AMD Mystère IVN; 'AY-16', 350. Smaldeel, Force Aérienne Belge, Beauvechain, 1963

Dizzyfugu · January 20, 2014, 01:23:07 AM

How about sone French whiffery? I present to you a real aircraft that never made it beyond the prototype stage... the AMD Mystère IVN (in Belgian service):

1:72 AMD Mystère IVN; aircraft AY-16 of N° 350 Smaldeel/1st All Weather Fighter Wing, Force Aérienne Belge/Belgische Luchtmacht/Belgian Air Force; Beauvechain, 1963 (Whif/Matchbox kit conversion) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

1:72 AMD Mystère IVN; aircraft AY-16 of N° 350 Smaldeel/1st All Weather Fighter Wing, Force Aérienne Belge/Belgische Luchtmacht/Belgian Air Force; Beauvechain, 1963 (Whif/Matchbox kit conversion) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

Some background:
The Dassault MD.454 Mystère IV was a 1950s French fighter-bomber aircraft, the first transonic aircraft to enter service in French Air Force. The Mystère IV was an evolutionary development of the Mystère II aircraft and the straight-wing Ouragan. Although bearing an external resemblance to the earlier aircraft, the Mystère IV was in fact a new design with aerodynamic improvements for supersonic flight. The prototype first flew on 28 September 1952, and the aircraft entered service in April 1953.

The first 50 Mystère IVA production aircraft were powered by British Rolls-Royce Tay turbojets, while the remainder had the French-built Hispano-Suiza Verdon 350 version of that engine. In addition to production Mystère IVA, Dassault developed an upgraded Mystère IVB with either a Rolls-Royce Avon (first two prototypes) or a SNECMA Atar 101 (third prototype) afterburning engine and a radar ranging gunsight. Six pre-production aircraft were built but the project was abandoned in favor of the more promising Super Mystère.

1:72 AMD Mystère IVN; aircraft AY-16 of N° 350 Smaldeel/1st All Weather Fighter Wing, Force Aérienne Belge/Belgische Luchtmacht/Belgian Air Force; Beauvechain, 1963 (Whif/Matchbox kit conversion) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

1:72 AMD Mystère IVN; aircraft AY-16 of N° 350 Smaldeel/1st All Weather Fighter Wing, Force Aérienne Belge/Belgische Luchtmacht/Belgian Air Force; Beauvechain, 1963 (Whif/Matchbox kit conversion) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

Another development was the Mystère IVN. This aircraft was developed in parallel with the Mystère IVB as a night and all-weather interceptor. It differed from the single-seat fighter in several respects: a 1.4m section was added to the forward fuselage to accommodate a second crew member; internal fuel capacity was substantially increased and provision was made for an APG 33 intercept radar with the scanner above the engine air intake, not unlike the North American F-86D 'Sabre Dog' which already flew in 1949.

Powered by a Rolls-Royce Avon RA.7R, rated at 9.553 lbf (43.30 kN) with maximum afterburning, the Mystère IVN had provision for an armament of two 30mm cannons in the lower forward fuselage and a retractable rocket pack for 55 unguided air-air rockets of 68mm caliber.

1:72 AMD Mystère IVN; aircraft AY-16 of N° 350 Smaldeel/1st All Weather Fighter Wing, Force Aérienne Belge/Belgische Luchtmacht/Belgian Air Force; Beauvechain, 1963 (Whif/Matchbox kit conversion) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

1:72 AMD Mystère IVN; aircraft AY-16 of N° 350 Smaldeel/1st All Weather Fighter Wing, Force Aérienne Belge/Belgische Luchtmacht/Belgian Air Force; Beauvechain, 1963 (Whif/Matchbox kit conversion) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

The prototype was flown on 19 July 1954, but the development program was soon about to be abandoned owing to France's inability to finance the development of two night fighters (the other being the SNCASO Vautour) at the same time. Compared to the heavier Vautour, the Mystère IVN suffered from several shortcomings: endurance was considered insufficient and the proposed APG-33 radar, a Hughes-built Aircraft X band fire control radar originally developed for the USAF's F-89A and F-94A/B 1st generation jet interceptors, turned out to be unsuitable, too.

