IAF Kfir in 1:33 scale- Hobby Model #25

[Isaac]

I purchased this kit ( which was apparently published in 1995 ) only a couple of years ago with the idea of starting a collection in 1:33 scale of Israeli air force aircraft. In the past I have built many IAF models in 1:50 scale from the IAF magazine which were very simple.

Some background on this plane.
The Kfir is a further development of the French Mirage 5 performed by Israel Aircraft Industries. However, there are significant improvements suited for the IAF missions. The main difference is that the Atar engine was replaced with the GE J-79 ( same engine as the F-4 Phantom ). Also, the avionics were all different as well. Externally the distinguising features are the shorter rear fuselage , the air scoop at the base of the vertical tail and fixed canards mounted just behind the engine intakes.

The 3 views in this kit also calls it Nesher, but that is not correct for this kit. However, it can be converted to a Nesher as well and repainted. The name Dagger is correct and that was the export name ( south American operators still use this aircraft ).


Also, The US Navy used this aircraft designated F-21 as an aggressor aircraft for their Top Gun training. That version did not have the canards, but had small strakes in that location. You can see one of those in New York city aboard the Intrepid aircraft carrier museum ( along with many other interesting aircraft ; most are not naval aircraft ). Go to www.airliners.net and photo search the Kfir.

Initial impressions

When I got the Hobby Model kit, I was very disappointed. The colors were really bad. I could see that they did not try to match the camouflage pattern from one part to another. Also, the instruction sketches were incomplete and left a lot to the builder to figure out. My thought was to just shelve this kit and not build it. However, I knew that there is really no other kit of this plane and it may be a good staring point for a repaint. I was asking around and basically everyone said, this is a bad kit and it is not worth it. They were absolutely correct in their assessment. Even color correction was not enough as I found out. However, I got a lot of good pointers and corrections from fellow builders for this bird.


Accuracy and kit geometry

As a whole, this kit was designed very fast and loose . Many parts do not fit. The frames are too small. The internal wing structure is too weak. The colors are very wrong for this aircraft and the patterns do not match from one part to another. Also, there are features on this kit that are not correct.



Pitot tube under nose fairing is missing and wrong ( but the picture on the front page and the 3 view is correct? )
Ventral fin ( on the bottom rear ) is wrong shape
Landing gear ( main ) doors wrong ( they copied the Mirage 3 doors which are not correct )
Wing fairing ( rear ) too long and need to be trimmed.
The canopy does not fit.
Also, the external load is very simple looking and needed replacement.



So basically you have a model that needs lots of attention.
So, do you stop here or continue?

I continued, knowing that there is no way it would be good. However, if I can make it acceptable, it can take place next to my small but growing collection of IAF 1:33 scale planes. So I am already on the lookout for some more IAF kits in 1:33 scale. So far I have the Ouragan, Super Mystere, A-4N Skyhawk. I do have two F-16 kits, but not in IAF colors. Also, I started the Avia S-199, but that is for later.


This write up is not about repainting the kit. I will go directly to the build.

Again, my recommendation is not to build this unless you really need it to add to a collection. I wish some company can design this kit a new.

More to come


Cheers

Isaac

[jagolden01]

Sounds like it will be a challenging build. Looking forward to your build of it and how you solve the problems you've noted.

[Isaac]

Fuselage



Conventional cylinders and cone construction. My recommendation is to glue each section to its own tab and complete all sections. The aft sections have a glue tab on top ( that is where the vertical tail and aft top fairing goes on ) . I try to match the colors and the camouflage to the best I can. I then cut the top section to bring the parts in or out.



This is really all trial and error. The bad thing is that it has caused some warping and wrinkles to the skins and had to be addressed later on by laminating extra card on the inside to minimize this wrinkle.

Once I assembled 3 sections together, I insert the frames. As I said before, these frames are simply too small. I preserved their top shape and added an additional card stock to shape their bottom and tried to best match it to the skin section. This is long an tedious back and forth. So everything here feels like it is a custom job ( with sometimes questionable results ).


Complete the aft section the same way and add the frames.

More to come


Isaac

[Paperwarrior]

Those are some frustrating issues to overcome. It looks like you are doing a great job working around the issues, though. I look forward to seeing more of this.

Jeff

[Isaac]

Complete all the aft sections ( aft of the cockpit ). The engine exhaust is represented as a conical tube with no features on the aft visible nozzles. For this model I did not want to spend more time correcting it. I did not glue the nozzle yet because I will have to make corrections as I complete the fuselage ( more nip and tuck ).


Also, here is my fuselage wrinkle which I repaired later and the forward and aft attachment mismatch



Forward fuselage goes much easier. However, the back of the cockpit former is too small to match the rear, however that is not too critical. I then cut out the cockpit and nose gear cutouts.
Now, I slip the nose gear compartment first ( I built it with the forward bay showing as the rear door was usually closed on the ground ). I then slipped the cockpit tub in and best matched it to the cutout.






The forward and aft sections are then glued to each other and you have an opportunity to straighten it to a point.

At this point you will really note the mismatching in the color patterns, but a straight fuselage is better than matching the color patterns.





Cheers

Isaac

[Isaac]

Simple two piece, but do pay attention to the integral air scoop at the base. In hindsight, I should have cut out the scoop and added it later. I did separate out the rudder to give it a bit more texture.


Once completed, I then glued it to the top of the fuselage. There is really no good matching of the camouflage, so basically place it in correct location. The repaint of this kit was done only to freshen up the colors. It did not correct the matching issue



More to come


Isaac

[Isaac]

The top fairing is matched to the aft cockpit rear wall. It does go on fairly OK. Again, pay attention to the position rather than the color matching.


Moving along


Isaac

[Isaac]

The engine intake frame proved to be a real problem for me. When I tried to place it, it would warp the aft fuselage skins. So I trimmed away as much as I could and also added more card stock on the inside of the wrinkled sections. The engine intakes were simple D shaped section with an integral internal cone. I painted the inside silver even though in reality the inside was probably white or light gray.




here is the progress so far




That is all for today


Isaac

[Lex]

This looks like an extremely challenging build but it seems you are making it through just fine. May I ask about the level of detailing in this kit?

[Isaac]

Originally Posted by Lex

This looks like an extremely challenging build but it seems you are making it through just fine. May I ask about the level of detailing in this kit?

The original kit has minimal detail. It is a simple model ( if it could fit better ), but since it is so colorful, it makes for a decent looking plane. I concentrated on trying to build it first and also have the corrections made. My detail additions were minor.


Isaac