Ecuadorian Air Force -- F.1JA Part 1

Historically the Ecuadorian Air Force has used aircraft from a number of western sources. The current structure of the Ecuadorian Air Force primarily uses the ATLAS Cheetah in the air combat role. However, in the past Ecuador has used a larger variety of other aircraft, including the Mirage F.1JA, SEPECAT Jaguar, Kfir C.2, A-37B Dragonfly, Mirage 5, EE Canberra, BAC Strikemaster, Gloster Meteor, & P-47 Thunderbolt. There were other aircraft used that I will look at exploring in the future. But for now I am going to solely discuss the aircraft used in the "modern" era.

Perhaps the most well known fighter used by Ecuador was the Mirage F.1JA. This was essentially an F.1C built to Ecuadorian standards. They began to receive these aircraft in the late '70s, just in time for the Paquisha war. One thing I can say about the French: they do make pretty looking aircraft.

For kits of this aircraft, there are a few options:

•  Special Hobby F.1C 1/72: this kit is also reboxed by Revell as well. I have this kit & intend to build it as a Fuerza Aeria Ecuatoriana bird. Kit includes recessed panel lines & is very modern. Might be the best of them all in this scale.
• Hasegawa F.1C 1/72: this is a much older kit from the early '80s. I believe it has raised panel lines, but otherwise the kit is fairly basic. The armament scheme also is not appropriate for an Ecuadorian aircraft (Ecuador only used Matra Magics as far as I know).
• Airfix F.1 1/72: another fairly old kit. From the build-ups I have seen it makes for a decent kit. But it also dates from the late '70s so has raised panel lines & very basic details
• Esci F.1 1/72 Another older kit, but perhaps the nicest of the older kits. If the Special Hobby kit was not available, this is the kit I would choose for this aircraft. I haven't looked, but Italeri has all the old Esci molds, so may be available through them.
• Heller F.1C 1/72: this may have been the first F.1 on the market, pre-dating the Airfix kit by a year. It also came out around the time Ecuador was buying its F.1s as well. Still an older kit with raised panel lines, & all the negatives that come with it.

There are kits in other scales, like 1/48. But I do  not build in those scales so will not go into detail about them. Perhaps sometime in the future I may revisit the subject after putting in the necessary.

As well, the market is rich with aftermarket parts, such as photo-etch from Eduard, resin cockpit & detail sets, & aftermarket decals. I will be using aftermarket decals as none of the kits that I know of have specific Ecuadorian markings (French markings are of course the most popular, though the aircraft was widely exported).