discussion Yaks Chengdu J10s Vigorous Dragon , - 1/48 Bronco Models

[yak face]

Heres my entry for the modern jets GB. its the Bronco 1/48 Chengdu J10S Vigorous Dragon or 'Firebird' to give it its NATO ascc name. This chinese aircraft had a long development ,but the J10 A was intoduced into service in about 2003 (a little later for the two seater 'S' I'm modelling here). The aircraft is chinese in design and manufacture (apart from the russian lyulka al31fn engine) but was helped along with the transfer of data from the Israeli IAI Lavi project which never made production .


The kit is by Bronco , a chinese company mainly known for armour and is beautifully moulded and presented. All the sprues come wrapped in their own plastic bag as does the two decal sheets (all those tiny stencils !!oh no!) and the small photo etch sheet and the turned brass pitot tube (or as it says on the box 'pilot pipe'!!) There are two markings options and a clear sprue which includes both open and closed canopy options.


Anyway , I thought Ian was getting a bit lonely in this GB so I had to join in ! heres some pics ,hopefully Ill get this one done in time !(but dont hold your breath )

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[papa 695]

Nice one Tony.


So your doing a Typhoon just like me then . Well it looks like one anyway.

 

[yak face]

Very similar looking to a few aircraft (Typhoon ,Gripen ) but more like a fusion of both !! Single engine ,canards behind the cockpit like the Gripen , under fuselage intake like the Typhoon .

 

[Neil]

If you should miss a stencil or 20, who would notice? I was looking at this, definitely nothing in my stash - the latest I have is the IDS Tornado I got today and that is 30 years old!

 

[Guest]

Nice to join in Tony!


Lovely first post (introduction and history)

 

[PaulTRose]

something unusual, look forward to seeing it come together


this is one gb i cant join in with as i have nothing in the stash thats not been in service 30 or more years lol

 

[Gern]

If Bronco have included the same kind of microscopic details that they did in their 1/350 Chinese battleships, then this should be right up your street Tony - despite the massive 1/48 scale!

 

[yak face]

Yes dave there are loads of tiny fine pieces on the sprues , their moulding skills are very impressive , whether they survive my sprue cutting skills is another matter!!

 

[flyjoe180]

Nice choice Tony. It really does look like a Typhoon as others have said.

 

[Guest]

This is a nice looking kit.

 

[Bigfoot57]

Great looking kit and loads of extra detail and options will be watching this one come together

 

[Gern]

Yes dave there are loads of tiny fine pieces on the sprues , their moulding skills are very impressive , whether they survive my sprue cutting skills is another matter!!

Don't be such a defeatist Tony! You managed all the parts on your little glider recently, and that was only 1/144 - nearly four times smaller!

 

[yak face]

Heres where I'm at currently . The build has started with the cockpit and exhaust areas. The cockpit has two very nice 6 part ejector seats with moulded on belts which have been sanded off so I can use the PE ones (which were VERY delicate and needed careful painting!). The instrument panels and consoles are represented by raised detail and decals are also supplied . I decided to use the decals over the raised detail and plenty of Mr Mark softer solvent . This worked quite well and after a coat of matt varnish the MFD screens were given a coat of gloss to simulate the glass. The four part exhaust /compressor / flame holder has been painted and weathered inside and is ready for assembly too . heres some pics

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[Guest]

Really nice stuff, and really good job for now, i believe what i missed this post?.... well,now pops ready, cheers

 

[papa 695]

Very nice work on the pit Tony

 

[flyjoe180]

Nice work Tony, that's looking very good indeed.

 

[Guest]

Lovely looking cockpit.

 

[yak face]

Ive managed to get a bit more done today. The cockpit is fastened into one half of the fuselage as is the nosewheel well , the intake trunking and intake also need to go in before the halves are glued together. Care needs to be taken here as the fit is very precise , in fact I had to cut the corners off the front of the nosewheel bay where it fits into a recess at the back of the intake mouth as it was a tad too wide (robert ,take note when you get to this bit)


The fuselage halves are a little warped so I decided to just glue the front bit first and to do the rest when this is dry . The tail fin is also warped , both halves leaning to the left so a little gentle heating and bending courtesy of my wifes hairdryer is in order to rectify this.Im also in the process of painting the exhaust can , its got a very distinctive pattern to it , a silver ring then a very blued section then the rear dark gunmetal bit as shown here View attachment 246727



heres a few pics, cheers tony

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[papa 695]

That is one warped tail fin Tony but nice work on the rest so far

 

[Guest]

Great progress if a bit tricky Tony, it's a great looking aircraft though.