Kfir

1
October 23, 2023
The office is done - save the ejection seat. After some hesitation I decided to use some Eduard photo etch, mainly to improve the ejection seat. The kits parts and decals for the instrument panel are fine and do not require an upgrade IMO.
2
October 23, 2023
The AMK kit has a very good fit and everything went smoothly so far.
3
October 23, 2023
Some drybrushing brought out details. Placing lights with a lighter shade of black 😉 brought some depth. PE parts added to the appearance, as did a dark grey wash.
4
October 23, 2023
Ready to close the fuselage.
5
October 24, 2023
Fit is great. Detail is great. I really like this kit so far.
6
October 24, 2023
Grrr. Scratched the intake cone and spilled glue on it. Penaltyround.
7
October 24, 2023
Fixed.
8
October 25, 2023
Looks like a Kfir. If treated gently and carefully the kit goes together pretty well. The wings required some more scraping and sanding but then fit was very good. A few touch ups with superglue here and there should be sufficient.
9
October 28, 2023
The ejection seat pimped with Eduards PE. This really adds to it.
10
October 28, 2023
Eduards PE enhanced the office details nicely too.
11
October 28, 2023
Closing the canopy turned out to be quite cumbersome.
12
October 28, 2023
Endless scraping and sanding on all contact areas required to achieve a decent fit. But I will get there - sooner or later.
13
October 30, 2023
There are two holes in the upperside of the wings that should close with the installation of the main landing gear. I did not like this concept and closed the holes and sanded them flat. Now I can finish my paint job and install the MLG afterwards without having to touch up my paint job again.
14
October 30, 2023
The transition from nose cone to windshield showed a step, so I shimmed it with some thin plastic card and some Mr. Surfacer (not shown).
15
October 30, 2023
All bits and pieces attached. Only one intake to touch up.
16
October 30, 2023
Almost ready for paint.
17
November 1, 2023
First try with the dreaded Red Line Hataka paint. This worked very smoothly with Vallejo Airbrush Thinner on the Griffon bombs.
18
November 1, 2023
The position lights were represented by dotted lines only. So I cut them out, superglued some clear plastic card in, sanded them flush, polished and colored them with clear red and blue respectively.
19
November 1, 2023
Like it better that way.
20
November 1, 2023
21
November 1, 2023
A drain which is found on both sides of the plane was depicted on one only. So a hole was drilled and some brass rod inserted.
22
November 1, 2023
The area in front of the windshield should be ready for paint too.
23
November 2, 2023
First primer coat is on.
Unfortunately I forgot to paint the canopy frame with the interior color first. Grrr.
24
November 3, 2023
Imposition: carefully sanded down the primer from the canopy frame. IPA did the rest.
25
November 3, 2023
Preshading. Did not work with the airbrush so I brushed it on. The canopy frame received the interior color.
26
November 3, 2023
Marbeling - or better to say: Leoparding - done with masks.
27
November 3, 2023
Let´s see how those masks work for the three tone camouflage. Application was acceptable. Some touch ups are still necessary. Usually I would start with one color all over and add the next one on top but then I will loose more of the preshading with the second layer of color. So I will try to airbrush each color on the designated areas only.
28
November 5, 2023
Started with the weapons.
29
November 5, 2023
30
November 5, 2023
First color slashed on.
31
November 6, 2023
second color done. As you can see with all the additional masking tape, the precut tapes are no care free solution. Apart from that I do not like the effect of the preshading at all. Contrast is too strong and paint layers build up too thick when I ameliorate it. With my Super Mystere I used the postshading techniques and I liked the effect much better. So I will stop here and take a deep breath to decide how to continue.
32
November 6, 2023
Note to self to show the colors I used for the IAI Griffin LGBs. Surprisingly the color charts state a monochrome green for the Griffins while the box art shows at least two colors. I did not find any pics of Israeli Griffins, so I had to stick to pictures of a colombian one. But as this is an IAI product and I do not think that they would have applied a different paint job especially for Colombia, I suppose that the israeli ones had the same design. From the pictures available I mixed a light olive drab for the fins, a darker green for the charge and a light reddish brown for the guidance segment. Quite a bit of effort for the ordnance.
33
November 6, 2023
But doesn´t look too shabby. 😉
34
November 11, 2023
After a successful test on a fuel tank I opted for another technique to get rid of my paint job than sanding and rescribing. A slight rub with IPA removed just the coloured layer and the shading without damaging the primer too much. Done mostly with cotton buds I had good control over the process. Here the very expensive tightly rolled Tamiya cotton buds shined as they didn't disintegrate even with more forceful rubbing.
35
November 11, 2023
That is the result. I am quite happy with it. I will let it cure for a day and give it a light sanding before I start the next attempt on the camouflage
36
November 23, 2023
First color applied (well actually the second as the lower part was already airbrushed and masked) and some variation added. Those are quite subtle. Maybe I will enhance that later on a bit more.
37
November 23, 2023
The plastic masks served as templates for homecut kabuki masks as I prefer working with that masking material. Eager for the second round 🙂.
38
November 27, 2023
2. round done with some shading.
39
November 27, 2023
Green lights are on for green.
40
November 27, 2023
And finally the third color is on.
41
November 27, 2023
Paint job is not perfect (as expected) but should form a decent base after some touch ups.
42
November 27, 2023
I have been pondering quite a bit about the color of the lower part. The instructions call for H308 but that seemed much too dark if I look at my reference pictures. So I finally opted for C314.
43
November 28, 2023
Basic paint job of the fuel tanks done.
44
November 30, 2023
Will redo the landing gear. This received the H308 gray as recommended in the instructions too but I all the pics I've seen show a much lighter color. I will go with white as this is the color of the wheel well too and was recommended in instructions of other Kfir kits and other contemporary israeli planes with 3 tone camo. So going for white seems plausible. The rims were sometimes dark gray. So here I might stick to the AMK instructions.
45
November 30, 2023
Before touching up the camo I decided to spray all the little details. The black part at the fin tip is not mentioned in the instructions but is clearly visible on all planes.
46
November 30, 2023
Chrome and high gloss for the rear "window", burned iron for the gun shrouds, dark gray for the laser guiding device (?), black for the cone.
47
November 30, 2023
48
November 30, 2023
49
November 30, 2023
Now let's grab them brushes.
50
December 1, 2023
Ready for ordnance. Paint touched up too. That was more difficult than expected as the colors behaved not nicely when brushed.
51
December 19, 2023
Finished the exhaust.
52
December 19, 2023
Not too unhappy with the result.
53
December 19, 2023
Was considering a resin upgrade but decided that the kit part is quite decent as it

