Potez CM.194 "Magister SS"; Belgische Luchtmacht/Force Aérienne Belge; 1978

Dizzyfugu · September 22, 2018, 08:27:07 AM

1:72 Potez CM.194 "Magister SS"; aircraft "MT-35" of the 1 Wing, 7 Smaldeel, Belgische Luchtmacht/Force Aérienne Belge; Centre de Perfectionnement, Brustem, 1978 (Whif/Kitbashing) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

Some background:
The Fouga CM.170 Magister was a 1950s French two-seat jet trainer aircraft, developed and manufactured by aircraft company Fouga. Due to industrial mergers, the aircraft has been variously known as the Fouga CM.170 Magister, Potez (Fouga) CM.170 Magister, Sud Aviation (Fouga) CM.170 Magister and Aérospatiale (Fouga) CM.170 Magister, depending on where and when they were built.

In 1948, development commenced at Fouga on a new primary trainer aircraft design that harnessed newly developed jet propulsion technology. The initial design was evaluated by the French Air Force and, in response to its determination that the aircraft lacked sufficient power for its requirements, was enlarged and adopted a pair of Turbomeca Marboré turbojet engines. First flying on 23 July 1952, the first production order for the type was received on 13 January 1954. Export orders for the Magister were received, which included arrangements to produce the type under license in Germany, Finland, and Israel. In addition, the related CM.175 Zéphyr was a carrier-capable version developed and produced for the French Navy.

1:72 Potez CM.194 "Magister SS"; aircraft "MT-35" of the 1 Wing, 7 Smaldeel, Belgische Luchtmacht/Force Aérienne Belge; Centre de Perfectionnement, Brustem, 1978 (Whif/Kitbashing) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

1:72 Potez CM.194 "Magister SS"; aircraft "MT-35" of the 1 Wing, 7 Smaldeel, Belgische Luchtmacht/Force Aérienne Belge; Centre de Perfectionnement, Brustem, 1978 (Whif/Kitbashing) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

1:72 Potez CM.194 "Magister SS"; aircraft "MT-35" of the 1 Wing, 7 Smaldeel, Belgische Luchtmacht/Force Aérienne Belge; Centre de Perfectionnement, Brustem, 1978 (Whif/Kitbashing) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

While primarily operated as a trainer aircraft, the Magister was also frequently used in combat as a close air support platform by various operators. In the latter capacity, it saw action during the Six-Day War, the Salvadoran Civil War, the Western Sahara War, and the Congo Crisis. In French service, the Magister was eventually replaced by the Dassault/Dornier Alpha Jet, and a navalized variant (the CM.175 "Zéphyr") was procured and operated from 1959 onwards by the Aéronavale.

Beyond that, the basic 1950 design was considered for several upgrades or specialized variants – including a high altitude trainer or a dedicated single-seat attack aircraft. In 1957 even a supersonic variant was proposed: the CM.174, which featured swept wings and tail surfaces. However, this initial aircraft never made it to the hardware stage because wind tunnel tests revealed serious compressibility issues at speeds beyond Mach 0.65, and that the potential gain in performance through the new wings could not be tapped.

1:72 Potez CM.194 "Magister SS"; aircraft "MT-35" of the 1 Wing, 7 Smaldeel, Belgische Luchtmacht/Force Aérienne Belge; Centre de Perfectionnement, Brustem, 1978 (Whif/Kitbashing) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

1:72 Potez CM.194 "Magister SS"; aircraft "MT-35" of the 1 Wing, 7 Smaldeel, Belgische Luchtmacht/Force Aérienne Belge; Centre de Perfectionnement, Brustem, 1978 (Whif/Kitbashing) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

1:72 Potez CM.194 "Magister SS"; aircraft "MT-35" of the 1 Wing, 7 Smaldeel, Belgische Luchtmacht/Force Aérienne Belge; Centre de Perfectionnement, Brustem, 1978 (Whif/Kitbashing) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

However, this was not the end of the Magister's potential; in 1957 Fouga presented a model of the CM 194 at the Paris Air Show – a much updated aircraft, powered by a pair of stronger Gabizo engines and capable of supersonic speed, even though only in a dive. French officials and some potential foreign customers (e.g. Israel) were interested enough to convince Fouga to build a demonstrator, even though as a private venture. The first prototype left the Toulouse factory in May 1958, the first type to bear the Potez designation after Fouga had just been purchased by the firm.

