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Mirage IIIO 3 Sqn RAAF


Graeme H

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OK still 3 and 1/4  hours to go, but I thought I would put up here what I intend to begin with

 

I plan to try and get the F-111C finished before the deadline, so this will be a slightly delayed start, with a bit of tinkering here and there, while waiting for paint to dry on the F-111 

 

It will be as the header says a 3 Sqn RAAF aircraft in what is called the Lizard scheme, based at Butterworth in Malaysia, a place familiar to me, but I was a youngling back in the days of the Avon Sabre, and long before the Mirage started to appear there.

The Lizard scheme is the 3rd scheme used by RAAF Mirages, after NMF, sprayed silver

and it was just the 2 colours, Dark Sea Grey overall and Green on top in a matt finish.

 

The decal sheet is as you can see by Red Roo, I have a Master Pitot for this, that's about the extent of the AM

 

This is the revised tooling HPM kit, although it's not marked on the box.

 

DSC03693.jpg

 

 

 

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Nice one Graeme, there's plenty of very interesting Australian colour schemes to choose from.  Also interested in seeing how the revised HPM kit compares to the original moulding which I have.

 

Welcome to the GB.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Unlike most I start with the wings

now Mirage Elevons always droop a bit, and being a bit anal I always want mine to look like that, so a fair bit of work is involved in doing this as the kit Elevons are not all one, the inboard part is on the lower wing and the outboard part is one piece on the upper wing, so a lot of scoring and cutting the curve on the end, then bending and sanding flat.

 

I also wanted to see if I could improve the fit of the fuselage to wings, by putting in a spacer in the fuselage, not scientifically measured by any means, just sanded the ends of the bit of sprue until I got what I wanted, and put some glue on it to hold it in place.

 

DSC03725.jpg

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Graeme,

 

I know what you mean about displacing the elevons and it's the sort of thing I would have done in the past, it's also the reason I have so many unfinished models :( but don't let that deter you!

 

I'd noticed on HardTarget's build there was a gap between the fuselage and wings, now you've mentioned it too.  Until I start putting mine together (hopefully starting this weekend), I won't know whether they've improved that aspect of the kit with the newer tooling I'm using compared to the original version both you and him are using.  I was thinking of using card shims on the inboard edge of the upper wing, I guess it depends upon how even and consistent the gap is.

 

You're making good progress, keep it up!

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Wez, it's been my experience that the gap between the wings and fuselage appears the same on both the old and new, that's why I decided on the spacer, not perfect, but a big difference, I'll try and remember to photograph it for you

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I'm following along Graeme. Very nice choice of the 3 Squadron machine in this scheme :).

 

I like the idea of the fuselage stretcher. 

 

Best regards

TonyT

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One thing one has to do, when you droop the elevens is adjust their actuator fairing, I do that by cutting down on the join line, then bending it and putting on the wing, I find I have to clamp them down while the Tamiya Extra Thin Glue goes off, here all four are done.   If you want to put on the sidewinder or Matra 550 rails and pylons, you need to do a lot of extra work. I have some HPM Matra 550's which are 3D printed and this seems like a good idea to make the whole pylon and elevon fairing as a one piece affair, which it was in the ancient Revell kit, I think I will suggest that to Chris at HPM.

 

DSC03727.jpg

 

I have joined the wings, and it certainly closes up the gap, but there is still one there, so your choice if you want to bother

 

DSC03726.jpg

DSC03729.jpg

 

That's your lot for today, stay tuned viewers when we do some small cockpit detail, so don't expect anything very exciting I'm way past doing good cockpit work

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Nice work with the drooping of the flying surfaces, good to see an aircraft that will be in its natural state whilst on the ground with no power applied. Like the spacer so that the fuselage/wing gap or lack of is a lot better.

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  • 2 weeks later...

O)K, I have been doing a bit here and there on this

One thing that annoyed me a little was the radome, which is more a cone than the curved shape that it should be, so I added some filler around the middle and adjusted it to what I think it should be like, then cast a resin on and put it on the model

 

DSC03733.jpg

 

I added what I thought was the Master pitot for the Mirage, but when I had a lot of trouble blending it in I decided to look at the packaging, and found that it was my missing one from the F-111, no wonder I couldn't find it, I don't really think I can take this off as it's superglued in, so put some paint on it too see if it looked reasonable

 

DSC03739.jpg

 

bit lumpy where it is supposed to blend in, so some serious sanding to take the brass down, bugger

I should have picked this up much sooner, as it wouldn't fit the hole in the plastic or resin one and I had to drill it out, anyone know of how well debonder would go with getting this out?

