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A pair of Dassault's finest, IIIRS and 2000C, 1/72.


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Hi again :)

Last RFI thread for a while I promise and I conclude with two Heller 1/72 Mirages.

First up is a Mirage IIIRS, imho the best looking Mirage III variant.

http://www.fliegerstaffel10.ch/include.php?path=galerie_pic&pid=63

I used the Heller 1/72 Mirage III kit and the PJ productions RS resin conversion set which was very high quality.

I know PJ has brought out some new injection kits but the panel line detail just put me off. After seeing some close up a few years back I noticed the panel lines are so fine they are barely visible, combined with the fact they were kept pretty clean most of the time, I made the active decision to only rescribe panels I could notice on photos. A test subject to see if the appearance is more to scale in 1/72. It kind of worked for this particular jet but the jury is still out if I would do it again.

I added a resin seat, made a new instrument panel and sanded the canopy to make it thinner, polishing it up with micromesh after, still cannot see a darn thing inside however :D. Fuel tanks had to be shortened as they are 4-5mm too long, quite a few other mods have been done to try and make a more accurate representation of the IIIRS. All the air scoops were added from stretched tube plastic rod.

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I scratch built the ATAR exhaust from coke can metal, spare etch and aluminium foil (wish I could have made some resin copies),

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Colours were mixed to match photos, cannot for the life of me remember what though. I used Peddinghaus decals that were very inaccurate for the IIIRS so many had to be taken from spares, it is actually quite incomplete decal wise if you know your IIIRS. I still am not happy at all with them and probably will strip them, repaint and get the Matterhorn Circle set soon given the work I did on the kit. Anyways looks like a IIIRS in the meantime :).

I also made a Mirage 2000c, the clean, glossy demo jet often seen at Airshows in the 2000's.

http://www.airliners.net/photo/France---Air/Dassault-Mirage-2000C/0915109/L/&sid=55c5ae2937f886ffff03955aa39a9355

http://www.airliners.net/photo/France---Air/Dassault-Mirage-2000C/0619661/L/&sid=55c5ae2937f886ffff03955aa39a9355

One of my most favourite display acts to see and what a beautiful aircraft! I used the Heller 1/72 kit and made quite a few mods. OOB it looks like a crude Mirage 2000 but the nose/front screen area is way off, so I made a new one from spares adding roughly 3-4mm in length from memory and compared to scaled profile images of the actual jet to get the outline as close to reality as I could. I did rescribe it but it was one of my brush painted models of which my heavy handed brush work pretty much filled all the panels, oops! I added many ariels and heavily modified the kit exhaust with spare etch and foil. I also sanded the canopy frames and polished it all back up to make it more transparent, still about 6 scale inches thick though :D.

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I detailed up the cockpit and added a resin seat. Unfortunately a little glue got caught up inside the front frame. The canopy needed a lot of filling to get the seamless sleek fit as on the real jet.

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The colours were again mixed from photos. What I would mention is they seem to change massively depending on lighting, so even the same exact jet can look nearly completely different colour wise. I settled on a 'sunny airshow day' scheme so quite a light blue and grey. Xtracolour's attempts are way off though, I would avoid those. I brush painted (before I got my AB) and was a little heavy handed but I am happy with it. Brings back many Le Bourget/RIAT memories to me :).

It is a shame such a lovely jet sill does not have a decent kit in 1/72, hopefully Airfix comes to rescue soon!

I hope you like them, will get stuck into 1/48 versions of these soon enough as probably jumping scales.

Best regards and many thanks for any comments/replies,

David. (Who is wishing he knew how to properly use his camera :winkgrin: )

Edited by mirageiv
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Very very nice builds.

Being Swiss, I fully agree the IIIRS being the best looking Mirage ever (from my point of the view not only the best Mirage III). Although I think that the Canards take a bit away the clear/lean line of the Mirage.

Your colors on the FlSt10 machine look top notch. Can't you provide any information regarding the colors/mix you used? That would really help me with my build.

Congrats to great builds.

Cheers,

Michael

Edited by WildeSau75
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Many thanks chaps, very kind words and much appreciated :)

Michael, I agree with the canards, I do intend to build an early Mirage IIIS or RS one day though probably with the Eduard 1/48 kit (I'm tired of rescribing old Heller 1/72 kits :))

It has been a few months since I painted the jet, it was pretty tricky getting the colours right as I guess you are finding also. I remember mixing many different greens and greys with white and black until they came out looking like what I wanted.

For the dark grey (FS36173) I think the main starting colour was Xtracolour Neutral grey, then RAF Dark Sea Grey was added to some extent then maybe some white or black to get the right tone. I really am grasping at straws but I remember it coming out too light, so I went and added the darker RAF grey. Oh and I think a few drops of blue too.