The CM.194 differed in some details from the model that had been presented – primarily in order to save development time and costs. The basic fuselage structure from the original CM.170 was retained, but the CM.194 introduced completely new wings and tail surfaces, a modified landing gear, a pointed nose and an elongated spine fairing that helped improve the aircraft's aerodynamics for the flight in the Mach 1 region. Power came from a pair of Turbomeca Gabizo, but in order to improve the aircraft's performance and make it suitable for the advanced jet fighter trainer role, the relatively small engines even received afterburners (an arrangement originally developed for the stillborn Breguet Br 1001 "Taon" tactical fighter). With this extra power, the CM.194 was now able to break the sound barrier in level flight and attain a top speed of Mach 1.18, and the type could carry a considerably higher payload than the original CM.170.

1:72 Potez CM.194 "Magister SS"; aircraft "MT-35" of the 1 Wing, 7 Smaldeel, Belgische Luchtmacht/Force Aérienne Belge; Centre de Perfectionnement, Brustem, 1978 (Whif/Kitbashing) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

1:72 Potez CM.194 "Magister SS"; aircraft "MT-35" of the 1 Wing, 7 Smaldeel, Belgische Luchtmacht/Force Aérienne Belge; Centre de Perfectionnement, Brustem, 1978 (Whif/Kitbashing) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

Flight tests started in late 1958 and revealed good handling characteristics, even though longitudinal stability near Mach 1 was considered as unsatisfactory, and the air intakes had to be modified because of airflow problems and engine surges at supersonic. It took until mid 1959 until an enlarged butterfly tail with crescent shape, together with an extended spine fairing, eventually solved the stability problem. The engine surge problem was solved through the introduction of movable shock cones in the air intakes, similar to the "souris" (mice) arrangement on Dassault's Mirage III and IV.
Two more prototypes had been built at that time, being marketed as the "Magister Supersonique", or "Magister SS" for short, and a demonstration tour around the globe in many countries of Magister operators was conducted from October 1959 until April 1960.
However, the CM.194 did not meet much interest. Even though many air forces, also smaller ones, were about to enter the supersonic age and were looking for advanced trainers, the market had been conquered by politically endorsed alternatives in the meantime, namely the Northrop T-38/F-5B and the MiG-21U, and these contenders were much more capable than the relatively light CM.194.

1:72 Potez CM.194 "Magister SS"; aircraft "MT-35" of the 1 Wing, 7 Smaldeel, Belgische Luchtmacht/Force Aérienne Belge; Centre de Perfectionnement, Brustem, 1978 (Whif/Kitbashing) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

1:72 Potez CM.194 "Magister SS"; aircraft "MT-35" of the 1 Wing, 7 Smaldeel, Belgische Luchtmacht/Force Aérienne Belge; Centre de Perfectionnement, Brustem, 1978 (Whif/Kitbashing) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

1:72 Potez CM.194 "Magister SS"; aircraft "MT-35" of the 1 Wing, 7 Smaldeel, Belgische Luchtmacht/Force Aérienne Belge; Centre de Perfectionnement, Brustem, 1978 (Whif/Kitbashing) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

Nevertheless, the French air force procured 42 CM.194 trainers, the first operational aircraft being delivered in early 1963, and some other countries ordered the type, too, including Austria, Belgium, Lebanon and Morocco. Israel even secured license production rights of the aircraft as the IAI T-270 "Drowr" (Swallow). A total of 132 aircraft were built until 1974, and the last CM.194 was retired by El Salvador in 1995.

General characteristics:
Crew: Two
Length: 10.36 m (34 ft 0 in)
Wingspan: 8.92 m (29 ft 3 in)
Height: 2.45 m (8 ft)
Wing area: 16.4 m² (177 ft²)
Empty weight: 3,100 kg (6,830 lb)
Loaded weight: 5,440 kg (11,990 lb)
Max. takeoff weight: 5,500 kg (12,100 lb)

Powerplant:
2× Turbomeca Gabizo axial flow turbojets, with 11.87 kN (2,668 lbf) dry thrust each
and 14.71 kN (3,307 lbf) with afterburner

Performance:
Maximum speed: 1,194 km/h (742 mph; 645 kn) at 9,000 m (30,000 ft)
Range: 1,150 km (621 nmi, 715 mi)
Service ceiling: 13,100 m (43,000 ft)
Rate of climb: 30 m/s (6,000 ft/min)
Wing loading: 331 kg/m² (67.8 lb/ft²)
Thrust/weight: 0.42

Armament:
No internal gun; provision for a ventral, conformal gun pod with a single 0.5" (12.7 mm)
machine gun and 180 RPG
4x underwing hardpoints for up to 1.000kg of ordnance, incl. drop tanks, bombs of up to 250kg caliber,
unguided missiles or gun pods

The kit and its assembly:
This little what-if model is actually based on a real world design – the potentially supersonic Fouga CM 194 was actually presented in model form in 1957, but it never made it to the hardware stage. I found this aircraft in a book about French aircraft projects and had this build on my long project list for a while. When fellow modeler Weaver presented a very nice swept wing Magister (an Airfix CM 170 with G.91 wings and F-86 stabilizers, check this: http://www.whatifmodellers.com/index.php/topic,22253.msg352865.html#msg352865), I took it as a motivation and prepared a build of my own.

