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1/72 Special Hobby Mirage F.1C


Mountain goat

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The dimensions of the Pylon, and this drawing which may or may not be of help

 

I can say though that PJ do a resin R530 and pylon in 1/72, although on my example the fins on the missile at really warped

 

I see from the photo of the one you wish to model it has those VOR antennas on the fin that you have removed

 

r530pylon3.jpg

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2 hours ago, Graeme H said:

The dimensions of the Pylon, and this drawing which may or may not be of help

 

I can say though that PJ do a resin R530 and pylon in 1/72, although on my example the fins on the missile at really warped

 

I see from the photo of the one you wish to model it has those VOR antennas on the fin that you have removed.

 

Hi Graeme,

 

Thank you for that - it's a great help as it gives me great clues on panel placement and detailing!

 

PJ indeed make a pylon, but only the LM.14 pylon for the Mirage III. As far as I can see the LM.37 which was used for the F.1 is basically similar but has a sloping trailing edge making it essentially longer. Also the upper edge is shaped parallel with the F.1's flat belly. (Photo below taken from: http://fighters.forumactif.com/t58159-matra-r530-sur-mirage-f1c)

 

matra_11.jpg

 

About the antennas - I' m not sure what you mean, because I see them on there in the pics?

 

Jay

Edited by Mountain goat
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  • 2 weeks later...

Hi, sorry for not updating past week -unexpected events are the enemy of a good plan.

 

I hope no-one will mind the annotations in the pictures. It makes explaining so much more practical. The F1C is now essentially ready for the painting stage. All I need to do now is mask the windscreen. I see I forgot to make pics of the undercarriage to which I added some extra detail. These will follow.

 

Right -Allons-y! -as the Doctor would say.

 

First I added some detail in the inside of the windscreen:

 

36243109205_4bce42be37_c.jpg

 

After painting the details and inside of the frames Black (Vallejo with a brush), and a dip in Future, the windscreen was glued to the fuselage using Glue 'n Glaze for the main contact area, and CA glue which had been left to evaporate a while, for the edges:

 

36076034772_0de794ef56_c.jpg

 

The gap between the the nose section and windscreen was bridged by a simple fairing using plasticard. The kit' s original was too small anyway. The locator holes for the sensor probes on the nose sides are a little too big, so elected to fill them up using stretched sprue and CA glue gel. CA gel is fast becoming my favourite filler by the way. Anyway:

 

36243106915_8a33d371cc_c.jpg 

 

I finished the scratch build of the LM37 pylon which was unique for the Mirage F.1 and designed to carry the Matra R.530. Thanks to eclipse for the measurements of the 1/1 version. Also seen in the image below are the small reinstated exhausts that were originally sacrificed when sanding the belly -this is mostly due to the lower edges of the Special Hobby fuselage parts being curved inward ever so slightly; therefore a good amount of filler and rigorous sanding is a must. 

 

36201694786_64c44b8f91_c.jpg 

 

Speaking of the R.530, I had wanted to use the Hasegawa one but discovered it didn't look right. The dimensions are correct, but the missile body is a little too stout. I replaced the missile head on to a piece of sprue from the box and fashioned fins from plasticard. I kind of guessed the location for the fins on the basis of pictures and glued them on using Tamiya Cement. Quite a lot still needs to happen in the way of detail, but at least the basic shape is done.

 

35850360900_04f2c63f12_c.jpg

 

Speaking of adding detail, I was about to use the wrong Pavla seat for the project, which is for the Lightning, so I used the kit's seat instead:

 

36243105645_cd7bef2d8b_c.jpg

 

Some will have noticed a degree of artistic license going on. Hey, as long as it looks busy right?

 

35409223274_ebd5cc7458_c.jpg 

 

Time for the IFR probe:

 

36243104215_203b530b17_c.jpg 

 

The switches and contacts in the electrics port and the open hatch were all made using the power of Evergreen plastic card:

 

36076032292_bfc8aa7953_c.jpg 

 

Look at this: the Mirage has been joined in formation. Bob Ross once said while adding an extra branch on a tree: 'this branch needs a friend. Everyone needs friends.' Well it's like that innit? This Mirage needed a friend.

Well, in all honesty I was working on an F1B before the 2017 Group Build season began and I've got it back on the bench -simply because I wanted to combine two airbrush sessions. After masking both Mirages will be painted in Mirage Bleu shortly.

 

36201693716_be29d8a46e_c.jpg 

 

Coming up: the undercarriage, but for now that's it. Thanks for looking!

 

Jay

 

 

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Jay,

 

Thanks for sharing your progress, it reminded me of the sort of modelling I used to attempt, I say used because I never got anything finished, therefore in an attempt to make some progress I won't be doing that with any of my builds for this GB however, I am full of admiration for those like yourself who do go to such efforts.

 

Keep posting the good work.

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Thanks guys! I hope to complete the primer stage by tonight.

 

17 hours ago, Wez said:

Jay,

 

Thanks for sharing your progress, it reminded me of the sort of modelling I used to attempt, I say used because I never got anything finished, therefore in an attempt to make some progress I won't be doing that with any of my builds for this GB however, I am full of admiration for those like yourself who do go to such efforts.

 

Keep posting the good work.

 

Thank you Sir. I don't get much finished myself though (cough F-111 cough Phantom cough)

 

Bob Fleming

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  • 1 month later...