For the dark green (FS34130) I again did some crazy random mixing. I think it started with Xtracolour RAF dark green, then Humbrol 117 Light green was added. Maybe a little yellow and white/black to get the right tone.

For the light grey undersides (FS36440) I used Xtracolour Light Gull Grey as the main component. I think I mixed a little RAF Light Aircraft grey or generic 'light grey' in it to lighten the hue.

I'm sorry I usually make a few notes on mixes but for some reason did not on this one. One thing is for sure they were deceptively tricky to get right. I think it depends on a particular picture of a particular jet at a particular time. Plus those cool shots taken at AXALP make the colours change even more in that crystal clear Alpine air :) Would have loved to seen one! Hope that gives some sort of idea what I used, kinda :D. What kit are you using for your build? Can never have enough Mirage IIIRS.

Cheers,

David.

Edited by mirageiv
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Many thanks chaps, very kind words and much appreciated :)

Michael, I agree with the canards, I do intend to build an early Mirage IIIS or RS one day though probably with the Eduard 1/48 kit (I'm tired of rescribing old Heller 1/72 kits :))

It has been a few months since I painted the jet, it was pretty tricky getting the colours right as I guess you are finding also. I remember mixing many different greens and greys with white and black until they came out looking like what I wanted.

For the dark grey (FS36173) I think the main starting colour was Xtracolour Neutral grey, then RAF Dark Sea Grey was added to some extent then maybe some white or black to get the right tone. I really am grasping at straws but I remember it coming out too light, so I went and added the darker RAF grey. Oh and I think a few drops of blue too.

For the dark green (FS34130) I again did some crazy random mixing. I think it started with Xtracolour RAF dark green, then Humbrol 117 Light green was added. Maybe a little yellow and white/black to get the right tone.

For the light grey undersides (FS36440) I used Xtracolour Light Gull Grey as the main component. I think I mixed a little RAF Light Aircraft grey or generic 'light grey' in it to lighten the hue.

I'm sorry I usually make a few notes on mixes but for some reason did not on this one. One thing is for sure they were deceptively tricky to get right. I think it depends on a particular picture of a particular jet at a particular time. Plus those cool shots taken at AXALP make the colours change even more in that crystal clear Alpine air :) Would have loved to seen one! Hope that gives some sort of idea what I used, kinda :D. What kit are you using for your build? Can never have enough Mirage IIIRS.

Cheers,

David.

Hi David, thanks for your reply. That definitely will help me getting into the right direction color wise. It's not that easy to get the Swiss Airforce colors right as they are Swiss specific. You covered them very very well.

For 1/72, I have the PJ Production kit for the Mirage IIIS, RS and DS (trainer). I have the kit decals, Peddinghaus and the MCOne (Matterhorn) decals to work with. I ordered the newly released 1/72 Mirage IIIC kit from R.V. Aircraft. I didn't receive it yet but it seems to be a decent kit for the relatively low price. It even comes with the decals for the one IIIC the Swiss Airforce got.

For 1/48 I got from Eduard the IIIC and from Kinetic the IIIR which I will build as an RS.

And you? Any plans for another Swiss Airforce Mirage?

Cheers,

Michael

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Hi Michael, glad it is of some sort of help.

So I guess you are all kitted out then :). Certainly gonna purchase some MCOne decals for future jets, as the Peddinghaus ones had incorrect sized roundels, missing stencils and wrong colours on my copy, never again.

I will build another Swiss mirage, 3 infact. I want to build a NMF Mirage IIIS probably using the Heller kit again. Then jumping scales to 1/48 a canard IIIS from the Eduard kit with some good old scratch building. Finally, if I can find it, another IIIIRS in 1/32 as a long term build, certainly a lot to correct on that kit but should be easier than working in tiny 1/72. Thats the thing though, so many ideas and kits to build, little time especially since I work like a snail!

All the best,

David.

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Hi Michael, glad it is of some sort of help.

So I guess you are all kitted out then :). Certainly gonna purchase some MCOne decals for future jets, as the Peddinghaus ones had incorrect sized roundels, missing stencils and wrong colours on my copy, never again.

I will build another Swiss mirage, 3 infact. I want to build a NMF Mirage IIIS probably using the Heller kit again. Then jumping scales to 1/48 a canard IIIS from the Eduard kit with some good old scratch building. Finally, if I can find it, another IIIIRS in 1/32 as a long term build, certainly a lot to correct on that kit but should be easier than working in tiny 1/72. Thats the thing though, so many ideas and kits to build, little time especially since I work like a snail!

