My model represents
an F-21A flown by VMFT-401 "Snipers" form June 1987 to October 1989.
The Sniper still exist today flying ex-Air Force F-5E/Fs, gonna build one of
each of those too! My model was cobbled together with an old F-21A and a
Mirage V kit, both made by Esci. There are lots of problems with the Esci
kits that need to be addressed. I'll discuss some of the major corrections
I made.
Starting with
the nose, radome shape is wrong. On the real thing, as you look at
the nose from the side, the contours have "straight edges."
(We're talikg about the small black portion at the tip of the nose cone.)
As you look at the nose from the from the front the radome is perfectly
round. So a new radome with the correct shape was turned from
acrylic rod and faired into the remaining nose section. |
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The cockpit was for the most part
scratch built. I only had one picture of the instrument layout of the Kfir,
and not even an F-21 so I just used the decals supplied. I cut up the
kit's instrument and panel decals and arranged them in a way that made sense to
me. You really can't see inside very well so I just was worried about
making a "correct looking" impression of the instruments and panels.
The instrument coaming, seat and the area near the seat rail can be seen and I
focused on detailing those areas. A gun sight and various electronic stuff
were added. Since you can see it so well I went to town on the seat.
The kit seat was a blob of plastic and there was no after market seat that I
knew of so I was left to scratch build. The F-21 and the F-4 have similar
features so I used a seat from a Hasegawa kit as a starting point.
Modifications included: New seat cushions, the basic frame was shortened
in height to fit the cockpit, the parachute container was slightly modified and
repositioned, the face curtain housing was lengthened and paper seatbelts with
Waldron's Jet Buckles.
The spine is covered with small
scoops for the big J79 engine that was stuffed into the airframe. Most
were molded on the model, but they were solid and did not look real. I
built new ones with sheet plastic. The small exhausts were made with steel
tubing, rectangles of Evergreen HO scale, maybe N gage, "siding"
plastic let-into the fuselage and decals. The wings were molded with a saw
tooth on the leading edge, which is correct for a later Kfir but are not for the
F-21. The Saw tooth was cut off and a notch in the leading edge was added.
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The intakes were in the kit are
molded in two haves, the outer curved section and the flat inner section with
the spike mold on. Unfortunately the kit parts had very thick leading
edges. My fix was to fill inside of the outer portion with Milliput and
shape the inside curve of the intake and thin the edge while I was at
it. I removed the spike and glued it to a thin piece of plastic.
Once the two halves are joined you get a realistic intake. The landing
gear was a complete mess. I used a combination of doors from both kits
plus some scratch built parts to get the right configuration. The molded
detail was removed from the kit parts and replaced with plastic tube and
wire. Again I only had a few pictures of these area so I used a little
artistic license and best guesses. The main wheels were to thin and to
small in diameter. Plastic was sandwiched between the wheel halves to
correct the thickness, no problem. To fix the diameter I wrapped the
wheel around it circumference with plastic, filled the resulting gaps and
sanded the tire to shape.
The small canards,
unique to early Kfirs, were added near the intakes. Under the wings I
added scratch built weapons pylons complete with spare missile rails from a
Hasegawa F-18 kit. I intended to use a after market burner cans, but they
were too narrow in diameter. So they too had to be scratch built. I
took the after market burner nozzle and wrapped it in sheet plastic. The
Plastic was carefully glued on the edges. Rolling ng the plastic between a
small metal rod, e.g. a file handle, and your fingertips will help you form a
curve in the plastic. After these steps what I was left with was a thin
tube that was the right diameter. Then strips of plastic were glued on
inside and out to form the nozzle flaps. One the inside a second tube was
formed and detailed which made up the inner flaps of the nozzle. Adding
the nozzle to my after market exhaust pipe completed the engine. I should
also say that the aft portion of the fuselage housing the afterburner was
reshaped to match the real thing. Below the engine there is a large
structure that contains a camera port an countermeasure dispensers. This
again was a heavily modified kit part with camera window and photo etched parts
added.
I painted this model
to match a specific airframe. I modeled one of the F-21s in the book
"Superbase 9, Yuma, The Marines' Mean Machines" by George Hall,
published by Osprey Publishing Limited. I used the following Model Master
Enamels: Sand, Dark Tan, Pale Green and Light Ghost Gray. I made my
own markings on my Mac and an ALPS printer. The kit decals were for the
Marine version but they were all wrong, size shape you name it. Besides I
had just bought my ALPS printer and I wanted to break it in. Plus I was
able to match the F-21 I was modeling exactly, right down to the BuNo.
Because of the many modifications there was no way the raised panel lines were
going to make it, and they didn't. The panel lines were drawn on with a
drafting lead holder. I used strips of tape, small brass straight edges
and Verlinden stencils to help with the various panels. I really like this
effect for models with raised panel lines. One, I don't have to scribe, I
not very good at that anyway and two, the lines are subtle like the real
thing. Finally, black and silver ink in a technical pen was used to
simulate deeper panel lines and unpainted screw heads.
This model won best
in it category, Single Engine Jet and Best Marine Aircraft at the 2003 IPMS
Region 2 Convention. Thanks, the show was great.
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Yours truly and
his big gray beast!
To all you Devil Dogs out there HAPPY BIRTHDAY! 228 years and still
kicking ass. For those who have returned home, welcome home, for
those still there I am grateful for your continuing sacrifice and come
home safe. Always remember the injured and the fallen. Semper
Fidelis! |
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Erin
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