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Modelsvit is working on a 1/72nd Dassault Mirage 2000 family. Source: https://www.facebook.com/modelsvit/photos/a.1859368940998815/2393286317607072/ V.P.

After the single seat variants (thread here: link) next Kinetic Mirage family will be the MIII two seats variants. First announced boxing: 1/48th Dassault Mirage IIID/DS - ref.48054 Other variants should follow like IIIB/BE, 5BD etc. Source: https://www.facebook.com/Kineticmodel/posts/530695333764249 3D renders V.P.

After the Dassault Mirage F-1, Special Hobby is to release a complete family of 1/72nd Dassault Mirage III/5 Nesher/Dagger kits. Sources: http://www.specialhobby.info/2018/10/special-hobbys-new-172-mirages-iii-5.html http://www.specialhobby.net/2018/09/special-hobby-pripravuje-modely-mirage.html First 3D renders of MIIIC and CJ V.P.

Here are my new 1/72 models, an Italeri C-130 Hercules, an (old) Airfix Mirage III (both in Brazilian camouflage & insignia), and an (old) Revell F4F Wildcat in Royal Navy colours. The C-130 and Mirage are OOB, but the Wildcat (actually a Martlet) has been reworked with manually recessed panel lines, a new scratchbuilt cockpit, true belly windows, etc.. I preferred to represent "new planes" with minimal wear and tear. I'm not sure if I should have used the exact British (RN) colors for the Martlet, maybe I should have used the "equivalent" American colours. Hope you like it, and sorry about the (bad) quality of the pictures.

After the the 1/48th Dassault Mirage F-1B kit ref. 80112 (see: http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234926672-148th-dassault-mirage-f-1cctcrb-by-kitty-hawk-model-f-1b-review-link/page-3?hl=mirage ), KittyHawk is to release the Mirage F-1CT/CR versions under ref. 80111. Source: http://www.kittyhawkmodel.com/#!80111/cxg3 See also KittyHawk completely renewed homepage: http://www.kittyhawkmodel.com/ The box art: V.P.

Mirage F.1CG Hellenic Air Force (72294) 1:72 Special Hobby The Dassault Mirage F.1 has been a successful point defence fighter for over thirty years, and was developed initially as a private venture by Dassault as a replacement to their ageing Mirage III fighters. It is a single-engined, single-seat fighter aircraft with a high-mounted delta wing and capability of reaching mach 2.2 in short order. Power was provided by a single SNECMA Atar turbojet providing about 7 tonnes-force (69 kN; 15,000 lbf) of thrust. Dassault soon found an eager customer in the shape of the French Armée de l'air, who bought various versions over the years starting on 1974. The French retired the Mirage F.1 in 2014. Greece ordered 40 CG airframes that entered service in 1975, and were well-used with a huge number of flight hours clocked up before their retiral in 2003. The Kit This is a reworking of the superb new tool kit from Special Hobby. This boxing has extra resin pylons. The parts are crisp with engraved panel lines deep enough not to disappear under a coat of paint, but not trench like. From the parts break down on the sprues it is evident more versions are on there way. Construction starts conventionally enough in the cockpit area. The instrument panel and coaming is built up and attached to the front of the cockpit, the rear bulkhead is attached, and the control stick added in. For some strange reason step 3 in the instructions has you placing the cockpit inside the fuselage and closing it up; and step 4 has you adding the front wheel well and exhaust into the fuselage. I would safely say that it's best to reverse these. On the subject of the exhaust, it is a three part affair and the quality of the kit parts is very good. Once the exhaust, front wheel bay, and cockpit are in the main fuselage can indeed be closed up. Once the main fuselage is together the correct nose can be added for your chose decal option. Various nose antenna are added along with the front airbrakes which are moulded in the closed position. The engine intakes are also added at this stage. Next the main wings are added which are of conventional upper/lower construction. Once these are on the rudder, tail planes, and ventral strakes are all added as well. Once the main aircraft is built it is time to switch to the landing gear. All three units are built up and added along with their respective doors. The undercarriage is quite detailed but has been moulded to be in as few parts as possible. The main legs along with their retraction struts are one part, with only a single small section needed for each of the mains. The wheels are one part each and have nice relief for painting. It is then a quick re-visit to the cockpit to build the ejection seat. For the scale this is quite detailed with 4 parts making up the seat. There is a choice of seat back/cushion however no indication of which to use for which option. It is suspected these options are time frame based, and the modeller should check their references. The penultimate step is to add the pylons. A single centre line pylon is added along with wing pylons, &chaff dispensers. Thankfully this time the instructions show which should be added for each decal option. The instructions show only fuel tanks to be attached, although the sprues do contain a nice selection of weapons to be deployed as the modeller sees fit,. Lastly the canopy and front screen are attached. Markings There are four decal options on a sheet from Cartograf so there will be no issues there. No.129 334 Mira (Sgn), 114 Pterix Mahis (Combat Wing), with Greek god Thalos on the fin No.140, 334 Mira, 114 Pterix Mahis in Fantasma scheme No.114, 332 Mira, 114 Pterix Mahis, in French camo Conclusion It is great to see more versions of this new tool from Special Hobby becoming available. Highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of

