SCM Aggressor Group Build Fall 2019
Comments
24 18 August 2019, 23:38
Nathan DempseyWelcome Stephan 🙂
Although this is an old kit, I think this is going to be a fun build!
21 August 2019, 18:08
Slavo HazuchaCool, I'll watch too of course, twice as interesting for me due to the camo!
21 August 2019, 20:46
Nathan DempseyWelcome mates! Happy to have you on board our wild flight. Please consume all beer before the barrel rolls.
22 August 2019, 19:54
Nathan DempseyHere's to hoping all these kits survive. The forecast calls for this hurricane to go right over my house.
[img1]
29 August 2019, 14:11
Maciej BellosHang in there mate. Our thoughts are with you (and the stash I dare say!)
29 August 2019, 16:29
Stephan RyllTake cover and I think the mates here would take care of you stash if needed😉
Hope everything goes well
29 August 2019, 19:57
Nathan DempseyJust bolting everything down and trimming all the trees around the house. The next few days will tell if it comes here or moves North or South of my location. Anyways I've seen so many of these things I pretty much do what this guy does:
Youtube Video
29 August 2019, 22:25
Nathan DempseyNot quite as skinny as him though. Does mean I can stand out in the higher wind speeds LOL 🙂
30 August 2019, 23:37
Nathan DempseyLooks like the storm is turning North. The next day or two will tell...
2 September 2019, 16:57
Clifford KeeslerYea, I think it is going to ride up the east coast, just off shore.
3 September 2019, 01:52
Nathan DempseyWe dodged that hurricane. Please donate to the Bahamas charities if possible. We gave all our supplies over to pilots at the local airport heading over to the islands.
Getting REALLY pumped today for this build as they are testing engines on the Mirage and you can hear the roar from my house!
11 September 2019, 12:44
Nathan DempseyDecals arrived today, so all parts are officially here and this one is a definite go for the group build. 🙂
19 September 2019, 19:13
Nathan DempseyWell the work has officially started! As I may have mentioned in earlier posts, this kit had been started for an earlier aborted project. I began thinking I would be way ahead of the curve, but during the first step I realized that was not to be. As you can see from the uploaded image, the fit of the new resin ejection seat is a bit off. I had a completed fuselage, but had to break the nose off and pop the forward fuselage apart to pry out the cockpit and shave it down to make the seat fit.
1 October 2019, 14:01
Stephan RyllNo need to rush Nathan - I remember that I had the chance to take place in a Mirage 3 cockpit - And I must say it's very tidy 🤔 F-1 is not better
1 October 2019, 15:13
Nathan DempseyThe shaving down of the cockpit tub (and the seat) and I finally have a fitting ejection seat. I'll work tonight on getting the fuselage back together and the nose cone back on.
Stephan: Yes it is a VERY tight fit, but the real one looks tiny too.
Hans: Draken is unresponsive so far... From what I can tell the Mirages over there still have the Spanish markings, but that's WAY too boring for this build.
1 October 2019, 21:59
Nathan DempseyWell the fuselage and nose cone went back together without any trouble. Went ahead and added nose weight too.
2 October 2019, 14:54
Nathan DempseyIncreased the depth of the kit exhaust using some tubing. Now to paint it...
2 October 2019, 18:21
Nathan DempseyWings are on today. Had to add a little shim to get the wings at the right angle otherwise the fit was perfect with no putty needed at all. Not bad for an old kit like this one.
3 October 2019, 14:14
Nathan DempseyWelcome Bryn
With the wings going on without problem I've done the primer and started painting with black on the forward cockpit. From here on out this one should be fun. The Mission Models paint is a breeze.
3 October 2019, 16:02
Nathan DempseyThanks Sergej and Daniel.
I did have a bit of a jump with this kit since I took it from and old failed project. Most of the major sub-assemblies had been finished, so all I had to do was plug them to the fuselage. 🙂
3 October 2019, 19:37
Nathan DempseySeat painted and installed. I can now add the canopy tonight and begin painting tomorrow.
3 October 2019, 23:21
Nathan DempseyThanks Hans & Donald!
The upper portions are complete. The bottom is (not) taped and ready to paint the last color. I have to move fast now before Slavo shows us how to really do this camo on his F-18 build.
4 October 2019, 16:59
Maciej BellosI want that airbrush and that free hand of yours! LOL. Great job! Looking terrific!
4 October 2019, 18:35
DanielI agree, this scheme looks really nice on a F1, well done splinter camo 👍 would be cool i they actually use this on the real thing
4 October 2019, 19:29
Nathan DempseyThanks Stephan, Maciej, and Daniel!
Here's the bottom all finished. I have one more color to lay down. The black around the canopy...
