I bought two Mini Hobby Models 1/144 kits in Hong Kong out of curiosity and besides the price was a steal ( paid only HKD20 dollars each). One of the kit is the 1/144 Jaguar. The front picture and the paint guide suggest an RAF Jaguar during Operation Granby by British Forces during the 1991 Gulf War, with the unique all round Pink Tan camo paint. I had anticipated some degree of flaws from the kit, but was taken aback when I checked out the kit.
The major flaws were:-
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Canopy was too
“flat”
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The slot for
the main wing on the fuselage halves was way too far back (see
attached photo 04)
-
The slight
hump on the rear end of the dorsal spine was missing
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The nose was
incorrect, looking more like those of Jaguar A variant operated by the
French Air Force
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The weapons
provided were grossly incorrect.
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The main wings
were a little short and founded at the tips in addition
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Panel lines on
the port main wing were wrong
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The RAF
roundels on the decals were not those with low-viz
I then did a search on the RAF Jaguars and came across one that was painted in a special scheme to mark the 75th Anniversary of 54 SQN in 1991. I decided to dispense with the weapons provided and scratch built the drop tanks in place to depict this kite. I managed to modify an 1/144 Academy F-15 Eagle canopy as an alternative. Cut out the cockpit to fit in the pilot figure and seat for an inflight configuration.
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Besides the corrections made to the above mentioned I further and the following enhancements to the kit.
They are:-
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Scratch built
the nose to show the “Wedge” profile and replace the original
pitot tube with a pin filed to size
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Sanded down
and reshaped the HF aerial on each side of the vertical fin
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Replace the
ram-air intake behind the canopy and added 2 VHF homer aerials on it
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Added the 2
total-pressure probes
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Create the ram
air intake on the scratch built “hump” on the dorsal spine
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Added scratch built fuel dump hose and arrestor hook
Much filling up with putty is needed on the wing roots the under carriage doors. Decals were self made for this particular depiction. The standard Dark Green/Dark Gray wrap around camo was from pre-mix basic Tamiya and Mr Hobby colours. On hindsight the flaws on this kit has provided me with many hours of fun trying to find workaround solutions to finish it with a more presentable semblance of a Sepecat Jaguar GR1. It was pretty trying to get the raked blue and yellow checkerboard decal to conform to the drop tanks if not for several wash of Humbrol decal fix. I am prepared now of what is to come of the other kit – a Hawker Tempest V. Enjoy the photos.
And to all in the RAF, Happy RAF Day!!
S K Loh
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