AdriaN (MLT) Posted July 2, 2021 Share Posted July 2, 2021 Old progress shots of the Mirage. Till now very happy with the overall results... But as stated in another post, its very disappointing kit. Most parts dont fit well at all, loads of trimming to be done beforehand and filling. Parts simply dont line up - example the 2 wheel halfs. Incorrect placing of panels. Instructs you to stick on the incorrect intake, but correct intake was snubbed off- realised just before painting. Seatbelts on instructions were placed the wrong way round. Very clumsy & careless instructions. Badly labelled & oversized decals, some decals had no numbers etc etc. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AdriaN (MLT) Posted July 5, 2021 Author Share Posted July 5, 2021 (edited) Not at all impressed with this kit!!! 😤 Fittings are not good at all. Gaps, misalignments, hopeless & badly labelled, misleading instructions! Loads of filler to correct misalignments & gaps. Sadly lost some detail and rescribing was a disaster. Instructions give you the numbers of incorrect jet intakes. This B version has 1 identification light on the left, but the instructions tell you to insert the intakes with the lamps on both side. While it snubbed off the correct intakes from the instructions! thank god i realised before painting and filled it in. Model looking neat after a good coating of Mr surfacer 1200 primer & a light sanding. I found low psi (15) is best for this primer.... not 20-30 psi. High psi fumigates the room and comes out very rough. Edited July 5, 2021 by AdriaN (MLT) 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AdriaN (MLT) Posted July 6, 2021 Author Share Posted July 6, 2021 (edited) Blue-Grey was sprayed using Agama acrylics. They dry quick and spray on nice and thin. But.....last time i'll ever use Agama acrylic. A very weak paint and even with a primer coating and many layers of Klear.. it peels off under any sticky tape or blutac. But its not just the sticky parts of the tape that lift the paint off, but it even gets stuck the the sides of the tape. On numerious occasions I hade to hand paint these patches. The problem it posed was a slightly bumpy finish, but trickiest of all was getting the right shade used during post shading since paint was lightened on the spot. Edited July 6, 2021 by AdriaN (MLT) 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AdriaN (MLT) Posted July 6, 2021 Author Share Posted July 6, 2021 On a positive note. Very happy with the tail. Possibly 1 of few stages of this kit that went well! 😆 Blue & white are revell acrylic, Red is Vallejo. NO PEELING! 10 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark V Posted July 7, 2021 Share Posted July 7, 2021 Thanks for posting your WIP. I have a single seat version of this kit. You are making me nervous about taking it out of the box. But it actually doesn’t seem much different than the Hasegawa 1/48th RF-35 Draken, fill, sand, repeat, rescribe. Maybe it was just me? I do like your perseverance, recovery, and finish so far. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan P Posted July 7, 2021 Share Posted July 7, 2021 Good work tackling a typically Kitty Hawk effort by the looks of it. Not much seems to have gone your way but the result so far still looks very nice! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AdriaN (MLT) Posted July 7, 2021 Author Share Posted July 7, 2021 (edited) 18 hours ago, Mark V said: Thanks for posting your WIP. I have a single seat version of this kit. You are making me nervous about taking it out of the box. But it actually doesn’t seem much different than the Hasegawa 1/48th RF-35 Draken, fill, sand, repeat, rescribe. Maybe it was just me? I do like your perseverance, recovery, and finish so far. Well all kits have some filling/rescribing to do. The instructions are just clumsy. For markings best look at real reference photos as positioning can be incorrect or not labelled at all. Cant understand how a new-ish kit has such bad fitting parts! The 2 halfs of the wheels dont even fit in place and the fitting reference points need to be removed. Ooh yes and the decals are extremely thick! Youll see my post soon... I wonder if the single seat will have the same issues? Edited July 7, 2021 by AdriaN (MLT) 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AdriaN (MLT) Posted July 8, 2021 Author Share Posted July 8, 2021 (edited) Some older progress. Happy with the results. But... Very disappointing decals. They are very thick, rough and matt. Secondly they are out of scale (look at roundels). They break easily and even after many gloss coats the transparent part of decal looks frosty. Its not silvering, as decals went down well. At one angle is looks painted, at another angle is turns frosty. Dont get me started on the instructions as they are a mess in terms of numbering and positioning! For some reason they inserted the same badge on the tail, when it should have 2 different badges. Give me 1970 airfix decals anytime over these Edited July 8, 2021 by AdriaN (MLT) 3 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sturmovik Posted July 8, 2021 Share Posted July 8, 2021 3 hours ago, AdriaN (MLT) said: Very disappointing decals. theY are very thick, rough and matt. Secondly they are out of scale (look at roundels). They break easily and even after many gloss coats the transparent part of decal looks frosty. I'm lucky I got aftermarket decals for my KH SuE. Your build is progressing nicely, and I like the painted on French flag. