Italeri 1/48 Dassault Mirage IIIE

[Filler]

It's taken nearly six weeks of being furloughed to approach the modelling desk. Strange really but I can't really explain why. Anyway.

 

Pre pandemic I'd bought this kit because it was a subject that wasn't exactly in my top ten and looked to be a pretty straightforward build being little more than a triangle. So I thought it would be perfect because I felt no pressure to build it perfectly and didn't think I'd get bogged down with details  etc. Hopefully a speedy build and mojo rejuvenator!

 

Great number of decal options.

 

However, and as ever, a review read here, a build thread viewed there, and hey presto I've ended up with aftermarket items to try and improve the kits weakest areas.

 

I'm going for option G, EC 2/4 La Fayette 619 4-BJ based at Luxeuil in 1987

 

And having paid for the resin cockpit and exhaust and a brass pitot I now feel the growing pressure to build it as well as I can. Or is that really 'better' than I can?

 

Looking at the plastic the first thing that occurred was that the raised panel lines of this old Esci kit ought to be removed and rescribed. That seriously does not appeal and could be the difference between me finishing it or not. If I do attempt a rescribe, it will only be as per the kits panels as I 100% can't do the accuracy thing. I'd never get it symmetrical for a start! There's also LOADS of ejector pin marks to deal with.

 

Anyhow, the bags are opened, a few bits snipped from the sprues and I shall get cracking. First things first, scratching it to death with wonky rescribing.

[Filler]

Progress has been glacial due to various reasons, one of which is my inability to work with resin aftermarket parts. Between my hamfistedness and their apparent mismatch with the kit I've been have no a hell of a time. I've broken various fine parts off the cockpit sections while handling, fitting and unfitting them. The instructions are wonderfully vague and coupled with some haste on my part it's not been much fun. Oh, and why is superglue only super for the first few days after first use? Although that has actually been of some advantage when needing to get bits apart again.

 

I will get it all rammed in their somehow and despite the expenditure on this detailed cockpit, I think I'll shut the lid on the finished model.

 

I've  definitely lost any enthusiasm for rescribing the kits raised panel lines as a couple of efforts on small panels on the underside look as rough as a bears bottom. However, I have plumped for a decent bit of surgery on the kit due to a weird lopsided step in the fuselage halves. Steps up on one fuselage half and down on the other.

 

I learnt about that on this very site. https://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234978878-italeri-mirage-iiie-in-148th-scale/ Thanks @Alex Gordon

 

And I'm following Alex's approach to fixing it. I hope I don't regret this!

 

 

 

 

Edited May 14, 2020 by Filler

[Alex Gordon]

That method works a treat as long as you let the glue set properly.I still haven't finished mine yet.Good luck with the build,I'll keep looking in.

[exdraken]

Nice project, and just the essential aftermarket

 

I would leave the canopy open, not only because of the fantastic Neomega detsil, but also because of the kit's slightly strange shape around the canopy, it is a bit flat...

 

general advice: take your time with dry fitting, and especialy when closing the fuselage with pit and nozzle mounted...

Edited May 15, 2020 by exdraken

[Filler]

On 5/14/2020 at 5:33 PM, Alex Gordon said:

That method works a treat as long as you let the glue set properly.I still haven't finished mine yet.Good luck with the build,I'll keep looking in.

Thanks Alex. It did just occur to me that the cockpit section and nose with added ballast will be joined by a flat cemented joint. Proper dodgy cut and shut job!

 

Thanks @exdraken, maybe I will keep the lid open. I’ll see how it looks once painted up.

 

I’ve had a lot of fun the last two days. I’ve partially disassembled the superglued resin cockpit because it just didn’t fit or line up well. With hindsight I rushed and had too much faith in the vague instructions. I’m a bit happier with it now, but there was a very close call with a side panel. I couldn't find it after tidying the bench. Turns out I’d binned it, just after the bins were collected!! It was about the only thing in there! Lucky lucky!!

Today I sidetracked myself from painting by cutting off the flaps. I’d noticed in photos that they always droop when parked up, so I thought I’d give it a stab.

 

Also mucked about with some rescribing. Still finding it difficult and not feeling the benefit of such tricky work. So easy to scribe wiggly tangent lines that are damned difficult to then remove.

Next up is spraying some primer as I really can’t put it off any longer.

Edited May 16, 2020 by Filler
I called Alex Gordon. Sorry.

[exdraken]

Nice progress!

Glad you found your piece!

 

[Filler]

It's been a while since I posted in here, but I have made a little progress with the Mirage. I did struggle with the cockpit. I found fitting it into the kit a bit tricky, especially the sidewalls and I had to break one or two bits off after super-gluing them in - which is not easy. I also clumsily broke off a few delicate bits such as the HUD part and the wafer thin shroud parts. But in the end I have got it in there and painted it in my usual non precise style.

 

The exhaust has also been painted and fitted now. That was also a real struggle for me. Again I am heavy handed and broke of several petals. The fit was not as bad as my Aires F-16 exhaust, but it still needed quite a bit of sanding to get it together. I also learnt that I need to take more care when removing the moulding blocks as that has an effect of how well things line up too.

 

Anyway, it's not pretty, but it is in (not photographed). It will need some paint touch-ups as I removed a fair bit in the battle to fit it concentrically and to the correct depth.

 

As I had started rescribing the wings, I had no choice but to continue with the rest. It is something I will not do again. Consistent and straight raised lines sure look better than wiggly scribed lines of varying depths. I tried using various flexible straight edges but even with these I regularly slipped. And as for the small panels, well my etch templates don't match anything on the aircraft and even if they did, you can't get the template close to the kit because of the numerous curves and whatnot. Loads more to do too 😭

 

Last thing I did was to get the forward section glued back on after I had cut it off to deal with the step created by a tooling flaw.

This needs plenty more work to tidy up, but I'm quietly confident that it is back on straight.

 

I'll see if I can get its wings on tonight. The bottom wing piece is just push fitted in at the moment and the top wing pieces will need some internal support to keep them aligned with the wing stubs on the fuselage sections. That will also help make handling safer later as it would be easy for me to squeeze and break the join whilst sanding and painting etc.

[Filler]

Limited progress again. The seat is now painted and trimmed to actually fit into the cockpit.

 

 

My scribing efforts were absolutely horrendous. Nothing was straight and there were scratches from slips all over the show. And after a disappointing start, I regrettably kind of gave up and finished it in a rushed and frustrated manner. Looking at it yesterday I decided that whilst it will never win awards, all the time spent to date and a small fortune spent on resin parts meant that I owed it to myself to make a better attempt at the panel lines. So I 'painted' over all the panel lines on the fuselage with sprue-glue. Late last night I then sanded it all down flat and smooth ready for another go.

 

 

These are my scribing tools. Before I do go again, I might research if there is anything better I can use.

 

 

I'm not going to rush this time and I need to try and find a decent reference of the IIIEs panel lines (the original kit ones I believe were closer to a IIIC), but I do want to get it done as I'm itching to start a Lynx AH.1 in the current Helicopter GB.