Muzz Posted October 2, 2016 Share Posted October 2, 2016 I received this kit a few weeks ago hot off the production line, think I was pretty much sold on the box art as I've never had a thought of building a Mirage III before this! Interestingly though I don't intend finishing the kit in any of the two special schemes that come in the box, I'm going for a standard grey/green camo pattern. Stunning decal sheet! I'm going for the standard scheme on the right. 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMP2 Posted October 2, 2016 Share Posted October 2, 2016 I see what you mean about the box art, looks lovely and Ive never looked twice at a Mirage III either. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muzz Posted October 2, 2016 Author Share Posted October 2, 2016 Starting with the wheel bays for a change! The nose wheel well parts painted and ready for construction. Main wheel bays. The intake trunking's had some ejector pin marks that need to be sanded away (after construction I doubt you would see them) and then sprayed AK Extreme Metal Aluminium. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMP2 Posted October 2, 2016 Share Posted October 2, 2016 (edited) Re the wheel bays.... Jesus - just how do you guys paint the piping in them so cleanly? Ok, I see a little wobble, but in general the lines between the pipework and background colour is so clean... How? Just how? Edited October 2, 2016 by RMP2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muzz Posted October 2, 2016 Author Share Posted October 2, 2016 26 minutes ago, RMP2 said: Re the wheel bays.... Jesus - just how do you guys paint the piping in them so cleanly? Ok, I see a little wobble, but in general the lines between the pipework and background colour is so clean... How? Just how? I painted these first with AK's Extreme metal Aluminium, then used masking fluid to mask off the pipe work. The real aircraft have a yellowish coating on most of the nose gear bay and some parts of the main wheel bays which is the effect I was going for, was hoping for the metal colour to show through a bit more. I then picked out remaining grey areas with a brush. The small pipes don't stand out that much but were done with a brush similar to dry brushing but more precise. Muzz 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Don Posted October 3, 2016 Share Posted October 3, 2016 Great start on a really neat plane. The Swiss Mirages were always my most favorites. Can't wait to see more. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Biggles87 Posted October 3, 2016 Share Posted October 3, 2016 You're off to a good start. I also like Swiss Mirages and particularly the PR type so I can see one of these coming my way in the not too distant future. Looking forward to more soon John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muzz Posted October 3, 2016 Author Share Posted October 3, 2016 Thanks for the comments. Cockpit painted and fitted. It's quite a tight squeeze with the cockpit, nose gear bay and intake trunking fitted, the instructions would have you join the respective trunking sides to the inside of the fuselage half's before joining but I did't see that turning out that well! 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Uncle Uncool Posted October 3, 2016 Share Posted October 3, 2016 1 hour ago, Muzz said: It's quite a tight squeeze with the cockpit, nose gear bay and intake trunking fitted, the instructions would have you join the respective trunking sides to the inside of the fuselage half's before joining but I did't see that turning out that well! Ya lead, we follow, sir. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
guillaume320 Posted October 4, 2016 Share Posted October 4, 2016 Excellent job so far. I think one of the key steps to avoid ending up with a trench at the wing-fuselage junction, is to NOT squeeze the fuselage halfs against the compressor channel. Not doing so will leave you some room to spread the fuselage halfs and end up with almost no filler required! Another good idea I've seen online is to glue the upper wing parts to their respective fuselage half, and only then add the lower part... Good luck, Guillaume 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muzz Posted October 5, 2016 Author Share Posted October 5, 2016 Things have progressed quickly, the fuselage went together without any issues and only a small amount of tidying up was required with the top seam. Wing section also attached, had to remove some plastic from the bottom of the starboard fuselage where it inserts into the wing to get it to sit properly but only a small amount of Mr Surfacer required for a small gap. The parts breakdown of the kit is a bit complex in places due to the base kit being used for building various marks of the Mirage III, one such part is the panel in front of the nose wheel bay on the lower front fuselage, it required 4 clamps to hold it in the correct position for welding into place. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muzz Posted February 5, 2017 Author Share Posted February 5, 2017 Been over 3 months since my last update so it's long overdue, here's where I'm up to.................... The nose was a but of a pain and still not very happy with it, may still need tidying up. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
exdraken Posted February 5, 2017 Share Posted February 5, 2017 looks good! so the nose is your only point of concern? that sounds much better than what others reported! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary West Posted February 5, 2017 Share Posted February 5, 2017 1 hour ago, exdraken said: so the nose is your only point of concern? that sounds much better than what others reported! Ive only just finished my IIIRD and its a bit of a challenge - having said that, in hindsight, its really all to do with the order of construction and taking care around those pesky air intakes. Shes looking really good Muzz 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muzz Posted February 5, 2017 Author Share Posted February 5, 2017 2 hours ago, exdraken said: looks good! so the nose is your only point of concern? that sounds much better than what others reported! Yes, everything else is a tight squeeze but as Gary mentions above, if you take you're time it all fits where it should. To be fair the fit of the front canopy was pretty poor too but nothing a bit of sanding and Mr Surfacer couldn't sort out. Incidentally have you fitted the front canopy to you're Mig-25 yet? Fit is superb, wish all canopies were like it. Muzz 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hewy Posted February 5, 2017 Share Posted February 5, 2017 Just looked through this muzz,youve done a grand job so far, looking good Glynn 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muzz Posted February 7, 2017 Author Share Posted February 7, 2017 Thanks for the kind comments folks. Another big leap forward with the camo on and gloss coat applied ready for decaling. The paints are Hobby Color H331 Dark Sea Grey, H330 Dark Green mixed with some olive drab and H332 Light Aircraft Grey for the underside. 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
exdraken Posted February 8, 2017 Share Posted February 8, 2017 On Sunday, February 05, 2017 at 8:53 PM, Muzz said: Yes, everything else is a tight squeeze but as Gary mentions above, if you take you're time it all fits where it should. To be fair the fit of the front canopy was pretty poor too but nothing a bit of sanding and Mr Surfacer couldn't sort out. Incidentally have you fitted the front canopy to you're Mig-25 yet? Fit is superb, wish all canopies were like it. Muzz That is good to hear, as I have the one or other in the stash! Concerning the MiG, no. Not freed the canopy from the sprue yet....but if fit is similar to the rest, no fear at all! One of the best fitting kits I have built so far!! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muzz Posted February 9, 2017 Author Share Posted February 9, 2017 That's the decaying all done, nice and straight forward! A few bits of paintwork to clean up and some changes required to the fuselage and then it'll be a semi Matt coat of varnish. I noticed that the probe towards the top of the fin shouldn't be there and there is a insert that should go in the side of the starboard air intake which isn't shown on the instructions. 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flyingdutchman Posted February 10, 2017 Share Posted February 10, 2017 That looks like a Swiss Mirage :). What happened on the nose looking at the picture it looks like you lost some paint there? Common issue is that the decals for the airbrake are not the correct size, looking at your model it doesn't seem to a problem here. Evert Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muzz Posted February 10, 2017 Author Share Posted February 10, 2017 34 minutes ago, Flyingdutchman said: That looks like a Swiss Mirage :). What happened on the nose looking at the picture it looks like you lost some paint there? Common issue is that the decals for the airbrake are not the correct size, looking at your model it doesn't seem to a problem here. Evert Hi Evert That part of the nose is still to be sprayed Matt black, I'm waiting until the final semi Matt varnish coat is on, method in the madness! The decals for the airbrakes were perfect, only decal that didn't really fit was the one for the top of the fin so I'm spraying the colours up there instead. Murray 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muzz Posted February 13, 2017 Author Share Posted February 13, 2017 Some more progress....................... Alclad Semi-Matt coat applied as well as the pitot tube and the black anti dazzle paint in front of the windscreen. A few other probes added and the light grey fin top painted, this is supplied as a decal with the kit but it was too big. The maskings also been removed from he canopy and camera units in the nose. On with the undercarriage now and hopefully finished in the next couple of days. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
exdraken Posted February 13, 2017 Share Posted February 13, 2017 Nice! Maybe, for the sake of accuracy you want to revisig those nose mounted pitot tubes/antennae! Some of the should be angled backwards quite prominently! Kinetic did not get them quite right unfortunately! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hewy Posted February 14, 2017 Share Posted February 14, 2017 Very nice muzz ,i like the tonal variations in the camo ,although as usual with mine too you seem to lose a little of it in the gloss and matt coats ,im thinking of overdoing it a little on my next camo paint aircraft to take that into account ,stellar job Glynn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muzz Posted February 14, 2017 Author Share Posted February 14, 2017 9 hours ago, exdraken said: Nice! Maybe, for the sake of accuracy you want to revisig those nose mounted pitot tubes/antennae! Some of the should be angled backwards quite prominently! Kinetic did not get them quite right unfortunately! Thanks Werner, I'll just leave them as they are to keep the momentum going, my Mig-25 is attempting to get my attention and keeps calling on me to continue with it! 8 hours ago, Hewy said: Very nice muzz ,i like the tonal variations in the camo ,although as usual with mine too you seem to lose a little of it in the gloss and matt coats ,im thinking of overdoing it a little on my next camo paint aircraft to take that into account ,stellar job Glynn Thanks Glynn, the weathering still there I think the clear coats just reflect the light making it hard to see in photos. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now