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Hi! Here for your perusal is Special Hobby’s two-seat iteration of their new Mirage F.1 series of kits - which judging by the ridiculously fast sell-out times must be a successful investment for them. I’ll go into the kit below, but do have a look at the Work in Progress thread here for the build and excellent contributions from forum members to improve accuracy. For those who are not familiar with the type: it’s an interesting version of the Mirage, being the only one without the typical Mirage-esque delta-wing configuration. This is the specific ‘bac’ I’ve made to represent, the fourth AdlA F.1B built: number 505, or 5-AE: Dassault-Breguet constructed twenty F.1B (B for biplace) operational trainer versions for the Armée de l’Air between 1980 and 1984, entering service initially with the test squadron, CEAM (Le Centre d'Expériences Aériennes Militaires), at BA 118 Mont-de-Marsan, but subsequently all twenty served in 3/5 Comtat-Venaissin, based at BA 115 Orange-Caritat in the South of France, until 1988. My model depicts one from the latter unit *. The Special Hobby kit goes together well. It's excellent for having an accurate shape and for being generally accurate in detail, with some notable exceptions such as the panels on the spine behind the cockpit. So it’s not without faults, both in terms of fit and nitty-gritty accuracy. But still, all in all I was surprised how easy the build progressed; especially the cockpit tub deserves mention as that fits like a glove. Haven’t had that in a while. Also nice was how some other clever solutions for fitting parts together actually worked. And the excellent decals - they deserve mention too. A really nice kit. In plastic, fit and quality, I'd compare it to Italeri, maybe Esci. Things to watch out for: one area for particular concern during the build were the lower kit parts of the wings, which needs considerable thinning, particularly at the edges, to get it to sit flush with the rest of the wing. And it needs to sit flush - because the F.1’s wings were quite thin, and you want them to look thin otherwise the effect is lost. Another problematic thing was the windscreen. You kind of plop the transparency on the nose section, but fit - well it doesn’t really. I used Mr Surfacer to deal with that. I used no aftermarket stuff apart from bits of several Berna decal sheets. Also used: stretched sprue and wire. Thanks for looking, Jay *In case you’re not familiar with the French Air Force structure as used during the Cold war: ‘3/5 Comtat-Venaissin’ denotes: 3rd Escadron of the 5th Escadre de Chasse - Comtat and Venaissin are the two escadrilles which are historical units (flights) to which pilots belong - aircraft are maintained on escadron level - hence the differing symbols on each side of the aircraft’s fin.

(Edit: From all the suggestions for modifications on the kit later on in the thread, I made a continuously updated visual list here.) Hi all, Aaaaahhhh.... I've been looking forward to this moment. One of my favorite aircraft. Looks almost like it's designed by a science fiction artist - with the extreme pointed nose which contrasts nicely the bulbous curves of the two-seat canopy. In between several builds I received this kit. I gave it right of way over other builds, which I have put on hold for the moment. I'll finish them, but curiosity got the better of me so let's start! I'll be building as Out-of-the-Boxily as possible. I might seek out aftermarket decals, but I'll think about that later. I am gravitating tworards a standard Armée de l'Air line bird from the mid 1980s. But I am known to change my mind. Anyway... The kit! The kit's contents look as detailed and generally yummy as the single-seater versions, only now we get two sprues with the complete F.1B (B for Biplace) fuselage. I gave the plastic a lukewarm bath, and this is the Mirage-to-be drying, giving me a chance to look over the parts. Notice the two complete fuselages. Unfortunately the pitot tube came bent. As the part is essentially unprotected in the box, I can’t see how that could have been prevented. The two-seater retained the separate nose parts intended for the single-seater. The refuelling probe needs to be detached from part B61 if you want to build the colourful 50th anniversary version of 3/30 Lorraine of the Armée de l'Air in 1991. I'm not sure yet what I will be going for. Of note is the second cockpit tub plus instrument panel. On to a test fit - I was first of all happy with how well the fuselage halves fit. The wings are a little problematic, as the wing's lower half is slightly too thick and protrudes from the upper wing part. The left hand wing fits like a glove, but the right hand wing, at least on my example, and still with the lower wing part too thick, did not fit the fuselage. After an inordinate amount of pushing and squeezing I came this far: The wing's locator tabs are split lengthwise in a lower and upper half and considering the lower wing half is too thick as it is, one would easily assume that's the culprit. However the left-hand wing tabs fitted perfectly and even had a little play. I decided to open up the locator holes slightly (from the inside!). Even if I create a little too much room in the process - at least I'll know the wing will fit. That's better. The following isn't though: the wings are practically level. There should be very noticeable anhedral in the F.1's wings. Probably a result of the lower wing half being too thick. I'll try again after sanding the lower wing halves to manageable thickness. I first shaved off the edges on the inner area of lower wing half in an attempt to make it fit the top half better. To be continued! Jay