France decided to move on with the Vautour, but there was serious interest in the Mystère IVN from foreign markets: India, already being a taker of French combat aircraft like the Ouragan and the Mystère IVA, showed much interest, as well as smaller European countries like the Netherlands, Denmark, Germany and Belgium, where the limited range and loiter time were only of secondary importance. Israel also showed much interest. Most of them had to replace their outdated WWII Mosquito night fighters or were looking for a jet-powered, yet affordable solution for the all-weather interceptor role.

1:72 AMD Mystère IVN; aircraft AY-16 of N° 350 Smaldeel/1st All Weather Fighter Wing, Force Aérienne Belge/Belgische Luchtmacht/Belgian Air Force; Beauvechain, 1963 (Whif/Matchbox kit conversion) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

1:72 AMD Mystère IVN; aircraft AY-16 of N° 350 Smaldeel/1st All Weather Fighter Wing, Force Aérienne Belge/Belgische Luchtmacht/Belgian Air Force; Beauvechain, 1963 (Whif/Matchbox kit conversion) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

Eventually the Mystère IVN was developed further as a private venture, without official orders for the Armée de l' Air. Several measures were taken to improve the type's endurance – the most significant was to omit the rocket belly tray in the fuselage and its complicated mechanics. Instead, the space was used for an auxiliary tank and some new avionics.
The IVA's pair of 30mm DEFA cannons was retained. Unguided rockets – at the time of development the preferred air-to-air weapon against large bomber groups, coming in at high altitude and subsonic speed, could still be carried externally in up to four streamlined pods under the wings. A pair of 800l drop tanks could be carried on the wet inner pair of pylons, too.

Avionics were upgraded, too: the prototypes' AN/APG-33 was replaced by a more effective Hughes AN/APG-40 fire control radar (used in the F-89D and F-94C), together with an E-9 fire control system like that of the early F-102. This allowed the Mystère IVN (theoretically) to carry both types of the GAR-1/AIM-4 'Falcon' AAM. The GAR-1D (later re-coded AIM-4A) had semi-active radar homing (SARH), giving a range of about 5 mi (8.0 km). The GAR-2 (AIM-4B) was a heat-seeker, generally limited to rear-aspect engagements, but with the advantage of being a 'fire and forget' weapon. It had a similar range to the GAR-1.

1:72 AMD Mystère IVN; aircraft AY-16 of N° 350 Smaldeel/1st All Weather Fighter Wing, Force Aérienne Belge/Belgische Luchtmacht/Belgian Air Force; Beauvechain, 1963 (Whif/Matchbox kit conversion) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

The Mystère IVN could carry a maximum of four such missiles on launch rails under the wings. As would also be Soviet practice, it was common to fire the weapon in salvos of both types to increase the chances of a hit (a heat-seeking missile fired first, followed moments later by a radar-guided missile). The Falcon turned out to be rather unreliable and complicated in handling. It also had only a small 7.6 lb (3.4 kg) warhead, limiting their lethal radius, and it lacked a proximity fuze: the fuzing for the missile was in the leading edges of the wings, requiring a direct hit to detonate. Consequently, the missile was not introduced by any of the Mystère IVN's users.

Alternatively, the French AA.20 air-to-air missile was tested, but it was deemed to be even less practical, as it relied on direct command guidance, using a similar system to that used by Nord's anti-tank missiles, with the missile being steered visually from the launching aircraft - at night or in adverse weather conditions not a suitable concept. The later, beam-riding AA.25 would have been a better option, but it was incompatible with the US-built APG-40 radar.

