Revell of Germany 1/48 Rafale B

The Dassault Rafale is a French twin-engine delta-wing multi-role jet fighter aircraft designed and built by Dassault Aviation. Introduced in 2000, the Rafale is being produced both for land-based use with the French Air Force and for carrier-based operations with the French Navy. It has also been marketed for export to several countries but has not yet received orders. In the late 1970s, the Air Force and Navy were seeking replacements for its aircraft. To save development costs, France agreed with four other nations to produce an air dominance fighter, but subsequent disagreements led to a split.

To satisfy stringent criteria formulated by the Ministry of Defense, Dassault built a technology demonstrator to prove the viability of its new product. Further development led to the current Rafale variants, which embody innovative avionics and aerodynamics, optimized for air supremacy operations.

Revell of Germany 1/48 Rafale B

The Rafale B 1/48 kit is presented in 7 sprues, 6 of them in light gray and 1 clear. Revell included a little piece of double sided tape to protect the molded in antenna from snapping of during shipping. The instruction manual has 72 steps on 16 pages and starting with the assembly of the ejection seats on step 1 and finishing with the marking options on step 72. Speaking of marking options, these are the ones included on the decal sheet:

–Dassault Rafale B of EC5/330 Côte d’ Argent
Centre d’Expériences Aériennes Militaires -CEAM
at Mont-de-Marsan; Southern France Tiger Meet 2006.

–Dassault Rafale B of EC 1/7 Provence”
at St. Dizier, France, 2006.

The details are exquisite, beautiful receded panel lines and rivets. The kit comes with a modest amount of ordnance which include”
-GBU-12 Bombs (x6)
-2,000 litter drop tanks (x3)
-1,250 litter drop tanks (x3)
– MAGIC Missiles (x2)
-MICA Missiles (x2)
-SCALP EG ”Storm Shadow” with positionable wings (x2)

The fit of the Rafale B is a modelers dream. Very useful positioning tabs. You might want to use extra thin glue like Tamiya. The glue runs around the seams and in no time and little pressure,  your model starts to come together without basically any gaps to fill. As usual with Revell of Germany kits, you have to play alchemy with their line of colors not available on this side of the pond.

The model was painted with Model Master Acryl Light Ghost Gray 36375. Once the decals were applied, the model got an oil wash and sealed with Model Master Acryl Clar Flat applied with my AZTEK A470 airbrush. Exhaust nozzles were painted with Alclad 2 DurAluminum and Burnt Iron for shading.

NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR

Be ready to have your Walters Solvaset handy. Decals are matte with a look of those temporary tattoos you get at a vending machine. I had to literally pass a new #11 blade on panel lines and  rivets to help SOLVASET do its job. I originally started with Microsol but soon realized that as good as it is, Microsol was not up to these stubborn decals. Other than that, the Revell Rafale B is a highly recommended kit.

UPDATE: 7/29/2011

I’ve got a few e-mails pointing out the fact that the refueling boom of the Rafale B kit was a bit off. Indeed it was, that’s how it fits at least on my Revell copy. To all of you, the boom was removed carefully and fixed. Thanks for your e-mails and visiting Model Kits Review.