South African Mirage F.1Cz

[Corsairfoxfouruncle]

        Hello everyone... I will be building the Hasegawa Mirage F.1C in the markings of the South African Air Force circa late 1970’s.

This will be my first mirage since 1987, I built the Monogram Mirage 2000 in 1/48 then. The markings I have currently,

But these decals from MAVDecals are on there way from South Africa. It all remains to be seen which I will use. 

Here with the sprue shots. 

 

 

 

 

Spare decals. 

 

I had considered and still am to some degree a Libyan version. The national markings are pretty simple with solid green roundels and flag on tail. Please feel free to ask questions, post comments or add thoughts. 
 

Dennis

Edited February 16, 2021 by Corsairfoxfouruncle

[Robert Stuart]

Looks appealing Dennis
Hope your MAVDecals arrive soon - the fin(?) stripes would grab my attention.

[RidgeRunner]

I'm keen to watch this one, Dennis. While I have eyes on a SH kit for this, it will help me understand the subtleties of the type.

 

Martin

[modelling minion]

Very nice choice Dennis, the Mirage F.1 is a great looking aircraft and the SAAF certainly had their moneys worth of use out of them.

You might want to wait for the decals coming through the post as the ones you currently have are for the AZ version which has a different nose than the kit you have. Though I am sure there are enough markings in your picture to do a CZ.

[Col.]

Nice subject choice Dennis and the Hasegawa kit still looks a good one regardless of its vintage.

Like @RidgeRunner I don't know my Mirage F.1 variants well but it sounds as if @modelling minion has us covered  

Edited February 16, 2021 by Col.

[modelling minion]

2 hours ago, Col. said:

sounds as if @modelling minion has us covered

Now hold on Col, my knowledge of the F.1 pretty much covers the fact that some of them had different shaped noses!

[Corsairfoxfouruncle]

4 hours ago, modelling minion said:

Now hold on Col, my knowledge of the F.1 pretty much covers the fact that some of them had different shaped noses!

So that makes you the go to guy and F.1 Mirage specialist ... good Im sure I will be asking tons of questions. 😉

[Corsairfoxfouruncle]

To be 110% honest I really wanted to do a Mirage III but there as available as 🦄💩 right now in 1/72. And I cant afford the 1/48 Eduard kit and decals together. 

[Vultures1]

15 minutes ago, Corsairfoxfouruncle said:

To be 110% honest I really wanted to do a Mirage III but there as available as 🦄💩 right now in 1/72. And I cant afford the 1/48 Eduard kit and decals together. 

There is hope 🙂  https://www.modelsvit-eshop.com/c/aviation-1/mirage-iiic-all-weather-interceptor-157

[modelling minion]

32 minutes ago, Corsairfoxfouruncle said:

So that makes you the go to guy and F.1 Mirage specialist ... good Im sure I will be asking tons of questions. 😉

If I can help Dennis, then I will so ask away mate. Can't promise I will have the answers though.

29 minutes ago, Corsairfoxfouruncle said:

To be 110% honest I really wanted to do a Mirage III but there as available as 🦄💩 right now in 1/72. And I cant afford the 1/48 Eduard kit and decals together. 

Also a superb classic design and they look really good in SAAF markings. There's always the 1/48 Hobbyboss kit which comes with SAAF markings too, it's "very similar" to the Eduard kit but can be found for less, I got one this week for £10 inc postage of a certain auction site.

[Corsairfoxfouruncle]

14 minutes ago, Vultures1 said:

There is hope 🙂  https://www.modelsvit-eshop.com/c/aviation-1/mirage-iiic-all-weather-interceptor-157

Yeah I’d love one sadly its sold out everywhere I look. For some reason here in the states they want $40 for them. The Eduard kit in 1/48 is the same price, so might just have to go that route and make it easier on my eyes. 

[Vultures1]

3 minutes ago, Corsairfoxfouruncle said:

Yeah I’d love one sadly its sold out everywhere I look. For some reason here in the states they want $40 for them. The Eduard kit in 1/48 is the same price, so might just have to go that route and make it easier on my eyes. 