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I've been watching your progress on this & like what I see. I haven't started my build yet but I've a 3 sqn RAAF one to do from the Heller kit using old Frog decals. Some serious 'puter hassles have slowed things down but I'm seeing a solution in sight for this, so hope to get going next week. Meantime. I'll be looking to poach as many tips for these as possible. :)

Steve.

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OK then, as I was filing down the brass on the pitot it came out, so the debonder that I had put on must have worked eventually.

I got the Master one out and primed it, and then I couldn't find it anywhere, so it's a goner :swear::swear:

Fall back was the kit plastic one, so put that on and painted the radome two shades as per the real thing, so this is where i'm at

 

DSC03748.jpg

 

Photo show it might still need a bit of a touch up, something I'm struggling seeing in real life.

 

I am also having problems over the last few days trying to upload photos to PostImage, and this is the only one that has worked out of half a dozen or so.

I tried Flicker, and I must be doing something wrong as I just can't seem to upload anything into any sort of a folder/gallery/whatever very annoying 

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13 hours ago, Graeme H said:

..........

I am also having problems over the last few days trying to upload photos to PostImage, and this is the only one that has worked out of half a dozen or so.

I tried Flicker, and I must be doing something wrong as I just can't seem to upload anything into any sort of a folder/gallery/whatever very annoying 

 

 

Graeme, I am using Flickr now.

 

My process is:

  • On your Flickr homepage, Click the upload icon in the menu bar (top right) that takes you to the upload page.
  • Find the images on your PC and drag them from file manager to the upload screen.
  • On the left of the screen the is another menu list, click 'add to albums', if you don't have any albums you can click 'Create new album'
  • Give the new album a name and click 'Create new album'. When it is created there should be a green tick next to it so say the image will go in that album.
  • Click 'done' and it will take you back to the image(s) screen.
  • Click 'upload X photos' at the top right.
  • Click 'upload changes' when the dialogue pops up in the middle of the screen.
  • Then you will be taken to your stream showing the photos.
  • To see your albums just click the 'Albums' link in the menu bar.

 

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OK, out of the Paintshop, but needing some glossing up before adding the transfers

 

DSC03764

 

oops a bit blurry there, but then I'm not a photographer either

 

and for Enzo I think and anyone else who wanted this, a comparison between the Old and the new, the upper side

 

 

DSC03765

 and the lower

 

DSC03766

 

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46 minutes ago, Graeme H said:

Dave I use Model Master for both, 1711 Olive Drab and the Grey is 2059 RAF Dark Sea Grey

Thanks for that. I believe the official green is BS298 RN Olive Drab however think that your shade really looks the part. Plenty of EDSG gray paint around however the green bits on RAAF post war aircraft is not as easy to match unless you have a tin of Xtracolour paint perhaps. 

 

Cheers.. Dave 

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  • 2 weeks later...

Well viewers, not much to show here, Went away last weekend to the Mt Isa Rodeo Rodeo  (biggest in Southern Hemisphere) to watch the grandsons (11 and 13) ride poddy Calves, one lasted 3 sec the other 1 sec, but good on them for trying, it's not an easy thing to do.  Also the Bulls were wildly impressive this year, was amazed anyone stayed on them. 

 

So the Undercarriage is going on

 

36490451522_1cdb0e7e61_b.jpgDSC03783 by qfa_tsv, on Flickr

 

I will do a little more over the weekend, but I'm off for a week, touring through Western Queensland, first Hughenden trying to find my Great Grandmothers grave , then Winton, Home of the song Waltzing Matilda (some may have heard of it), then Longreach home of the Stockmans Hall of Fame, and Qantas Museum, where I hope to get some Airliner walkarounds for Julian, then on to Ipswich for the Queensland Modelling Show over next weekend, I had thought I might get this one finished and take it down, but no chance of that, so a total distance of 1932 Kms according to the map, plus running around mileage of course, plan on overnights at Winton and Longreach, and depends when I get away from Longreach how far I might get towards Ipswich

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