Dassault Super Etendard 1:72 Argentina (Academy)

The inspiration. It's just such a unique plane, and it played quite a prominent part in the Falklands. Definitely gonna attempt another build at some point, maybe with the Heller kit this time. 

This is where the magic happens - my humble airbrush setup. The build was pretty straightforward, so I didn't take any pictures. Likewise, the OOB cockpit had very little detail. 

I started with a black primer, followed by white prefilling, and then Vallejo 71.054 Dark Grey Blue. Unfortunately I didn't thin it enough and got impatient, which resulted in the color being a little too dark. 

Still, for my first attempt at proper airbrushing, I think it went quite alright 

Decals going on, so far so good. Note how the red wing decals still look pretty decent, despite not being aligned 100% (foreshadowing) 

Side decals, along with the okay-ish paintjob of the tail 

The bottom side - I must say I am quite proud of how the masking turned out 

The nose masking was not exactly flawless, but it was a tough shape 

Better view of the belly - unfortunately, I lost the arrester hook and never found it again despite its size ;_; 

There it is, in all its beauty, after applying protective coats and a homemade oil wash in white to bring out the panel lines. What follows is pictures of details including all the mistakes, you have been warned 

Side view with (blurry) exorcet. Excuse my camera. 

While not perfect, I think the tail turned out nice. The sun decal had a white background, which was a bit of a pain (see next pic) 

On this side, the decal slid down and the white background with it. Yikes. 

Nice little front view. Cockpit masking is another area where I need to be more patient and precise, but overall the nose worked out nicely. 

 

 

The academy decals from 1996 were not amazing, and three decades of storage resulted in some tearning on the nose numbering. The mascot feels a bit off, especially compared to other versions of these markings. 

Here you can see the damage done by 1. my poor rescribing of panel lines and 2. the homemade oil wash running under the wing decals. 

Content warning: Decal gore. Easily the worst picture in this album, showing the full extent of damage done by the decals not setting enough (even though I used decal setter) and the oil wash running below the decals because of my overenthusiastic panel scribing. 

The plastic also turned out to be quite scratched, I should have filled, sanded and polished again after priming. 

 

Very simple exhaust, handpainted in Revell Aluminum / Iron.  

 

 

Hope you enjoyed this journey and learned from some of my mistakes. Rule #1: Be patient. Rule #2: Always double check.