general melchett Posted January 2, 2011 Posted January 2, 2011 Hi there, finally put the finishing touches to this one, the new(ish) 1/48th Bronco Jian J-10S 'Vigorous Dragon' twin seat training variant of the basic J-10A fighter. Whilst it serves primarily as a training aircraft there are rumors that several have been converted to airborne command & control aircraft (Wild Weasels) with the rear seater being the commander of a small four-plane formation. Besides the obvious this version differs from the single seater in that the forward fuselage is some 2 1/2 feet longer, it has an enlarged dorsal spine for the new avionics suite and a more powerful 27,577 lb thrust WS-10A engine basically an enlarged and uprated Salyut AS-31F as used by the SU-27 Flanker............. so power to weight it has plenty of poke!. The kit is a real delight to build and a bargain at £25 with a huge loadout, PE parts and a massive decal sheet with over 200 decals, (deja vu the Backfire!!!). Finished using Mr Hobby Aqueous paints, US gull grey and light grey, then washed with oils and Promodeller dark/light dirt mixes before being finished off with a few light coats of Vallejo varnish. I finished the aircraft with a minimal weapons fit as I didn't want the thing to look too cluttered, though I may fit a few more bits as time goes on... The model has been done as part of a collection of 1/48th new Chinese fighter aircraft I'm building for an upcoming book I'm involved with so there are a few more to follow including the latest version of the Vigorous Dragon, the J-10B with the revised intake, the never flown but awesome looking J-9 and the PAK T-50 lookalike J-20. Hopefully these will be ready before the summer... Thanks for looking and I hope you like it, Here's a short clip showing the J-10 in action.... Cheers, Andy Included are a couple of boarding ladders..... 3
woody37 Posted January 2, 2011 Posted January 2, 2011 Stunning, love the way you've brought out the detail in the rivets and panel lines. How are you doing with the Trident 'What If' ? Looking forward to seeing that when you aren't being distracted with foreign builds
Iain Ogilvie Posted January 2, 2011 Posted January 2, 2011 Cracking model Melchie! So that was you spreading blurry photo's of a J-20 model around the web over Christmas was it? Iain
general melchett Posted January 2, 2011 Author Posted January 2, 2011 Thanks chaps, Neil the Trident (Avro 776) is coming along slowly, I've just been sent some much more detailed info and drawings so it's a bit of a rethink. I fear as it's at the bottom of the pile but it and the Vanguard will be done in the spring......honest! Iain...moi?!!!..........would I do that...................
Arkady72 Posted January 2, 2011 Posted January 2, 2011 (edited) Very nice model of very interesting plane. Good job. I think "must have". Bronco and Trumpeter kits is this the same models? What's exactly included FE fret? Is the decals are OK? Edited January 2, 2011 by Arkady72
general melchett Posted January 2, 2011 Author Posted January 2, 2011 Thanks Arkady, no the Trumpeter kit is quite different, to my mind it doesn't have as much surface detail, certainly not on the wings and nose area. They are both good kits but personally I think that this one is the better of the two. The PE fret is only small but contains replacements for all the aerials , seat belts, HUD, and some cockpit details. I used lead wire and fuse wire to add more life to the instrument coamings, seats and undercarriage legs. The decal set is very good, choice of all production J-10S and every stencil for the aircraft and missiles. Only prob;em is the size of most of the decals which are extremely small, (I needed a magnifier to fit them all ) they have good adhesive qualities but I still used Microset and Sol as always. I'll definitely get the J-10B when they bring it out later this year!! And thank you Jim, appreciated.. Melchie...
AnthonyWan Posted January 2, 2011 Posted January 2, 2011 Excellent build General! Out of curiosity did you use decals for the pit? Or is that PE...I don't seem to recall my kit having color PE for the consoles and such. Keep me posted on that book by the way...I'll definitely be picking up a copy... -Anthony
general melchett Posted January 2, 2011 Author Posted January 2, 2011 Thanks Anthony, I used a mixture of the kit decals for the CRTs, some generic instrument decals from the spares bin, 1mm Evergreen rod for buttons and levers,Little cars lead wire and dry brushing of the kit parts. The book is in its early stages at the moment, hopefully all things being equal it should be ready later this year...