1:72 Potez CM.194 "Magister SS"; aircraft "MT-35" of the 1 Wing, 7 Smaldeel, Belgische Luchtmacht/Force Aérienne Belge; Centre de Perfectionnement, Brustem, 1978 (Whif/Kitbashing) - WiP by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

1:72 Potez CM.194 "Magister SS"; aircraft "MT-35" of the 1 Wing, 7 Smaldeel, Belgische Luchtmacht/Force Aérienne Belge; Centre de Perfectionnement, Brustem, 1978 (Whif/Kitbashing) - WiP by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

My build differs from Weaver's approach, though, even though the G.91 wings are a very natural option for the slender Magister. In my case, the fuselage was taken from a Heller CM 170, including the cockpit except for the bucket seats, which were replaced by more appropriate ejection seats. I also used G.91 wings for my build, but these came from the Revell kit. And even though I had a pair of F-86 stabilizers at hand (which are a very good addition to the G.91 wings), I did not use them because I found them to be too small for a butterfly tail on a Magister. After all, two aerodynamic surfaces have to do the job of three on a conservative tail, so that the sum of the surfaces' areas have to be similar. The best alternative I could find in my donor bank was a pair of stabilizers from a Matchbox Harrier; while their shape looks a little odd, their sweep angle is fine and their size works well.

Beyond these obvious changes, some other modifications ensued. The nose tip was changed into a pointed shape, and the area behind the cockpit (the canopy is OOB, just cut into pieces for open display) was raised through the integration of a drop tank half and some serious PSR – inspired by the look of Fouga's first attempt to make the Magister supersonic, the CM 174. Since the G.91 wings came with different landing gear wells, I decided to change the landing gear itself and use the G.91's main struts and covers, while the Magister's OOB main wheels were kept. The front leg was changed in so far that I attached it to the rear end of its well, and I used a slightly bigger wheel (IIRC from an 1:144 B-1B). All in all the aircraft's stance was raised, it looks much more mature now. And in order to keep its lines clean I did not add any external weapons or even pylons. After all, it's a flight trainer.

Another modification concerns the engines – for a supersonic aircraft I added small shock cones in the air intakes (scratched from styrene profile) and I changed the exhaust section, so that bigger/stronger engines would be plausible. I implanted a pair of modified lift engines from a Kangnam Yak-38 kit – I thought they'd be small enough, but on the compact Magister they still appear big! Luckily I found the Br 1001 "Taon" and its afterburner Gabizo engines in literature, so that the arrangement on the model can at least be explained through historical facts. ;-)

Painting and markings:
I was tempted to finish the model in Israeli markings, like Weaver's, but then rather opted for a different route: I wanted to present the CM 194 in very normal operational colors, nothing exotic. After considering several options (Morocco, El Salvador, France) I eventually settled upon Belgium, and I went for the tactical three-tone scheme that was carried by the F-104 or Mirage V fighter bombers.

1:72 Potez CM.194 "Magister SS"; aircraft "MT-35" of the 1 Wing, 7 Smaldeel, Belgische Luchtmacht/Force Aérienne Belge; Centre de Perfectionnement, Brustem, 1978 (Whif/Kitbashing) - WiP by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

1:72 Potez CM.194 "Magister SS"; aircraft "MT-35" of the 1 Wing, 7 Smaldeel, Belgische Luchtmacht/Force Aérienne Belge; Centre de Perfectionnement, Brustem, 1978 (Whif/Kitbashing) - WiP by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

The pattern was adapted from an Alpha Jet export scheme and the colors were approximated from photo benchmarks. Many sources claim that the colors are the standard US SEA scheme, consisting of FS 34079, 34102 and 30219. However, the Dark Green is simply wrong (it's a tone called FS 34064, and it's a very dark olive drab), and the other colors come out much brighter than on typical US aircraft. Consequently, FS 34102 was replaced by RAL 6003 (later even post-shaded with Humbrol 80, Grass Green!), while the tan tone is a mix of FS 30219 with Humbrol 94 (Desert Yellow). FS 34064 was created with a 1:1 mix of Humbrol 108 and 91 (later post-shaded with 75). The undersides were painted in FS 36495.
The cockpit interior became dark grey (Revell 77), while the landing struts and the wells were painted in aluminum; the covers' inside received a finish in Chromate Yellow (Humbrol 81).