Kinetic is to release from 2019 a family of 1/48th AMD-BA Dassault Mirage F-1 kits. Source: https://www.facebook.com/284153468459310/videos/946333875574596/ V.P.

Hi all. This will be my 2nd Mirage F.1. Both of the Czech brand Special Hobby. The first was a single-seater M and this second will be an CE also single-seater and with a familiarly called "lagarto" scheme (lizard). I still think that it is not the definitive kit at 1/72 of Mirage F.1 but at this scale I think it is the best there is. The materials I am going to use are: - Special Hobby Kit - Decals of Series Españolas - CMK resin wheels - Resin seat of Barracuda Models - Photo etched for cockpit or Eduard - Eduard Brassin AIM-9J resin / photo etched missiles - Pitot tube and AOA probe in turned metal from Master Model - L’Arsenal cabin photo etched access ladder - Stretched plastic and plasticard of different thicknesses - 0.1 mm self-adhesive aluminum - Paints of Alclad, Vallejo MC, Tamiya, Gunze and Live Color as well as varnishes of Tamiya and Marabu I am unorthodox when it comes to starting a model. I usually do it wherever I want, either by construction, painting of that particular part or for whatever reason. In this case I started with the ventral deposit that will take. I remove the details that they bring in positive (some transverse rings and the filler cap) making them negative. The stabilizing fins that it presents in the back are thick for the scale and I replace them with 0.2 mm plasticard, which are much thinner. The next thing I've tried to fine tune has been the air intakes for the reactor. Air intakes often have a thick leading edge in kit parts. And although in this case it is not exaggerated I try to refine them. I apply blade, file and sand all of it on the inside. I bought the cockpit ladder at a French store that makes its own photo etched especially naval ones: L’Arsenal. It was the only one I found at 1/72 for F.1. These photo etched complements always have a flat structure, when in this case it should be cylindrical tubes, although at 1/72 it is apparent. In the photos I have found of them you can see the very chipped paint, especially on the left side, and so I have reproduced it. I have used black oil + ocher to simulate some dirt accumulations (which are not seen in the photos) and later I have made generous chipping with a mixture of black and reddish brown from Vallejo MC. On some step I have passed the lead of a pencil mine. The base color has been Tamiya XF-3 Yellow with a pinch of orange. Satin varnished by Marabu. And the last thing for today has been to replace some ventilation ducts or maybe drainage, I don't know, that appear in the fuselage. Specifically on the sides next to the ventral stabilizing fins. The detail provided by Special hobby is very poor. They are really some ducts tilted back about 45º and whose mouth is cut consistently. To reproduce them I have used a brass tube of 1 mm in diameter. The screws that are distributed by the panels have been made with a punch since not even one is reproduced in the pieces of the kit. It is something that I consider negative of the kit. Regards. Andrés.

