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Another project this year is placed in the shelf. I started the Mirage series and here's the first one. The model is grateful for the work, the little decals are worse, but the end result is satisfied. Thanks to the pilots of the South African Aviation, who sent me books and a handful of photos, not only for Mirages but for their other planes. The colors are Humbrol, upper HU63 and HU75, and down HU65. Here's the picture.

Another project this year is placed in the shelf. I started the Mirage series and here's the first one. The model is grateful for the work, the little decals are worse, but the end result is satisfied. Thanks to the pilots of the South African Aviation, who sent me books and a handful of photos, not only for Mirages but for their other planes. The colors are Humbrol, upper HU63 and HU75, and down HU65. Here's the picture.

Howdy all, I am trying to figure out which was the correct configuration for these aircraft, did they have the lower fuselage tank and fin or did they have the auxiliary rocket fairing like the Mirage 5 and the Kfir? Thanks.

Hi all, That question is in the title. Is the Special Hobby Spanish F1CE/H okay? If not what is the best alternative? Thanks. M

Hi all, That question is in the title. Is the Special Hobby Spanish F1CE/H okay? If not what is the best alternative? Thanks. M

Hi all, been away for yonks, does any good soul have any idea what type of font Dassault used on its mirages? Basically depicting Mirage F1 or Mirage III below the canopy? Thanks and best to all

Hi! I would like to join the GB with another Mirage F1C (suprise ) My choice - F1C, Armee de l'Air EC 1/12, No. 16 , Tiger Meet 1991 Original Kit and accessories

Hi, Since I didn't meet the past two group builds' deadlines on time, I've chosen a build I hope will prove less time-consuming. I don't have much time this year, additionally I'm a slow builder and when dissatisfied I rather tear something off and start again than just leave it be. Initially I really wanted to do a Mirage IVA because I have a nice and complicated modification plan for the Heller kit, but that'll have to wait till another time. So instead I'll do a super smart looking air defence Mirage F.1C in the time frame between 1975 and 1982. I haven't quite made my mind up as to the version; the F.1C-200 which comes standard in the kit or the vanilla F.1C which requires some modification. I'm slightly partial to an F.1C-200 from EC 1/5 Vendée but we'll see about that. Oh look, here's a random picture... As I'm now working on an 'Hangarette' aircraft shelter to complement this project, seen behind the aircraft in above shot, the Mirage build won't start straight away. I'll include pics of that project in this thread. Jay

Mirage IIIE No.458 / 13-PP EC 2/13 ‘Alpes’, Colmar – Meyerhiem, France, 1967 The 1967 Battle of Britain ‘At Home’ day at RAF Coltishall was very special for me. I remember being there with my Dad and my Uncle and was equipped with a camera at last! This was the first time I had seen a Mirage IIIE amongst all kinds of other amazing aircraft and I was determined to model No.458 / 13-PP or its brother No.415 / 13-PK also on display that day. Well it took 50 years but I finally got there. This is one of the photos I took on that day : Thank you High Planes Models for a kit that captures the shape and details of the Mirage IIIE very nicely. I actually had the Australian IIIO kit but all the parts are there to make a IIIE. To be honest, I was expecting the fit of parts to be much better (the main joints required a lot of filler) and the panel lines are overdone (a tad too Matchbox trench like) but it certainly looks every inch a Mirage. I built the old Heller kit just before it to try out some finishing ideas (see pictures) and it certainly shows its age in comparison. Finish was basically AK Extreme Metal AK481 Polished Aluminium sprayed over a Tamiya grey primer undercoat. Wing panels were a mixture of Xtracolour Dark Sea Grey and Aluminium with some panels highlighted with Daler Rowney ‘Goldfinger’ silver (previously marketed as ‘Rub N Buff’). Most small access panels were painted Light Aircraft Grey. Panel lines were highlighted with a sharp HB pencil before coating the whole thing in Klear before decaling. Decals were mainly Modeldecal from various sheets. National insignia came from an IPMS sheet. I had to cut out the centres of the roundels and use the central blue disc from the next size down roundel to get the proportions right. For some reason early Mirage national insignia didn’t conform to the more usual 1/3 red/white/blue proportions. I tried out some ‘standard’ roundels on my Heller model of No.492 / 3-JN but they didn’t look quite right – see photos.