4 October 2019, 19:52
Gordon SørensenI really like the aggressor scheme you have chosen Nathan! Looks great!
4 October 2019, 21:40
Nathan DempseyThanks Gordon & Clifford🙂
The black around the cockpit came out nice. I hope it translates in the picture.
4 October 2019, 22:51
Nathan DempseyIt is technically a "what-if" at this point since I have yet to get any response from Draken. Oh well 🙂 Pic #1 was off of their website so that's a good starting point. I still need to figure out where the registration numbers will go since the "Draken International " decal is quite large. I may have to reorder the decals in 1:72 just to get a smaller logo.
4 October 2019, 22:56
Nathan DempseyThanks Clifford & Erik. I've been excited to do this build. It's nice to reclaim a kit from the shelf of doom.
4 October 2019, 23:50
Jos JansenYou show that you can airbrush a fantastic splinter scheme on a relatively old kit, nice result so far Nathan ...
5 October 2019, 06:52
Slavo HazuchaYou really stored some energy for the Aggressor GB Nathan!😉 I did not even manage to comment on the nice seat, now it's so passé with the speed you put into it... Good thing the camo looks so great, at least I can praise that now!😉
5 October 2019, 09:03
Nathan DempseyThanks Laurent, Jos & Slavo!
I had a whole "man-day" without any distractions and once the painting began I really felt the energy of this build 🙂 Today I did the 3 tones of panel wash.
5 October 2019, 13:03
Nathan DempseyThanks Hans! I'm really sold on the Mission Models paint. Nice and tough and needs no thinning. Perfect for washes.
Added shots with the landing gear attached. Now it's off to have family time!
5 October 2019, 15:50
Daniellooks excellent with the wash and bleaching and the black window part is a perfect addition👍
5 October 2019, 16:09
Erik LeijdensOk haha Nathan I didn't knew it was "what iff-ish", looks great on the F1! Hope Draken sees it 🙂
5 October 2019, 19:39
Nathan DempseyThanks Daniel & Stephan🙂
Erik: I'll send them some pics when I'm done and maybe someone that has influence will like it enough to spend the money on painting a real airframe.
6 October 2019, 00:02
Nathan DempseyThanks Clifford!
It's odd that no one has mentioned the QR code...
6 October 2019, 01:10
Nathan DempseyWorking on the aggressor "weapons" and getting the tires painted.
6 October 2019, 22:21
Nathan DempseyI should be able to work on decals today as I found the registration numbers for Draken's fleet of Mirage F.1s. The codes go from N556EM to N576EM. This info is found by a search on the FAA website. I also found that beyond the more well known aircraft that they fly, that they also have a pair of T-28 Trojans.
7 October 2019, 12:30
Nathan DempseyHmmm... I'm going to have to get creative There's absolutely no way the registration codes will fit the fuselage with the giant "Draken International" logo as seen in PIC #1. Sure wish I could talk to a chief mechanic for like 5 minutes.
7 October 2019, 13:42
Nathan DempseyStarted on decals. You can see how the registration codes take up all the space on the rear fuselage. It is more realistic though. The size shown is what the FAA requires. I've decided to move the Draken logo to the intakes.
7 October 2019, 17:51
Bart Goesaertjust in time for the finish line... nice built and excellent camo choice...
8 October 2019, 07:11
Slavo HazuchaNice going with the decals! Do you happen to have the FS equivalents of the camo colors used? I guess my Hornet scheme will ask for the same, just want to compare & make sure - Thanks!
8 October 2019, 09:20
Nathan DempseyThanks Stephan, Bart & Slavo!
Slavo: I took the FS colors from the Furball decal sheet Legacy Bug Bandits for VFC-12 as follows:
FS36375 - Light Ghost Grey
FS36081 - Euro 1 Grey
FS? - Tamiya Flat White (because I had a whole new bottle)
8 October 2019, 13:50
Nathan DempseyThanks Clifford! No problemo Slavo 🙂
Working on all the little details now. I'll probably call it complete tonight and get pictures up late tonight or tomorrow.
8 October 2019, 22:38
Nathan DempseyCalling it done. There's a few little things to do like add some chrome where the light should be on the intakes and add a couple of probes (the kit ones are a bit oversized). Not yet sure if Draken is using the intake light. I'll just wait and see. Enjoy 🙂
9 October 2019, 00:24
Slavo HazuchaA really nice warm-up Nathan😉 I really like the how the camo turned out & it´s also very interesting for me since I´ll be doing the same basic pattern on a F-18 and am still working on sorting the right greys for the correct impression... Good job & onwards to the next milestone! 👍
9 October 2019, 14:22
Nathan DempseyThanks Bart, Slavo and Laurent!