Mirage IIICJ (72062) 1:72 ModelSvit Sacré bleu! If you have not heard of the Mirage III where have you been? The Mirage III is one of the most recognisable aircraft to emerge from the Dassault Aviation stable in post war France. The Mirage III grew out of French government studies for a light weight all weather interceptor able to reach 18,000 meter in altitude in Six minutes and able to reach mach 1.3 in level flight. The tail less delta combined the wing with an area ruled fuselage to achieve its speed. The Mirage IIIC would remain in French service from 1961 until 1988. The largest export customer for the Mirage III was Israel. This version being the Mirage IIICJ. Israel found these aircraft more than a match for anything her neighbours we able to field with the aircraft being a success in combat with Syrian, Jordanian and Egyptian aircraft. Israel then sold some of these aircraft to Argentina. Kit This is the eagerly awaited new kit from Modelsvit. The kit resembles a high quality shorter run kit with fine surface details. While the parts resemble some more main stream manufactures in appearance they will no doubt need more care in the assembly. In the box we get 7 sprues of grey plastic, a clear sprue, a PE fret, masks(not shown) , and a decal sheet.. Construction starts in the conventional way with the cockpit. The seat is built up from 7 parts with PE belts and handles. The tub is made up from the base, rear bulkhead, two sidewalls and the area behind the cockpit. The instrument panel with its PE faces goes in, and PE is supplied for the side consoles. The cockpit then goes into the fuselage. The coaming then goes on in front of the instrument panel. Next up the engine exhaust is made up. This is a three part tube with the engine end and burner ring at the front and the inner nozzle at the rear. Once the engine and cockpit are in the fuselage can be closed up. Construction then moves onto the wing, first up the wheel wells need to be fully boxed in. Holes need to be opened up for the underwing stores. The main fuselage can then be joined to the lower wing with the upper wings following as well as the vertical fin. At the rear of the main wing the separate flaps and flap tracks are fitted. Here there are parts for dropped or straight flaps. The intakes are then fitted to the main fuselage, and at the rear underside the ventral strake is fitted. Moving on to the landing gear, the legs are made up and the main wheels can be fitted to their gear legs, and these can be fitted, along with the noise wheel at the front. For under wing/fuselage stores a single Matra R530, 2 Shafrir-2, 2 AIM-9D sidewinders, 2 RP-62 1300L tanks, and 2 RP-18R 500L tanks are supplied. These and the appropriate pylons can be fitted. Finishing touches are fitting the gear doors, canopy (both a one part closed, and multi part open options are provided), lastly some aerials (where appropriate). Decals There are 5 schemes provided in the kit; the decals are well printed by Decograf with no obvious flaws. From the box you can build; Mirage IIICJ No. 103, 253 Sqn, Eitham Air Base, Israel 1981 (2 tone grey scheme) Mirage IIICJ No. 758, 101 Sqn, Harzor Air Base, Israel, 1974 (Brown, Green, Tan scheme) Mirage IIICJ No. 107, 117 Sqnm Ramat David Air Base, Israel, 1973 (Brown, Green, Tan scheme with large yellow recognition markings) Mirage IIICJ No. 159, Argentinian Air Force, seen at the IAF Museum 2004 (Green, Blue Scheme) Mirage IIICJ No. C-704 Argentinian Air Force, Base Aerea de Rio Gallegous, 1986 (Dark Earth, Sand scheme) Conclusion It is good to see a decent model of the Mirage IICJ available in 1.72, this should build up to make an eye catching model if care is taken with the build. Highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of

MPM is to release a 1/72nd Dassault Mirage F-1 family - F-1C/F-1C-200/F-1B/F-1CR/F-1CT & F-1AZ Source: http://modelweb.modelforum.cz/2013/12/16/172-dalsi-pripravovana-novinka-od-firmy-mpm-production/?lang=CS V.P.

Hi all, This is the Heller Mirage 2000N modified to get a D version. As usual with Heller, lot of work to get a decent model. Happy new year

Hello guys, Here are the photos of my most recent model, Italeri's Mirage IIIE transformed into an EA by using the empennage extension and leaving out the Cyrano radar bulge. The kit was brushpainted with Revell Aqua acrylics. I used Condor Decals set 48054.

Modelsvit is to release in 2018 (?) a 1/72nd Dassault Mirage IIIE kit - ref.72045 Source: https://www.facebook.com/136603423173762/photos/pcb.530194830481284/530194780481289/?type=3&theater V.P.

After the Mirage IIIE/5 family (link) Modelsvit is to release 1/72nd Dassault Mirage IIIC/CJ kits Source: https://www.facebook.com/modelsvit/posts/2682351568700544 V.P.

A close inspection from the soon to be released 1/32nd Italeri's Mirage IIIC sprues pics (http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234975571-132-dassault-mirage-iiic-by-italeri-box-artdecals-release-late-september-early-october/?p=2112443) show clearly the typical MIIIE wheel brakes as an option. A new variant in view? Time will tell. V.P.