Yes another 1/32nd Mirage III is in the pipe. Kinetic has just announced a new tool 1/32nd Dassault Mirage IIIE/O kit in progress for 2015 - ref.K3209. Not bad as this variant of the Mirage III opens the door to a family of aircraft like Mirage 5/50 and their numerous widely-exported versions. Source: https://www.facebook.com/Kineticmodel?fref=nf V.P.

Well here goes, since I can't see anybody else showing us how this little beauty goes together I'm presenting my W.I.P. of my recently acquired simple set from the big H. I'm rather partial to Tiger Meet schemes so I was rather happy that Syhart re-released the two F-1C Tiger Meet Schemes, one from 1991 and the other from 1994 so I ordered them along with the Special Hobby F1C Simple set at a bargain price. Only lord knows how I made the mistake, I accidentally ordered two 1/48 sheets, so back to Hannants they were posted and the correct 1/72 sheets are now back in the post. The detail in this kit is very nice, the panel lines aren't soft or shallow like in older S.H. or even sword kits, they are nice and sharp and not too deep. So far I've attached the shock cone intakes which are molded all in one. Be careful when removing them from the sprues as there are large points attaching them to the sprue and ejectors. It's nice that they are all in one, but some panel lines on them need re-scribing. The airbrakes are strangely moulded as one large panel which block fits in behind the intakes. With some fettling with a very sharp blade, they could be seperated and posed open I guess as I have seen these open on static aircraft. I've now painted and inserted the cockpit and jet nozzle at the rear. I thought all was happy until I had glued the cockpit tub in place. Part 7 which attaches to the front of the display panel coaming forced a curved part of the fuselage at the front away. It actually snapped off. I believe that curved bit is what wasn't present in the first batch of kits they released (just so you know what I mean). Just cut away at part seven so that it doesn't interfere with the fuselage. That's it so far Martin

Mach 2 (http://www.mach2.fr/avionsg.htm)is to re-release soon several boxing from its 1/72nd Dassault Mystère/Falcon 20 kit. - ref. GP007 - Dassault-Mystere Falcon 20 Decals French Aeronavale (re-release of MACH0472) Source: https://www.hannants.co.uk/product/MACHGP007000 - ref. GP068 - Dassault-Mystere Falcon 20 Decals Belgian Air Force Source: https://www.hannants.co.uk/product/MACHGP068 - ref. GP069 - Dassault-Mystere Falcon 20 Decals Air France Source: https://www.hannants.co.uk/product/MACHGP069 - ref. GP070 - Dassault-Mystere Falcon 20 Decals U.S. Coast Guards Source: https://www.hannants.co.uk/product/MACHGP070 - ref. GP071 - Dassault-Mystere Falcon 20 Decals Spanish Air Force Source: https://www.hannants.co.uk/product/MACHGP071 - ref. GP072 - Dassault-Mystere Falcon 20 Decals U.S. Cargo Ameristar (cargo door version) Source: https://www.hannants.co.uk/product/MACHGP072 - ref. GP073 - Dassault-Mystere Falcon 20 Decals Portugal Air Force Source: https://www.hannants.co.uk/product/MACHGP073 - ref. GP074 - Dassault-Mystere Falcon 20 Decals Norway Air Force Source: https://www.hannants.co.uk/product/MACHGP074 - ref. GP075 - Dassault-Mystere Falcon 20 Decals Pan American Airways Source: https://www.hannants.co.uk/product/MACHGP075 - ref. GP076 - Dassault-Mystere Falcon 20 Decals Australia Air Force Source: https://www.hannants.co.uk/product/MACHGP076 - ref. GP077 - Dassault-Mystere Falcon 20 Decals Armée de l'Air Source: https://www.hannants.co.uk/product/MACHGP077 - ref. GP078 - Dassault-Mystere Falcon 20 Decals Canada Air Force Source: https://www.hannants.co.uk/product/MACHGP078 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Original boxings: http://www.mach2.fr/myster20.htm V.P.