Slavo I told everyone in the earlier posts that I had to hurry up and get this camo finished before you showed us how it was really done on your F-18, so it means a lot that you liked it 🙂
9 October 2019, 15:18
DanielTurned out excellent, this camo suits the F1 perfectly! Send a photo to draken, so they know how to paint them 😄
9 October 2019, 20:52
Slavo HazuchaDon't worry Nathan, you pulled a great show in a record time and the final result is one top looking unique Mirage, point!😉
9 October 2019, 21:10
Nathan DempseyMany thanks mates for your kind responses. Very humbled by this very skilled group of modelers!
9 October 2019, 23:22
Jos JansenExcellent Nathan...a nice successful splinter scheme, two thumbs up...👍👍
10 October 2019, 08:23
Nathan DempseyAdded a final image to show how Draken actually painted them. Funny they retained the refueling probe. All the airframes I saw had them deleted. I guess I need to start a new kit 🙂
31 October 2019, 01:12
Bart Goesaertwell, to be honest.. these are two very beautiful paintscheme's, so... if you would give it a go, me for starters wouldn't mind... 😉
31 October 2019, 13:57
Maciej BellosThe real thing looks nice, but yours looks better and more sinister.
31 October 2019, 17:29
Nathan DempseyOK the sinister comment really made me smile!
Thanks Maciej & Stephan!
I was able to recover the refueling probe from the parts bin, so hopefully I'll be able to attach it without marring the finish.
31 October 2019, 18:11
JensI never expected that, the old ESCI kit became such a beauty with a few extras, respect, that's a really great model 👍 and thanks for submitting to the next digital 🙂 👍
31 October 2019, 19:39
Nathan DempseyThanks Jens! I'm happy you like the old bird 🙂 I also have a South African Mirage F.1 to build and it is an ESCI kit as well.
1 November 2019, 16:50
Raulinho1972Great Job!! This is an awesome scheme!! May I ask a question... Where did you get the decals and the info for de Draken paintscheme in this model?
9 July 2021, 09:39
Nathan DempseyThanks Raulinho! I bought the Old Models Decals set 0871 for use in this project, but you can now get Draken Logos on this set:
Draken international A-4L/A-..ation Graphics 48-269, 1:48)
The information on my scheme came from Draken's website at the time (for a while this scheme was on their main page) and also they are based about 5 minutes from my house and I was able to get a hangar tour.
9 July 2021, 14:48
Raulinho1972Thanks Nathan for the info!! And btw, that's a great way of getting the scheme, with their hangar tour!! :-D
9 July 2021, 16:20
Nathan DempseyThanks so much John, Roland, Augie, Mirko, Roland, Clifford & Celliers 🙂
I agree Roland, I can hardly believe this was nearly 2 years ago.
11 July 2021, 01:13
Clifford KeeslerSure dose not seem that long ago. I remember I built a F-18, in the Flanker color scheme. It is in the display case right next to my work bench.
11 July 2021, 01:42
Eric LamareI was really sad to see these birds grounded in France but very happy to see them flying again as agressors. An unexpected second Life with new camo schemes to enjoy. Really good looking one Dempsey, well done ?
11 July 2021, 14:54
Slavo HazuchaCheers Nathan - just today I was dusting off my splinter Hornet and this came up again - what a glorious GB - so many cool Aggressors & I remember your's spearheading across the line among the first 🙂
Seriously cool today like it was then, great times 👍
8 August 2021, 20:52
Nathan DempseyAhh yes good times! I remember that build going like lightning. I had to have it done before your sublime F-18 was complete ( a build that I still think caused the Kinetic kit to come out ? ). I've had to halt building temporarily as the entire build room has been torn down and put into storage as we have our new house built. Hopefully by the end of November things will be up and running again. Until then I'll just enjoy everyone else's builds.
11 August 2021, 21:15
Clifford KeeslerHope you will get back at it soon. Mine is all painted now, will start final stuff tomorrow hopefully. Have been sick as a dog for a week so have not had much bench time. Thought I had Covid again, but all the test came back negeative. Kind of hard to use the air brush when you have the chills so bad your teeth are chattering and you can't hold yor hand still. So the green camo on this one was done al, Augie with the ole hairy stick.
12 August 2021, 23:34
DanielIt's best for the marbling technique clifford?
Sorry for the black humor, hope you are doing better again!
Had my second 5G chip injection and was feeling like a dying dog myself yesterday...
Nathan, this jet still rocks??
13 August 2021, 06:58
Nathan DempseyThanks Daniel! I'm sure glad everyone forgives my poor photographer skills ?
13 August 2021, 14:54
Clifford KeeslerThank's Daniel, I actually felt half way human today. Mine still does not come close to your's Nathan.
14 August 2021, 00:13
Project info
Group Build
SCM Aggressor Group Build Fall 2019
1. October
1. October