012 Share Posted May 5, 2012 VERY,VERY COOL!!!! Steven L :wub: Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Litvyak Posted May 5, 2012 Share Posted May 5, 2012 I love all of them, but the 3-tone just looks /right/. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Aigore Posted May 6, 2012 Share Posted May 6, 2012 Awesome!!!!!!!! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Troll Posted May 8, 2012 Share Posted May 8, 2012 IAF should've bought Drakens I tell ya! BEAUTIFUL!!!! Jorgen "Troll" Toll Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Andre Posted May 8, 2012 Share Posted May 8, 2012 Great builds! That recce nose somehow looks just right on the Drakon. Cheers, Andre Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Acorn Posted May 8, 2012 Author Share Posted May 8, 2012 (edited) Great builds! That recce nose somehow looks just right on the Drakon. Cheers, Andre Thank you all for your kind words, Regarding the Tzniut nose (in Hebrew it means "modesty" .. ): I was very surprised (and pleased) to see that the nose designed for the Mirage fit the Draken. you can see in the critique corner how I swap between the recon noses enjoy, Alon. Edited May 8, 2012 by Acorn Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Andre Posted May 8, 2012 Share Posted May 8, 2012 Thank you all for your kind words, Regarding the Tzniut nose (in Hebrew it means "modesty" .. ): I was very surprised (and pleased) to see that the nose designed for the Mirage fit the Draken. you can see in the critique corner how I swap between the recon noses enjoy, Alon. Thanks for the hint!, I'll be sure to check that other thread as well. I have AML's 1/72nd recce Mirage III in the stash, so the Tzniut nose looked familiar. ;) Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Pinky coffeeboat Posted May 8, 2012 Share Posted May 8, 2012 Hi acorn, I think they're fantastic!! Especially love the subtle weathering, much better than hugely overdone (IMHO...) pre-shading. Great inspiration for me to try to get back into modelling again <_< Quote Link to post Share on other sites
rpeck Posted May 19, 2012 Share Posted May 19, 2012 Those are excellant. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
xmh53wrench Posted May 19, 2012 Share Posted May 19, 2012 Your paint jobs are just incredible!! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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