Comments

42 23 October 2023, 16:21

Michael Kohl
I felt the strong urge to build something israeli. Having a Fouga Magister and a Kfir in my stash I opted for the latter. With a Super Mystere and a Mustang in two tone camouflage it is now time for the three tone one on the Kfir.

The Kfir.
France was the main arms supplier of Israel until the end of the sixties. She terminated that role and even installed an arms embargo in 1967, denying Israel even arms already payed for. So Israel produced the Kfir out of a mix of reverse engineering the Mirage IIIC already in service, industrial espionage and own development. In service from the mid seventies on, it´s air superiority role was soon taken over by F15s and F16s and the Kfir was mainly used as a ground attack aircraft.

There are quite a few of these aircraft scattered throughout the country, mostly the earlier C2 version. You find them in Museums, at the center of roundabouts or in front of Airforce Camps. The upgraded C7 you will find at the Airforce Museum in Hatzerim, close to Beersheva.

My version will be a C7 with the ordnance of the cover art picture.

23 October 2023, 17:35

DerMattes
Watching 🙂

31 October 2023, 12:38

Christian Lehmann
👍

1 November 2023, 20:40

Marius
Watching! Good work so far.
I have two of these kits awaiting their turn in some years (...). So you'll do the three tone desert scheme?

1 November 2023, 21:55

Michael Kohl
Welcome mates. Nice to have you around.
Yes Marius, three tone is the goal.

2 November 2023, 14:02

Michael Kohl
Well, inpatience got the better of me as I wanted to put on a first coat of primer. Now I realise that I forgot the mirrors at the canopy and that the canopy frame should have received a coat with interior color first. Grr.
Mistake one will stay like this, mistake to I will try to correct by washing of the primer at the canopy with IPA.

