Above photo is Photo 01
The year of 2011 brought
forth a surge of long awaited releases for this 1/72 scale Israeli Air Force
enthusiast and modeler. New recessed detailed kits of the Ouragan by Valom and
Vautour IIN and IIB by MPM/Azur were on top of my to do list this year, and they
did not stay there long. Another long time favorite of mine belonged to the
"bad
guys" and it to was built as soon as it sat on my work bench, Eduard's 1/48
scale MiG-21MF. Not only was I given the honor and pleasure of building the kit
as soon as it was released, for my help with the box art, I was also sent a kit
of the Mirage IIIC.
For this year's Israel's independence day, I photographed these new kit releases
I built, alongside other kit's of my collection to help set their place in the
history of the IAF.
Photo 00: The first Vautours arrived two years after the 1956 Suez War against
Egypt. The Vautours were nicknamed "Jet Mosquitoes" due to their
ability to fulfill the same long range attack/recon missions previously carried
out by the WWII vintage wooden DeHavilland Mosquitoes.
Photo 01: The two seat radar equipped Vautour IIN was capable of night
intercepts developed by the Bat squadron prior to the 1956 war. The IIN served
alongside Meteor NF.13 with the Bat squadron till they were replaced by the
Mirage IIIC in 1963.
Photo 02-6: Azure's 1/72 Vautour IIN shown in Alclad II multi shade
finish. With the exception of the nose number, all decals came from
aftermarket IsraDecal sheet.
Photo 07-8: Super Mysteres of the 105 squadron were the IAF's air superiority
fighters until the 101 squadron took delivery of the Mach 2 capable Mirage IIIC
interceptor. The red fuselage arrow helped differentiate the Super Mystere from
the similarly shaped MiG-19 flown by Egypt.
Photo 09 : Heller's 1/72 Ouragan is photographed alongside Azure's 1/72 Vautour
IIN in their pre-1967 War natural metal finish.
Photo 10-11: For most of my 35 years as an Israeli Air Force enthusiast and
model builder, I've been waiting for a 1/72 scale model of the Vautour to come
out. My $85 Hi-Tech resin Vautour IIB never got built due to the excessive
downward curvature of one wing, and the breakage of the other in an attempt to
straighten it. Thank you MPM/Azur for making my wish come true.
Photo 12-15: The four color, War of Attrition vintage camouflage on Vautour IIB
was made possible due to photos I took of the airplane way back in 1986 and
photos which appeared in IPMS/Israel magazine Kne-Mida issue no.28.
Photo 16: Fujimi's 1/72
A-4E converted to the A-4H MiG-17 killer no.03 of the Valley squadron, poses
alongside Vautour IIB no.33 of the Knights of the North sister squadron. The
Vautours of the Knights of the North squadron were replaced by A-4E versions of
the Skyhawk in 1972.
Photo 17: 1/72 scale Bat squadron Mirage IIIC no.766, converted from a Heller
Mirage IIIE, joins the Vautour and Skyhawk in a War of Attrition vintage lineup.
Photo 18: An aircraft comparison only possible in plastic models. 36 years
divide the Knight of the North, 1970 War of Attrition vintage Vautour IIB from
the 2006 Second Lebanon War Iranian "Abbabil" drone killer block
30 F-16C.
Photo 19: Valom's 2011, 1/72 scale Ouragan kit release came to me as a complete
surprise. I built a pair of Ouragans using Valom's kit in 1967 and 1972 vintage
colors. I hope they will repeat their surprise soon by releasing a 1/72 Mystere
IV.
Photo 20-21: Armed with bombs and rockets, Ouragans of the Hornet and Orange
Tail squadrons participated in "Operation Moked" which decimated the
Egyptian Air Force on the ground on the morning hours of June 5th, 1967. Ouragan
no.86 of the Hornet squadron, flown by captain David Yariv, was the first to
attack the Egyptian MiG-21 Bir Gafgafa air base in the Sinai. As he
approached his bomb run, a pair of MiG-21s, attempted to take off from the base.
Capt. Yariv downed one, while the other escaped the incoming attack. David's
victory was short lived, as AAA fired from the outskirts of the base mortally
wounded him. To save the rest of his formation, he flew his crippled Ouragan
into the AAA emplacement and was killed.
Photo 22: 1967 "Six Day War" brown and blue MiG killer Ouragan 86 is
photographed alongside Jordanian Hawker Hunter killer Mystere IV of the flying
wing squadron. Note the differing shades of brown which were in use during the
Six Day War.
Photo 23: Valom's 1967 vintage Ouragan no.86 is photographed alongside Heller's
1961 vintage Ouragan no.70.
Above photo is Photo 17
Photo 24-26: Ouragan no.70 received
a "Mickey Mouse" sitting in an Ouragan cockpit after it restoration
from a fire that engulfed it's tail section, while coming in for a landing. This
aircraft was the subject of the kit's box art. Unfortunately, the kit's
camouflage pattern is not correct, so I have included additional photos of my
model in this article.
Photo 27-28: Ouragan no.10 was the last flight worthy Ouragan in IAF service. It
continued service till 1972, well after the Hornet squadron received their
Nesher (Mirage 5) fighters.
Photo 29: "Shark Attack" - Ouragans that wore the shark mouth
introduced after the 1956 Suez War, to help identify the Ouragans from the
MiG-15 and MiG-17s flown by Israel's neighbors. The shark mouth was removed from
the Ouragans when they were painted in a brown and blue camouflage. Ouragan 70
and Ouragan 10 were the exception in having the shark mouth applied.
Photo 30-32: This amazing pair of 1/48 scale kits form Eduard were built to
stand one beside the other, to commemorate the summer of 1970 Israeli/Russian
dog fight that brought the end of the 1,000 day War of Attrition.
Yoav Efrati
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