Royal Navy Tempest Fg.1

[AeroplaneDriver]

I find myself in a modeling mood, but have to head back out to work tomorrow afternoon.  I'll only be gone for a day, but once I get home we'll be busy at home with Thanksgiving, so I wanted to do a quickie build.

So...


After long, frustrating negotiations failed to produce a satisfactory technology transfer agreement, Britain decided not to go ahead with an order for the F-35 in July 2007*.  

With the RN's two new carriers on the chopping block without an airwing, the French government stepped in, offering to enter into a partnership with the UK on carriers, ordering one to fill France's PA.2 carrier requirement.  As partial payment for the design and other aspects of the carrier program, France would provide 54 Rafale M aircraft to BAES, where they would be modified with UK avionics and weapons.  To reduce costs and speed service entry, the choice was made not to modify the Rafale to use the EJ2000 engine.

In UK service the Rafale was christened the Tempest FG.1.  The direct translation of 'Rafale' is closer to 'Squall', which was not seen as a good naming choice.  Initially the crews disliked a classic British fighter name being applied to a French aircraft, and the nickname 'Frog Storm' cirulated for a time.  It didnt take long for the Tempest to prove itself as a capable aircraft, earning the respect of those who serviced and flew it.  Before long the aircraft was known as the 'Rafale', proving that the 450,000 pounds the MoD spent on a naming consultant was a colossal waste of money.  

* A technology transfer agreement was eventually reached in late 2008, resulting in a UK order for 74 F-35Bs for the RAF.  Many of these aircraft would go on to serve alongside the Tempest on RN carriers.

The kit is the very nice Revell 1/144 Rafale M.

Pics to follow!

[AeroplaneDriver]

Well I almost got it finished before I had to leave for work.  Everything is done but a few details like gear doors and refueling probe.

Here is one not-so-great pic.  I'll post more after I get home Tuesday night and get it finished.

[elmayerle]

I can believe it.  I work with TTA's on a daily basis and it's a right pain at times, esp. when a number of amendments complicate matters.  Then again, you'd expect the process to be complicated and bothersome since it originates within the bureaucracy of the US State Department.

[nev]

Cool, another FAA Rafale  B)

My Rafale

[AeroplaneDriver]

Finally got around to getting the details on and uploading a couple of pics today.

899 NAS was the first FAA squadron to form with the Tempest FG.1 in September 2011.  Crews trained aboard the French carrier Charles DeGaulle and aboard the USS Ronald Reagan in anticipation of the 2014 launch of HMS Queen Elizabeth.

[McGreig]

This is 1/144?!! Wonderful little model      (and a convincing back story)    

[ysi_maniac]

A little beauty. Last 1/144 productions are improving greately This looks so right!
         

[Spey_Phantom]

you have a great looking rafale, this coming from a 1/144 nutter like me  
ive made an 1/144 F-35B last weekend in 800NAS markings, i gotta post it, but i have to wait till tommorow cause i exceeded my bandwith  

she really is a fantastic little rafale isnt she    

[AeroplaneDriver]

you have a great looking rafale, this coming from a 1/144 nutter like me  
ive made an 1/144 F-35B last weekend in 800NAS markings, i gotta post it, but i have to wait till tommorow cause i exceeded my bandwith  

she really is a fantastic little rafale isnt she  

These Revell 1/144 kits really are superb.  I've got a couple of Hunters, an AV-8B+, and an F-104G in the stash, and think I'll be adding others.  If only they would do a Lightning & Bucc!

I did the F-35 a while back too.  Fit and detail were incredible, and I managed to finish it in one afternoon/evening.

1/144 F-35B

[PolluxDeltaSeven]

This 1/144 kit is much more beautiful that Heller's crap in 1/72!! That's fantastic!!

I really love both te model and the backstory!  

[Hobbes]

Ahem:


It doesn't seem to be in Revell's current catalogue, but they certainly did a Lightning.

The only 1:144 Buccaneer is from Welsh Models.  

[Spey_Phantom]

they sure did, back in "98, ive got 2 of them on the shelf (1 in RSAF and 1 in RAF markings  ^_^ )

ive seen there releasing a single seat F-104 next spring, im gotta get on of those.

back to the rafale, what kind of weapons are you planning to arm her with next to the 2 amraams    

[AeroplaneDriver]

I forgot about the Lightning they did, but I've always been under the impresion it was a cruder kit, the way 1/144 used t obe and not to the same standard as the new generation kits like the Rafale, Harrier, F-35, etc.

As for the weapons, the AMRAAMs themselves are modified Sparrows from an LS Weapons set.  That set also has GBU-12s that can easily be made into Paveway IVs, so that's what it will porbably eventually carry.

[Hobbes]

The Lightning is pretty much up to the modern standard. The only problem I had with it was the canopy fit: IIRC the canopy is so narrow the seat doesn't fit inside, you can see the gap between the fuselage and canopy. Should be solvable, though.