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Mepisto


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One thing about helping out at the kit swap at SMW last year, bargains galore were to be had. One caught my eye and it was the 1/32 scale Mirage 5 in the 'Mephisto' scheme. The kit was in good nick, a few parts being removed from the sprues for test fitting and that was it. So, for £11, It was mine.

The transfers survived a dowsing by Honeybee (clumsy as ever) and I had a good look at this when I got it home.

The panels are raised, so a re-scribe was on the cards, the bang seat was a joke (see photo) and after a snoop on the interweb, the cockpit was also seen to be a pile of poo!

Not to be beaten, I obtained in Perth, a 1/32 scale MB seat from Aeroclub and set to work.

So far, we have two fuselage halves re-scribed, an instrument panel looking something like and a superb resin seat to crown it all.

Further instalments to follow.

MEPHISTO.jpg

What I'm hoping the end result will look like.

Seat.jpg

The totally crap Revell seat and the resin Aeroclub replacement.

Fuselage1-1.jpg

The re-scribed fuselage.

Cockpit1-1.jpg

The even worse instrument panel and the first stage of scratch building the replacement. Also, you can see how much the side consoles have to be raised to bring the cockpit into line with the real thing.

W

Edited by Wolfpack
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Nice work, I shall be watching this one with interest. The big Revell Mirage III is one on my "wants" list ever since I saw it at the Wokingham model show back in 1973 and Revell's ersatz packaging brings back a lot of memories!

Edited by Jonathan Mock
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so the decals weren't damaged beyong use, and you let me think they were.

A little suffering is good for the soul. :evil_laugh:

Anyway, I must have told you they were OK or you would have been bombarded with monetary demands! :fuhrer:

W

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Paul. I aint built a Tomcat for over a year. Should have gone to memorysavers????????????????????? :evil_laugh:

Model Madness

The totally crap Revell seat and the resin Aeroclub replacement.

Bought from the lovely Claire :analintruder: at the Perth show.

W

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Boy, do I love Bank Holidays! :thumbsup: Got down to some serious back breaking detail work for the cockpit. Side consoles detailed, some gubbins on the rear bulkhead and enlarged the canopy rails which overhang into the cockpit on the real thing. :shocked:

Of course, a lot has been left out due to the minute scale, but the office now has a busy look which the standard kit didn't.

Fuselage2.jpg

The fuselage vents, made from Contrail tubing and blended in with Mr. Surfacer 500 and 1200.

Readyforpaint1.jpg

The cockpit sidewalls after priming, ready for the interior colour.

Readyforpaint2.jpg

Cockpit tub and instrument panel at the primed stage.

Well, off to the paintshop now. :nuke:

W

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Hi,

As a Belgian I can only say : " Nice subject". Looking forward to seeing it finished.

BTW,in case you mess up the decals. I have a complete spare sheet if needed.

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WORK! :raincloud: Boy does it interfere with modelling.

One thing I've found about this kit, is that Revell should consign it to the scrap heap. The moulds are some of the worst it's been my misfortune to work with. Every part needs some major work before any extra detailing can even be contemplated. For example, the wings have contoured edges. Yes, that's right, wibbly wobbly edges to them. :hypnotised: Mega sanding is the order of the day to get a decent straight edge. That's not even mentioning the huge gap when test fitted to the fuselage or the dip halfway along the upper wing where it should match the fuselage contour.

So where are we now you ask? Some updates for you.

seat1.jpg

seat2.jpg

The Aeroclub seat has come up a treat, though the launch rails have to be added. :speak_cool:

Cockpit3.jpg

Cockpit2.jpg

The cockpit is basically finished, just some tube to add here and there. :rolleyes:

tank1.jpg

This is Revell's idea of the drop tank, note the fin at the rear which is the basic Mirage III tank without the end plates. Do they give you alternate fins? No chance, so I've made up some from card. Note also the tank is not tapered at the rear, but has a blunt end. :deadhorse:

DropTank1.jpg

The card fins are added now the whole thing needs muchos Mr Surfacer and some heavy duty action with the wet and dry. :hobbyhorse:

Fuselage3.jpg

Of course the intakes need mega work. Not only does the inside have ejector pin marks that have to be removed, but the locating pins show through on the centre body plate. Sheesh.

