Nikola Topalov Posted August 22, 2020 Share Posted August 22, 2020 Hi gents, For those interested, I thought it would be nice that I try something completely new and tackle a jet for the first time. My subject of choice is Eduard's Weekend Edition 1/48 Mirage IIIC, Djibouti camo (sand and dark earth), as I am a sucker for anything connected to the desert. Again, I will be building it OOB and experimenting with my Complementary Pre-Shading method, meaning that I will be using mainly purple hues for this job. Any tips on assembling and painting a jet fighter, preferably a Mirage, would be much much appreciated! Thanks for taking an interest! Best, Nikola 9 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
exdraken Posted August 23, 2020 Share Posted August 23, 2020 Nice project! A Mirage is a goid choice for a first jet! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Biggles87 Posted August 23, 2020 Share Posted August 23, 2020 I’ll join in if I may. There is a Mirage III build by Christa A which might interest you, if you haven’t already seen it. Good Luck. John 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nikola Topalov Posted August 23, 2020 Author Share Posted August 23, 2020 14 minutes ago, Biggles87 said: I’ll join in if I may. There is a Mirage III build by Christa A which might interest you, if you haven’t already seen it. Good Luck. John Hi John, Please do! I hope that I don't dissapoint. Thanks a lot for the info about Christa's build. I'll definitely check it out. Best, Nikola Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nikola Topalov Posted August 23, 2020 Author Share Posted August 23, 2020 (edited) 51 minutes ago, Biggles87 said: I’ll join in if I may. There is a Mirage III build by Christa A which might interest you, if you haven’t already seen it. Good Luck. John Hi John, Is this the build you were refering to?: Best, Nikola Edited August 23, 2020 by Nikola Topalov 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christer A Posted August 23, 2020 Share Posted August 23, 2020 Yep, that's mine The kit is quite nice, but some details seems a bit weird att first, but then you get an A-ha-moment and it starts to assemble properly. Have fun with your build! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nikola Topalov Posted August 23, 2020 Author Share Posted August 23, 2020 1 minute ago, Christer A said: Yep, that's mine The kit is quite nice, but some details seems a bit weird att first, but then you get an A-ha-moment and it starts to assemble properly. Have fun with your build! Hi Christer, Great, now I have someone to bother throughout the build , haha. Thanks for the heads up! Appreciated. Best, Nikola 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Biggles87 Posted August 23, 2020 Share Posted August 23, 2020 Sorry Christer, got your name wrong, it’s not as if I’ve never looked at any of your builds! john 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nikola Topalov Posted August 31, 2020 Author Share Posted August 31, 2020 On 8/23/2020 at 5:11 PM, Christer A said: Yep, that's mine The kit is quite nice, but some details seems a bit weird att first, but then you get an A-ha-moment and it starts to assemble properly. Have fun with your build! Hi Christer, How did you find working with Eduard decals? This is my first Eduard kit and the decals are f'ing fragile, very delicate and thin!!! Any tips? I managed to get them relatively OK in the cockpit area with some struggle and slight stress. Best, Nikola Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christer A Posted August 31, 2020 Share Posted August 31, 2020 I can't say I had any problems with the decals for the cockpit. Test, they're quite thin and might fold into themselves, but that's how my decalling usually goes nowadays. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nikola Topalov Posted September 2, 2020 Author Share Posted September 2, 2020 On 8/31/2020 at 4:00 PM, Christer A said: I can't say I had any problems with the decals for the cockpit. Test, they're quite thin and might fold into themselves, but that's how my decalling usually goes nowadays. Thanks Christer, I'll be cautious with them. Best, Nikola Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nikola Topalov Posted September 2, 2020 Author Share Posted September 2, 2020 Hi gents, Just a little update, nothing special. Cockpit completed. Needs a few touch-ups but that's that. Primed with Vallejo black primer, filtered with Vallejo Intermediate Blue and washed with a black wash. Slight wear drybrushed with aluminium. The seat was painted with Tamiya Olive Drab and filtered with Tamiya yellow followed by a brown wash. Then the seatbelt decal was applied with some more brown wash. As I said, nothing special. I didn't plan on putting too much time into the cockpit and investing in interior details as the canopy will be closed anyway. This will be a simple weekend edition OOB, more of a practice and painting experimentation model. Thanks for looking! Best, Nikola 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulT 876 Posted September 2, 2020 Share Posted September 2, 2020 Hi Nikola Be fore you go any more ref the seat change the face blined fireing handle to the D type not the B type you have fitted All French Mirage IIIc's had this none had the B type as you have fitted kit is wrong on this point, and i need to check i thing they still had Karki Para packs at this time need to have a good look at my photos plus look at Christer A build i have put some photos in it ref the intakes. Keep Building Mirages you cant beat them great a/c we in the French Airforces SIG and Mirage SIG are doing the big display next year 2021 at IPMS (UK) SMW 2021 its the 60 year of MIrages in Service so aim in full Mirage build at this time. Paul 3 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nikola Topalov Posted September 2, 2020 Author Share Posted September 2, 2020 1 hour ago, PaulT 876 said: Hi Nikola Be fore you go any more ref the seat change the face blined fireing handle to the D type not the B type you have fitted All French Mirage IIIc's had this none had the B type as you have fitted kit is wrong on this point, and i need to check i thing they still had Karki Para packs at this time need to have a good look at my photos plus look at Christer A build i have put some photos in it ref the intakes. Keep Building Mirages you cant