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AMD Mirage III E - 1:72 PJ Production


Paul A H

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AMD Mirage III E

1:72 PJ Productions

mirageboxtop.jpg

The Dassault Mirage III ranks alongside the MiG-21 and McDonnell Douglas Phantom as one of the most easily recognised and widely used combat aircraft of the Cold War. First flown in 1956, the distinctive tailless delta was built in significant numbers and was employed by the air forces of a large number of countries, including Australia, Belgium, Egypt, Spain and Switzerland, as well as France. Incredibly, it is still in service with the air forces of Argentina and Pakistan.

The III E was a multirole/tactical strike variant, developed from the III C interceptor. It differed from the interceptor version in having a 30cm fuselage extension in the forward fuselage, just aft of the cockpit. The extra space was used to increase fuel capacity and house additional avionics associated with the Mirages new role. Many, but not all, III Es also had a continuous wave Doppler navigation radar fitted under the cockpit. The vertical tailplane was also revised in order to house a radar warning receiver, and the new Atar 09C engine was fitted with a petal exhaust nozzle.

This kit marks a new chapter in the story of PJ Production, a Belgian manufacturer whose previous kits have all been produced in resin. This is one of the first in a series of injection moulded Mirages, produced in cooperation with High Planes Models of Singapore. The kit comes packaged in a top-opening box with a flip-top lid. Inside the box are four sprues of grey plastic, a single clear sprue, a bag of resin and photo etched parts, a sheet of decals and a full-colour painting diagram/instruction book. Upon opening the box, you are greeted with the intoxicating smell of fresh resin.

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The plastic parts look reasonably well moulded. I couldnt find any signs of flash but there are some shallow sink marks on the trailing edges of the wings, which are moulded as solid parts. Surface detail is comprised of recessed panel lines. They are quite pronounced but appear to lack sharpness. If you dislike the current generation of Airfix kits because of the way the panel lines are rendered, then you may not like this kit either.

Construction starts not with the cockpit but with the wings. The lower surfaces are moulded in a single span with the wheel wells moulded partly in place. The trailing edges are nice and thin, but as mentioned above, the panel lines are rather pronounced. The rear fuselage can also be assembled and fitted to the wings before the cockpit has been put together. Remember to use the resin stabiliser rather than the plastic version as the latter is not correct for the III E. The panel lines are noticeably finer on the resin part too. The engine exhaust is all-plastic and can be assembled and fitted at this stage of construction as well.

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Construction finally moves on to the cockpit once the major parts of the airframe have been assembled. The instructions refer only to the plastic ejector seat, even though a superb resin version is included. This is a bit of a mystery, as although the plastic seat isnt the worst Ive seen, I wont be using it over the resin one, which is rather lovely. The rest of the cockpit is comprised of a tub, instrument panel and control column, all reproduced in resin. The extra detail provided by the resin parts wont be wasted as the canopy is pretty clear and can be posed in the open position as well. Four different nose cones are provided, so make sure you use the right version before fixing it in place.

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The engine intakes are pretty thin and sharp, although they are only half-an-inch deep. With these in place the airframe is pretty much complete and the instructions move on to the finishing details. The undercarriage is pretty nice, although the main gear wheels are split vertically. The undercarriage doors feature nice detail on the inner surfaces.

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The navigation radar dome is replicated in resin and plastic, leaving you free to choose which to use. A full set of drop tanks is provided, including a subsonic belly tank and 1300 L, 1700 L underwing tanks, as well as 500 L supersonic tanks. A small photo etched crew access ladder is also included, which is a nice touch.

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Four options are provided on the decal sheet:

  • Mirage III E, French Air Force, EC 03/003 Ardennes, Nancy-Ochey, 1991. This aircraft is finished in dark green and dark grey camouflage over aluminium undersides;
  • Mirage III E, French Air Force, EC 02/004 La Fayette, Luxueil, 1979, also finished in dark green and dark grey camouflage over aluminium undersides;
  • Mirage III E, French Air Force, EC 02/013 Alpes, Colmar, 1996. This aircraft is natural aluminium; and
  • Mirage III EE, Spanish Air Force, Sqn 112, ALA 11, Manises, 1992. This aircraft is finished in dark green and dark grey camouflage over aluminium undersides;

The painting instructions are printed in colour, which is always helpful. The decal sheet itself is nicely printed. The makings look crisp and clear and the colours used are nice and bold. The decals look thin and glossy on the sheet.