AML is to release a 1/72nd Dassault Mirage IIIB/BJ kit - ref. AML 72020 Source: http://www.aml.cz/en/coming.html AML single-seat Mirage IIIC review: http://www.internetmodeler.com/2007/october/first-looks/aml_mirage.php Source: http://umm-usa.com/onlinestore/product_info.php?manufacturers_id=49&products_id=2663&osCsid=c2e6b018bba7ef49652a81380a0dca6d V.P.

Scaleworx is currently working on a 1/48th Dassault Mirage F-1AZ resin conversion set for the Kitty Hawk's Mirage F-1CR/CT kit (http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234942976-148-dassault-mirage-f-1ctcr-by-kitty-hawk-released/?hl=%2Bkitty+%2Bhawk) - ref SW48-??. Scaleworx has in its catalogue a similar set dedicated to the ESCI/Italeri Mirage F-1 kit - ref. SW48-07 (https://www.facebook.com/scaleworx/photos/a.235132476686101.1073741852.212054182327264/363249607207720/?type=1&theater) Source: https://www.facebook.com/scaleworx/photos/a.235132476686101.1073741852.212054182327264/384199751779372/?type=1&theater V.P.

Openly presenting in ARC forums the Wingman Models philosophy and how they intend to improve their products, the brand co-owner, Andreas Klein, announced a IAI two seats Kfir 1/48th conversion set, so most probably for the TC.2 & TC.7/.10. Source: http://www.arcforums.com/forums/air/index.php?showtopic=271175&view=findpost&p=2577088 V.P.

After the M5BA/BR ( http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234975342-148-dassaultsabca-mirage-5ba-br-by-wingman-models-kinetic-variant-released), the Nesher/Dagger & Finger ( http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234975341-148-dassaultiai-nesherdagger-finger-by-wingman-models-kinetic-variant-released ), Wingman Models is to release a new variant from the Kinetic's MIIIE (http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234959104-148-kinetic-mirage-iii5 ), the 1/48th Dassult Mirage 5F Armée de l'Air - ref.WK48015. Source: http://www.shopofphantoms.com/rhino/Pulsar/en_US.Shop.displayShop.8331./wmk48015-mirage-5f V.P.

FSC Dujin has just released a 1/72nd Dassault Falcon 10 resin kit - ref.FSC010 - based on original Dujin kit ( http://maquette72.free.fr/amis/ARoy/2014_02_falcon10mer/index_aar02.php ) Sources: http://www.jfrteam-neufgrange.fr/pages/maquettes-fsc/fsc-dujin/liste-des-kits-fsc-dujin/dassault-falcon-10.html http://www.master194.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=55&t=90067 V.P.

