SCALE MODEL NEWS

Fast-flying canard fighting plane from France, with kits from Revell and other manufacturers to back up excellent video action at YouTube. This is an ace video from the French armed forces, offering plenty of opportunities to see the pretty twin-engine Dassault Rafale in action, and to note details for modelling purposes, especially in the cockpit and helmet design reference. Pleasingly, there are plenty of Rafale kits to choose from , one of our favourites being the Revell Rafale M to 1:48 scale. Add some careful weathering and panel detail to turn the wick up to quite stellar modelling levels. We ran across a nicely made Rafale from model maker Calum Gibson, whose completed model you see here. As painted, the aircraft represents something of a what-if scenario, as keen-eyed aviation fans will note an Australian kangaroo roundel below the cockpit. Still, it's always fun to speculate, and a well-made model contributes to the fictional day-dreaming process. Calum also has a really i...

SMN report: News last week of continuing delays on the Lockheed Martin F-35 aircaft meant that at least one defence planner was losing sleep. UK Admiral Sir Trevor Soar was reported - inaccurately, apparently - by The Times of London, as thinking about the French Dassault Rafale ( Revell kit above ) and US Boeing F-18 Hornet as backup aircraft in case of further delays. Typhoon-N alternative Other defence specialists reckon the Eurofighter Typhoon-N is worth looking at closely. And who are we to argue with that? SMN reported on Typhoon-N proposals some time ago, and we still reckon it makes a good alternative, not least because the twin-engine jet would need only a ski-jump for takeoff, not a full-house (and expensive) electromagnetic catapult system. The link to that piece is listed below. Rafale in miniature And what about models? The Rafale is a handsome looking machine that hasn’t has too many kits made of it, though the 1:48 scale Revell offering is pretty good. For a detaile...

David Jefferis reports: Ace news for Swedish aerospace company Saab this week, as Switzerland has decided to go for the Saab Gripen NG (New Generation) as its front-line combat jet. The Gripen has been a challenger for the 22-aircraft order, in a long-running competition between state-of-the-art fighters such as the Dassault Rafale, EFA Typhoon, and Boeing F/A-18. Export success The single-engine Gripen (meaning: Griffin) is turning into something of a success story, as Saab quietly notches up its sixth export customer. For the Swiss, the Gripen represents a natural upgrade path that replaces the long-serving F-5 Tiger, and an affordable one too - buying the Gripen means no cuts to other branches of the Swiss military. Latest version The Swiss order is based on the latest Gripen NG, which has not yet been offered by an injection-kit manufacturer - so maybe the new Swiss Air Force order will inspire Italeri, Airfix or Revell, all of whom make Gripens, to come up with an upgrade PDQ. It...

SMN report Eurofighter has released details of its proposed navalised Typhoon jet, and a glance at the details makes it seem the answer to a defence planner’s budget problems. The basic aircraft is already in service and proven, the development cost would be far less than a clean-sheet design, and best of all, there’s enough power from the two EJ200 engines to allow carrier takeoffs using a ski-jump - no catapult equipment needed. Typhoon-N to replace the F-35? For the UK’s Royal Navy, the Typhoon-N looks particularly interesting. Here’s a way to cut out the F-35 completely, and keep the cost of new aircraft carriers down as well, for ski-jump installation and operations are far cheaper than using catapults. Commonality between Typhoon and Typhoon-N has another benefit too - maintenance ought to work out cheaper, from flight and technical training to the supply and cost of spares. A Typhoon for kit-bashers For model makers the Typhoon-N looks a very interesting project indeed, and a no...