Far Rafales!

[FAR148]

So after my twin Mudhen build I started my next twin project, Far Rafales! So What if... The Japan Air Self-Defense Force operated Rafales? What would they look like? 

Here's a teaser pics




Steven L  

[ChernayaAkula]

Far Rafales! The very thread title made my heart skip a few beats.  Rafale goodness from the master!

Love the new canopy opening mechanism!  The IFF bird slicers are also new, I think.

[Ian the Kiwi Herder]

Hmmm, wonder what colours these will end-up in ?

Ian

[Taiidantomcat]

You are a top notch builder Far, always enjoy watching and learning from your threads 

[FAR148]

Far Rafales! The very thread title made my heart skip a few beats. Rafale goodness from the master!

Love the new canopy opening mechanism! The IFF bird slicers are also new, I think.

Ah, shucks.  Thanks Moritz 
Yeah, I feel the Rafale is one of the most beautiful aircraft until it opens it's canopy. So I put a proper opening on them. The nose sensors on the Rafale makes that area look "too busy". So I added the bird slicer to get a faster look as well as make it look more like the F-2.

Hmmm, wonder what colours these will end-up in ?

That's the $148 dollars(or pound) question. Well both built are pretty much straight forward with a few odds & ends . So I figure the paint scheme will be the hard part.
The first scheme will be loosely based on this aircraft.



Here's a top view showing where I mapped out the yellow part of the scheme. Masking and painting it should be a blast! 



And her hot sister will be an Aggressor! Her scheme will be based on this aircraft. (photo by Darren Mottram)



As of now, all the major construction is done on both kits. It's just a matter of getting the airframes ready for paint.

You are a top notch builder Far, always enjoy watching and learning from your threads

Thanks Taiidantomcat! There's more to come.

Until later,
Steven L

[Keith Diamond]

NICE!  I'll be looking forward to both of these!

[ChernayaAkula]

<...> Here's a top view showing where I mapped out the yellow part of the scheme. Masking and painting it should be a blast! 
<...>

Not necessarily.  Knowing you're well-versed in the Photoshop business, you probably know about all dem vectors and stuff. Draw up the areas you want to mask as a vector drawing and send it off to Maketar (CLICKY!). They'll cut you some vinyl masks for a very modest fee.

Great choices for colour schemes! I got a JASDF Rafale Aggressor planned in the "lightning scheme", with a dark blue-grey with lighter blue-grey "lightnings" on tops (CLICKY!). Decals courtesy of TwoBobs' Cold Face Killas #3. In case you haven't sourced your decals yet, check out TwoBobs clearance section for some neat JASDF Aggressor stuff in 1/48. A steal at only 5 bucks a pop. Note that these stencils have the light grey background and may therefore not be applicable to the F-2-schemed build.

[Ian the Kiwi Herder]

Hmmm, wonder what colours these will end-up in ?

That's the $148 dollars(or pound) question. Well both built are pretty much straight forward with a few odds & ends . So I figure the paint scheme will be the hard part.

I was being ironic...... But what they hey !

Ian

[FAR148]

I was being ironic...... But what they hey !

Ian

I know, just sharing. Was going to be a "stealth" build but I'm getting too excited about the builds

Thanks for the links Moritz. I would like to try them one day. Wonder what's the turn around time? Clearance decals..... Oh Snap!

Steven L 

[FAR148]

With the holidays and all here's a small update. I cut off the tops of both tails and added my own design. The tops are just pieces of stock styrene cut and sanded to shape.



I also added some new ECM bumps to the intakes.The ones that came was the look great but I wanted them to look more like the intake bumps on the F-2. So I use the ECM bumps from my Kinetic F-16I. I mixed up some RTV, molded them and poured two resin copies.



Until later,
Steven L 

[Taiidantomcat]

nice work. I occasionally copy parts but always get a little... apprehensive about posting them online. Still don't know what is considered fair or foul on that subject...

[FAR148]

nice work. I occasionally copy parts but always get a little... apprehensive about posting them online. Still don't know what is considered fair or foul on that subject...

Thanks TT  
Just my opinion.... it's ok to make copies for yourself and yourself alone. It's foul to make copies and sell/trade and or give them away calling them your own.


Steven L  

[Taiidantomcat]

nice work. I occasionally copy parts but always get a little... apprehensive about posting them online. Still don't know what is considered fair or foul on that subject...

Thanks TT  
Just my opinion.... it's ok to make copies for yourself and yourself alone. It's foul to make copies and sell/trade and or give them away calling them your own.


Steven L  

I thought so! I appreciate your opinion  only about 1 in 4 of the things I cast is worth looking at, the rest I spend more time fixing bubbles and imperfections than if I just built them myself! Look forward to seeing more on this build   

[FAR148]

Here's another small update. Yesterday I worked on fitting my masking templates for my blues & yellow JASDF Rafale. I started by scaling my scheme layout image to 1/48 scale. Than using paths in Photoshop, I redrew the design. It took about 7 or 8 tries to get them fit right.



Once all the masking template fit properly, I printed them on some extra tack frisket film. The extra tack is nice n thin and lays down well. Hopefully it will not pull and or lift up the paint below it.



Next I'm going to shoot yellow all over the place, lay down the frisket masking and spray the main scheme. Cross your finger guys!

Steven L   

[Taiidantomcat]

Your masks show more precision than my models