Dassault Mirage F.1 CR 1:72 Special Hobby The Dassault Mirage F.1 has been a successful point defence fighter for over thirty years, and was developed initially as a private venture by Dassault as a replacement to their ageing Mirage III fighters. It is a single-engined, single-seat fighter aircraft with a high-mounted delta wing and capability of reaching mach 2.2 in short order. Power was provided by a single SNECMA Atar turbojet providing about 7 tonnes-force (69 kN; 15,000 lbf) of thrust. Dassault soon found an eager customer in the shape of the French Armée de l'air, who bought various versions over the years starting on 1974. The French retired the Mirage F.1 in 2014. The F.1CR was a programme to bring in some degree of tactical reconnaissance without going to a dedicated platform. The port cannon was removed and a A SAT SCM2400 Super Cyclone infrared linescan unit is installed in its place. A space under the nose can be used for a Thomson-TRT 40 panoramic camera or a Thomson-TRT 33 vertical camera, and variety of podded sensors can be carried on the centreline station. 64 CRs were ordered for the Armée de l'air. The Kit This is a superb new moulding kit from Special Hobby. The parts are crisp with engraved panel lines deep enough not to disappear under a coat of paint, but not trench like. From the parts break down on the sprues it is evident more versions are on there way. Construction starts conventionally enough in the cockpit area. The instrument panel and coaming is built up and attached to the front of the cockpit, the rear bulkhead is attached, and the control stick added in. For some strange reason step 3 in the instructions has you placing the cockpit inside the fuselage and closing it up; and step 4 has you adding the front wheel well and exhaust into the fuselage. I would safely say that it's best to reverse these. On the subject of the exhaust, it is a three part affair and the quality of the kit parts is very good. Once the exhaust, front wheel bay, and cockpit are in the main fuselage can indeed be closed up. Once the main fuselage is together the correct nose can be added for your chose decal option. Various nose antenna are added along with the front airbrakes which are moulded in the closed position. The engine intakes are also added at this stage. Next the main wings are added which are of conventional upper/lower construction. Once these are on the rudder, tail planes, and ventral strakes are all added as well. Once the main aircraft is built it is time to switch to the landing gear. All three units are built up and added along with their respective doors. The undercarriage is quite detailed but has been moulded to be in as few parts as possible. The main legs along with their retraction struts are one part, with only a single small section needed for each of the mains. The wheels are one part each and have nice relief for painting. It is then a quick re-visit to the cockpit to build the ejection seat. For the scale this is quite detailed with 4 parts making up the seat. There is a choice of seat back/cushion however no indication of which to use for which option. It is suspected these options are time frame based, and the modeller should check their references. The penultimate step is to add the pylons. A single centre line pylon is added along with wing pylons, &chaff dispensers. Thankfully this time the instructions show which should be added for each decal option. The instructions show only fuel tanks to be attached, although the sprues do contain a nice selection of French weapons to be deployed as the modeller sees fit,. Lastly the canopy and front screen are attached. Decals The decals are printed by Cartograf so should pose no problems, The are crisp, in register and look colour dense. Three marking options provided in this boxing are; 33-TA ER3/33 Special 4 colour brown Scheme for Red Flag 1990. Flown the now Chief Of Staff of the French Air Force how managed to claim 2 adversary F-15s. 33-NR ER2/33 Standard dessert scheme as used in Chad in 1988 features a sharks mouth on the nose. 33-CY ER1/33 Standard French Grey/Green scheme. These aircraft operated from Corsica over Kosovo & Serbia. Conclusion This is a great new tool kit of an important French Aircraft. Very highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of

Hello, I'm looking for information on the Belgian Mirage 5BA during the 80's. In the specific what kind of weapon load could carry, in addition to the two huge 1700L fuel tanks. I found some pics of Mirage 5BA with LAU rocket pod under the external wing pylons, but nothing else. During the Desert Storm some of the 5BA were deployed in Turkey carrying 2 AIM-9J Sidewinder. I saw a picture of a Mirage 5BA in a museum surrounded by different bomb loads like Snakeye bombs, BL755 cluster … Also I'm looking for some good photos of the Mirage 5BA nose, especially the lower part. Thanks in advance. CIAO! Piero