beat them great a/c we in the French Airforces SIG and Mirage SIG are doing the big display next year 2021 at IPMS (UK) SMW 2021 its the 60 year of MIrages in Service so aim in full Mirage build at this time. Paul Hi Paul, Thanks for the above info! Much appreciated! I will sure reference this when building a more serious Mirage model. This is my first jet model so I see it more as a practice for future jets that I do. Do you have links to your Mirage builds so I can take a look. I am very interested. Best, Nikola Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Biggles87 Posted September 2, 2020 Share Posted September 2, 2020 Nice cockpit. It shouldn't be too difficult to change the pull handle Nicola, and the seat is one of the most noticeable items in a jet cockpit.The 'D' handles on the earlier seats were made safe on the ground by a strap across the middle fixed at the top with a pin with a large red disc, this left the handle with loops either side which were significantly smaller than those of the later ' spectacle ' type. John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nikola Topalov Posted September 2, 2020 Author Share Posted September 2, 2020 (edited) 1 hour ago, Biggles87 said: Nice cockpit. It shouldn't be too difficult to change the pull handle Nicola, and the seat is one of the most noticeable items in a jet cockpit.The 'D' handles on the earlier seats were made safe on the ground by a strap across the middle fixed at the top with a pin with a large red disc, this left the handle with loops either side which were significantly smaller than those of the later ' spectacle ' type. John Thanks for the info John! Appreciated! I'll definitely have to do my homework and check these out, as I know very little about these details in real aircraft, especially jets. Do you have any good reference photos? Best, Nikola Edited September 2, 2020 by Nikola Topalov Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nikola Topalov Posted September 16, 2020 Author Share Posted September 16, 2020 Hi gents, The cockpit is in. Since I will have the canopy open due to some misalignment of the canopy and the fuselage top (could be my own doing) I thought to add some interest by painting the ejection pull handles as they should be. As PaulT said, the handle is wrong as it should be a "D" handle, but I just didn't have enough patience and will to change it this time. It is what it is. I masked the darn thing which was very touchy, nevertheless interesting, so the scale of the spiral is probably off. I could have just painted it without masking but hey, why do it easy when you can complicate things. Thanks for looking! Best, Nikola 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nikola Topalov Posted September 17, 2020 Author Share Posted September 17, 2020 I shouldn't have thinned down the yellow that much for brush painting since now I have it in a slightly thicker layer than I intended. Lesson learned. A couple of closer (bad) shots: 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nikola Topalov Posted September 17, 2020 Author Share Posted September 17, 2020 Still got to add red to the handle attachment point. Forgot that completely. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nikola Topalov Posted October 12, 2020 Author Share Posted October 12, 2020 Hi gents, OK, definitely not a kit for someone with little free time like moi. 🤨 The fit is not tragic, but also not very good. Needs filling, sanding, rescribing and all that jazz which I would rather not be doing that much right now. I should probably have chosen a nice Tamiya kit... 🤔 ...and should probably stick with Tamiya kits until the kids are a bit older and I have more time to waste on fixing fit issues. 🙂 Anyway, pushing through... Almost ready for the primer. It is a practice build anyway. Thanks for looking guys! Best, Nikola 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arnobiz Posted October 12, 2020 Share Posted October 12, 2020 Looking good! While I found the wing root fit to be very good with strategically placed spacers on the insider of the fuselage, he bottom part fit is indeed terrible, especially at the front. A good trick to make it a perfect fit at the rear, near the engine, is to add strips of thick plastic sheet on the inside of either parts so that they force the kit parts to sit flush with each other. Looking forward to seeing it completed! Which paints are you going to use for the camo? Arnaud Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
exdraken Posted October 12, 2020 Share Posted October 12, 2020 Looks great! It is a Mirage, so worth every hour you have to spare Not all Tamiya kits are that great by the way!! Less so if you want a Mirage Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nikola Topalov Posted October 12, 2020 Author Share Posted October 12, 2020 7 hours ago, arnobiz said: Looking good! While I found the wing root fit to be very good with strategically placed spacers on the insider of the fuselage, he bottom part fit is indeed terrible, especially at the front. A good trick to make it a perfect fit at the rear, near the engine, is to add strips of thick plastic sheet on the inside of either parts so that they force the kit parts to sit flush with each other. Looking forward to seeing it completed! Which paints are you going to use for the camo? Arnaud Hi Arnaud, Thanks for the tip! I'll have that in mind for future builds for sure. Too late now, haha. I will probably go with Vallejo Middlestone and Green Brown for the camo, and Sky Blue or USAAF Light Gray for the underside. Any better suggestions? Best, Nikola Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nikola Topalov Posted October 12, 2020 Author Share Posted October 12, 2020 3 minutes ago, exdraken said: Looks great! It is a Mirage, so worth every hour you have to spare Not all Tamiya kits are that great by the way!! Less so if you want a Mirage Thanks for the support Exdraken. Appreciated. Like you said, a Mirage's a Mirage. I guess you're right about Tamiya as well. I still have to have more kits under my belt to judge better. We'll see how this one turns out. Best, Nikola Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amos brierley Posted October 13, 2020 Share Posted October 13, 2020 Coming along nicely. 😉 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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