1:72 AMD Mystère IVN; aircraft AY-16 of N° 350 Smaldeel/1st All Weather Fighter Wing, Force Aérienne Belge/Belgische Luchtmacht/Belgian Air Force; Beauvechain, 1963 (Whif/Matchbox kit conversion) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

1:72 AMD Mystère IVN; aircraft AY-16 of N° 350 Smaldeel/1st All Weather Fighter Wing, Force Aérienne Belge/Belgische Luchtmacht/Belgian Air Force; Beauvechain, 1963 (Whif/Matchbox kit conversion) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

Belgium was the initial user of the type, initially buying 24 Mystery IVN (serialled AY-01 – 24) as replacements for the BAF's obsolete Mosquito NF.30 fleet in 1955, and later ordering 12 more as replacements for the Gloster Meteor NF.11 night fighter fleet. These were accompanied by 53 Avro CF-100 'Canuck', bought in 1957.

Both types served with No 11, 349 and 350 Squadron of the 1st "All Weather" Wing at Beauvechain and only saw a single, brief 'hot' mission: during "Operation Simba" in 1959, four BAF Mystère IVN, were, together with four more CF-100s, deployed to Kamina Air Base in Belgian Kongo, in order to suppress unrest and keep air control. The mission only lasted from 3rd to 16th of July 1959, though, and the transfer alone took four days, due to slow C-119G transporters which carried the technical support for the mission.

1:72 AMD Mystère IVN; aircraft AY-16 of N° 350 Smaldeel/1st All Weather Fighter Wing, Force Aérienne Belge/Belgische Luchtmacht/Belgian Air Force; Beauvechain, 1963 (Whif/Matchbox kit conversion) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

The Canuck was only used until 1964 when it was replaced by the Lockheed F-104G Starfighter, the Belgian Mystère IVNs would follow in 1975. None of these aircraft was preserved, as all remaining aircraft were sold to scrap dealer Van Heyghen and broken up at Gent.

Other users were Israel (20), India (42), Spain (16) and Australia (16) – many European countries rather settled for the license-built F-86K/L interceptors, sponsored by the USA (e. g. Denmark, the Netherlands, Italy, Germany), even though the Mystère IVN offered the benefit of a second crew member/WSO.

General characteristics:
Crew: 2
Length: 14.92 m (49 ft 11 in)
Wingspan: 11.12 m (36 ft 5 ¾ in)
Height: 4.60 m (15 ft 1 in)
Wing area: 32.06 m² (345.1 ft²)
Empty weight: 7.140 kg (15.741 lb)
Max. take-off weight: 10.320 kg(22.752 lb)

Powerplant
1× Rolls-Royce Avon RA.7R rated at 7.350 lbf (32.69 kN) dry thrust and 9.553 lbf (43.30 kN) with afterburner

Performance
Maximum speed: 1.030 km/h (640 mph) at sea level
Range: 915 km (494 nmi, 570 mi) without external tanks,
Ferry range: 2.280 km (1.231 nmi, 1.417 mi) with external tanks
Service ceiling: 15.000 m (49.200 ft)
Rate of climb: 95 m/s (7.874 ft/min)

Armament
2× 30 mm (1.18 in) DEFA cannons with 150 rounds per gun
1.000 kg (2.200 lb) of payload on four external hardpoints under the wings, including unguided rocket pods (for 19 x 68mm missiles each), drop tanks, iron bombs of up to 1.000 lb (454 kg) caliber or up to four GAR-1/2 (AIM-4) 'Falcon' AAMs.

The kit and its assembly:
A whiffy aircraft – even though it actually existed! This became a bigger project than originally intended – it started when I wondered what one could whif from a Matchbox Mystère IVA? When I browsed sources I stumbled across the real IVN prototype several times, a very attractive aircraft. An all-weather version sounded like a plan.

At first I just wanted to add a radome and a chin air intake to the basic kit, creating a fantasy single-seater, but then I decided to tackle the challenge and create something that could be called a IVN model – even though a later service aircraft, and certainly not 100% true to the real thing.
Another factor that spoke for the IVN was that there is no kit available. AFAIK there's a short-run, mixed-media 1:48 scale kit from Fonderie Miniatures of this aircraft – but in 1:72?