As usual, do I've to say, the Kinetic's German partner, Wingman Models (http://wingmanmodels.com/wm/Pulsar/en_US.CMS.display.65./superior-military-aviation-model-kits-accessories), is to rework the chinese new 1/48th Dassault Mirage IIIE/O/R kit (http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234959104-148-kinetic-mirage-iii5/) to propose a family of IAI Nesher/Dagger & Finger in its Superkits range (http://wingmanmodels.com/wm/Pulsar/en_US.Store.display.80./superkits) - ref.WK48013. Source: https://www.facebook.com/wingmanmodels And what about the two-seats versions from these fighters? Considering Wingman Models has already released the two-seat variant from the Kfir, the TC.2 (http://wingmanmodels.com/wm/Pulsar/en_US.Store.display.151./wmk48011-israeli-air-force-kfir-tc2-superkit)... Wait and see. V.P.

Portuguese Air Force Alpha Jet A (Formally a Luftwaffe Aircraft). Pics thanks to Vitor Sousa.

After the 1/48th kit (http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234959104-148-kinetic-mirage-iii5/?hl=mirage), Kinetic is projecting to release 1/72th Dassault Mirage III/5 kits. No release date yet. Source: https://www.facebook.com/pages/KineticModel-France/284153468459310?fref=nf V.P.

High Planes Models (http://www.hpmhobbies.com/ & https://www.facebook.com/HPMHobbies) is to release a 1/48th Dassault Mirage IIIE/O kit ref. Some CADs Source: http://www.master194.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=79680 V.P.

Source: https://www.facebook.com/Kineticmodel IAI Kfir C.1/F-21A - ref.48083 V.P.

In a message on LSM forum about a future 1/32nd SEPECAT Jaguar project, the Kitty Hawk's rep, Glen "Kagnew" Coleman, says the company has some 1/32nd French projects in the pipeline for 2015-2016. Most logical contenders should be 1/32nd Dassault Mirage F-1C/CT/CR & B as there's already some 1/48th kits from this French fighter in the Kitty Hawk catalogue. But alternative subjects might be 1/32nd Dassault Mirage III/5 or Rafale C/B/M... To be followed. Source: http://forum.largescaleplanes.com/index.php?showtopic=53067&p=617140 V.P.

As I was unable to make either Friday or Saturday at Yeovilton I decided to try and catch some departures. The original plan was to go on Monday but when I heard these two were leaving on Sunday my mind was made up. As usual, you stand in sunshine all morning then as soon as these two start up it clouds over.

Rafale M, Pictures from Graham James,

This is one of the kits I made for my birthday, it was fast to build but took forever to paint... for obvious reasons (I wish I had a gigantic tiger decal :joker: ) . Everything hand painted as you might expect. Straight out of the box, except for the inclusion of a Atlantic figure converted to pilot and a small ladder it appear from somewhere. As you can see, the undercarriage is detachable, as with all my latest models, which has given me inmense trouble, constantly breaking. The antenna on the nose was already broken and missing on the kit, and I have since made two which have broken and been lost. More pics in my blog; http://toysoldierchest.blogspot.com/