Conclusion

A new kit of an important type such as the Mirage III is always welcome, and this is no exception. The kit looks pretty accurate, it includes some useful resin extras and boasts a superb decal sheet. On the other hand, theres no doubt that the panel lines are going to be too pronounced for many modellers tastes. This feature can be remedied with a little care and attention, and I would certainly avoid finishing the model in a natural metal scheme without doing so. Overall though, this is a nice little kit, and the few finished examples that I have seen certainly look pretty good. Recommended.

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Review sample courtesy of forum-logo.jpg

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  • 1 month later...

Is there a review of the AML kit anywhere? My search isn't turning up anything. A link would be helpful, please!

I too am on a quest for a decent, affordable and available Mirage III(B/C/E/5)

Airfix, are you listening? :bangin:

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AFAIK there's no Mirage IIIE kit by AML yet. I have their IIIC and it's a real beauty :)

However the old Revell (Monogram tooling with complete Atar engine) IIIE is much better than Heller one.

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AFAIK there's no Mirage IIIE kit by AML yet. I have their IIIC and it's a real beauty :)

However the old Revell (Monogram tooling with complete Atar engine) IIIE is much better than Heller one.

Monogram tooling ? AFAIK the revell mirage is an original revell tool dating from the '70s. Back then the two companies were competitors and did not exchange tools.

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Is there a review of the AML kit anywhere? My search isn't turning up anything. A link would be helpful, please!

I too am on a quest for a decent, affordable and available Mirage III(B/C/E/5)

Airfix, are you listening? :bangin:

Try a Google search on "AML 1/72 Mirage III" - you will find a few reviews which should help.

Edited by Christopher
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The AML kits are of the B & C variants.

What would be their use if someone wanted to do an -E or a 5???

The 1/72 scale Mirage III by Revell is just a scaled down version of their 1/32 scale kit.

While it has external stores not in the Heller kit, it is crudely molded and with attrocious fit.

(Not helped by the odd parts break down; each wing is in top and bottom half resulting to massive gaps in the wingroots.)

Shape wise the Heller kit is much, much better.

Finally the removable engine is just a 70s gimmick; I don't think most modellers nowadays would have any use for it.

Panoz (who still suffers from Posttraumatic Stress Disorder having built AML's He-45 & He-46 12 years ago).... :owww:

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Also, I've often seen in different reviews that the AML IIIC is not à kit to put in anyone's hands, as it´s à bit difficult to tackle.

Nevertheless, I've the tsniut version in my stash, and it does look truly good.

Thanks for the review anyway, and well done PJ.

I hope we'll see soon more boxes with exotic markings on the IIIE line.

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  • 8 months later...

The AML kit is NOT as nicely molded as the PJ/High Planes kit. Also it has some issues with the fit of the resin. Panel lines are a little too faint too. Also it is OOP so would not be easy to obtain?

This may help:

http://www.ipmsusa3.org/reviews/Kits/Aircraft/aml_72_mirage_3cj/aml_72_mirage_3cj.htm

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  • 1 year later...

Hi guys,

Sorry for resurrecting this, but can you please help me out with something?

This kit contains two separate aft fuselage pieces: a short one [C9] and a long one [C8]. The long one can be seen in this thread in the picture together with the resin fin, PE plate, etc.

Why the two different options?

From the High Planes boxes (I have the IAI Finger one in front of me) I see that only the short aft fuselage [C9] is to be used on the Latin American Mirages?

What is the longer aft fuselage intended for?

Please help! :blush:

Niki

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Hi guys,

Sorry for resurrecting this, but can you please help me out with something?

This kit contains two separate aft fuselage pieces: a short one [C9] and a long one [C8]. The long one can be seen in this thread in the picture together with the resin fin, PE plate, etc.

Why the two different options?

From the High Planes boxes (I have the IAI Finger one in front of me) I see that only the short aft fuselage [C9] is to be used on the Latin American Mirages?

What is the longer aft fuselage intended for?

Please help! :blush:

Niki

Hello Niki,

The long aft fuselage piece (C8) is for a Mirage IIIB or IIIC. Of course, High Planes (in their current form) has not yet released these versions of Mirage, but the provision of that piece tells me that it is only a matter of time (says he, ever hopeful). Here's a link to the High Planes Models Facebook page, with some interesting photos posted on 18 December last year; perhaps we may have a Mirage IIIB (and by extension a IIIC) sooner rather than later.

cheers,

Andrew.

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Andrew,

Thousand thanks for these details!

I was indeed hoping C8 would be related to the earlier Mirages but couldn't be quite sure.

You and me both looking very much forward to the High Planes/ PJ Mirage III C/B :eat:

Cheers,

Niki

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