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Hi all, I am extremely pleased to get this one rolled out of the paint shop today. Independence came to Gabon in 1960. The armed forces of the new nation were divided into several branches. Noteworthy is the Republican Guard which controls some of the flying units, including the Presidential Flight and the Air Force Training School, for example. Early examples of Presidential Guard flying machinery was the AD-4N Skyraider and AT-6 Harvard, among many others. Gabon's air force has used European hardware for decades. It is one of the few countries that acquired modern jet fighters at a relatively early stage. It received the Mirage 5 in the mid-1970s through a contract signed on the 9th October 1975. More French material in use were Alouette III, Gazelle and Puma helicopters and Fouga trainers (from Austria). Little then changed until the arrival of the F1AZs. These were/are operated from the two main Armée de l'air Gabonaise bases: Base aérienne 01 at Libreville and Base aérienne 02 at Franceville. These are current as far as I can ascertain. The background is that in 2006 it was reported that Gabon had purchased the surviving South African Mirage F1AZs (plus spares) for about R40M, The first two aircraft have arrived in Libreville, Gabon in August 2006. These were TR-KML/239 and TR-KMM/241. Aerosud of South Africa were contracted to restore the aircraft to airworthiness standards, as well as to provide an avionics upgrade. The first two aircraft were test flown at Hoedspruit. More were received through 2007, building up to a reported fleet of eight aircraft. These included TR-KMN/236, TR-KMO/244 and TR-KMP/217. My build represents TR-KMP/217. I had started it as my contribution to the recent French Fancy GB but it was a non-finisher. I therefore moved it to the WIP section. It was built using the Special Hobby F1AZ kit as a basis, with a very little aftermarket addition. Initially my plan was to use the LF decal set but I found that to be woefully lacking in accuracy. It also is not comprehensive enough to build an accurate model. I therefore drew them myself and had Arctic Decal print them for me. It adds a further model to my Gabon collection (AD-4N, AT-6D and Fouga Magister). What did I do or use? 1. Kit – Special Hobby Mirage F1AZ/CZ 1/72 (SH72435) 2. Decals – The Gabon-specific decals were home drawn and printed by Arctic Decals. The kit provided other details. 3. Aftermarket – Pavla MB Mk.4 Seat (as close as I could get) (S 72059) 4. Paint – The upper surfaces a Colourcoats US Tan (ACUS18) and Olive Drab BS381C-298 (ACRN35) . The lower surfaces are Colourcoats Medium Sea Grey (ACRN04). Around these I used a variety of Humbrol enamels for various details. 5. Weathering – Flory washes, including a mix of Light and Black to get a slightly darker grey for the movable areas. Tamiya Weathering powders were also used here and there. I hope you like her as much as I do.

At the risk of over stretching myself, and realising that I haven’t even attempted to start the Vanneau, I am declaring this second build as a further entry in this GB. It will be Special Hobby’s Mirage F.1AZ as operated by the Gabon Air Force. It will be a further member of my Gabonese collection. Aside from the Starfighter I reckon the F.1 was/is the best looking Cold War fighter ever! I have amassed a wealth of aftermarket, including the Decal set from LF which, it has to be said, isn’t great :(. I will be back to this very soon Martin

Hi all, I am wrapping up my GB WIP here as I missed the finish deadline. To be honest, as you can see from the GB thread below, she is nearly done. I am held back a little by waiting time for paints and varnishes to dry etc. I was so nearly there! Despite that, and as (nearly) always I have enjoyed the build of a machine that will add to my Gabon and African collection. Right now she is sat, patiently, in her "Paint barn" while everything settles down. Back again soon. Martin