In real life, only a single Mystère IVN was actually built and flown – the type became a victim to the Vautour, as mentioned above. The only prototype served as a radar and equipment test bed, and AFAIK it still exists today as an exhibit at the Conservatoire de l'Air et de l'Espace d'Aquitaine in Bordeaux–Merignac. As a side note: With this plane Jacqueline Auriol beat the women world speed record in May 1955, flying 1.151 km/h

Basis for my conversion is the simple Matchbox Mystère IVA kit. Good news is that you just need to modify the fuselage for an IVN – wings and tail surfaces can be taken OOB. But the fuselage...?

The easier part is the rear end, as the exhaust pipe needs to be widened and lengthened for the IVN's bigger afterburner engine. I cut the original tail section under the fin away and replaced it with parts from 1:100 A-10 engine nacelles, with a new nozzle inside and 2C putty sculpting around the fin base in order to get some cleaner lines. Pretty straightforward.

The front end was another thing, though. Almost anything in front of the wings had to be re-designed. Initial step was to lengthen the fuselage by almost exactly 20mm, but then you need the chin air intake with the radome above (very F-86D-like), too, and a tandem seat cockpit has to be integrated. Complicated!

I found a suitable cockpit hood in the Matchbox Meteor NF.11/12/14 kit (Hannant's Xtrakit re-boxing). It offers, as optional parts for a late NF.14, a strutless, relatively short canopy together with a matching fuselage part. A very convenient combo for the conversion, as the clear parts can be glued onto correct foundations, and even the dorsal radius of Meteor and Mystère is very similar.

1:72 AMD Mystère IVN; aircraft AY-16 of N° 350 Smaldeel/1st All Weather Fighter Wing, Force Aérienne Belge/Belgische Luchtmacht/Belgian Air Force; Beauvechain, 1963 (Whif/Matchbox kit conversion) - WiP by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

After cutting the fuselage in front of the wings in half I also cut out a dorsal gap around the original cockpit opening and tried to insert the donation part, while filling the 20mm gaps on the fuselage flanks with styrene strips on the inside of the fuselage and 2C and finally NC putty on the outside.
In the same step I also had to improvise a new cockpit floor. The dashboard and radar screen for the WSO were taken from the Meteor. I also added cockpit side walls from styrene sheet and ejection seats.

A dorsal spine had to be scratched, too, as the Meteor NF.14 had a bubble canopy, while the Mystère IVN features a straight spine. The canopy was cut at its rear end, and a part of a vintage FROG Me 410 engine nacelle(!) was implanted to fill the spine gap. More messy putty work, but things started to look like the real aircraft!

1:72 AMD Mystère IVN; aircraft AY-16 of N° 350 Smaldeel/1st All Weather Fighter Wing, Force Aérienne Belge/Belgische Luchtmacht/Belgian Air Force; Beauvechain, 1963 (Whif/Matchbox kit conversion) - WiP by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

1:72 AMD Mystère IVN; aircraft AY-16 of N° 350 Smaldeel/1st All Weather Fighter Wing, Force Aérienne Belge/Belgische Luchtmacht/Belgian Air Force; Beauvechain, 1963 (Whif/Matchbox kit conversion) - WiP by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

With the cockpit and the glass parts in place I started sculpting the nose section next. The radome is a WWII drop tank front end, cut out to match the IVA's nose shape. Then the air intake below was added, it comes from a Italeri F-16 but had to be considerably modified in order to fit into the new place (narrowed, shortened, and with cutout on top for the radome). Being flatter and wider I extended the new intake's lines and shape into cheek fairings, up to the cannon muzzles.

During the same process I also blended the radome with the circular front end of the original Mystère IVA. Again, lots of putty sculpting, but worth the effort. It's certainly not 100% like the real thing, but IMHO the impression counts in this case.