BANG! Time for an update. I have been on the project on and off for the last month, lots of unwelcome 'life things' throwing heaps of chaos on plans, but in between I squeezed short bursts of modelling. Sorry to say that because I had little time, I couldn't find time to adequately document the progress I've made in between.

 

I was at the painting stage. I used (flat) Tamiya XF-18 thinned with Mr Color Levelling Thinner as a base, then sprayed individual panels with lighter and darker variations. This process is still continuing. 

 

36951840576_6c3cdc9911_c.jpg

 

Panel lines were slightly enhanced using a sharp 2B pencil.

 

36951843976_564723065d_c.jpg

 

You will notice the shiny finish, which is courtesy of Mr Super Clear. I sanded down the orange peel finish but only to a certain degree, as the model will get a flat coat in the end.

 

36743173940_cc58862816_c.jpg

 

The red shape around the intake was created by using the Special Hobby Mirage F.1B kit's intake's decals as a pattern and making a painting mask from that. The red is Mr Hobby's H327.

 

36951848856_44d9f8a61e_c.jpg

 

The nether regions were painted Tamiya AS-12 Bare Metal Silver. Quite a nice paint I must say - very forgiving in its application.

 

36327208843_d0c7061fb6_c.jpg

 

However, I soon detected a couple of impurities on the wing's undersurfaces, and decided for a repair. So off the paint went and on came a bit of Mr Surfacer. I hope this will turn out for the best.

 

36951841746_f649f96a92_c.jpg

 

Small tidbits and details will be painted with the help of a few simple old Vallejo colours. Here the F1C is seen with the F1B, lifting on its pal's progress.

 

36743169810_218af497d4_c.jpg

 

The current to do list:

-Finish paint details such as white borders on the fin and nav lights.

-Decals! 

-Weathering

-Flat coat

-Undercarriage

-More weathering

-Canopy

 

On the subject of decals, I'm still not decided on a 1/5 'Vendée' one, or 2/5 'Ile de France'.

 

Jay

Edited by Mountain goat
Forgot to add info.
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  • 1 month later...

Hi,

 

The Mirages have been slowly edged on towards completion, but progress is far slower than I had wanted at the beginning of this GB. 

 

So this is where I'm at now: decals are on; a random mix of Carpena and Berna, most importantly Berna sheet number 72030. After a coat of decanted Mr Hobby Super Clear Flat I proceeded to generally air-dab the surface with different shades of blue-grey using the airbrush -I did that also in order to slightly dull the rather bright markings of the Berna sheet, to make the finish a little more representative of slightly worn aircraft. After that the surface was dusted with a cheap version of weathering powder from the chemist's. Also on are the main undercarriage legs.

 

37166880454_e0c2b897a2_c.jpg 

 

37876968511_eb43323178_c.jpg

 

Not sure I am going to finish this on time. Changing work, questionable health, infighting siblings and family caregiving are putting too much weight on everything to properly enjoy stuff, so I'm not going to try to meet the date -if I do, then great!

 

Jay

Edited by Mountain goat
Spelilng
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  • 2 years later...

Holy thread resurrection Batman.

 

It took a while (I am surprised by how long actually) but we're getting there. Some other Mirages got in between this particular F.1C build and its completion. But thankfully, it's almost done now. I am waiting for the delivery of a replacement camera light so I can take some proper pics of the result.

 

In the mean time, here's what happened. I had originally planned to finish this Mirage as 202, 5-OR of EC 2/5 Ile de France circa 1980. However, one observation and one decision later (taking me all of two and a half years!!) has seen the identity of this plane changed to this one (from this page https://www.escadrilles.org/armee-de-l-air/spa-124/😞

 

F1C_1982_5-NP_jy.jpg

 

The observation that led me to this change was that the Ile-de-France decals by Berna, while nice, were quite thick and despite a clean and glossy surface, they did not adhere well. Even after a coat of matt it had the tendency to peel. maybe it was the specific decal sheet that played up, maybe the softener I used was contaminated. Moreover, I had taken the decision to more stringently focus my modelling subjects to specific times and places. All this led me to above aeroplane: 263, 5-NP of EC 1/5 Vendée based at Orange-Caritat in 1983. I had to scrub the fin and nose codes clean and start over with decorating. So below is how it was:

 

37166880454_e0c2b897a2_b.jpg

 

And here how it became (sorry for the horrendous photo quality):

 

49531119001_d848291e54_b.jpg

 

And with Landing gear attached:

 

49531119076_80b2d985c9_b.jpg

 

Again, I'll have to wait for proper lighting to do a Ready for Inspection, but I hope to post that soon anyway. 

 

Thanks for looking,

Jay

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30 minutes ago, Mountain goat said:

Holy thread resurrection Batman.

 

I have to agree there...  ...long time coming this one.

 

Shame about the original decals, I've always liked that scheme, that said you've recovered it well and produced another beautiful Mirage, well done Jay!

 

Let's face it, it's a gorgeous Mirage F.1 in the bleu scheme - what's not to like?

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14 minutes ago, Wez said:

 

I have to agree there...  ...long time coming this one.

 

Shame about the original decals, I've always liked that scheme, that said you've recovered it well and produced another beautiful Mirage, well done Jay!

 

Let's face it, it's a gorgeous Mirage F.1 in the bleu scheme - what's not to like?

Thanks Wez,

 

Haven't been sitting idly though... 😛 

 

49531361131_71e62b068d_b.jpg

 

Again, atrocious quality pic, sorry about that.

 

Jay

Edited by Mountain goat
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