1/72 Italeri Sepecat Jaguar

Gallery Article by Fernando I. Moreno Villa on Apr 22 2011

 

Sepecat Jaguar - Fuerza Aérea Ecuatoriana

The Equatorian Air Force obtained from Great Britain twelve brand new Sepecat Jaguar ES (10 single seater and 2 trainers) in 1977 to substitute their fleet of aging T-33's, becoming the first supersonic aircraft for this country and one of the most advanced attack aircraft in South America. 

In spite of being a powerful military asset, unique in the entire continent, Equatorian Jaguars saw little action during the Cenepa War in 1995 mostly because they were commissioned as reserve and kept for deep penetration missions in case the hostilities went longer than expected. It is uncertain if any of them remain in flight condition up to date. The 309 belonged to the Combat Squadron 2111 based in Taura.

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I had good expectations about this kit from Italeri, which made me think it was going to be enjoyable and smooth. Although it has good surface and interior details, there were several issues that made some stages of the process really frustrating. For example, the frontal wheel bay is a big hole covered only by the cockpit tube floor and the intakes and wings had huge misalignments that needed a lot of sanding and putty, taking away part of the beautiful panel lines. 

I used a Pavla resin seat instead of the seat provided in the kit. For paint, Light Gray was painted first for the belly and underwings. Then I started the camouflage with a mix to achieve the British dark sea gray tone and finally, Dark Green. All paints were Model Master. Masking was done with Tamiya tape and a local gum similar to Blue-Tac.

I used the decal set from Aztec Models. Both Matra rocket launchers came from the spare box. No other modification or addition was done. I hope you like the final result. 

Thank you all and regards from Monterrey, México.

Fernando I. Moreno Villa

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Photos and text © by Fernando I. Moreno Villa