1:72 AMD Mystère IVN; aircraft AY-16 of N° 350 Smaldeel/1st All Weather Fighter Wing, Force Aérienne Belge/Belgische Luchtmacht/Belgian Air Force; Beauvechain, 1963 (Whif/Matchbox kit conversion) - WiP by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

1:72 AMD Mystère IVN; aircraft AY-16 of N° 350 Smaldeel/1st All Weather Fighter Wing, Force Aérienne Belge/Belgische Luchtmacht/Belgian Air Force; Beauvechain, 1963 (Whif/Matchbox kit conversion) - WiP by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

The landing gear was taken OOB. Under the wings four pylons were added (from two Revell G.91 kits, the inner pairs), the inner pair received drop tanks (also from a Revell Fiat G.91), the outer pair holds the IVA kit's streamlined rocket pods, those that come OOB.
For those who quibble about the Matchbox kit's small drop tanks: No, these 'blobs' are typical French air-to-air missile pods of the 50ies/60ies, with 19 68mm missiles inside. They have vertical front and back ends, but they carry aerodynamic caps on both ends. Looks wacky, but if you know what they are they make sense. They can also be seen on contemporary Vautour aircraft.

In a wake of terminal detailism I also decided to modify the wings with lowered flaps – this is easy to realize, since area under the wings is limited by wide and deep trenches, and the flaps are just "boards". The respective areas were sanded away, and new flaps made from thin styrene sheet.
Several pitots from wire or styrene were added, the gun ports drilled open and filled witn short pieces of hollow steel needles.

1:72 AMD Mystère IVN; aircraft AY-16 of N° 350 Smaldeel/1st All Weather Fighter Wing, Force Aérienne Belge/Belgische Luchtmacht/Belgian Air Force; Beauvechain, 1963 (Whif/Matchbox kit conversion) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

Painting and markings:
A French service aircraft would have been the 1st choice, but all aircraft from that era were left bare metal – with the rough putty surface not the best choice, and it might have looked rather F-86D-style?
Camouflaged French aircraft came later, with the imported F-100s and the SMB2, and those were rather tactical schemes.

So, I looked for an alternative, also in foreign countries, and settled on Belgium. The real Belgian Air Force situation is described above, and one can only wonder why they settled for the huge and rather ineffective CF-100, as it only carried unguided air-to-air rockets on the wing tips, but no cannon at all. So, there would have been a place for a smaller and more agile night fighter in the BAF.

The paint scheme follows the BAF's fashion of the late 1950ies: RAF-style, featuring a rather dark green/dark grey camouflage, with pale grey the lower surfaces, but not in BS colors, rather European NATO standard.

I settled for Revell 46 (RAL 6014, NATO olive green) and Modelmaster 2085 (actually RLM 75 - it is a tad lighter than Dark Sea Grey) as basic colors for the upper sides, and Modelmaster 2039 (FS 16515, Canadian Voodoo Grey) for the lower sides. This sounds like an odd combo, but after consulting real aircraft pics of that era the colors seemed to deteriorate quickly, esp. the green would bleach into even reddish hues and the grey turn very pale.

Consequently the aircraft was weathered thoroughly through dry-brushing the upper sides and the panel lines with several lighter tones. The green received a treatment with RLM 81(!) and Humbrol 155, esp. around the hot rear end of the afterburner extension, and the grey was lightened with Dark Sea Grey and FS 36231.

1:72 AMD Mystère IVN; aircraft AY-16 of N° 350 Smaldeel/1st All Weather Fighter Wing, Force Aérienne Belge/Belgische Luchtmacht/Belgian Air Force; Beauvechain, 1963 (Whif/Matchbox kit conversion) - WiP by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

The kit also received a light black ink wash in order to emphasize contrasts - most details were painted onto the hull, as I didn't dare a new engraving on the mixed material underground.

After painting was done I could not help but consider the camouflaged Mystère IVN to look like a blown-up Fiat G.91T? Weird how a paint scheme affects perception! To be honest, I don't find the paint scheme truly sexy, but together with the Belgian cockades and the red 350th Squadron markings the aircraft looks disturbing enough to make you look twice.

