Graeme H Posted March 26, 2015 Share Posted March 26, 2015 Well I got off to a start on Saturday as the first supposedly official start day of this Group Build, (it would appear there was an earlier starting gun) after getting home on the Thursday from the Australian Grand Prix. My choice was an HPM 2 Seat Mirage, Had most of the Saturday to myself, but after the grandkids left on the Sunday morning, SWMBO decide we needed to go north to see the other grandkids, not far just a 380 km drive up the road. Luckily I quickly managed to pack what I was working on and take with me, so sat down and did some remote modeling, now Cairns is a fairly large town, but it has no model shops anymore, the last Toyworld shop closed about October last year, so tried to take everything I could think of, but only grabbed one bottle of Superglue and one bottle of Gunze paint ( tire black). I had done some work on the Saturday as I have said, and having not built anything for the last 2 years while I looked after my wife who is undergoing Cancer treatment, I followed the instructions, now I hear you all say "he did what....", and it would appear rightly so, as when I looked at the spine I had mounted, it was incorrectly labeled in the instructions, and it was only when I put the twin tub nose up to the rear I noticed, it was the spine for the single seater, so quickly grabbed another kit, and made a start on building the 2 seater with the correct spine, so the upshot is I'm now building 2 Mirages, one single seater, and the twin tub, no bad thing I guess . Photos to follow when I download them 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EricP Posted March 26, 2015 Share Posted March 26, 2015 That's a good kit, Graeme, HPM did a great job on them, real beauties with great detail. I have a single-seater that's been in limbo for a year or so, no fault of the kit's, I just got sidetracked. Looking forward to your build! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jean Posted March 26, 2015 Share Posted March 26, 2015 Hi Graeme, there can never be a glut of Mirages, no matter what some Francophobic people may tell you! I have never seen a HPM Mirage, but I gather it is quite a good kit. Unfortunately a tin of tyre black may not suffice... I am sorry to be the one who breaks these terrible news! Have a lot of fun with it! JR Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wez Posted March 26, 2015 Share Posted March 26, 2015 Missed this one, would be great to see an Aussie Mirage. Welcome to the GB Graeme, it's been said already, you can't have too many Mirages. Wez Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob G Posted March 27, 2015 Share Posted March 27, 2015 Townsville's a bit short of hobby shops, too. But at least you still have Toyworld. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Graeme H Posted March 27, 2015 Author Share Posted March 27, 2015 Townsville's a bit short of hobby shops, too. But at least you still have Toyworld. Yeah don't I know it, hope it keeps on going. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Graeme H Posted March 27, 2015 Author Share Posted March 27, 2015 Okay have downloaded the pic I took so far first the box of the 2 Seater and the single This is a kit that is truly modular, in that you can build the back end with worrying about the cockpit, so I did just that this is the fuselage for the twin tub Mirages droop the Elevons when they are powered down, and no kit ever displays this, so I score then droop the elevons only the trimmers, which are the inboard ones always stay level unless there is something wrong I am told. Then I had to cut and bend the fairings on the underside I have since done the single seater as well, and put the wings onto the twin tub fuselage, photos later Can't believe this GB is a week old tomorrow, I need to get a move on 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Enzo the Magnificent Posted March 27, 2015 Share Posted March 27, 2015 Good to see yet more Mirages! I'm also building a t-bird; from the PJ Productions kit, which I believe is identical to yours. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Graeme H Posted April 1, 2015 Author Share Posted April 1, 2015 OK moving along, as I mentioned in Enzo's build the kit supplied 1300L tanks are way undersized, so I needed to fatten them up, my method was to use plastic strip all over, then fill and sand, not something I will be doing again I can tell you. Here you can see what I have done, as I used superglue as the filler, to hurry things along, still took about 5 hrs to both though. Need to add the much wider tailfins, so plastic card cut up and attached Then the kit endplates used, and the pylon attached, just need some paint to see if it all look OK Work also continues on the single seat tub 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TEMPESTMK5 Posted April 1, 2015 Share Posted April 1, 2015 Good morning Graeme Good work so far Patrice Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Graeme H Posted April 11, 2015 Author Share Posted April 11, 2015 OK, managed to get a little more done Poor photo, taken outside (big mistake) shows drop tank compared to plan, maybe just a tough short, but a blind man on a galloping horse and all that Then I went looking for a specific decal I had in mind and opened a box to find this Which I had completely forgotten about, honest Guv Now I think it's more than 25% done, but will build it along with the other 2, and show some photos here, but I won't put it in the gallery assuming I get it finished. So got