I’d like to show you photos of a model I completed recently. The subject is not my typical Vietnam subject - it’s an Israeli IAI Kfir C2. What the Israelis did was they created their own knock-off of the Mirage (called Nesher), and then decided to re-engine it with J79 - and called that thing Kfir (little lion). Whan I was a kid my father gave this kit (Italeri) to my brother who ruined it - and I though it was a kind of a waste. I also always liked the paint scheme with those triangles - so when I came acros a reissue by Revell, with exactly the paint scheme I wanted to do, I just had to grab it.
The Italeri plastic is actually quite bad, the fit needs a lot of filling and rescribing - the assembly took me over a year. Then again the Revell decals are very good - decalling this baby was the most fun of all the build. I have used a lot of AM here - Aires engine, Reskit wheels and Master pitot tube. I have also installed an old resin seat in the cockpit - I had it laying around from an old kit that got broken up. I have also replaced the AA missiles with Hasegawa Sidewinders.
And here are the first photos - I’ll take more when I recharge the batteries:
That’s a nice Kfir Pawel! The canards make it look so much cooler than the average Mirage.
I too like the yellow-orange triangle markings. I had read somewhere that the Israelis used it for IFF, but the Arabs upset the apple cart by painting similar markings on their aircraft. I have never seen what the Arab aircraft looked like in the copycat scheme, but it supposedly put a quick end to the Israeli practice.
John, Russ - thanks a lot for your comments and for your kind words - they mean a lot to me! I agree, the Kfir has nice looks to it - and it’s a Mirage on steroids with that American engine in it. In fact those looks were what motivated me to tackle a kit from outside of my usual subject range. Thanks for looking and have a nice day
A great job (as always) and very well done as usual.