 

Yeah, Modelsvit kits aren't cheap but I'm a big fan of their products and they seem a very complete package.  Available for pre-order at the Big H https://www.hannants.co.uk/product/MSVIT72061?result-token=ZOtxB at £26, so I guess best part of $40 with postage

[Corsairfoxfouruncle]

8 minutes ago, modelling minion said:

If I can help Dennis, then I will so ask away mate. Can't promise I will have the answers though.

Also a superb classic design and they look really good in SAAF markings. There's always the 1/48 Hobbyboss kit which comes with SAAF markings too, it's "very similar" to the Eduard kit but can be found for less, I got one this week for £10 inc postage of a certain auction site.

Thanks Craig, I never even thought about one of those ? Hmmm food for thought ? 🤔

[Col.]

7 hours ago, modelling minion said:

Now hold on Col, my knowledge of the F.1 pretty much covers the fact that some of them had different shaped noses!

That alone puts you a nose ahead of us

[CliffB]

A nice choice Dennis .  If I understand correctly, your Springboks will be full colour (rather than lo-viz), which is good!

[Corsairfoxfouruncle]

28 minutes ago, CliffB said:

A nice choice Dennis .  If I understand correctly, your Springboks will be full colour (rather than lo-viz), which is good!

Thank you Cliff, I have plenty of High viz. prefer the older ones with the Springbok’s over the newer style. I also have these on order 1/48 Sabre

and 1/72 Bristol Beaufort. 

Id like to order about a dozen more sets when these get here depending on how the Mirage decals work. 

Dennis

[eclipse]

Nice project!👍 Hi or low viz, you have also intermediate situation😉: low viz paint scheme but hi viz markings! I know only two aircrafts with such livery, 234 and 235.

[modelling minion]

You could do a lot worse than look at this site Dennis;

 

http://www.sa-transport.co.za/aircraft/mirage_f1_saaf_service.html

 

Lots of useful info on SAAF F.1's and the thumbnail pictures expand to a useful size too. Dangerously I have just remembered that I have a 1/48 F.1 AZ in the stash, somewhere.

[Corsairfoxfouruncle]

        Good morning everyone... Pulled a long session tonight and was able to get a start on this and my Aussie Meteor. 
 

The seat is only sitting in for the photo’s. I will add belts before the seat gets glued in. 

 

I meant to get the wings and stabs on, however the Meteor took longer fiddling with the multi fuselage bits. 

Please feel free to ask questions, post comments or add thoughts. 

 

 

Dennis

 

[vppelt68]

Coming along nicely, Dennis!

[modelling minion]

Very nice work Dennis, captures the sleek lines of the F.1 perfectly.

[Vultures1]

Looking good!

[Corsairfoxfouruncle]

        Hello Everyone... For my next installment I sanded down the main seams with the first rough sand. Once that was done I finished the seatbelts.

Once that was done I mounted the wings, stabs, and strakes. 
 

 

 

 

Next up is to work the sand, fill, and repeat stages. Please feel free to ask questions, post comments or thoughts. 

 

Dennis

[Jonners]

On 2/17/2021 at 12:14 PM, eclipse said:

I know only two aircrafts with such livery, 234 and 235

The aircraft in that photo is an F-1AZ in the later scheme, like this one with a younger version of me:

 

 

Nice one, Dennis. I have an ESCI 1/48 SAAF F1-CZ that I built years ago, in the dark green / tan scheme but it's hidden away in a box somewhere, and I clearly remember seeing the real thing when I was a kid in SA in the early '80s. The F-1CZ in that colour scheme had a series of narrow red diagonal stripes along the upper wing root area that are missed in all of the decal sheets, as far as I know, but are straightforward to replicate using aftermarket red decal stripes.

 

If you can find this book by the late, great Herman Potgieter:

 

 

...there are some great photos, including a topside view of an F-1CZ at almost precisely 1/48 (thanks, Mr P!) that clearly shows these stripes. Unfortunately I'm several hundred miles from my copy at the moment.

 

The decal sheet that includes the Harvard and Dakota decals is fine for the castle insignia, but all of the fin flashes are incorrectly printed with red instead of orange. 

 

Watching with interest!

Jon

[TonyOD]

Kind of appropriate that it's called the F.1 with those sleek lines. Looks like a plane designed to go very, very fast. It's coming along nicely.