Sud-Est Baroudeur II, rough field jet- finished (more pics)

[Nick]

This reminds me of the British attempt to avoid having landing gear on the carrier aircraft. They test landed a Sea Vampire with wheels up on a rubber deck on an aircraft carrier, HMS Warrior. IIRC the rubber deck was actually a lot of old rubber fire hoses laid across the metal deck.
The early Supermarine Scimitar was also designed for this wheels-free method.

Not sure what Eric Brown said of it but the idea certainly wasn't continued!

[PR19_Kit]

I can't think of a trolly/skid-equipped aircraft that ever really turned out to be practical, especially for ground handling: me-163, early Arado-234, SeaDart without the flip down wheels....Good thing this is WHIF....  

That's one piece of aviation 'technology' that didn't really work, a bit like ZELL launchers, but it's right up OUR street of course. 

I've been building an RW Ar-234A with its launching trolly for a while now, on the grounds that one flew the World's first ever jet powered PR flight. One day I'll get it done, but as both components are made by Dragon it's been fighting me all the way. 

[sandiego89]

A bit of an update.

Horizontal stabilizer moved up higher.  Primer on to reveal the flaws.  More filling and sanding to do. The wing is quite a bit higher that the kit, and has a marked anhedral, unlike the Mystere which was nearly flat.  



Intakes.


Belly shot, the bottom of the intakes remind me of the Grumman Panther. You can better see the wells where the skids will retract to lay flat.

[McColm]

Brilliant

[NARSES2]

It's a neat little aeroplane 

[Captain Canada]

Definately a nice looking little aeroplane.....great job so far !

[Hobbes]

Major surgery, I like it!

[Tophe]

Congratulations yes!

[flappydaffy]

looking sharp, we want more we want more!!

[sandiego89]

Been tough finding the time to get to the bench.

Scratched up a launch trolly, no wheels on it yet.  Made from a sprue, mk 82 bomb casings and styrene.  Also tacked on some auxiliary stabilizers on the lower aft fuselage.   

[PR19_Kit]

That's looking VERY promising. 

[sandiego89]

1/72 Sud-Est Baroudeur II

The Baroudeur, or Sud-Est 5004 was a French entrant to the 1957 NATO lightweight fighter competition.  The Baroudeur, like the me-163 before, used a take off trolly and landed on retractable skis.  This gave the aircraft the ability to operate from a variety of rough field surfaces including farm fields, snow, dirt, sand and roads.  As traditional air fields were a likely early target in any hot war, the ability to disperse aircraft and operate form austere fields was very attractive.  

Soon after the Baroudeur secured a limited contract following the NATO competition, design began for an improved version with increased performance and useful load, the Baroudeur II....

In service the Baroudeurs  were mostly stationed in Eastern France and routinely deployed to austere dispersal sites for exercises.  Deployments to Algeria and Chad were also common.  

The Kit: 1/72 Revell Mystere IV, close in overall shape and has the right French 1950's look.  New nose, low wing moved to shoulder position, horizontal stab repositioned, new intakes, skis/skids,

Fought me the whole way. Had an overall natural metal finish, but turned out poorly, so sat it aside for a few months, and re-sprayed in green and gray.

Scratch take off trolly.  Wheels from the RAF recovery set.  











More pics tomorrow hopefully, and on a few different landing surfaces, my battery died.  

[PR19_Kit]

Perseverance pays off. 

An NMF scheme would have looked too RW to my mind, the camo makes it a 'proper job'.

[Weaver]

Excellent stuff! 

Now this is an interesting project. I love these late 40's through 50's projects. They all had some individuality and their own personalities (some of which were weird  ) before the homogenisation which came with computer design.

Gee I'm starting to show my age 

No, you're starting to show your taste.... 

[rickshaw]

That has turned out very nicely indeed.  Well done!