2 November 2023, 14:05

Finn
Watching

4 November 2023, 11:21

TH SCALE MODELS (Thomas Haberl)
Sehr fein, Michael! 😊

4 November 2023, 11:59

Mikel
Dont worry too much the interior color of the cockpit frame.
Most people wont notice any color difference there.
And pics of the actual kfir show a black color on the inside.
Sometimes it seems more like a convention for scale modelling than an actual fact, to color the inside frame in the interior color.

4 November 2023, 12:15

Shar Dipree
Very nice, looks great so far. Following!

4 November 2023, 12:34

Michael Kohl
Welcome mates and thanks for the encouragement.

Mikel, thanks for your input. I think you are right. I checked again and while the windshield might have the interior color at the inside of the frame (on an American machine), I found a pic of a scavenged Israeli C7 with the canopy open and it is definitely black on the inside.
But I will leave it as it is now anyway.

4 November 2023, 18:00

Dave Flitton
Excellent information! I will apply that to my model as well.

5 November 2023, 08:03

Martin Grafeneder
Great work 👍

5 November 2023, 09:03

Michael Kohl
Hi Dave and Martin. If my experiences will help avoid trouble and enhance fun I will be more than pleased. Right now I have this on hold as I do not like the look of the preshading. I will have to decide now on how to procede. Probably I will redo the paint job with a different approach.

6 November 2023, 12:26

Marius
Sorry to hear about the stepback. It happened to my last two models too. What I did is to sand down lightly and gently the current paint to some extent and gently go over all details once more with a scribind tool (those ones which are like a pen and are only pointy), so that details become crisp again. I did this over all bolts/rivets too. It took me less than 3 hours overall. Then I applied new paint and I was generall happy with the result. If you consider this effort to take less time than starting your model from 0, then it's probably worth it indeed.

9 November 2023, 06:33

Michael Kohl
Hi Marius. Thanx for the heads up. The technique you suggest is actually exactly what I intend to do. Detail is still quite crisp, so I might limit the rescribing to selected areas. I will see.
By the way: your Phantom serves as a role model for me. That is the quality I strive for in my build. Cross your fingers. (I know you will 🙂 )

9 November 2023, 12:40

Michael Kohl
Well. What do I care about the rubbish I said yesterday!? 😜

Trying it out successfully on a fuel tank I finally opted for another technique. A slight rub with IPA removed just the coloured layer and the shading without damaging the primer too much. Done mostly with cotton buds I even had good control over the process. Here the very expensive tightly rolled fine Tamiya cotton buds shined as they didn't disintegrate even with more forceful rubbing and allowed me to reach into all the thight spots.

11 November 2023, 13:17

Michael Kohl
Second round of the three tone camo.

23 November 2023, 13:20

Alec K
Nice progress, interesting to follow as always 👍

23 November 2023, 23:10

Nicolas
Watching

24 November 2023, 06:28

Michael Kohl
Thanks Alec for the nice compliment.
Welcome Nicolas.

24 November 2023, 16:12

Robert Podkoński
How have I missed that? Watching with interest, of course!

28 November 2023, 22:09

Michael Kohl
Robert, you are welcome any time. Thanks Jos and all the other mates for sneeking in and leaving a like.
I touched up the three tone camo but the Mr. Hobby Color paints did not behave nicely when brushed. So even even after the repair I've been unhappy with the result. I sanded the thick paint layer with a high grit, masked the dark brown color another time and airbrushed the defective areas. Not perfect but much better. Now onto the last detail paintings.

19 December 2023, 13:00

CaptGPF
Looking forward to the final result! Looks great so far!

14 January, 04:50

Project info

Kfir

53 images

1:72

In progress

1:72 IAI Kfir C2/C7 (AvantGarde Model Kits 86002)

1:72 IAI Kfir - Pitot Tube & Angle Of Attack probe (Master AM-72-059)

1:72 IAI Kfir C2/C7 Camouflage Paint Masks + Israeli Stars 1/72 Ver.2 (DN Models 72/827-019)

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