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AdriaN (MLT) Posted July 8, 2021 Author Share Posted July 8, 2021 14 minutes ago, Sturmovik said: I'm lucky I got aftermarket decals for my KH SuE. Your build is progressing nicely, and I like the painted on French flag. are the decals bad also!? tempting to buy the SuE. But maybe not Kitty Hawk. Kinetic? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sturmovik Posted July 8, 2021 Share Posted July 8, 2021 1 minute ago, AdriaN (MLT) said: are the decals bad also!? tempting to buy the SuE. But maybe not Kitty Hawk. Kinetic? I read KH decals tend to stick and not move once applied. The Kinetic kit, on the other hand, has Cartograf decals, and should work well. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AdriaN (MLT) Posted July 11, 2021 Author Share Posted July 11, 2021 On 7/9/2021 at 12:28 AM, Sturmovik said: I read KH decals tend to stick and not move once applied. The Kinetic kit, on the other hand, has Cartograf decals, and should work well. they stick to the decal paper once you bring them out of the water actually. once the water starts to dry.. they will not move! on plastic i find they break easily. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AdriaN (MLT) Posted July 11, 2021 Author Share Posted July 11, 2021 (edited) Canopy masked up using Eduard masks: Black internal colour first, base coat after: Edited July 11, 2021 by AdriaN (MLT) 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
exdraken Posted July 12, 2021 Share Posted July 12, 2021 Great modelling! But yes, the KH Mirage kits are a bit of a disappointment overall.... the B supposedly the better one though..... I'd invest into AM decals if I were you... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AdriaN (MLT) Posted July 26, 2021 Author Share Posted July 26, 2021 (edited) Weeks after completing decalling, i realised i stuck on 33-FD instead of 33-FS. Luckily all what needed changing was the D->S. Painted over the D with base color, deliberately making it look like a 'touch up'. In the end the mistake is quite undetectable. The 50 from 509 got torn off by masking tape. Lucky i managed to use the 5 and 0 from the 520 decal. Panels washed using my favourites... water colours! Once dry they rub off with ease. No thinners needed. First time ever using photetch seat belts. The rubbish instructions instruct you to stick them... the wrong way round! thankfully I rotated them when the C/A glue began to harden. Edited July 26, 2021 by AdriaN (MLT) 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deano353 Posted July 26, 2021 Share Posted July 26, 2021 Looking good so far and that's a good tip about water colours I've never thought about using them before. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AdriaN (MLT) Posted July 27, 2021 Author Share Posted July 27, 2021 13 hours ago, Deano353 said: Looking good so far and that's a good tip about water colours I've never thought about using them before. Highly recommend. you mix them with water. Drop of dish liquid is a must in order to break surface tension and to make it spread. Once dry you just rub off with tissue, leaving behind the mix in the panel lines. If you're not happy just introduce some water and it comes off. Similar to the Flory clay wash. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deano353 Posted July 27, 2021 Share Posted July 27, 2021 58 minutes ago, AdriaN (MLT) said: Highly recommend. you mix them with water. Drop of dish liquid is a must in order to break surface tension and to make it spread. Once dry you just rub off with tissue, leaving behind the mix in the panel lines. If you're not happy just introduce some water and it comes off. Similar to the Flory clay wash. Brilliant advice thanks as I've just about run out of Flory wash. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AdriaN (MLT) Posted July 31, 2021 Author Share Posted July 31, 2021 Weathering done and I am very pleased with the result. Panel lines done with water colours. Staining/streaking done with artists oil paints. Finished with my favourite.... Revell Enamel Matt varnish. Gives a nice sheen & non yellowing. Aluminum was also sprayed matt since in real life the bottom side wasnt shiny nor clean! 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AdriaN (MLT) Posted December 16, 2021 Author Share Posted December 16, 2021 (edited) Seats painted. Happy with the result. The seatbelts were painting a bit... randomly, as belts in real life.. are way more complex then this brass set! Jet pipe painted silver and stainless steel. Tail rubber anti corrosion tip added. Wheel hubs masked using masking set. First time ever painting this way. Usually its free hand. Love the wheels! With the photo flash for some reason... decals look yellow! Edited December 16, 2021 by AdriaN (MLT) spelling 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AdriaN (MLT) Posted January 27, 2022 Author Share Posted January 27, 2022 (edited) Some old progress before finishing model in December and becoming covid+...... Scratchbuilt canopy hydraulics: Hydraulics painted and seats fit into place: Ladder: Painted nav lights: Edited January 27, 2022 by AdriaN (MLT) 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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