Scaleworx Resin Models has announced a 1/32nd Dassault Mirage F-1CZ resin kit - ref. SW32-07 Source: https://www.facebook.com/scaleworx/photos/pcb.1560018027530866/1560017750864227/ V.P.

Mirage F.1 AZ/CZ South African Air Force (72435) 1:72 Special Hobby The Dassault Mirage F.1 has been a successful point defence fighter for over thirty years, and was developed initially as a private venture by Dassault as a replacement to their ageing Mirage III fighters. It is a single-engined, single-seat fighter aircraft with a high-mounted delta wing and capability of reaching mach 2.2 in short order. Power was provided by a single SNECMA Atar turbojet providing about 7 tonnes-force (69 kN; 15,000 lbf) of thrust. Dassault soon found an eager customer in the shape of the French Armée de l'air, who bought various versions over the years starting on 1974. The French retired the Mirage F.1 in 2014. The SAAF flew both the Mirage F1AZ ground-attack version as well as the radar-equipped Mirage F1CZ fighter. The F1AZ has a laser-based rangefinder and features an integrated ground-attack system. Both types we retired in the 1990s. Gabon had purchased 6 ex SAAF aircraft. The Kit This is a reworking of the superb new tool kit from Special Hobby. This boxing has extra parts for the AZ version. There is also some small resin parts for the "lumps & bump" and the engine shock cones. The parts are crisp with engraved panel lines deep enough not to disappear under a coat of paint, but not trench like. From the parts break down on the sprues it is evident more versions are on there way. Construction starts conventionally enough in the cockpit area. The instrument panel and coaming is built up and attached to the front of the cockpit, the rear bulkhead is attached, and the control stick added in. For some strange reason step 3 in the instructions has you placing the cockpit inside the fuselage and closing it up; and step 4 has you adding the front wheel well and exhaust into the fuselage. I would safely say that it's best to reverse these. On the subject of the exhaust, it is a three part affair and the quality of the kit parts is very good. Once the exhaust, front wheel bay, and cockpit are in the main fuselage can indeed be closed up. Once the main fuselage is together the correct nose can be added for your chose decal option. Various nose antenna are added along with the front airbrakes which are moulded in the closed position. The engine intakes are also added at this stage. New parts are provided for the shock cones in resin and some surgery is needed which will be tricky. Next the main wings are added which are of conventional upper/lower construction. Once these are on the rudder, tail planes, and ventral strakes are all added as well. Once the main aircraft is built it is time to switch to the landing gear. All three units are built up and added along with their respective doors. The undercarriage is quite detailed but has been moulded to be in as few parts as possible. The main legs along with their retraction struts are one part, with only a single small section needed for each of the mains. The wheels are one part each and have nice relief for painting. It is then a quick re-visit to the cockpit to build the ejection seat. For the scale this is quite detailed with 4 parts making up the seat. There is a choice of seat back/cushion however no indication of which to use for which option. It is suspected these options are time frame based, and the modeller should check their references. The penultimate step is to add the pylons. A single centre line pylon is added along with wing pylons, &chaff dispensers. Thankfully this time the instructions show which should be added for each decal option. The instructions show only fuel tanks to be attached, although the sprues do contain a nice selection of weapons to be deployed as the modeller sees fit,. Lastly the canopy and front screen are attached. Markings There are four decal options on a sheet from Cartograf so there will be no issues there. 1. F.1AZ 229 No.1 Sqn SAAF, Hoedspruit 1976-1997 (Buff & Green over grey) 2. F.1AZ 229 No.1 Sqn SAAF, Hoedspruit 1990s (Dark Earth & Green over grey) 3. F.1CZ 213 No.3 Sqn SAAF, Ondangwa. On 6th Nov 1981 Maj J Rankin shot down an Angolan MiG-21 in this aircraft. (Buff & Green over Grey) 4. F.1CZ 203 "Le Spectre" No.3 Sqn SAAF, Ondangwa. On 5th October 1982 Maj J Rankin shot down his second Angolan MiG-21 in this aircraft (Grey / blue grey over grey) 5. Slightly different later markings to the aircraft at 4, complete with Angolan Roundel below the cockpit. Conclusion It is great to see more versions of this new tool from Special Hobby becoming available. Highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of

Dassault Mirage 2000 family by Kitty Hawk confirmed - 1/48th or 1/32nd? Images look like 3D scans from M2000B 5-OW n°519 preserved at Espaces Aéro Lyon Corbas - EALC http://www.ealc.fr/ & https://www.tripadvisor.fr/LocationPhotoDirectLink-g1582569-d5979211-i156131920-Ealc_Musee_de_L_aviation-Corbas_Rhone_Rhone_Alpes.html Source: http://www.greenmats.club/topic/1267-новый-mirage-от-kitty-hawk-слухи-и-догадки/ Hey Tali, your source? I mean the Chinese forum link? Updt: Thanks Tali!!: http://tieba.baidu.com/p/4260567148 V.P.

