RNZAF AMX / Kaitiaki (Defender)

[Ian the Kiwi Herder]

Kit - Hobbyboss AMX A11 / Ghibli
Paint - Tamiya acrylics
Decals - Gekko Graphics & Kit
Extras - Brengun LAU-131 pods, Revell Iris-T AAM's, 'unknown' resin designator pod. Scratchbuilt radar nose & RWR.

AMX Kaitiaki (Defender)
2 Sqn
Afghanistan 2012

















No, not dead, still here and still building - This is my first 'What If' in a l-o-n-g time, hope y'all like it.

I cannot prove it, but I've had this idea bubbling since before we decided to move to NZ in 2012, the fact that we did move here, simply made the the idea even more real, just a case of when not if I was going to do it. The kit is not great, but I couldn't find a Kinetic kit at a reasonable (to me) price, so you work with what you have, right ?. I made three or four experiments with old drop-tank noses and putty to get the radar nose but ended-up by using the kit nose that I'd removed and changing the length and rear contours with plastic card discs - odd isn't it how sometimes it's the simplest 'fixes' that solve the problem. The RWR pod at the bottom of the fin is plastic card and an old Sparrow missile head cut and shaped to how I wanted it to look. I did think about adding some 'warts' to the ECM bar at the top of the fin and may still do this in the future.

The designator pod is an anonymous resin one was in a kit I bought off eBay a few years back, I cut down an old pylon from something I couldn't Identify from the spares box as HB doesn't provide one in the kit - strangely tho' it does provide FOUR droptanks for some reason. The LAU-131's were an indulgence, but they aren't expensive and were exactly what I needed for the 'Armed Recce' / FAC feel I was aiming for.

For the paint scheme, I tried as hard as I could to NOT think about [other] contemporary aircraft and just go-my-own-way, now that It's done, it does seem to owe a lot to the CAF & RAAF Hawk 127 scheme, (again) I cannot prove it, but that is entirely coincidental. I've used Tamiya Ocean Grey & Medium Sea Grey with a lot of post-shading and XF-24 Dark Grey for the radome, RWR and fin tip.

I have a whole back-story to go with the build but I'm not going to bore folks here with all of that. It's 'just a model' as mein Frau says, it was a great fun project that had a few hiccups along the way, but was definitely a shed-load of fun... pretty sure that's what the hobby is supposed to be about, right ? - Feel free to make any comments, ask any questions or hurl any abuse. All the best from NZ.

Ian.

[Pellson]

Hi Ian!

Please do treat us with the backstory. If not half the build, it's at least a quarter.   

[kerick]

Stories are always good and this build deserves a good one!
Really well done build and totally believable! It looks great as a Fast FAC with the rocket pods and back in the day as an enlisted FAC we were not above using a Mk82 as a marking round! 

[rickshaw]

Nice!   

[Dizzyfugu]

Neat. 

[DogfighterZen]

That looks very good! 
Love the scheme and what you did to the nose.
I also support the request for the backstory, it makes it even more interesting, please do take the time to write here for us.

[su27rules]

Very very nice, great work!!

[Gondor]

Very nice indeed. Pity no mainstream manufacturer does the AMX in 1/72.

Gondor

[Weaver]

That looks cool - very believable buy for NZ too.

[comrade harps]

That's a thing of beauty 

[zenrat]

Lovely.  Nice paint scheme.

[NARSES2]

That's come out really well Ian 

[Old Wombat]

Sweet!

[Captain Canada]

That's gorgeous Ian ! Great job as usual. Cheers !

[buzzbomb]

So nice