Italeri KFIR/Cheetah with "bling"

[T. van Vuuren]

Hi all.

I have recieved this little gem to build in a month as a chalange.

It is a 1/72 Italeri Kfir C-7 kit with some AM Scaleworx resin,PE and SAAF decals to convert it into a SAAF Atlas Cheetah E.

There is a fair amount of "surgery" to be done and it is all totally new to me as I have not worked with resin parts before.......stay tuned LOL!

The quality of these AM parts are stunning and I am afraid that after one builds with this it might be very difficult to go back to "out the box plastics" LOL!!!!

Theuns

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[mossiepilot]

Hey Theuns,

What a pretty looking plane.

I did a search on this aircraft and found this -

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What a cracking paint job.

Not your scheme I suppose, but nice.

I'll watch this conversion with interest.

Tony.

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[T. van Vuuren]

Thanx Tony.

That plane was colled "Spotty" (of all names LOL!)

No I will not be doing that one, I know the skill required is way more than I can offer.

The Cheetah E had an experimental two tone disruptive cammo or the one I have will be doing is all over dark grey. Sipmle yet nice.

I have painted the office black, started painting the resin bang seat and then proceded to do a full "Stabelizorectomy" (surgical removal of stabilizor) to be able to fit the new one.............man that just feels so wrong to cut off such big parts LOL!

Theuns

 

[mossiepilot]

Bet it feels a bit like surgery.

Scarey Huh.

Keep going, we learn by doing

:respect2:

Respect for giving it a go.

Tony.

 

[T. van Vuuren]

I had to fill the internal wingroot area as I need to remove the cable duckting on the outside as the Cheetah didn't have it.

I painted the bangseat, need to still make the handle but have found that my eye are not up to 1/72 detailing levels anymore!

Theuns

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[yak face]

Great stuff theuns, it'll be good to see the conversion as it happens , the resin stuff looks excellent quality. cheers tony

 

[Ian M]

I think conversions in 1/48 are fiddly enough but in 1/72.....Respect.

Watching this with interest.

Ian M

 

[T. van Vuuren]

I completed the seat assembly, and added the "get out fast" handle. On the MB Mk-10 there is on top handle it seems, only the bottom centre one.

The detail looks very rough, but in actual size it looks a tad better.

Theuns

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[papa 695]

I Theuns looking good so far will be watching this one

 

[lemoff]

Good work so far, i cant even get the eyes right on a 1/48 scale lol

 

[mossiepilot]

Coming along nicely there theuns.

Keep up the good work.

Tony.

 

[Vajled]

good work so far... keep it up

 

[T. van Vuuren]

Here it is with the nose and exhaust replaced. As you can see the Cheetah has a much longer nose than the Kfir.

Some filling and sanding needed and then Tail and wings on, for some more filling and sanding LOL!

Theuns

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[T. van Vuuren]

I added the electrical boxes and wires plus seat rail to the rear bulkhead as it had no detail atall.

The new top instr panel is in an I just need to attach the HUD before the windshield goes on.

Nex will be the new intake shock cones and then the wings go on.

Theuns

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[treyzx10r]

Looking good Theuns

 

[colin m]

Nice looking office. Getting detail into a 1:72 seat is always a bit tricky....

Colin M......

 

[T. van Vuuren]

Attached the intakes and smoothed out. The wing leading edges has sinkmarks that needed putty,sanding and re-scribing.

A real pitty about the poor wing to fuse fit, I am not use to this from Italeri., it will be "interesting" to get that sorted.

Theuns

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[yak face]

OUCH!!!! Thats going to take some bashing ,theuns!! This must be an old italeri mould, most of their new stuff seems to be very good, cheers tony

 

[T. van Vuuren]

Hey Tony, it seems we both drew the short straw on our latest Italeri builds!

Theuns

 

[yak face]

Hey Tony, it seems we both drew the short straw on our latest Italeri builds! Theuns

Too right!!! I know youll conquer it though theuns! cheers tony