I just finished a Special Hobby kit and a Valom kit, and both proved to be challenging builds. I wanted to build something for the Desert Storm Group that was a little less challenging, so I chose a 1/72 Hasagawa Jaguar GR.1.
I got a set of decals for the Operation Granby Jaguars from KitsWorld.
Although the color schemes were all the same, the main difference was the choice between some really great nose art. After looking over the choices, I decided there was only one real option for the nose art: a plane called Johnny Fartpants. I can't even say the name without smiling. This plane was a Jaguar GR.1 of 41 Squadron, Serial number XX725 T. It accumulated 47 combat missions during Operation Granby (the British name for Desert Storm).
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1. Photo of actual Johnny. Courtesy of dstorm.eu.
The plane is basically built from the box. The only thing I substituted was the ejection seat, which I replaced with one I had lurking in my spares box. I doubt if this is the correct seat for the Jaguar, but it looks considerably better than the kit seat.
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1. Kit cockpit with resin seat
I painted the plane using Tamiya Desert Tan, which is close to the color used on the Jaguars. I use a three part process to give the finish a little variation: I spray the plane with the base color, then add some dark highlights along panel lines and random panels, then tie it all together with a very thin coat of the original color.
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1. Base coat plus contrast color. Looks scary, but everything blends later.
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1. Very thin coat of base color blends everything together.
I finished up with some weathering using various colors of artist oils. I apply the oils, and then gradually blend them using mineral spirits.
9 additional images. Click to enlarge.
