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Ray Loch
Amazing build using this Kitty Hawk kit! A quick question, was there any big fit issues and if so where? Thanks Ray

Jonkka Автор
A bloody awful project. Took me almost six months to complete with plenty of problems. Now I know why Kitty Hawk kits are so widely disliked.

I wanted to build most hatches closed and kit really doesn't like that. Fitting problems with the engine cowlings were enormous and although I managed to get a decent result, the gaps between panels stand out if looked closely. Instructions were downright shit, without reference photos it was impossible to know how certain parts were supposed to fit and in my eagerness, I glued engine extraction vents on top of the fuselage wrong way (in most jets those are intakes, but on Jaguar these are extraction vents and awnings should face aft). Kit included wrong clear parts sprue, for French version and although most clear parts are identical, the French version does not have laser designator window on front. I had to scratch build the nose and window. Decals were extremely fragile and broke on several occasions. That is why there is no ID number on front wheel door, although there should be. Had it not included curved numbers (732), I could have tried to paint it but decided against it.

On the plus side, details are good and generally fit was nice (except on lower fuselage and some PE parts). Parts were numerous and as I like building, it was fun until I hit the too frequent problems that I listed above. Not a kit I would build again but I was steadfast to finish this despite plenty of angry words uttered during the project.

Final insult was malfunction on my camera. It doesn't suddenly get shutter speed right and so photos are too dark. I adjusted exposure on GIMP but phots don't really match the colors of the model.

Ray Loch
Thanks Jonkka for taking the time on such a detailed answer. I have several Kitty Hawk kits and love the subjects but hear the same story about them being challenging. I missed the backward extractors and most people would at a contest. Even greater respect that you were able to get to the finish line on this kit and turn out such a quality build.
Cheers Ray

gorby
Excellent result despite the problems you encountered.

Jonkka Автор
Originally I acquired this kit a little by accident. I had ordered Hasegawa's F-4G Wild Weasel but dealer said it was sold out and offered this instead to complete my order and avoid refund. I took it and juggled for a long time what to do with the kit, sell it, donate it or - gasp - build it. Now I finally did to continue my modern jet planes series.

Kit wasn't bad but there's plenty of room for improvement. Panel lines are very thin, like they in Hasegawa kits and I am not fan of those. Instruction sheet is big foldable sheet of paper and that's damn difficult to manage at times. Some detail paint instructions were only in decal part of instructions and I didn't note that early on. Cockpit is quite basic although not much is seen after kit is completed.

I made two mistakes with this kit. First is visible on right side of rudder where I used Tamiya's Super Strong decal solvent and it ate right through the paint and ripped part of the decal, therefore small portion of serial number is missing. Second mistake I noticed only after looking at the pics - front canopy is ever so slightly tilted to right.

Other than these, I am quite pleased with the kit. It's damn big plane, had some difficulty adjusting it into my collection cabinet. Colors came out nice, decal blue matches the Tamiya's varnished blue almost perfectly.

Jonkka Автор
After Mirage III, I decided to build a derivate of it in form of IA Kfir. This is earlier AMK kit with some shortcomings but overall, I was quite pleased with the build quality. Especially decals were of high quality and easy to handle.

I managed to keep all protruding air scoops intact but broke pitot tube no fewer than three (!) times before completing the kit.

Neuling
Very beautiful!