Mirage 2000C (72073) 1:72 ModelSvit The Mirage 2000C is a forth generation Jet Fighter built by Dassualt for the French Air Force. Like its predecessor the Mirage III its main feature is a large delta wing. The aircraft was designed and built in a surprising 27 months by Dassault using a lot of data they already had developed for the "Future Combat Aircraft" and the so called Super Mirage, The C in the title for the fighter stands for Chasseur or Hunter. As well as two internal 30mm DEFA cannon the aircraft is armed in the air to air role with Matra R550 Magic, Matra Super 530D, MBDA MICRA Missiles. As well as the Mirage C there is a B model trainer, N model Nuclear Strike, and D model Ground attack version in service with the French Air Force. Mirage 2000 aircraft have been sold to Egypt, India, Peru, The UEA, Greece, Taiwan, Brazil, and Qatar. Kit This is the eagerly awaited new kit from Modelsvit. The kit resembles a high quality shorter run kit with fine surface details. While the parts resemble some more main stream manufactures in appearance they will no doubt need more care in the assembly. In the box we get seven sprues of light grey plastic, a clear sprue with both a one part and two part canopy, a sheet of PE and and a sheet of masks for the canopy, wheels, and false canopy for one of the decal option (these are not shown). La construction commence avec le cockpit (quelle surprise!). The seat is made up from 5 plastic parts with PE belts and seat cushions. Following this for some reason the exhaust nozzle is built up and put to one side. Once this is done its back to the cockpit. The cockpit floor is put together with the sides and the rear bulkhead. The cockpit floor also forms the nose wheel bay roof and the rear bulkhead for this needs to be fitted at this time. The instrument panel and control column need to be fitted. The instruments for the panel and side consoles are provided as either PE or decal, or a mixture of both if the modeller wants to do this. Lastly here the main coaming and HUD are built up from a mixture of plastic parts and PE. The cockpit can now be placed inside the main fuselage and it closed up. The inner parts of the main intakes are then applied to the fuselage sides. We now move onto the main wing. For the lower wing the main wheel wells are boxed in with the instructions showing where all the parts go, plus a view to show how it needs to look once its complete. Once these are boxed in the upper wing sections can go on and the whole wing joined to the main fuselage. The main burner nozzle is made up from 3 parts and this can be attached to the assembly made earlier and inserted into the back of the fuselage. Also at the rear the vertical fin is added (here tow are provided for different decal options). Different rear fairing parts are also used here depending on the decal option chosen. Moving back to the front the outer parts of the intakes are added. Flipping back to the underside of the aircraft the centreline fairing is aging different for the different decal option with there being 3 types, one of which includes a chaff/flare launcher. The flaps can be positioned up or down with different parts for each, the flap track fairings can then be added. The main under carriage is then next, standard two part wheels go on to the main leg with a separate retraction strut. The outer gear door attached to the main leg with the inner door attaching to the fuselage. Again these have retraction struts. At the front the nose gear leg goes in with its twin wheels. The gear doors are also fitted at this point. The last major item to complete the main aircraft is the canopy. A single part closed canopy and a split two part canopy are provided. Canopy masks for the edge are included and the centre will need to have the modellers own tape or masking fluid used on it. To complete the main airframe the re-fueling probe is added along with a selection of aerials and fences on the side of the intakes and tail. A nice selection of underwing/fuselage stores are provided in the kit. There is a centreline 1300L fuel tank, and two wing 1700L fuel tanks. There are two Magic-2, two Matra Super 530D, and four MICA EM.IR missiles provided in the kit along with their respective pylons. Decals There are 5 schemes provided in the kit; the decals are well printed by Decograf, the Indian Markings dont quite look correct with the colours. From the box you can build; Mirage 2000C 6-OB No.59 EC 2/5 "Ile de France" French Air Force, Saudi Arabia 1990 Mirage 2000C 5-OP No. 74 EC 2/5 "Ile de France" French Air Force, Saudi Arabia 1991 (Dessert camo) Mirage 2000C - 390-AS No.80 EC 5/330 French air Force 1993 Mirage 2000H (Vajra) KF123, 7th Sqn, Indian Air Force, 2012 Mirage 2000EG No. 226. 332 MPK (All weather Sqn) "Geraki", 114 Fighter Wing, Greek Air Force, 2014 Conclusion It is good to see a decent model of the Mirage 2000C available in 1.72, this should build up to make an eye catching model if care is taken with the build. Highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of

