Dassault Rafale M
This is the latest fighter from Dassault and the first naval version prototype, M01, flew for the first time on Dec. 12, 1991. The second prototype, M02, first flew on Nov. 8, 1993. Revell provide markings for prototype M02 as a decal option in this kit. The Rafale M is somewhat heavier than its land-based cousin due to more powerful engines coupled with strengthened and modified undercarriage for use on France's new nuclear-powered aircraft carriers. The engines are SNECMA M88-3s and generate 19,558lbs of thrust as opposed to the land-based Rafale's SNECMA M88-2s which only generate 16,402lbs of thrust. The Rafale is armed with a 30mm cannon and can carry over 13,000 lbs. of weapons, both air-to-air and air-to-ground, including the ASMP nuclear cruise missile. Eventually the French Navy will acquire 86 Rafale Ms.
Revell have done an outstanding job of capturing the sleek lines of the most important French combat aircraft of the last twenty years or so. This is the original release from Revell-Germany and now Revell-Monogram is kicking out copies for the North American Market. They are identical kits with the exception of the box and the instruction sheet (the instruction sheet differs only in the size of the exploded views and decal placement sheet). There are 135 parts (you only use 132 for the naval version) molded in light gray plastic with very good detail and engraved panel lines.
I began to wonder if I would ever finish this kit. I started it back in Dec., and for various reasons only managed to just finish it now. I started it as soon as I got my hands on it and while it requires a fair ammount of work, little disasters kept striking. Like many modelers, I jump all around the assembly sequence and had the missiles all finished when one of my wife's cats got in my lab and decided to eat the Magics (not to mention the prop and backing plate from the Tamiya Mosquito). As luck would have it, all those ESCI kits of Mirages I had have been winnowed out over the years and I couldn't find replacements. Then, back in March, I was almost at the finishing stage when I lost not one, but two of the wing leading edge lenses. Hours on my knees going over the carpet were wasted. I finally decided that the modeling Gods were trying to tell me something and put the kit away. Till last week, when the Revell-Monogram kit landed in the local shop. I scooped it up immediately and very carefully installed the lenses from that kit into this one.
Construction as usual started with the cockpit that is quite complete and loaded with lots of detail. The Martin-Baker Mk.16 ejection seat comes in four pieces and is covered with detail and has the harness molded on and also includes great detail on the back. The instrument panel is molded in clear, I painted the back of the CRT screens green and then masked over the front of them and sprayed the whole panel aircraft black, I then dry-brushed the details and applied gloss clear to the instrument faces and was quite pleased with the end result. The stick controller is also well detailed and the buttons were painted on and then it was glued into the right side of the cockpit tub. The tub has the side-consoles included and is loaded with lots of crisp raised detail, just made for dry-brushing. The HUD screen fitted in nicely after being painted clear green. The correct cockpit colour for the Rafale is black, not the gray that Revell would have you use. The tail and fuselage spine were attached before the fuselage halves were joined so that I could use Tenax from inside the fuselage to attach the spine, otherwise you'll probably lose some of the detail on the spine. The completed cockpit is then glued into the upper fuselage half and then, after opening up various location holes on the lower half for pylons and gluing in the main undercarriage bays to the bottom half, I was ready to put the fuselage together. Take care when doing this, as some patience will pay off with minimal cleanup of the seams resulting. The forward slime light locations are split between the top and bottom half, so be careful to preserve as much detail as possible. One other thing, Revell instructs you to insert the one-piece canard between the fuselage halves. Don't, cut them apart and install them later, it's what I did and it made painting a lot simpler than if I had followed Revell's guide. An interesting note about the real aircraft's canards, they are linked to the undercarriage and tilt upwards 20º to provide extra lift when landing.
| The wings were next and after opening up the pylon holes, they posed no problem at all. With careful filing and sanding, you should be able to get a good wing-to-fuselage joint without the need for filler. The formation lights were added next. I painted the bottom of them the appropriate colour and then attached them with Tenax and masked the bulbs with Parafilm. The nose gear bay is separate from the fuselage, to facilitate later versions of the kit, and again careful trimming will result in a great fit. The same thing applies to the intakes, they're a little tricky, but patience will be rewarded. The undercarriage looks great and goes together and fits in with no problem. It's sturdy, just like the real thing. The only problem I had was I couldn't attach parts 59 and 57, the darn things just wouldn't fit, but you'd have to be looking for them specifically to notice it. One nice thing to note is that the tires are all flat-spotted and look just right when looking at the finished model. |  |
Something else to watch for is part 77, this is the fuselage insert that fits into a recess on the nose just forward of the windscreen and houses two prominent sensors. Be careful trimming this part or you may end up with an unsightly gap. I didn't do too badly and Tenax was able to fill it nicely. The two sensors that fit on top of part 77 are clear parts and both have lenses outlined. For part 78 I applied a half moon strip of tape and for part 79 I masked all three windows. I then sprayed them flat black and glued them on. It's not very noticable, but it looks pretty good. I read a recent review of this kit and the modeler mentioned that Naval Rafales don't have this set of sensors. While it's true that the majority of photos available of ship-borne Rafales don't show these sensors, I've found two that do, and the photo on the Revell-Monogram boxtop shows a Rafale launching from a deck and the sensors are fitted. Another thing is that all or most of the available photos are of prototype and test aircraft. I guess you go with what you like, and I like them.
Stores are well represented and include 3 2,000lt fuel tanks, 4 Mica radar-homing missiles and 2 Magics. The canopy, which can be displayed open or closed, and windscreen were tinted with Tamiya smoke that I had thinned with alcohol, and the results sucked, but I didn't want to take a chance on ruining it while cleaning it up, so colour me lazy. A nice touch is a set of mirrors on a frame to fit into the front of the canopy.
The nose cone and tail tip were painted with 36375 and then masked and the main colour, 36270, was applied. The Rafale actually has a two-tone gray finish, but it is not discernible in some photos so I stuck with the one colour. I next did the panel lines with pencil and after that tedious chore was complete, I applied another thinned down layer of 36270 to blend it in. All painting was done with Testor's ModelMaster enamels, except for Tamiya smoke and clear green.
| After heavily glossing the kit, I got down to the decals. There are a lot of them and they're all in register and as with most kits, they really make the project. You get all kinds of symbols and stenciling and it took a few hours to get them all on. I don't know if it was my set or not, but I had a lot of trouble getting them to adhere, there was almost no adhesive at all, even after loading on Micro-sol. One note about the markings, don't put the fuselage roundels on, they're not carried on the real aircraft. You get two choices of markings, one for prototype M02 and another hypothetical scheme for Flotille 12F. |  |
All in all, a great project (except time-wise). I was able to really enjoy building this kit and I owe much of it to Drewe Manton, whose excellent review and build-up in the August 1999 Internet Modeler was invaluable. Thank you, Mr. Manton.