Daniel Posted January 2, 2011 Posted January 2, 2011 General, Strange request - what does the box look like? I'm in China next week and might see about picking one up. Dan
Arkady72 Posted January 2, 2011 Posted January 2, 2011 Thanks Arkady, no the Trumpeter kit is quite different, to my mind it doesn't have as much surface detail, certainly not on the wings and nose area. They are both good kits but personally I think that this one is the better of the two. The PE fret is only small but contains replacements for all the aerials , seat belts, HUD, and some cockpit details. I used lead wire and fuse wire to add more life to the instrument coamings, seats and undercarriage legs. The decal set is very good, choice of all production J-10S and every stencil for the aircraft and missiles. Only prob;em is the size of most of the decals which are extremely small, (I needed a magnifier to fit them all ) they have good adhesive qualities but I still used Microset and Sol as always. Thanks for infos! Bronco is even cheaper than Trumpy, so decision is easy.
AnonymousDFB1 Posted January 2, 2011 Posted January 2, 2011 Nice work General , look like the result of an F-16 mating with a Typhoon II
ChancerUK Posted January 2, 2011 Posted January 2, 2011 I get the feeling well will be seeing plenty more models of Chinese aircraft in the comming years. Thats a good good looking aircaft, very nicely built. It would be nice to see one at a Tiger meet.
general melchett Posted January 2, 2011 Author Posted January 2, 2011 Again thanks for comments, Dan this should help, Arkady, yep the Bronco is definitely the way to go.... Thanks Mish, your dead right... actually it was based on a scaled up version of the Israeli Aircraft Industries LAVI experimental fighter... Chancer, yep I certainly hope so as they have some very interesting designs!!..I hope to scratchbuild several of them including the 'new' J-20.. Cheers all, Chairman Melchie Tong......
Daniel Posted January 3, 2011 Posted January 3, 2011 Thanks, should have time for one model shop and if they have one it's mine! Dan
Flying Penguin Posted January 4, 2011 Posted January 4, 2011 That's one smart looking machine.... Minor historical point re: the Lavi connection, it's been widely admitted that Chengdu Aircraft Industries had direct access to Lavi prototypes and the Israeli engineers, however to describe it as simply "a scaled up Lavi" would do some considerable disservice to the designers, although the lineage is obvious. Cheers Jamie
general melchett Posted January 4, 2011 Author Posted January 4, 2011 Thanks Jamie..yes you're probably right, I was only relating to the basic overall shape rather than the engineering detail, which as you say is quite an independant achievement, albeit with 'scientific' assistance from the Russian Siberian Aeronautical Research Institute (SibNIA), L'yulka/Saturn and IAI, (though this last one is often disputed!). Whatever the truth it's quite an aircraft with a fair bit of development potential yet to come, a twin seat version of the latest J-10B with full electronic warfare and countermeasures, with EOTS/IRST capability has been recently reported. Andy
Flying Penguin Posted January 4, 2011 Posted January 4, 2011 (edited) Thanks Jamie..yes you're probably right, I was only relating to the basic overall shape rather than the engineering detail, which as you say is quite an independant achievement, albeit with 'scientific' assistance from the Russian Siberian Aeronautical Research Institute (SibNIA), L'yulka/Saturn and IAI, (though this last one is often disputed!). Whatever the truth it's quite an aircraft with a fair bit of development potential yet to come, a twin seat version of the latest J-10B with full electronic warfare and countermeasures, with EOTS/IRST capability has been recently reported.Andy I remember seeing an article quoting a Janes analyst, when asked if there was Israeli involvement, responding along the lines of "I thought everyone knew that now..." It's odd, the US part funds the Lavi and donates tech, the Chinese get access to the Lavi and now have a front line fighter paid for in part by the US taxpayer Looking forward to the book Cheers Jamie Edited January 4, 2011 by Flying Penguin
POMPEO Posted January 4, 2011 Posted January 4, 2011 excellent, looks awesome, i had this kit in my stash and your build give me a great inspiration cheers
J.D. Posted January 5, 2011 Posted January 5, 2011 That's one smart looking machine.... Minor historical point re: the Lavi connection, it's been widely admitted that Chengdu Aircraft Industries had direct access to Lavi prototypes and the Israeli engineers, however to describe it as simply "a scaled up Lavi" would do some considerable disservice to the designers, although the lineage is obvious. Cheers Jamie Correct on all points. This was the reason - or one of them - for the fall out between the US government and Israel. The Lavi development was sponsored, in large part, by the US with Grumman providing a lot of support, particularly the development of the wing. When Israel agreed that the development of the Lavi was going to be more expensive that a bunch of Block 30 F-16s, they cancelled the project and sold it holus bolus to the Chinese! Needless to say, the Chinese have learnt quite a bit since then and it's not a direct copy but an improved type.
bearmatt Posted January 18, 2013 Posted January 18, 2013 So, General does also real world aircrafts! But they're build as good as the ones I've seen over in whatifmodelers! Great Job! Cheers bearmatt
jimbuna Posted January 18, 2013 Posted January 18, 2013 An excellent build to your usual high standards General.
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