Dave Ward's 1/48 Trumpeter JF-17 Thunder

[Dave Ward]

This has caught my eye, don't know why - but it somehow appeals to me
It's a cross between a Mig-21 and a F-16, developed as a joint venture between China & Pakistan. The Chinese don't use it, but Pakistan has over 100 already in service, and Myanmar & Nigeria are buying.
The usual Trumpeter box, and full of bits - but wait - 3 of those sprues are fuel tanks, pylons and weapons!
12 air to air missiles to fit on four stations,and 3 fuel tanks Sidewinder clones, and Sparrow lookalikes and some odd configuration ones.
The tub is basic - an advantage of 'glass' cockpits is that decals work well

The wheelwells are nicely detailed - how much will be seen is moot.


The fuselage is split top & bottom, nice engraved details

The nose is split side to side. A small PE fret give harness, HUD & mirrors
Good clear canopy & lights, seeker heads etc
Decal sheet for 3 versions - A Chinese demonstrator, A garish red/white/green Pakistani version, and a Pakistani two-tone grey ( the version I'm going to do ). Another smaller decal sheet provides stencil data for the missiles

I certainly can't remember having made a Pakistani marked airplane before, so this is a first for me
Construction will start shortly.........
Dave

 

[papa 695]

Looks a nice kit Dave

 

[stillp]

A nice kit and unusual subject. Hope the fit is OK.

Pete

 

[Dave Ward]

Finally managed some benchtime - joining all the fuel tanks halves, putting fins on missiles, weighted wheel bits. The\multi-part wheelwells added to the lower fuselage, and the top added..................

Nearly forgot to open up the pylon mount holes - when in doubt, read the instructions. Really good fit - there are one piece separate slats, flaps & ailerons, minimal clean up after assembly.
The engine nozzle - looks rather crude & clunky compared to the F-16 & later US jets. There is an afterburner ring, just visible....
I can see that the major join will be the front cockpit sides to the fuselage, - all the other seams/joints are minimal or covered by later bits - looks like it will be a pretty quick build. Next up will be the cockpit tub & the ejector seat ( Martin Baker PK16 )
Dave

 

[dave]

An interesting looking aircraft, if the Pakistani red and green scheme is the one on the box art I see what you mean by “garish”

 

[Dave Ward]

Two of the three schemes..................
The one I'm going for is this..................
The third version is essentially the same, but with Chinese decals
Dave

 

[Dave Ward]

Cockpit tub & ejector seat assembled - now awaits the PE harness.......

As I thought, the rest of the fuselage went together easily & quickly, a minimum of clean up - fit very good!
Dave

 

[Fernando N]

Interesting one Dave, great looking progress and nice to see that the parts fit very good.

 

[Dave Ward]

Further progress, the forward fuselage joined - with the cockpit tub & nose wheelwell sandwiched between them. I must admit I was sceptical about the joint between this and the main fuselage - I didn't see how it could line up. With a little wiggling and twisting for a dry fit, it clicked into place so well that I didn't dare take it apart. A little TET wicked into the joints, job done
The joint is spot on! I'll have to clean up the joint between the nose halves ( not much at all ), and that is the major construction finished, and I can think of paint. I'll leave the nosecone off for the moment, just in case I need to add some weights.
The fit of this model has been outstanding, and has needed little edge preparation, or tweaking - very impressive!
Dave

 

[Dave Ward]

I decided I'd better add weights to the nosecone, so I epoxied in some ball bearings, before adding it to the rest of the fuselage. Masked up the canopy, then stuck it on using white PVA, so I can remove it later. Out with the airbrush, and a basecoat applied
I pawed through my assortment of light grey paints, to find something that looked right - and used Mission Models Light Gull Grey. It'll darken down a bit when I gloss coat it - pre wash. No weathering on this, all photographs I've seen, have been immaculate. I have a dark grey patch to apply over the light grey - time to look at my dark(er) grey selection.........
Dave