Hello fellas! On 1980 Chile bought 16 Mirage 50 to France as tensions with Argentina keep 'hot' regarding Picton, Nueva and Lennox islands on the Beagle Channel. At the same time, USA forbid selling spare parts and logistics to the new F-5 Tiger II acquired in 1976, due to human rights issues by the chilean dictatorship at the time, and the UK delay the deliver of new engines for the chilean Hawker Hunters, hence Chile did not have other option but to buy the last version of the delta french fighter bomber as Argentina got nearly thirty IAI Daggers by Israel between 1978 and 1981. The Mirage 50 was a late development of the Mirage 5, with a more powerful engine Snecma Atar 9K-50 (7.200 kg/thrust, 2.2 mach) and a new radar system (Cyrano or Agave options). I used the kit by Kinetic Mirage III/5 South American, as the Mirage 50 is identical to the Dagger, with the exception of some antennas. The fit of the kit was far from awesome, specially the air intakes and front wheel bay zone, but with a lot of sanding and putty it work out fine. For decals I used some spare chilean emblems from the AFV F-5 Tiger II and Trumpeter A-37 Dragonfly. Although the Mirage 50 can carry air to air missiles (israeli Shafrir II) the FACH used them mainly as a strike aircraft to ground and naval targets. I used the supersonic RPK-10 aux fuel tanks which can carry up to four 250 lbs bombs each, in this case, with 2 Mk. 82 Snake Eye bombs on the interior wing pylon and one M. 117 bomb (750 lbs) on the central pylon. This Mirage 50 FC served with serial number 504 of the FACH's 4th Group at Chabunco Air Force Base (Punta Arenas) in 1985. FACH keep the original french cammo from 1980-1985, later applying a low visibility one to the entire fleet. So, enough talking, let the photos show you my tribute to this elegant french delta guarding the chilean inlets of Tierra del Fuego during the 80' and 90'. Best wishes from Chile and happy modelling to all! Cris

It's the 17th and we are allowed to start on the first GB of the year (for me at least) So here is my humble contribution, the ITALERI 1/72 GULF WAR 25th anniversary version of the Mirage 2000C. As per the title, I'll be doing it in the United Arab Emirates version. After a long debate I have almost settled on the colours, still subject for change once the paint hits the plastic. I can't seem to find much information about the United Arab Emirates involvement in the first Gulf War, other than they deployed some 4.000 personnel and that Mirage fighters were part of the package. Could anyone enlighten me on how the UAE Mirage might have been utilized during operation Desert Storm and the Gulf War in general? I understand that the UAE Mirage contribution might have been stationed at Al-Ahsa Air Base in Saudi and that they didn't see much action? Any info would be greatly appreciated. Cheers Johnny b

Kinetic is to reissue in March 2021 its 1/48th Dassault Mirage 2000D kit with dual GBU-12/22 bombs - ref. K48120 Sources: https://www.facebook.com/Kineticmodel/posts/1810632505770519 https://www.luckymodel.com/scale.aspx?item_no=KI-K48120 Box art V.P.