a phot of all 3 and all at a similar stage This is the ring in, snd I remember I had a devil of a job getting those rails on the outer points, as I wanted to fit a pair of sidewinders managed to spray the undersurface colour on the 2 seater and the ring in The 2 seater has it's supersonic tanks fitted so, Family portrait 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TEMPESTMK5 Posted April 13, 2015 Share Posted April 13, 2015 (edited) Good afternoon Graeme Very nice famillly you have there Edited April 14, 2015 by TEMPESTMK5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jean Posted April 13, 2015 Share Posted April 13, 2015 Hi Graeme, great job so far! How can you forget a half finished model?! Gee man, you must have dozens on the go at any given time! What plans are you using? It is interesting to note that the interior of the cockpit of the Heller 1/48 Mirage III is just as empty (and maybe more so) than your 1/72 models!!! Impressive trio! JR Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew Posted April 14, 2015 Share Posted April 14, 2015 Nice progress Graeme, and good to see that a third Mirage has joined the fray. Your effort on the tanks is impressive, but a pity that it was necessary at all. Anyway, they look just right now. Andrew. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Graeme H Posted May 15, 2015 Author Share Posted May 15, 2015 Well getting back into this Hi Graeme, great job so far! How can you forget a half finished model?! Gee man, you must have dozens on the go at any given time! What plans are you using? It is interesting to note that the interior of the cockpit of the Heller 1/48 Mirage III is just as empty (and maybe more so) than your 1/72 models!!! Impressive trio! JR Things are very complicated for me for the last 2 years as my wife battles cancer, the first 12 months was nightmare, eased up a bit about a year ago, but not going well at the moment, so that is the reason I forgot the half finished model, and didn't do much modeling, lived through this and a couple of other forums sitting with her in hospitals, so managed to forget quite easily. The plans are in the rear of the Mirage IIIO book, here http://mmpbooks.biz/shop2/product.php?productid=17670&cat=3&page=1 which is specific to RAAF Mirages only, they were drawn by Juanita Franzi who in my opinion does really impeccable work http://aeroillustrations.com/ Got the undersides painted, and then masked the undercarriage bays Then after painting those set about masking the canopies sprayed some black around them, note I have put some Grey on one After masking off the undersides, I have sprayed all 3 with Model Master Enamel RAF Dark Sea Grey now need to let the paint dry, and fix any problems, more later 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Romeo Alpha Yankee Posted May 15, 2015 Share Posted May 15, 2015 Nice progress Graeme, which SQNs will they belong to? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TEMPESTMK5 Posted May 15, 2015 Share Posted May 15, 2015 Good afternoon Graeme Good job so far Patrice Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Graeme H Posted May 16, 2015 Author Share Posted May 16, 2015 (edited) Nice progress Graeme, which SQNs will they belong to? My current thinking is the 2 seater will be a 3 Sqn one from the kit decals, probably do 2 OCU from the decals that Chris gave me with it for the next one. The single seater 79 Sqn one with the Israeli supersonic tanks and Matra R550's I don't think there wasany carry over to them having the R530's and R550's at the same time Thanks to Enzo Matrix's mention of resin tanks in the PJ version of the 2 seater kit, I went out snd bought one from Hannant's to see what exactly they were, and of course it gives me another 2 seater to do, which is no bad thing. It turns out the resin tanks that Enzo thought copied the plastic ones are in fact Israeli supers with the pylon in the correct place, very subtle , but very correct, which the plastic ones in the kit don't do, and having struggled with trying to move the pylons on the kit ones, these are a much better option, It appears the Belgian Air Force also used the Israeli supers The PJ Kit also includes photoetch for the 2 ladders, and resin MB Mk6 seats, all in all a good package So with the third one I am still undecided, as I fitted the Sidewinder rails I was thinking it would have the R530 centreline, when I work out more on the unique pylon for that., then the Israeli supers, and Sidewinders on the outer, from memory there is a photo of a 75 Sqn one with a config like that. The big problem with all of that of course is that I will have a pair of big jugs left over, that I spent so much time and effort on, so the only common sense answer would be to build another Mirage after I finish this lot. Of course I am pretty flexible and open to suggestions on RAAF options. Edited May 16, 2015 by Graeme H Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Graeme H Posted June 3, 2015 Author Share Posted June 3, 2015 Ok a little more done after a lot of masking, one painted, and using some of the masks on the single seater, no 2 RAAF Mirages schemes were exactly the same and in some cases very different, so modified the scheme a bit OK, 2 now done, and masking not good enough for the third. Can't believe how long the masking is taking, but sticking with it The 2 seater will b 3 Sqn bird and the single seater will be a 79 Sqn one both from Malaysia in the '80's 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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