Mirage F.1B 1:48 Kitty Hawk 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. Dassault soon found an eager customer in the shape of the French Armée de l'Air, who bought various versions over the years. The B model is a two-seat variant that is 12"/30cm longer than the single seater, sacrificing some fuel capacity to house the second cockpit, and weighing in heavier due to the extra Mk.10 ejector seats that were installed. The cannons were also sacrificed, but cannon pods can be used if required. It is predominantly intended as a trainer, but other than the lack of cannons, it is fully mission capable and is wired the same way as the single-seaters for munitions. The F.1 was an export success, going to twelve nations, most notably and newsworthy recently, to Libya and Iraq. The two seat B was sold in smaller quantities to Libya, Spain, Kuwait, Jordan and Iraq, although not all the airframes were delivered to Iraq before they fell from grace internationally. Fewer than 60 were built, with 20 going to the Armée de l'Air as Operational Conversion Trainers in the early 80s. The F.1 is still in service with many nations including France, and has earned the nickname Grandma with the Spanish Air Force due to its advancing years. The Kit Kitty Hawk have been with us a very short time, but have put out some interesting kits in that time, with the Jaguar A, another French aircraft being their most recent. The Mirage F.1 has been promised now for a few months, and is a welcome replacement to the ageing ESCI kit that has been around for many years. Arriving in a diminutive box, the kit is shoe-horned into the available space by the folding of the large sprues along a convenient centre line. I was concerned that this might have caused some warping of parts, but all it does is make it tricky to get to some of the parts before cutting the fold to create half-sprues. I will deal with the sprues as if they have been cut already, as without this step, it would make the job much harder. After cutting there are seven sprues of mid-grey styrene, two separate fuselage halves (minus nose) and a clear sprue. A small brass Photo-Etch (PE) fret, two sheets of decals, and KH's usual glossy covered instruction booklet complete the package. Perusing the sprues, the kit is reminiscent of the recent Jaguar, so if you've seen that you'll know what to expect in terms of detail. Panel line detail is fine and copious, and small recessed rivets are engraved on access panels etc. The nose is a separate assembly to provide maximum use of the sprues for single-seat variants, there is a full-length engine provided, and there are two sprues filled with weapons and drop tanks. Construction starts with the nose gear/cockpit parts, as these are moulded in one piece. As is KH's previous style, the landing gear parts are added at this stage, although the nose gear leg cab easily be left off until later. That said, I've not found the early installation to be a problem on the Jaguar, so don't necessarily assume that it's desirable to leave it off. The gear bay is well detailed, although some rib detail could be added to the sidewalls, as the main doors will be left open after construction. Turning the assembly over, the basics of the cockpit tub are moulded on the other side. On first look, it doesn't impress, but adding the instrument panels with their PE faces, the rudder pedals and the rear bulkhead improves the look immensely. The side consoles are also skinned with PE parts, improving the detail again, with the internal sidewalls added later, including sill detail and ribbing to complete the look. The two Martin Baker Mk.10 zero-zero ejection seats are supplied, but also a pair of the earlier Mk.4s are included, although I don't yet know why, other than some airframes may have been fitted with the old seat? The cockpit is then enclosed within the nose halves, but as I did with the Jag, I would be tempted the mate the front and rear of the fuselages prior to the rest of the build, partly because text-fitting of the two halves will be tricky, as the front attaches to the rear with a click-fit system of wedge-shaped no-return pips. If you don't remove these before the initial test fit, it's dubious whether you'll be able to remove it to fettle the seam without causing damage. The engine is next on the list, and unusually, it is supplied as a long tube running back from the front of the engine all the way to the exhaust exit tube. Within the length you will fit the front compressor face, plus the rear of the engine and the burner ring, all trapped in place by the closing of the halves. A set of stator vanes and bullet fairing attach to the very front, while an inner exhaust ring is covered with three segments of the outer exhaust petals, which then fix to the rear of the exhaust tube. This whole assembly is held in place within the rear of the fuselage by moulded in bulkheads. Main gear bays are again very similar to the Jag, and fit into recesses within the fuselage, after installation of the landing gear. Whether these can be left off, and whether that's a good idea is moot at this stage, and best tested at time of fitting. Once both bays are fitted, the rear fuselage can be closed up, trapping the engine and exhaust between them. At this point the nose is added unless you've taken my advice and added it earlier in the build. The engine intakes