I wasn't sure I had anything already in the stash that qualified for this GB and Mrs K is keeping a close eye on purchases...but I pulled out a Weekend Edition of the Eduard IIIC with a rather nice NMF Armee de L'Air from April 1976 based at Cazaux. The actual plane is No.92, EC 02/010 Seine, Armee de l'Air, BA120 Cazaux. I have found a couple of reference pictures but am still doing my research. I should mention that I have never attempted NMF before and so this is going to be a bit of a learning curve. I am planning to use Vallejo Metal Colours. Finally I should like to dedicate (my attempt at) this build to my good friend Tim, the only modelling friend I had to share builds with in person (as opposed to you lot) who died in a tragic motorbike accident last month and whose funeral was yesterday. Although not a member I know he had enjoyed browsing the forum for inspiration. Love to his wife Charlotte, son Hugo and daughter Petrie. On with the build. Some photos of the kit: As always all comments very welcome. Dave

Hello folks, This is the Heller Mirage 2000C turn into a 2000-5F version. The nose and the vertical fin are from a Kinetic box, the cockpit too. The seat is from Palva. The aircraft depicted here was based in Crete undertaking CAP missions during Libya operations. Cheers

Mirage F.1B Figure Set 1:72 Special Hobby Special Hobby have released these figures under the CMK label to accompany their new Mirage F.1B kit. The set consist of two standing pilots (one with and one without his flight helmet) and a standing ground crew figure. The pilot figure seem to be just standing there watching the ground crew member frantically fixing something that they probably broke . The figures are very well sculpted with separate arms for the ground crew man. These figures are excellent and just what is needed to bring your Mirage model (or any 1/72 French Jet) to life. Highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of

Hello folks, This is a mirage 2000B from Kinetic. Actually you can't get a B version straight out of the box because of the cockpit that is rather a 2000-5 version. As well, the engine nozzle is awful, needs replacement or a tremendous amount of work. As usually get the right colours for a "blue" 2000 was a little bit tricky. The aircraft depicted here is from the 2/5 Île-de-France, that squadron is the mirage 2000 OTU for the mirage 2000C, -5, D, N pilots of the french air force. The cockpit is from Wolfpack, the nozzle from Aires and the decals from Syharts cheers

A new Ukrainian model company - name still unknown but reported linked to Art Model - is to introduce at the Nuremberg International Toy Fair 2017 (01-06/02/2017) a new tool 1/72nd Dassault Mirage IVA kit to be followed later by a IVP (P for Pénétration) the version carrying the ASMP air-launched cruise missile. Of interest in the picture 1 is the Hurel-Dubois CT-52 recce pod dedicated to the Mirage IVA & P fulfilling the strategic reconnaissance role. Another 1/48th secret project from the same company should be also unveiled at the Nuremberg Toy Fair 2017. Also a Mirage IV? That's the question. Source: http://www.greenmats.club/topic/2803-mirage-iva-в-172-масштабе/ V.P.

Hello gang, Still in my Mirage sery, this one is the Eduard kit. It's an harder built than the Hobby Boss kit of my last effort, fit is ranging from bad to terrible, especially around the windshield area. Another noticeable flaw of the kit is that it's very long legged. Measurements were taken on a museum machine, with no engine, hence the oleo were fully extended. I had to cut a good 3,5 mm from the main legs and close the angle of the front LG wheel arm. Still, the plan is still having a high sit, with rear-up stance. Paints are Gunze acryls, which a re a bit too light, too pastel. Another issue is the Pitot probe, which need to be properly cut and repositionned. As usual your comms and critics are most welcome and seeked. I hope you'll like her. Best, Stef (#6) On to the the piccies

Dassault Mirage III, pics mine taken at The Yorkshire Air Museum, Elvington.

Hello, My last model : Special Hobby 1/72 Mirage F-1CZ Decals : Xtradecals and some stencils from Albatross Paint : Gunze (Mix) and Alclad Accessories, Pitot tub from master, and Resin ejection Seat. Great kit, I simply applied Mr Surfacer on the panel line to decrease engraving. Hope you enjoy this kit too Ivan

Mirage F.1 - for Special Hobby Kit 1:72 Eduard The Special Hobby Mirage F.1 is a great kit, we recently reviewed it here. This set from Eduard provides one colour fret on nickel plated metal and one brass fret. The coloured fret provides mainly cockpit details with new instrument panels side consoles, new seatbelts and ejection seat parts (the kits seats do need some help). The brass fret provides details for the exhaust, air brakes (and well interiors), interior panels for the main and front undercarriage bays, rudder pedals, fin vortex generators, fuel tanks fins, canopy frames, and a front gear door. Lastly a whole host of flush aerials, vents and skin fittings are provided. Conclusion These frets should enhance an already great kit. Highly Recommended. Review sample courtesy of

