1/144 F-RSIN Falcon 20

Gallery Article by Thomas Brückelt on Nov 8 2018

 

      

One of the members, Hans, in the flying club I visit to make glider aerobatics, flew the Falcon 20 D-CMET before he was retired. The Falcon belongs to the DLR (Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt; German institution which makes experiments for aviation and space flight). It´s used for different experiments and measurement flights.

You can find a detailed description of the original here, on the DLR-site: 
https://www.dlr.de/fb/en/desktopdefault.aspx/tabid-3714/

After Hans told me about very interesting and spectacular flights he made with the Falcon 20, I decided to make two models of it: One for him, the other one for my own collection.

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I used the kit from F-RSIN in 1/144 which is an injected plastic kit. Some rework must be done, so this kit is recommended for modellers with some experience. The fuselage halves are very thin on the lower side, so I had to glue plastic sheet on the inside in this area. Further I fitted a block of plastic inside each fuselage, so that the rods of the displays can be inserted.

All the special modifications were built from scratch. My model got the particle collectors below the wings, the model for Hans is "clean", according to a picture he sent me when he flew it (right behind a DC-8 from the NASA to measure the exhaust fumes of the engines).

The models are painted with brush and colours (enamels) from Humbrol and Revell.

The decals are custom made by V1Decals (
https://www.v1decals.com/). I mailed my drawing and Ben printed them in a very high quality. Just three weeks after I sent him my file, I got the decal sheet from Canada (to Germany).  The decals can be handled very well, they are very thin but can endure some stress. They look like "painted on", which was already proven on my C-130Q 
(
http://www.arcair.com/Gal15/14601-14700/gal14651-C-130-Bruckelt/00.shtm ).

After the decals were fitted the models were sealed with silk, clear varnish.

I enjoy having this exotic and interesting plane in my collection and I´m sure the model I made for Hans will remind him on the great flights he had with the real one.

Greetings from Germany

Thomas Brückelt

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Photos and text © by Thomas Brückelt