Filled the gaps using thick superglue and Mr Surfacer.

Fuselage4.jpg

After half an hours work with the wet and dry, a reasonable facsimile of a fitted part ensues.

More rubbing tomorrow and perhaps some work on the two nose halves.

W

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Heavy Dooty Action time. :toilet:

I came to the conclusion that the wings had to be fitted before the fuselages were joined to enable my fingers to push / pull / squeeze or whatever was needed to get the best fit possible. :deadhorse: The smallest gaps were topside, so these were filled with stretched sprue. The undersides were horrendous. Sprue, card and thick superglue were used to get some semblance of fit.

The results after a marathon sanding session and a coat of primer can be seen below. :sleep_1:

JOINS1.jpg

JOINS2.jpg

JOINS3.jpg

All the gaps are still visible but much reduced. Filler should be capable of finishing off these (I hope)! I'm not too worried about the gaps at the rear of the fuselage, 'cos the fin goes there.

The nose, with weight added, was assembled complete with camera windows, which were swiftly masked off. There was a very visible step where the two uneven thicknesses of plastic joined. By cementing some stretched sprue along these, they have all but vanished after sanding.

Nose1.jpg

Time now to let the filler dry thoroughly and watch the first episode of Warship on Ch5.

W

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It seems an age since my last update, but how exciting is filling, sanding (repeat 10 times) :sleeping: and that's been the major work on this thing. Anyway, this is where it is at present:

Stateofplay26May.jpg

Most of the join lines have disappeared, even under white primer. I did find a problem with the nose. Two camera ports are missing and had to be drilled out and filed to shape. :deadhorse:

NoseWindows.jpg

The nose gear is far too long, the upper section was removed to give a more realistic sit. Not only that, both lower forks were removed and cleaned up. There is a dirty great axle here which is not represented on the kit at all. The piece above is a solid casting and not a fork as represented by Revell. This was filled with card and a cut in half piece of tube.

Various bolts were added along with the brake pipe and the brackets for holding the twin landing lights.

Nosegearleg.jpg

The kit item from the box.

Nosegearfork.jpg

The lower fork removed from the oleo.

Nosegearleg1.jpg

This is the main oleo cleaned up after removing the forks.

Nosegearleg3.jpg

The completed leg with bits and bobs added.

Of course just when you think you've crossed the last hurdle, along comes another. The pylons for the drop tanks are too large, I have therefore cut off the top 5mm of the pylon, cleaned those parts up for re-attaching to the tank, then removed the rest of the pylon and discarded those. They now sit much closer to the wing as they should. I'll photograph them later tonight I hope.

Methinks that I should have bought shares in a wet and dry maker and Mr Surfacer! :hmmm:

W

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  • 2 weeks later...

Update as at 08.06.08.

I think the main effort is behind me now. The maingear has been detailed, the oleo's had to be beefed up with Contrail tubing as the aneamic Revell items just didn't look the part. Some brake lines from fusewire, chrome sticky tape on the oleo compression parts, a touch of colour and hey presto!

Maingear.jpg

The modified leg is to the left, the basic kit item on the right.

The various doors have also been primed and painted. The canopy was another 'you get flash with that' part, thankfully only along one edge. The windscreen was a reasonable fit, just some blending in around the front.

I had a suspicion that the kit transfers were going to be trouble and I was right. The curved surface of the drop tanks, already painted gave me pause to think. I decided to see how the transfer would fit. Using Daco's medium setting solution, the transfer conformed to the shape really well, though it was cut into two parts before hand. The biggest problem is the Revell instructions, just where do you put the damn transfer to get it to fit.

Using the instructions, there is far too much overlap at the nose which would spoil the finished item. Going by photos, the transfer is far too short. In the end, I decided to paint the things/ Scanning the transfer sheet and using Tamiya masking tape, I have made the initial mask for both tanks. A coat of primer and they are both ready for the basecoat of white. Stay tuned for the end result.

The fuselage has now had it's first coat of gloss black. Looking good so far.

1stcoat.jpg

The fuselage with it's first coat of black.

W

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