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Delta Blues: Mirage IIIC (HobbyBoss 1/48)


AngstROM

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For your edification and mirth, my entry is confirmed as in the Title above; "No. 31, from EC 2/10 Seine ", according to the instructions.

 

I make two other IIICs and a IIICJ in the running here so far; I'll try to make my effort a different colour so our outfits don't clash, dahlings! And I always had me a hankerin' for a blue one, sort of '70s vintage. Also it has a cockerel motif on the tail, which is a nice bit of very French squadron heraldry like wild boars and such. 

 

Boring photos of ingredients to follow shortly.  Actual torture to follow less shortly. I mean, how long can one of these things take...? :pipe:

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A delta Bleu, absolutely spot on choice!

 

One of the interesting things about the transition period post the adoption of the blue scheme is you still see jets with NMF noses between the windscreen and the radome, I guess the whole radar electronics package was interchangeable. It adds some variation to the scheme.

 

Take a look at this PI film it's in the reference thread, although it's for IIIE's, they transitioned to camouflage during the same period IIIC's went to blue. You can see where the weathering occurred, principally on the windscreen LH rear frame where air and ground crew would grip it as they got in and out of the cockpit, around the point where the cockpit ladder location holes are and on the intake auxiliary blow-in doors are on the intake trunking where the national insignia are.

 

If nothing else it's a great video clip.

 

Looking at the post, I see the whole load of waffle about weathering has been turned into a link, well I'm not going to change it as there's no excuse for missing the link now!

 

Welcome to the GB.

Edited by Wez
link and text added
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Massive thanks for that Wez! Yes, I noticed the 'nose job' (caught adroitly by a few modellers!) during a furtive Google for any relevant visual info. Also, the level of 'maintenance weathering' on some examples of the real thing is on a par with that of high-mileage Tomcats! I think mine may look a little more squeaky... :coolio:

 

"Pssst -Dude...I got the stuff..."

 

HB Mirage IIIC components

 

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Well, there is resin to be de-blocked, references to right-click/save as, and fingers to stick together -no time to lose!

 

First off though, a weasely little disclaimer: I always start a project with a clear idea of how I want it to turn out. Broadly, this falls into one of two categories: an accurate-as-I-can-get depiction of a specific subject, for which I have accrued plenty of 'infallible' references, or more usually, a sort of composite representation of a certain type that I have an abiding (if not obsessive) interest in, but not necessarily accurate to a specific airframe. You guessed: this is the latter! Feel free to lob any criticism in that context.

 

What exactly DO I want from this exercise, then? A piccy is worth a thousand words...but unfortunately, I don't own this one!

 

Besides the cool loadout with the single Matra 530, the weathering is achievable and the scheme omits the un-painted nose section. This is aircraft #30 (10-RE), and the markings in the kit are for #31 (10-RF) -close enough!

 

Onwards and downwards...

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I'm sure if you tried hard enough you could find No.31 in that configuration, if not I'm sure I can find a 0 for you. :winkgrin:

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On 7/3/2017 at 8:18 PM, Wez said:

I'm sure if you tried hard enough you could find No.31 in that configuration, if not I'm sure I can find a 0 for you. :winkgrin:

 

Merci bien, Sir -but as we're not talking Binary, I can live with the nominal difference!

 

Too infernally hot here to wrestle with razor-saws at the moment. I have begun messing around with the R-530 as a sort of prologue to a small but considered exhibition of Late 20th Century French Explosionism.

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Hi

You can do this A/C with the unpainted nose section it was painted Blue in 7-75 and in Nov 1976 it still had the unpainted nose section there is a photo on page 404 of the DTU book on the Mirage IIIc , a lot of the a/c where like this.

This  a/c 30 is I think on static display at Dijon code is 2-EH  it did  4723hrs 50mins flight time 20/06/85 when took out of use.

And use the D type handle on the seat not the B one.

Hope this helps.

Paul

 

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6 hours ago, PaulT 876 said:

Hi

You can do this A/C with the unpainted nose section it was painted Blue in 7-75 and in Nov 1976 it still had the unpainted nose section there is a photo on page 404 of the DTU book on the Mirage IIIc , a lot of the a/c where like this.

This  a/c 30 is I think on static display at Dijon code is 2-EH  it did  4723hrs 50mins flight time 20/06/85 when took out of use.

And use the D type handle on the seat not the B one.

Hope this helps.

Paul

 

 

Many thanks, Sir -that is valuable info. Actually, I didn't really want to have an unpainted nose section... I think it looks better painted, but that is just a personal thing I guess.

 

Yes, I caught the D-shape firing handle! :thumbsup2:

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Great start. The AIM-9Bs in the kit are unusable (crater-size ejector pin holes and mis-shaped front fins). Brassin ones ordered from the excellent and most reasonable heepdrutt on eBay (no connection, other than as a very happy punter!)

 

Even now grinding down the doorstep-thick wings on the R-530... :sleep_1:

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  • 2 weeks later...

Riiiight...things have been thinned, de-blocked and cleaned obsessively. Really this is the sort of tiresome work I'd pay one of the local Scout Troop the titular shilling (and, if I was in a particularly generous mood, a sharp cuff round the ear) to undertake for me during Bob-A-Job Week. Having to do it for myself, I find the mind wandering -usually to a number of unsavoury destinations, and sometimes to questioning whether one has always made the right decisions in life...and I think the blue scheme may be a wrong 'un. I mean, look at Joeltc's superb build here -worlds better, yes? TBH, I didn't like much about the '60s, but Heavy Metal Jets were a high spot!

 

Oh yeah -Eduard Brassin at it's non-best:

 

Eduard 1/48 AIM-9B

 

 

No matter; the ever-wonderful Petra is sorting this out for me. The Eduard Support facility is a model for others to follow...

 

Working on the exhaust for a change over the weekend and may even have something worth posting next week.

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