PeterB Posted December 2, 2020 Author Share Posted December 2, 2020 (edited) The decs behaved pretty well and now they are all on - I have gone for Aircraft No 4, but have no idea which unit it belonged to! I suppose that in the event of war they would have toned the roundels down, painted out the airbrakes and maybe even given the bomb a quick spray of grey if they had time. All that is left is to put the undercarriage doors, nose probe and aerials etc on and it is ready for the "special weapon" and drop tanks. I notice that some other makes of kit supply copious lengths of red/yellow striped walkway lines, but I am not sure if they were for the NMF version or the camo one. Anyway Heller did not include any so tough. More anon as they say. Pete Edited December 2, 2020 by PeterB 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johnson Posted December 2, 2020 Share Posted December 2, 2020 That looks very smart Pete! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterB Posted December 2, 2020 Author Share Posted December 2, 2020 And here it is with all the bits on and painted. Just needs a coat of slightly glossy varnish and it will be finished - took a lot less time than I expected. And here is the underside. I will try and get a few shots in daylight as it is a bit lighter in real life. Cheers Pete 9 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
exdraken Posted December 2, 2020 Share Posted December 2, 2020 looks smart, and somehow unpleasantly dangerous.... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterB Posted December 2, 2020 Author Share Posted December 2, 2020 (edited) The silghtly sad thing is for all its sleek lines and high speed at altitude, after only a few years it was forced to operate low down where, if the figures I have seen are correct, it was no faster than an RAF V Bombers or Buccaneer, unlike the FB-111A - bit of a waste really. Mind you, I don't think the TSR-2 would have been any better low down - the swing wing on the F-111 and the Tornado apparently is a big advntage in that respect.. Pete Edited December 2, 2020 by PeterB 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevehnz Posted December 2, 2020 Share Posted December 2, 2020 That looks very smart Peter, having one of these in stock, it has been good to follow this build & pick up a few tips. There is a French Fancy build next year, oui? Steve. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corsairfoxfouruncle Posted December 2, 2020 Share Posted December 2, 2020 2 hours ago, PeterB said: The silghtly sad thing is for all its sleek lines and high speed at altitude, after only few years it wss forced to operate low down where, if the figures I have seen are correct, it was no faster than an RAF V Bomber or Buccaneer, unlike the FB-111A - bit of a waste really. Pretty much the same reason the B-58 Hustler was retired. Sad that the IV’s didn't have a longer service life in their intended roles but still decent at Recon. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterB Posted December 2, 2020 Author Share Posted December 2, 2020 Hi Dennis, AFAIK from 1964 to 1996 albeit in decreasing numbers they were part of the French Nuclear deterrent - about 3 times the active service life in that role as the B-58 I believe, so not bad really. Pete 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corsairfoxfouruncle Posted December 2, 2020 Share Posted December 2, 2020 Longer than I thought, thats good. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JosephLalor Posted December 3, 2020 Share Posted December 3, 2020 That's a very nice job. This kit was the first that I was aware of that featured a representation of a nuclear device. Not sure where I would have seen a review, but it was probably in a Mirage kitography in PAM News. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterB Posted December 3, 2020 Author Share Posted December 3, 2020 Hi Joseph, Your post got me thinking - there are not that many kits that come with any form of "Nuke" AFAIK, though there are some AM ones available and I have an old Italeri "USA/NATO" weapons set that has a Mk 61 bomb in it. Of course in many planes the bomb(s) would have been carried internally so would not normally be visible. Thinking about it, as well as the Mirage IV I curremtly have my old Airfix Vulcan with a Blue Steel missile - I believe their newer Victor also has one. As these were carried externally they were obvious, but less so are the ALCM cruise missiles in their B-1B, and they also provide a "nuke" as an alternative bomb bay load for their Valiant. I think that is about it currently, but looking back I seem to remember that their first Buccaneer, the NA 39 prototype had a single long but thin bomb glued into the revolving bomb bay which I suspect was their idea of a nuke, and way back in the early 1960's my parents bought me a kit of an F-105 which you can see it in this blurry old pic with the first Airfix Phantom and the Revell F-111 which came with parts for the USAF A and the USN B prototypes. I think it was either Monogram or Aurora and presumably it was an early version - F-105B I suspect, and had a spring loaded ejection seat which you could "fire" through the pivoting canopy, and a large silver bomb with a red nose which you could "drop" out of the bomb bay - I bet that was meant to be a nuke as well. The pic was taken in around 1970 I think, and the F-111 and F-4 are still around. The F-105 was scrapped when I built my rather better Hasegawa F-105D. Cheers Pete Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterB Posted December 3, 2020 Author Share Posted December 3, 2020 (edited) And here is a group shot of the Mirage family. The F1C on the left is pure Airfix, whist the 2000 is an Airfix re-boxed Heller kit. The IIIE is a Heller kit that offered IIIE, IIIR and 5 versions but the only French markings were for the R so I used a spare set from the Frog IIIE kit. Unfortunately, all 3 have lost their nose probes in storage. Pete Edited December 3, 2020 by PeterB 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterB Posted December 6, 2020 Author Share Posted December 6, 2020 (edited) I debated whether to go for a satin finish but ended up with one that is only slightly glossy, and as the sun came out briefly in a hazy sort of way, I took pics for the gallery. The grey still looks a bit dark but what the heck! Other than the ruddy radome it has gone together pretty well and it is a nice looking plane! Pity about the drop tank seam, I missed. I am enjoying this GB a lot - thanks to all involved, and thanks for watching. Pete Edited December 6, 2020 by PeterB 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johnson Posted December 6, 2020 Share Posted December 6, 2020 Looks great Pete. And good photo too. You've got the whole model in focus, good depth of field. Not always easy to do taking pics of models. Cheers, 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterB Posted December 6, 2020 Author Share Posted December 6, 2020 Thanks Charlie, Pity about the background but I had to find somewhere the sun could actually reach through all the trees!. Pete 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RidgeRunner Posted December 7, 2020 Share Posted December 7, 2020 On 12/3/2020 at 11:59 AM, PeterB said: and way back in the early 1960's my parents bought me a kit of an F-105 which you can see it in this blurry old pic Very nice! This machine is rarely illustrated. She caught my eye during my Thud phase That's a great Mirage build, Peter. What a great machine the Mirage IVA was . You've done her proud! Martin 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corsairfoxfouruncle Posted December 7, 2020 Share Posted December 7, 2020 Great to see a IV finished and what a great looking plane she is. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Masters Posted December 8, 2020 Share Posted December 8, 2020 Very nice Pete. Just catching up on the gallery and saw that you had finished this as well as the Mig. Both superb! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theplasticsurgeon Posted December 8, 2020 Share Posted December 8, 2020 Top build Peter - like it. You don't see many of these completed. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rabbit Leader Posted December 11, 2020 Share Posted December 11, 2020 Well done Pete.. she’s turned up a treat and you’ve done both this beautiful subject and Classic kit great justice. Cheers and well modelled.. Dave 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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