are separate assemblies, made from two parts in the shape of the outer intake shell, and the inner splitter plate/bullet fairing. Painting inside the intakes will be necessary, as there's no real way to accomplish the task later. The intakes blank at their rear, so the engine won't be visible behind them, but as they are very narrow at best, that shouldn't be much of an issue. Chaff and flare wedges, the ventral strakes and gear bay doors are all added next, and all bay doors are posed open, with just a narrow ledge to glue them to. Because of the differing shape of the spine due to the additional seat, the spine is a separate part, which slots into a recess on the top of the fuselage, tapering to nothing just forward of the tail. The twin coamings are installed into the cockpit, hiding the backs of the instrument panels from view and completing the cockpit ready to accept the canopy later. The wings are supplied as full-width uppers, which includes the thinner tip area, and a roughly three-quarters lower wing. Posable flats and slats are provided, plus a PE spoiler that sits above the flap-bays on the wing. Clearly, this is duplicated on each side! The horizontal all-moving elevator pegs glue into large holes on the side of the fuselage, and the vertical tail with movable rudder attach via two pegs into a recess in the top of the fuselage after adding the detail parts such as leading edge bullet fairing and other sensors. I noticed that the wings also have a one-only pair of spring-clips next to their mating tabs, which I suspect will prevent the wings from being removed for fettling if the joint isn't perfect. I intend to test-fit these into the fuselage before it is joined, and take it from there. If the fit isn't quite perfect, I will nip off the triangular retaining sections so that they can be fitted and removed easily. The canopy is a four part assembly, with a fixed windscreen and centre section that also has a moulded in blast screen to prevent cooking of the pilot when the first ejector seat fires. The two openers have PE rear-view mirrors added, and can be posed in the open or closed position using the tabs moulded into their rear. A rather neat addition to the sprues is a crew access ladder, which builds up from two parts and can be propped or glued to the fuselage to provide a little extra visual interest. After fitting the slot-in pitot probe (allowing it to be left off until later), the stores are all that is left to build before painting begins. The instructions should a pair of Matra 530F Air-to-Air missiles, and a choice of either 1,200 litre or 2,000 litre belly tanks, with the outer pylons empty, although plenty of other stores are included on the two weapons sprues. A pair of R550 Magic missiles are included, plus an Exocet, some LGBs and other items that I'm not too familiar with. Markings Decals for two rather striking examples are included with the kit, one from 3/33 celebrating the 60th anniversary of D-day, sporting a set of black and white invasion stripes, the other from 33-FS with a red-white-and-blue striped tail. The painting and decaling instructions are spread between the front inner and back covers and both aircraft wear the same basic intermediate blue over silver colour schemes. There is only a scrap forward fuselage profile of the starboard side of the second scheme, while there are two full-size profiles of the first. The second scheme doesn't have an underside plan-view, although I'm pretty sure it will share the majority of decals with the first scheme. This is the second Kitty Hawk release that have had less than complete painting instructions, which leaves me feeling a little confused - something that's quite easy to do these days. It's not a major quibble, but one that causes me a little consternation. The decals are well printed, with good register and a thin carrier film with a matt finish. Under magnification the orange-yellow of the 60 ans (years) decal shows that it has been made up from yellow and red dot patterns, presumably to avoid the cost of an extra colour on the sheet. It can't really be seen at 1:1, so it shouldn't be a problem for 99% of us with normal to poor eyesight. The D-Day stripes are covered on the second sheet, although whether you'd prefer to mask and paint these is down to personal choice. Conclusion Another solid release from Kitty Hawk, rendering another ageing tooling to the bargain bins and offering the potential for a single-seater in due course. Looking at this aircraft soon after the Jaguar reminds me that there are more than a few similarities between it and the F.1, even though the aircraft are distinctly different in many other ways. If the kit schemes don't appeal, there should already be plenty of decals out there for the old ESCI kit, and even more to come once the kit gets out in the wild and falls in the hands of the aftermarket decal companies. Highly recommended. Available from Hannants in the UK soon Review sample courtesy of and available soon from major hobby shops

Dassault Super-Etendard Pics from Richard E

Pictures by Sven Harjaek taken at La Bourget museum Paris.

A Chinese 2000-5Di version of the 1/48th Kinetic two-seats Mirage 2000 is on approach At Lucky Model http://www.luckymodel.com/scale.aspx?item_no=KI-K48037 Pics of the box content are here: http://www.thepmw.com/forum/viewtopic.php?...5f3a055a73ff70c V.P.