Well here goes, since I can't see anybody else showing us how this little beauty goes together I'm presenting my W.I.P. of my recently acquired simple set from the big H. I'm rather partial to Tiger Meet schemes so I was rather happy that Syhart re-released the two F-1C Tiger Meet Schemes, one from 1991 and the other from 1994 so I ordered them along with the Special Hobby F1C Simple set at a bargain price. Only lord knows how I made the mistake, I accidentally ordered two 1/48 sheets, so back to Hannants they were posted and the correct 1/72 sheets are now back in the post. The detail in this kit is very nice, the panel lines aren't soft or shallow like in older S.H. or even sword kits, they are nice and sharp and not too deep. So far I've attached the shock cone intakes which are molded all in one. Be careful when removing them from the sprues as there are large points attaching them to the sprue and ejectors. It's nice that they are all in one, but some panel lines on them need re-scribing. The airbrakes are strangely moulded as one large panel which block fits in behind the intakes. With some fettling with a very sharp blade, they could be seperated and posed open I guess as I have seen these open on static aircraft. I've now painted and inserted the cockpit and jet nozzle at the rear. I thought all was happy until I had glued the cockpit tub in place. Part 7 which attaches to the front of the display panel coaming forced a curved part of the fuselage at the front away. It actually snapped off. I believe that curved bit is what wasn't present in the first batch of kits they released (just so you know what I mean). Just cut away at part seven so that it doesn't interfere with the fuselage. That's it so far Martin

As for the Mirage III V01 & V02 ( http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234966443-172-dassault-mirage-iii-v-01-v-02-by-modeslvit-for-bassin-maquette-v-01-released-v-02-in-december-2016/), Modelsvit is to tool a 1/72nd Dassault Mirage G-8-01 & -02 kit for French shop Bassin-Maquette. Release expected in 2018. Source: http://www.master194.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=93502 V.P.

Mirage 2000N EC02.004 ‘La Fayette’ Part of the ‘Ramex Delta’ presentation at RIAT 2015 This is the rather old Heller kit with various updates and modifications. These included some wing re-scribing, addition of Aeroclub white metal seats which themselves needed modifying, addition of chaff/flare dispensers at the wing root trailing edge and new ECM antennas on the fin. I included a full weapons fit for the nuclear strike role mainly because a recent Syhart decal sheet provided the colour scheme and decals for the ASMP nuclear missile carried under the fuselage, and included in the Heller kit. The Matra Magics under the outer wings came from another kit – the Hobbyboss Rafale kit I think. Markings were for Mirage 2000N No.356 / 125-BX which was one of the aircraft at Fairford in July 2015 for RIAT, and flew as part of a demonstration called ‘RAMEX Delta’. Decals were from a number of sources including roundels and stencils from the Revell / Italeri Mirage 2000C sheet, codes, serials and ‘Armee De L’Air’ from a Syhart sheet. Another Syhart sheet of badges provided the ‘La Fayette’ Red Indian’s head insignia for the starboard fin, and the CFAS insignia for the port fin (CFAS = Commandment des Forces Aeriennes Strategiques).

My latest completion yet another Mirage, the Dassault Mirage 5DG of the Gabon Air Force. this is the PJ Production boxing of the High Planes two seat Mirage, this seemed to go together a lot better than the single seat versions or maybe I'm just getting the hang of putting them together. Built OOB this version comes with resin seats and etched brass the only thing I changed were the decals, I used Carpena Decals sheet 72.08 for the Gabon Air Force version despite the age of the sheet 15 years or so they went on very well, I used the kit decals for some of the airframe stenciling as I wasn't happy with the Carpena versions. Any way C and C welcome Willy

Well here's my entry - Heller's 1/48 Mirage IV - with all the trimmings I could lay my chubby little fingfers on (there may be more out there, but this will do for me! ) 1: The BOX 2: The content of The BOX 3: The content of what's NOT in The BOX (yes I KNOW - there are actually 2 (two, deux, zwei) sets of landing gear! I don't know why I bought 2!? ) That's all for now - the building starts the 16'th! (I perceive a lot of rescribing in the beginning!! ) Cheers Hans J