Dassault Rafale
Undoubtedly one of the most beautiful fighters to ever grace a carrier deck and arguably the best fighter produced by Dassault. In 1983, France, Britain, West Germany, Italy and Spain decided to produce an agile multi-role fighter that could out-match the next generation of Soviet fighters ie. Su-27 Flanker and Mig 29 Fulcrum. France, early on in the design phase, wanted to gain design leadership and a major share in production in this joint European venture. However, due to objections from the other European partners, France decided to leave the consortium in 1985. By July 1986 Dassault had produced one technology demonstrator known as Rafale.
Rafale was conceived as a twin-engined single-seater of canard delta configuration. Rafale had to replace the Mirage F1 and Jaguar in the French Air Force as well as the Crusader and Super Etendard in the French Navy. The engines for Rafale had to be improved for naval operations thus giving rise to the SNECMA M88-3 spool augmented turbofan. Max speed is rated at Mach 1.8. Climb rate is 305 m/sec with max operational ceiling at 16 750 m. Armament comprises of one 30mm GIAT 791 cannon. A typical AAM load would comprise two Magic R550’s and 4-6 MICA heat-homing missiles. For the ground-attack role a variety of bombs and laser-guided munitions could be carried. Recently the Rafale M saw combat over Libya.
This is Revell’s Rafale in 1/48 scale. I built her OOB. This kit has very good surface detail and Revell has recently upgraded the kit to include air-to-ground munitions. The kit goes together easily and the colour scheme makes this a less labour intensive build. Be warned, she comes with MANY small stencilling on the decal sheet and that prolonged the build considerably. The model was painted using Model Master enamels coated with Future. Weathering was kept to an absolute minimum.
30 additional images. Click to enlarge.
Craig Abrahamson said on September 20, 2014
Nicely done build, Morne…..two thumbs up!
Morne Meyer said on September 20, 2014
Thanks Craig for the positive comment.
George Williams said on September 20, 2014
Good clean build and finish, good job, Morne.
Morne Meyer said on September 20, 2014
Had to keep the weathering to a minimum. The Aeronavale keep these aircraft clean.
AL HOFFMAN said on September 20, 2014
Good attention to detail Morne.
Very sharp.
Morne Meyer said on September 20, 2014
Thanks Al!!!!
John Healy said on September 20, 2014
Nice work Morne! That is my favorite modern jet. What shade of gray did you use on it? I have one calling from the stash to be built.
Morne Meyer said on September 20, 2014
Thanks for the thumbs up on my build. Revell says satin blue grey. I opted for Compass Grey from Model Master.
Rob Pollock said on September 21, 2014
Nice undercarriage and tyre details from Revell.
Morne Meyer said on September 21, 2014
I concur Rob. All round this is a very good kit. When Revell brought out the re-release with guided bombs I just had to buy one more!
Richard Mcstay said on September 21, 2014
Stunning build on a lovely aircraft! Good effects on the exhausts.
Morne Meyer said on September 21, 2014
Thanks Richard. The Rafale is a thing of beauty. Still don’t know why the South African Air Force bought Gripens instead of Rafales.
Simon Whitney said on September 21, 2014
Quite wicked Morne, I like the details and with a cleanish look to her , makes her appear very sharp.
Well done Morne
Morne Meyer said on September 21, 2014
Thanks Simon. She looks real menacing! I just love Dassault’s deltas.
Emmanuel said on September 21, 2014
Hello Morne
Undoubtedly a very beautiful model. I share your opinion on this plane, one of the most beautiful. And your assembly pays her well tribute.
Well Done
Morne Meyer said on September 21, 2014
Thanks Emmanuel. I appreciate your assessment of my model.
California Steve said on September 21, 2014
Great looking Rafale Morne. Nice detail.
California Steve
Morne Meyer said on September 21, 2014
Thanks Steve! The aerodynamic profile of the Rafale adds to its beauty. It creates the impression of flying Mach 2 parked on the ground. 😉
olivier.rive said on September 21, 2014
good job ! and “vive la France” lol
Morne Meyer said on September 21, 2014
Thanks Olivier and vive la France indeed!! 😉
Rick Wilkes said on September 21, 2014
Well done Morne, nice clean build. I think it took me 3 days to apply all the stencil decals, but I didn’t get them to lay down as well as you.
Morne Meyer said on September 21, 2014
Hi Rick. Thanks for the positive assessment. The decals were set in position using Future as a setting solution. A very laborious task indeed.
Paul Mahoney said on September 21, 2014
Hi Morne
nice looking build!
Morne Meyer said on September 21, 2014
Thanks Paul. When she was first released by Revell the kit generated a lot of hype. Most of it focused on how well the kit goes together without the necessity of using copious amounts of filler.
Frank Cronin said on September 21, 2014
Morane,
Excellent job on this.
Morne Meyer said on September 21, 2014
Greatly appreciated Frank!
Alan Rush said on September 21, 2014
Hi Morne. I am late joining in and can only echo the comments above. It is a very nice looking plane – both your model and the real thing.
Morne Meyer said on September 22, 2014
Thanks Alan for the thumbs up!
Ramon R. Lomeli said on September 22, 2014
I agree with the others, your model is superb!
Morne Meyer said on September 22, 2014
Appreciate the feedback Ramon.
Mike Grant said on September 22, 2014
Really nice work Morne, and I agree with you: one of the best looking carrier jets out there.
Morne Meyer said on September 22, 2014
Thanks Mike for the thumbs up on my build.
Tony Prince said on September 23, 2014
Morne, I think you’ve excelled yourself with this one. She’s just beautiful & you’ve more than done the kit justice. Nice detail photos too!
Morne Meyer said on September 24, 2014
Hi Tony. Thanks for the vote of confidence in my abilities as a modeller.
Joe Caputo said on September 24, 2014
Well done, Morne. It looks great ! It’s a kit I never really noticed before, but I think you’ve changed my mind about adding one to my stash..
Morne Meyer said on September 25, 2014
Thanks Joe. You won’t be disappointed at all. A great kit for sure.
Bernd Müller said on September 27, 2014
Great build Morne, again with great photography and a high informative
text. And you are right, from the aesthetically point, the Rafale is the best
looking “new” fighter aircraft.
A good inspiration to start a new generation jet .
AUSGEZEICHNET !
Morne Meyer said on September 27, 2014
Vielen Dank Bernd. I can’t praise Revell enough on this kit. I have not seen the Hobbyboss offering yet. However, I doubt if it would surpass the Revell kit.
Bernd Müller said on September 28, 2014
Guten Tag Morne, after all what i have read about both kits, the
RoG kits is second to none and the price made it to the winner.
The new Tornado kit is also very good.
Morne Meyer said on September 28, 2014
I must agree with your assessment! I have seen the Tornado and it is crammed with detail. RoG has surely produced another winner.
Bernd Müller said on September 29, 2014
This Tornado, the Eurofighter and the Rafale are great kits from RoG. It is good, that they not totally forgotten this scale. Years ago they put out the nearly perfect F-15E on the marked but missed the chance for the rest of the Eagle family.