All the best,

David.

Hi David,

Yeap, cannot complain not having enough kits ;-).

I got issues with the Peddinghaus Decals too - the lines of the eagle Head of the no. 10 squadron where not all even bold. But Mr. Peddinghaus exchanged them and they where okay. But I fully agree that the new Matterhorn Decals are top notch.

Seems you have a plan what to do during the coming months! A IIIRS in 1/32 must be a nice beast. Did you have a look at the 1/72 R.V. Aircraft Mirage IIIC? Might be worth.

David, can I contact you separately regarding some questions around the adjustments required for the Swiss Mirages?

Cheers,

Michael

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  • 2 months later...
  • 2 weeks later...

1/48th, surely! Terrific looking pair of Mirages. I love the Mirage family. Something to do with watching The Aeronauts on the BBC during the school holidays, I would imagine.

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Thanks guys! :)

Gene-The conversation has not happened as of yet but some details are blow.

Antoine- Unfortunately no WIP photos :(, they were built before I really was a member here taking photos of construction etc...but below are a few details that may be of some use from my memory (year or so ago!) Sorry I cannot be more helpful! Maybe some are repeated from initial post but cannot hurt.

IIIRS

PJ resin conversion kit was used mainly. The IIIR provided nose is too wide and needed modification to fit in building up the front thickness of the Heller kit nose with plastic sheet.

New splitter plates from thin plastic card and intake shock cones were shaped from spare resin casts.

Fuel tanks were shortened maybe 4mm and pylons reshaped, also tips sharpened into a better cone appearance.

Various other ecm/chaff dispensers (mainly on underside) were scratch built from bits, I just had a lot of reference photos and proceeded around the airframe doing what was needed.

All air scoops made from stretched very thin, hollow, plastic rods. Cut at an angle to get the scoop.

Exhaust was constructed from spare parts that looked ok, small plastic sheet for interior petals, some spare etch for outer petals. Very thin stretch spruce for 'arms' on petals. Took weeks! :)

I'm sure there are several others, I just cannot remember any more!

Gun area built up with tiny bits of plastic.

I only partially rescribed the kit after looking at photographs, to me, many panel lines were simply not visible so I tried a more 'scale' appearance and rely on painting. Next time I would probably just rescribe the whole thing to have better details in all honesty. One of my first airbrushed models so the paint weathering did not counteract the lack of surface detail well enough :).

Decals were from Peddinghaus , highly inaccurate and would not recommend them. In all honesty they need removing and replaced with Matterhorn versions!

Mirage 2000C

​Much more work in correcting shape issues. I had no scale plans so found an exact, scaled to 1/72, profile photo of the nose area and began correction.

I think the basis of the new nose was the original one cut off first, then additional spare fuel tanks sections all cut/combined (a nose 'plug') to increase length by at least 4mm to the rough profile of the nose then sanded to shape. I simply had many photos of the area and tried to replicate what I saw in plastic.

The front canopy/nose area needed new shapes and 'lowered', with plastic card, and also the canopy itself was completely sanded to make a more accurate profile, also eliminating the overscale frames. I sanded so much of the canopy it is now almost unintentionally Vac-form thin!

All new antennae were built from plastic bits, scoops the same as before, 'fins' from card again.

New splitter plates from thin plastic card.

New refuelling probe.

Exhaust shroud was the kit item, thinned massively, then exterior petals scribed and riveted. Interior petals again built from thin plastic sheet. Afterburner interior chamber was from a Revell 1/48 Rafale exhaust, not perfect, but it looks convincing inside with the 'ribbed' details.

Gun area built up with tiny bits of plastic.

I did rescribe it, however it was brush painted and needed several coats of paint before I was happy with the colours, hence much of the panels/details disappeared.

The colours were a trouble, simply mixed to match a photo, but Humbrol 144 and Revell 50 were involved in the blue colour at least. I still have the mixes in spare jars I used, ready for future M2000 builds I like it so much! :)

Decals from Astra, very nice and highly recommend them. The special decals for this airshow jet I think were sourced from Colorado, with the blue stripe on the rudder painted.

I think that is all I remember, they were a lot of work but since they are some of my favourite aircraft ever (Infact the whole Mirage series) it was worth it :). I hope that is some sort of help. Anymore questions please ask!

Cheers and thank you for the kind comments :lol: ,

David.

(An Etendard, 2000N and IVP are all in for the same treatment eventually!)

Edited by mirageiv
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Btw, if you can't get enough of the Mirage 2000, there is also the movie "Sky Fighters" (2005) :)

Also the original Les Chevaliers Du Ciel series was posted on You Tube for a while. Plenty of Mirage IIIC footage.

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