Kit - Hobbyboss Paint - AK & SMS lacquers Decals - kit Extras - Aires resin ejection seat, drop tanks & missiles from spares AMD Mirage IIICJ 119 Squadron IDF/AF Tel Nof Airbase Summer 1969 One of my all-time favourite aircraft from the the original Airfix 'Dogfight Double' box-art to my tiny die-cast toy when I was very young and on to 'The Aeronauts' TV series then finally seeing them 'in person' throughout the 1980's & 90's... I absolutely love the Mirage family. So when the Hobbyboss kit came-out in 2006, I think I was in the front of the queue... but then I once I had it, didn't do anything about it until now. Not going to 'review' the build, folks far better than I have done that already, all I can say is that if you take your time especially with the wing-to-fuselage join, it will together with the minimum of fuss and effort. I didn't even bother with an Eduard pre-painted IP as the kit one is clearly defined, quite accurate and easy to paint. I am glad that I replaced the seat with the Aires one, as even with the lid closed it's quite prominent. The only other addition(s) was/were the drop-tanks which I think came from the Jurassic era Heller kit, but are more correct (longer) than the kit ones, the AIM-9B's are period accurate for this machine, the US supplying them from March 1969 for just over eighteen months then supplying AIM-9D's. I was always going to do a 'silver' one, and was 'this close' to building it as a AdA machine, but as I've got a Mirage F1 planned in French colours, I decided that the Israeli machine would be the way to go, and besides who can resist those five small but very meaningful 'trophies' underneath the cockpit. As for weathering, well apart from a Flory wash in the panel lines, there is none - I could still add some streaks and stains on the underside or around the panels near the engine but honestly, I don't want to spoil the finish !! Not too much else to say the kit is no real effort to build and looks 'just right' to my non-expert eye, as mentioned I do have an F1 in the stash and an M2000 (already built a IIIE as an Aussie version), but probably won't be getting around to either of them for a wee while yet. As ever thanks for taking the time to look and / or comment; criticism and questions are welcome.. Very best from NZ, please keep safe all. Ian.

First completion for the year, the Mirage M3 Stuart completed as an Australian example in New Guinea. It’s very small in 1:72 scale! Also an experiment using a new (to me) brand of paint - Mig AMMO acrylic. My local hobby shop is running low on my usual Tamiya paint so I thought I should give this a go. Not entirely convinced - may need to give it another go. It brush painted ok over a coat of Tamiya acrylic as a primer. The kit has a great decal sheet, allowing you to complete the tank as a whole bunch of different examples from the 2/6 th Australian Armoured Regiment in New Guinea in late 1942-early 1943. You can read all about their actions on the ANZAC Steel website here. I completed mine as “Captain Kidd”, of C Squadron, 2/6th Australian Armoured Regiment at Buna, 18 December 1942. This tank was commanded by Cpl Tom Byrnes, but also had on board the squadron commander Captain N Whitehead as it was the command tank for the action at Buna. Captain Whitehead was injured during the attack, and the commanding officer of the regiment, Lt Col Hodgson took over until he was also injured. The tank was subsequently destroyed by a magnetic mine. Of the seven tanks in action on 18 December 1942, three were lost. And finally against an Australian $2 coin for scale (which is similar in size to a British pound coin) Thanks for looking.

Launched on November 28, 1956, by Dassault, the Mirage IV program resulted in the twin-engine fighter-bomber prototype named Mirage IV 01 taking-off on June 17, 1969. Two years later, on October 12, 1961, the first Mirage IV A took off, opening a series of 4 prototypes and 62 production aircraft. The 33-ton plane could fly twice the speed of sound at an altitude of 18,000 meters, and thanks to the in-flight refueling, the range was practically limited only by the crew's capabilities. The plane that is the subject of this gallery has been one of the five aircraft kept in a flyable condition since 1995 for carrying out long-range reconnaissance missions and electronic warfare. On June 6, 2005, as part of the official end-of-service ceremony, Eric Pintat, Commander and Chief of Operation of the "Gascogne" squadron, and René Dupré, Deputy Commander of the unit, took the last flight. Mirage IV P n ° 59 Charlie Foxtrot is currently located at 110 Creil Airbase. But it was not the last Mirage IV P flight. On Thursday, June 30, 2005, at 12:05, Mirage IV P n ° 62, the last Mirage IV to leave the Dassault production lines, landed on the Le Bourget museum lane after flying from 118 "Colonel Rozanoff" airbase in Mont-de -Marsan. It is now one of the exhibits of the Museum of Aviation and Astronautics Le Bourget. C'est Fini! I can recommend A&A Models only to experienced modelers, a very demanding short-run kit, with poor details and poor fitting of parts. Painted with Vallejo metallizers, Tamiya and Gunze paints, wash by Modelers World, subtle oil shading by Smoke Abteilung 502. Syhart Decals, great to work with, although a bit thick. ResKit wheels. Refueling probe - Master. Pavla's seats in the cockpit, practically invisible through small and thick windows. So, here it is! And some under construction photos: