Avgas Posted June 19, 2017 Share Posted June 19, 2017 (edited) Well, the choice has been made. For my first ever GB I'll be tackling this pretty much straight from the box. It'll be done in the following scheme: Roll on the 24th! Edited June 29, 2017 by Avgas 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eclipse Posted June 19, 2017 Share Posted June 19, 2017 Be aware, KH has forgotten to look at the starboard side of the fin tail... The same decal is provided for the both sides, whereas they are differents ! http://bdd.deltareflex.com/photos/highdef/13/13525.jpg http://bdd.deltareflex.com/photos/highdef/13/13524.jpg 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wez Posted June 19, 2017 Share Posted June 19, 2017 Nice choice of subject Avgas, I like the F1B, very elegant looking aircraft. Hopefully you'll be able to find a replacement decal for the starboard fin marking. Welcome to the GB! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Avgas Posted June 19, 2017 Author Share Posted June 19, 2017 (edited) On 19/06/2017 at 1:17 PM, eclipse said: Be aware, KH has forgotten to look at the starboard side of the fin tail... The same decal is provided for the both sides, whereas they are differents ! http://bdd.deltareflex.com/photos/highdef/13/13525.jpg http://bdd.deltareflex.com/photos/highdef/13/13524.jpg Thanks very much for that - I had no idea. Oh dear KH, why am I not surprised. Anyhow, I found a pic of the missing decal and it looks as though it may be airbrushable (famous last words). @Wez The first time I laid eyes on the F1B I nearly lost my lunch. I thought it was the ugliest two seater relative to it's single seater counterpart, which I consider one of the most beautiful aircraft ever made. It's grown on me though and I now consider it quite elegant. Edited June 29, 2017 by Avgas Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Avgas Posted June 23, 2017 Author Share Posted June 23, 2017 (edited) Slight change of plan - Gone is straight from the box - the kit PE IP's may just as well have been plastic. They're not very helpful and very much a case of PE for the sake of it IMHO. I've gone ahead and bought an interior set and found a pitot from an earlier build, which I didn't use. Itching to make a start! Unfortunately I'm away for the weekend so that will be Monday at the earliest. Edited June 29, 2017 by Avgas Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulT 876 Posted June 23, 2017 Share Posted June 23, 2017 Hi SPA 38 Chardon de Lorraine is quite well done on decal sheets so will not be to hard to find. I think some one did that markings on a sheet a few years ago. Paul Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Avgas Posted June 23, 2017 Author Share Posted June 23, 2017 (edited) 53 minutes ago, PaulT 876 said: Hi SPA 38 Chardon de Lorraine is quite well done on decal sheets so will not be to hard to find. I think some one did that markings on a sheet a few years ago. Paul Thanks. I've found Xtradecal 48133 and pulled the trigger on that. I'm now liking the look of the Ecuadorian and Spanish versions included on that sheet Edited June 23, 2017 by Avgas Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eclipse Posted June 23, 2017 Share Posted June 23, 2017 Ok, what about this crazy option? A rare Mirage F1BE but instead of the classical three-tones Asia Minor-like paint scheme, wearing the French Air superiority blue scheme ? Only two Mirage F1BE wore this paint scheme for few years only in the early 90s, when they were stationed in Canary Islands ! CE.14-30 and 31 respectively 46-70 and 71. https://i18.servimg.com/u/f18/19/16/49/95/f-1be_10.jpg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wez Posted June 23, 2017 Share Posted June 23, 2017 It's disappointing when manufacturers take a half-hearted approach, especially with PE. I was going to suggest Xtradecal for the markings but you've beaten me to the drop. The Cocardes monograph provides the differences between most Mirage F1 versions so if you decide to go down the Ecuadorian scheme route check with the collective to find out what the differences are. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Avgas Posted June 23, 2017 Author Share Posted June 23, 2017 1 hour ago, eclipse said: Ok, what about this crazy option? A rare Mirage F1BE but instead of the classical three-tones Asia Minor-like paint scheme, wearing the French Air superiority blue scheme ? Only two Mirage F1BE wore this paint scheme for few years only in the early 90s, when they were stationed in Canary Islands ! CE.14-30 and 31 respectively 46-70 and 71. https://i18.servimg.com/u/f18/19/16/49/95/f-1be_10.jpg Interesting scheme, but it's the 3 tone scheme that's tugging at my string Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Avgas Posted June 23, 2017 Author Share Posted June 23, 2017 1 hour ago, Wez said: It's disappointing when manufacturers take a half-hearted approach, especially with PE. I was going to suggest Xtradecal for the markings but you've beaten me to the drop. The Cocardes monograph provides the differences between most Mirage F1 versions so if you decide to go down the Ecuadorian scheme route check with the collective to find out what the differences are. The what what now? Is that a book Wez? If so, do you have an ISBN? A google search just seems to bring up a lot of French links that I don't understand. If it's got a lot of info on Mirages then I'd be interested in checking it out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wez Posted June 23, 2017 Share Posted June 23, 2017 Follow this link Text is French with English captions, differences by user, very good reference. I ordered it and it arrived four days later, very good service. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulT 876 Posted June 23, 2017 Share Posted June 23, 2017 That Xtradecal sheet that's where I have seen it I have that sheet also. Got so many forget what I have most of the time. Paul 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Avgas Posted June 23, 2017 Author Share Posted June 23, 2017 Thanks guys. Off for the weekend now and looking forward to seeing everyones progress when I get back Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mirageiv Posted June 23, 2017 Share Posted June 23, 2017 Nice choice! David 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Avgas Posted June 27, 2017 Author Share Posted June 27, 2017 (edited) Some lovely decals have arrived. Hasn't made my descision on the scheme any easier! Toss up between the Spanish and original French machines with dark horses Libya and Ecuador lurking.. I'll probably base it on the amount of reference material I can find on each. Edited June 29, 2017 by Avgas 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eclipse Posted June 27, 2017 Share Posted June 27, 2017 19 minutes ago, Avgas said: Some lovely decals have arrived. Hasn't made my descision on the scheme any easier! Toss up between the Spanish and original French machines with dark horses Libya and Ecuador lurking.. I'll probably base it on the amount of reference material I can find on each. Hum... In both case, informations are rare. But most of all, these both versions are peculiar with some external features never represented on plastic model: Mirage F1JE has Doppler antenna under the nose, Mirage F1BD has also Doppler antenna AND antenna in an front extension of the fin root (antenna of radio direction finder). French or Spanish version are easier, besides they are almost the same version (only the location of the UHF antenna under the nose is different) If Spanish version in Air Superiority Blue scheme is not attractive, maybe a French two-seater, still in blue scheme, but with Spanish markings could be sexier ? http://www.aviationcorner.net/public/photos/5/7/avc_00142157.jpg http://www.aviationcorner.net/public/photos/9/3/avc_00395293.jpg You can see the lighter zone where French markings have been overpainted ! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flyingdutchman Posted June 27, 2017 Share Posted June 27, 2017 That's a very nice decal sheet! The Spanish three tone is very nice, you can do some weathering too. Because of the sun in SPain many of those planes had patchy/faded camouflage. Evert Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Avgas Posted June 27, 2017 Author Share Posted June 27, 2017 12 minutes ago, eclipse said: Hum... In both case, informations are rare. But most of all, these both versions are peculiar with some external features never represented on plastic model: Mirage F1JE has Doppler antenna under the nose, Mirage F1BD has also Doppler antenna AND antenna in an front extension of the fin root (antenna of radio direction finder). French or Spanish version are easier, besides they are almost the same version (only the location of the UHF antenna under the nose is different) If Spanish version in Air Superiority Blue scheme is not attractive, maybe a French two-seater, still in blue scheme, but with Spanish markings could be sexier ? http://www.aviationcorner.net/public/photos/5/7/avc_00142157.jpg http://www.aviationcorner.net/public/photos/9/3/avc_00395293.jpg You can see the lighter zone where French markings have been overpainted ! Your first paragraph echo's my thinking exactly. The more obvious modifications, though relatively easy to perform, mean more work.. I'm not in agreement with your second paragraph though, sorry If it's going to be blue, it has to wear French roundels. It's an iconic Mirage look Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Avgas Posted June 27, 2017 Author Share Posted June 27, 2017 (edited) On 27/06/2017 at 1:33 PM, Flyingdutchman said: That's a very nice decal sheet! The Spanish three tone is very nice, you can do some weathering too. Because of the sun in SPain many of those planes had patchy/faded camouflage. Evert Oooo.. That swings it nicely in it's favour. Anyway, I'll spend the day deciding then crack on. EDIT Spain it will be. Edited June 28, 2017 by Avgas made my mind up at last Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eclipse Posted June 27, 2017 Share Posted June 27, 2017 (edited) Well, I was trying something different... For example, I dream to see someone build the Mirage F1DJ 118 of RJAF available on the other Xtradecal Mirage F1B decal sheet ! Edited June 27, 2017 by eclipse Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Avgas Posted June 27, 2017 Author Share Posted June 27, 2017 52 minutes ago, eclipse said: Well, I was trying something different... For example, I dream to see someone build the Mirage F1DJ 118 of RJAF available on the other Xtradecal Mirage F1B decal sheet ! And your suggestions are appreciated, thanks! That DJ from the RJAF is good looking - one for the future, definitely Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eclipse Posted June 27, 2017 Share Posted June 27, 2017 Not a secondhand aircraft, but a 'thirdhand' one ! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Avgas Posted July 5, 2017 Author Share Posted July 5, 2017 I thought I'd better prove I've done something. It didn't start well, I must admit. Cockpits (and undercarriage) are by far my least favourite aspects of any build so when I pulled out the Eduard PE and realised it was mostly the wrong colour, I put it straight back down and did more enjoyable things like weeding the garden and cleaning the dog poo from my kids bicycle tyre. So, 2 days later that was the first job.. Then it was on to the rest of the tub. Every picture I've seen of an F1 cockpit shows it to be incredibly dirty/dusty, which I've tried replicating. Black is not a great colour if you want to avoid that! Not perfect by any means, but I'm happy with it and glad to be able to move on to the more enjoyable tasks. Thought I'd give masking the yellow/black stripes a go. I'm happy how it turned out. In situ Nothing is glued at this stage so gaps are apparent. I'll do that once I've done a few touch ups. Thoughts on the kit so far - so so. The plastic is quite soft and crumbly I'm finding. Getting the pit together was like a game of reverse Jenga but I got there in the end by deviating a bit from the instructions. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wez Posted July 5, 2017 Share Posted July 5, 2017 A good start there, well done! Annoying to have to repaint the pre-coloured PE though... Nice banner BTW, remind me where to find them and how to put them in signature block??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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