1:72 Potez CM.194 "Magister SS"; aircraft "MT-35" of the 1 Wing, 7 Smaldeel, Belgische Luchtmacht/Force Aérienne Belge; Centre de Perfectionnement, Brustem, 1978 (Whif/Kitbashing) - WiP by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

1:72 Potez CM.194 "Magister SS"; aircraft "MT-35" of the 1 Wing, 7 Smaldeel, Belgische Luchtmacht/Force Aérienne Belge; Centre de Perfectionnement, Brustem, 1978 (Whif/Kitbashing) - WiP by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

The dayglow markings on the tips of wings and the butterfly tail were created with decals sheet material, on top of which some paint (Humbrol 209) was added for a slight shading effect.
Generic decals in silver were also used to create the wing leading edges. National markings and warning stencils come from the scrap box.
Finally, the kit received a coat of matt acrylic varnish (Italeri).

1:72 Potez CM.194 "Magister SS"; aircraft "MT-35" of the 1 Wing, 7 Smaldeel, Belgische Luchtmacht/Force Aérienne Belge; Centre de Perfectionnement, Brustem, 1978 (Whif/Kitbashing) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

1:72 Potez CM.194 "Magister SS"; aircraft "MT-35" of the 1 Wing, 7 Smaldeel, Belgische Luchtmacht/Force Aérienne Belge; Centre de Perfectionnement, Brustem, 1978 (Whif/Kitbashing) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

Well, basically a simple conversion stunt, but it's actually a complete kitbashing with – in my case – some considerable PSR work. However, the result is a very plausible, if not pretty, aircraft. From certain angles, the swept-wing Magister reminds me of the Alpha Jet (esp. the nose section, probably due to the pointed nose?), and the whole thing appears somehow bigger as it actually is. And I like the paint scheme: even though it's camouflage, the dayglow markings and the bright insignia and stencils create a lively look.

Spey_Phantom · September 22, 2018, 09:29:52 AM

i love it, great job

Tophe · September 22, 2018, 10:00:14 AM

Good mix, congratulations!

Dizzyfugu · September 22, 2018, 11:25:16 AM

Thank you!

Paper Kosmonaut · September 22, 2018, 11:30:28 PM

Nice one! And totally credible. Really love the research you put into it.

zenrat · September 23, 2018, 04:19:09 AM

Good job Dizz.

NARSES2 · September 23, 2018, 05:31:42 AM

Yet another Dizzytastic build and back story

Old Wombat · September 23, 2018, 09:09:03 AM

PR19_Kit · September 23, 2018, 09:28:44 AM

Quote from: Dizzyfugu on September 22, 2018, 08:27:07 AM

From certain angles, the swept-wing Magister reminds me of the Alpha Jet (esp. the nose section, probably due to the pointed nose?)

Funny you should say that, I was thinking exactly the same. A very nice and super plausible 'upgrade' of a Magister.

Dizzyfugu · September 26, 2018, 12:16:34 AM

Again, many thanks.

TomZ · September 26, 2018, 04:42:43 AM

Looks really nice.
Great idea!

TomZ

Weaver · September 26, 2018, 05:29:09 AM

Nice one Dizzy: it's always rewarding to inspire someone else. Yours look really good.

I actually made a start on another Super Magister earlier this year, but alas, real-world events got the better of me. It has the Airfix fuselage again, but with Matchbox G-91 wings, which are made in two parts, thereby allowing me to cut new undercarriage bays in it for the Magister's totally-in-the-wing undercarriage, as opposed to the G-91's leg-in-the-wing-wheels-in-the-fuselage setup. This means that between the two of us, we've used Airfix and Heller Magisters and Airfix, Matchbox and Revell Ginas, which a few years ago would have been all the available kits of both types!

ysi_maniac · September 27, 2018, 10:30:26 AM

Just PERFECT!!!

TheChronicOne · October 31, 2018, 07:31:05 AM

Fantastic!! I love it!

b29r · October 31, 2018, 09:43:32 AM

Well done, Dizzy, that is a great concept and kitbash. Pretty is as pretty does, and this one is a great one! Love the photo's and all the action shots as well

Best regards,
Kem