1:72 AMD Mystère IVN; aircraft AY-16 of N° 350 Smaldeel/1st All Weather Fighter Wing, Force Aérienne Belge/Belgische Luchtmacht/Belgian Air Force; Beauvechain, 1963 (Whif/Matchbox kit conversion) - WiP by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

1:72 AMD Mystère IVN; aircraft AY-16 of N° 350 Smaldeel/1st All Weather Fighter Wing, Force Aérienne Belge/Belgische Luchtmacht/Belgian Air Force; Beauvechain, 1963 (Whif/Matchbox kit conversion) - WiP by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

The cockpit interior was painted in dark grey, the landing gear wells and other interior surfaces were left in Aluminum.
The red and white wing tip pitots are a nice, colorful detail. I am not certain if these were unique to the IVN prototype, but I adopted them for my service version – and the stripes were taken from real world BAF CF-100s.

Tactical codes were improvised with single letters from TL Modellbau sheets. The squadron marking decals come from a Modeldecal aftermarket sheet (#100), they belong to a Belgian CF-100.
The roundels were partly taken from the same sheet, but also from a TL Modellbau roundels sheet, as the CF-100 insignia were much too large for the relatively compact Mystère IVN.

1:72 AMD Mystère IVN; aircraft AY-16 of N° 350 Smaldeel/1st All Weather Fighter Wing, Force Aérienne Belge/Belgische Luchtmacht/Belgian Air Force; Beauvechain, 1963 (Whif/Matchbox kit conversion) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

A messy project, since almost the whole fuselage had to be modified – but worth the effort. The Mystère IVN is a pretty aircraft that unfortunately did not get its chance.
The bright Belgian roundels (esp. those on the wings, with their blue, wide extra ring!) make the aircraft look a bit surreal? Anyway, the NATO camouflage makes the Mystère IVA heritage almost disappear, I guess that the aircraft will confuse a lot of people.

Spey_Phantom · January 20, 2014, 01:35:26 AM

fantastic work

PR19_Kit · January 20, 2014, 02:12:46 AM

Excellent job there Thomas.

I thought the canopy looked familiar somehow but couldn't figure it out until I read your build text, nice one. And it certainly was a putty monster, wasn't it?

Dizzyfugu · January 20, 2014, 02:20:27 AM

Yup, the fuselage stretching and the Meteor canopy were messy, took several putty and sanding turns. But using the NF.14 parts turned out to be smart, as you get a proper "console" for the clear parts. The air intake/radar nose section was tricky, too - I worked on those areas one after one, and the result is better than expected. The radar nose could have been a tad bigger, though, but overall I am really happy with the fake IVN. Fortunately, only the fuselage ahd to be modified.

Glad that Nils likes it!

NARSES2 · January 20, 2014, 02:32:40 AM

Great work as usual

I like Belgian markings, they stand out nicely on camouflaged subjects

Dizzyfugu · January 20, 2014, 03:21:39 AM

Quote from: Nils on January 20, 2014, 01:35:26 AM
fantastic work

OMG - thanks a lot for the Whiffies nomination!

Merci bien/bedankt!

Tophe · January 20, 2014, 09:26:05 AM

Quote from: Dizzyfugu on January 20, 2014, 02:20:27 AM
Glad that Nils likes it!

Clapping hands also from AMD's country here...

The Rat · January 20, 2014, 09:36:16 AM

Defintely a 'should have been', great work!

Ed S · January 20, 2014, 06:22:46 PM

Great modeling. And a rather "ugly" aircraft. Looks like some of the Soviet radar equipped fighter designs of the 50's.

Ed

CSMO · January 20, 2014, 07:23:27 PM

Fiat G.91 on steroids? That was my first impression. Adios, Larry.

TallEng · January 21, 2014, 12:18:33 AM

Lovely job Dizzy

And the worn paint is captured to perfection

Regards
Keith

Dizzyfugu · January 21, 2014, 03:38:28 AM

Again, many thanks to everyone!

Captain Canada · January 21, 2014, 03:45:09 PM

Snugly ? SuperNeatUgly !

Nice work ! I love the camo, and I'm always a fan of the Belgian markings. Great work, as usual ! A very interesting looking bird !

Weaver · January 21, 2014, 03:46:02 PM

That's excellent in every respect - well done!

FAR148 · January 21, 2014, 04:43:31 PM

The Master Surgeon does it again!

Very Cool
Steven L