Cris Garcia Posted May 9, 2021 Share Posted May 9, 2021 (edited) Hello fellas! On 1980 Chile bought 16 Mirage 50 to France as tensions with Argentina keep 'hot' regarding Picton, Nueva and Lennox islands on the Beagle Channel. At the same time, USA forbid selling spare parts and logistics to the new F-5 Tiger II acquired in 1976, due to human rights issues by the chilean dictatorship at the time, and the UK delay the deliver of new engines for the chilean Hawker Hunters, hence Chile did not have other option but to buy the last version of the delta french fighter bomber as Argentina got nearly thirty IAI Daggers by Israel between 1978 and 1981. The Mirage 50 was a late development of the Mirage 5, with a more powerful engine Snecma Atar 9K-50 (7.200 kg/thrust, 2.2 mach) and a new radar system (Cyrano or Agave options). I used the kit by Kinetic Mirage III/5 South American, as the Mirage 50 is identical to the Dagger, with the exception of some antennas. The fit of the kit was far from awesome, specially the air intakes and front wheel bay zone, but with a lot of sanding and putty it work out fine. For decals I used some spare chilean emblems from the AFV F-5 Tiger II and Trumpeter A-37 Dragonfly. Although the Mirage 50 can carry air to air missiles (israeli Shafrir II) the FACH used them mainly as a strike aircraft to ground and naval targets. I used the supersonic RPK-10 aux fuel tanks which can carry up to four 250 lbs bombs each, in this case, with 2 Mk. 82 Snake Eye bombs on the interior wing pylon and one M. 117 bomb (750 lbs) on the central pylon. This Mirage 50 FC served with serial number 504 of the FACH's 4th Group at Chabunco Air Force Base (Punta Arenas) in 1985. FACH keep the original french cammo from 1980-1985, later applying a low visibility one to the entire fleet. So, enough talking, let the photos show you my tribute to this elegant french delta guarding the chilean inlets of Tierra del Fuego during the 80' and 90'. Best wishes from Chile and happy modelling to all! Cris Edited February 27 by Cris Garcia 43 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SAT69 Posted May 9, 2021 Share Posted May 9, 2021 Looks mighty good to me! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dolphin38 Posted May 9, 2021 Share Posted May 9, 2021 Nice work, well done 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
621Andy Posted May 10, 2021 Share Posted May 10, 2021 Excelente! Looks a lot newer than my pic of its sister ship in 2016! 2 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GiampieroSilvestri Posted May 10, 2021 Share Posted May 10, 2021 Brilliant! Saluti Giampiero 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cris Garcia Posted May 10, 2021 Author Share Posted May 10, 2021 2 hours ago, 621Andy said: Excelente! Looks a lot newer than my pic of its sister ship in 2016! Thanks Andy! Actually all the Mirage 50 were lately (early 90’) upgraded to ‘Pantera’ standard, which you can appreciate in your photo. Lots of changes, including a larger nose cone, new RWR and chaff dispenser, etc. 503 in the photo shows the low-visibility cammo that all of them adopt in the late 80’. Cheers my friend. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
F-32 Posted May 10, 2021 Share Posted May 10, 2021 That really is lovely work, great job 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BerndM Posted May 10, 2021 Share Posted May 10, 2021 Your Mirage looks really sharp, well done ! ( and thank you for using larger letters in your write up. ) 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MASSIMILIANO Posted May 10, 2021 Share Posted May 10, 2021 Fantastic model.Well done!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gremlin Posted February 23 Share Posted February 23 Awesome Mirage 50FC Cris, its hard to see a Mirage 50 FACH before the upgrade to Pantera. Difficult years with our neighbours, many tensions specially on the far austral border. cheers 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Latinbear Posted February 25 Share Posted February 25 Very nice, love the paint scheme! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adrianm2 Posted February 29 Share Posted February 29 Bravo! Great work, Cris. keep them coming. Adrian 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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