 

[Dave Ward]

Grey patch added, top and bottom.................
I used MiG Ammo Medium Gunship Grey. Despite all my care, I managed some overspray, and to knock off one of the underside aerials - I'll have to touch up the Gull Grey in a few places.
Dave

 

[Jakko]

That looks very dark grey to me, compared to the instructions (which, of course, can be highly misleading). However, if I look for photos of the real thing, I find this:

It’s your model, of course, but I think I’d consider overspraying it with the basic grey you used to see if that brings it closer to the contrast between the colours in that photo

 

[Dave Ward]

Yup,
that Medium Grey was a bit over the top! I'll have another go tomorrow morning!
Dave

 

[Dave Ward]

This has turned out to be a bit of a struggle - I decided to overspray the Ammo Gunship Grey with the Mission Models Light Gull Grey, darkened with a few drops of the Gunship Grey.
The paints didn't mix well - then when I sprayed, the airbrush began to choke. That wasn't the worst of it - when the paint dried, it had separated to light grey, with dark grey patches. Much cursing!!!. I left it for a day, then oversprayed again, with the Mission Models Gull Grey, this time darkened with Vallejo Neutral grey. It sprayed a little better, but the airbrush was still struggling. This time, the paint dried fairly evenly, so I decided to leave well alone!
I only have the one bottle of Mission Models paint, so I'm not sure about the compatibility of different colours with other makers acrylics. Since I have loads of bottles of Vallejo, AK, Hataka & Mig paint, and never had any problems mixing them, then I'm afraid that I won't be buying any more Mission Models paint. It maybe just me, but there are loads of other alternatives.
I spent ages cleaning my airbrushes, as rather stupidly, I thought it might just be a problem with one. I ended up with both choked * sigh *
Dave

 

[Dave Ward]

After a few days away from the bench, on with the decals - I'm not going to apply the stencil data - the contrast between the paint and the decals is very little - I've applied one or two, and they have disappeared!

When I put the ejector seat in the cockpit, the canopy would not fit, the seat was too high. I trimmed about 2mm off the bottom, and the canopy now fits snugly. I can't see where I fit, or assembled anything wrongly, just one of those things!
Gloss coat next, then panel wash. I'm doing this before I add the weapons & pylons, for easy access.
Dave

 

[Dave Ward]

I'm afraid to say that's it, as far as the Thunder is concerned
I've been struggling to finish this, but I've given up. I've had a few health issues, and at the moment I can't keep my hands from shaking ( no, it's not the DT's! ). I've got some new medication, but it might take a while before the doseage is correct. So, no more benchtime for the moment!
I'm still going to keep my 'spots on the internet' moving, and will keep abreast of what's going on.
Dave

 

[Jakko]

at the moment I can't keep my hands from shaking

I can say from experience that that’s not helpful for building models, no, but it should pass I suppose In my case, I was told to stop using medication I had been taking, and one of the results of that was hands that shook just a little, but too much to do any modelling. After a couple of days the withdrawal symptoms went away and I could build models again — but never did finish the one I was working on at the time

 

[Fernando N]

Sorry to hear about the hands issue Dave, hope that the dosage with the meds is quickly found and all works out...
Oh nice result on the Thunder.

 

[Lee Drennen]

I’m also sorry to hear that Dave I love watching your builds

 

[Dave Ward]

Thanks, fellers!
It looks OK from a distance, but there are a load of bits missing, the ( tiny ) torque links on the undercarriage legs, HUD lenses, sensor probes, the IR heads on the missiles, all little bits I can't cope with at the moment.
It's a nice model, very good fit. Pretty obscure in the West!
The tensions between Pakistan and India are driving some pretty advanced aircraft
i.e. the Indian HAL Tejas

Pictures from Indian Press.
As can be seen from the bottom picture - designed to be operated from carriers, as well as land based.
Little known in the West - I've only found one model of the Tejas - a 3D printed 1/144 version!
Dave