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Special Hobby Mirage F.1AZ Armée de l'air Gabonaise 1/72 - 26oct21 decalled (almost) and resting for a while :)


RidgeRunner

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And I’m underway :). The Mustang is nearly and so  I’m breaking styrene on this beauty. 
 

Following the instructions, you need to select the AZ parts

 

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with that done I will be cementing and priming today. I should get better updates later this week. :) Of course, much could be repeating @Parrahs’s posts so I will avoid that.

 

More soon!

 

Martin

 

 

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Not a great deal of work done today but at least I have started :)

 

Using the AZ-specific parts I have started to assemble the cockpit. Initially it needs the tub and rear wall cemented.and, separately, the instrunment panel and coaming. I then took the trusty Badger 200 to the assemblies witha pot of Colourcoats Matt Black. I also painted the interior of the forward fuselage and the jet pipe area. The next step will be to apply the IP decals over whitened instruments. It will be then a matter of detailing the cockpit before cementing it in place together with the jet pipe etc. I wont add the seat and control column until later, although I will assemble and paint them. It impedes plugging with foam during the painting stage. After that I reckon - soon to be proved wrong - it will be a straight forward build of the wings, etc. I will be leaving the tailplanes so they can be set at an angle as soon were. 

 

p?i=14140c8c277dc7d05c366bf7cb6730b2

 

I have to say that I was expecting a model of the same moulding quality as the superb SMB2 but, sadly, it isn't proving to be. THere is a huge amount of flash on some parts as well as less than flat joints for the fuselage halves :(. Am I alone with this?

 

Martin

 

 

 

 

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  • RidgeRunner changed the title to Special Hobby Mirage F.1AZ "TR-KMP" Armée de l'air Gabonaise 1/72 - Box opened and first paint on :)
51 minutes ago, RidgeRunner said:

Am I alone with this?

Nope - there's some hard to clean up flash on mine on the fuselages where the forward fuselage inserts go (to cater for single - and twoseat variants).

 

Still, the best F.1 in Gentlemen's Scale!

 

Cheers,

 

Andre

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6 hours ago, Hook said:

Still, the best F.1 in Gentlemen's Scale!

I reckon so. The choices within the box are fabulous, Andre. I’m sure these little discrepancies can be overcome easily and she will build up to being a great model. :)

 

Martin

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  • RidgeRunner changed the title to Special Hobby Mirage F.1AZ Armée de l'air Gabonaise 1/72 - Box opened and first paint on :)

I also got back to the Mirage today :). Having already painted the background for the cockpit (Matt Black) I have been assembling a few other bits, like the jet pipe and instrument panel. Rigt now she is sitting with the nosewheel well and jet pipe cemented in place. To ensure correct placement of both I have dry fitted the cockpit tub. 

 

mirage2

 

Already I can see that this is a scrappy build because of the poor fit of various bits around the forward end. Also there is a lot of flash, as I have said before. The cockpit tub's fitting in to the forward fuselage is already presenting issues and a fair bit of sand seems to be required to get a reasonable fit.  

 

The jet pipe sits quite well, though! :)

 

 

Mirage3

 

Back to wrestling with that cockpit! What a faff!!!!!! :(

 

Martin

 

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  • RidgeRunner changed the title to Special Hobby Mirage F.1AZ Armée de l'air Gabonaise 1/72 - 14sep21 a frustrating return to the build

I got a little more done :)

 

Firstly an example of the flash that is present along every edge on the forward fuselage parts.

 

 

Mirage4

 

And secondly, as she is now. I have wrestled with the cockpit and got it installed and painted (Colourcoats Matt Black and dry brushed Tyre Black, plus Aluminium dry brushing). With that done she has been closed up!

 

Mirage5

 

My return to the desk will be to get the nose together. Reports seem to suggest that this is fiddly so I am prepared for a fight! :)

 

Martin

 

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6 hours ago, Hook said:

Nice progress, and a goood illustration of the "hard to clean up flash on mine on the fuselages where the forward fuselage inserts go" I mentioned! 

 

Cheers,

 

Andre

I’ll try my small chisel on it. Of course, with deep panel lining like that I should be able to sand without losing too much ;)

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According to @Hook, Craig @modelling minion, it comes about through the moulding for both single and twin-seat variants. It was everywhere!

 

Again, I have to say that I am disappointed with the moulding, having expected something close to the truly excellent SMB2. The nose parts seem to have a very rough connecting surface between them and the fuselage so that will be fun. Nevertheless I will try to make a silk purse out of this sow’s ear ;).
 

Martin

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I will be getting more construction done today but, for now, here are the decals that arrived over the weekend :). Plenty of spares! The various grey serials etc are to give me choice when i t comes to application. 

 

Martin

 

 

Arctic decals

 

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Well, I got a fair bit done today. 

 

My first task was to get the airbrakes and intakes fitted. The former are simple but at the eleventh hour I realised that I hadn’t modified the cones. The kit parts for this are resin and it required that the stryrene is cut away and the resin cone fitted after a little trial and testing. It seems to be a double cone and went on easily. To cut the styrene I used a piece of card (from an old business card) as a spacer and then cut along that. This also, of course, protected the lip of the intake. Here is the modified intake in the centre with the original to the right, together with the remaining new cone still on the moulding block.

 

Mirage6

 

Mirage8

 

I then cut out the slot in the fin for the rear warning receiver. Again this new part is resin. I used a small narrow chisel for this. It should clean up okay and I will use PPP to fill gaps. However, I forgot to thin the two strakes/fins alongside the fin. I have since masked the surround and sanded them in situ.

 

Mirage7

 

Then, after sanding the inner faces, I assembled the wing halves and, once dried, I fitted them, employing one of my patented jigs for alignment ;)

 

Mirage10

 

Thereafter I filled the nose cone with fishing weights and fitted it to the fuselage. It is a rough join and will certainly need a fair bit of filling and sanding. I reckon I'll be getting the Gloop out ;).

 

Mirage12

 

Along the way the instructions ask you to fit various small parts but these can wait until I have the basic shape filled and sanded. Otherwise I'm prone to knocking things off or sanding them in error!

 

Back again tomorrow :)

 

Martin

 

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That's probably the best route. Mind you, even in my " Commie Killer" boxings the severity differs from box to box. Earlier incarnations like the F.1CR and F.1CE/CH are much less afflicted.

 

Cheers,

 

Andre

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  • RidgeRunner changed the title to Special Hobby Mirage F.1AZ Armée de l'air Gabonaise 1/72 - 20sep I got a bit done :)

Just a little done today. In view of the thin wing joints and the oversized gap between the fuselage and the nose cone, I opted to use Gloop (dissolved sprue) to fill. I first mask off the area as precisely as I can and then apply the Gloop. It will need a day or two to cure before sanding. 

 

Mirage14

 

Meanwhile I have gone through the instructions and marked up all the small bits that need to be attached or removed. I didn't realise that the Mirage F.1 had so many of these litle sensors etc. Anyway I set about the task with my knife, a sander and sprue cutters. Most of the bits to remove are done while some of the styrene bits are now in place. I am waiting to fit the resin parts until after the main filling and sanding.
 

One thing I did see on reference shots is that the small "sensor" that sits on the intake covers (now fitted), and is moulded in clear styrene by SH, was not present on the Gabon machines. I will fill that with a blank piece. Also, these machines did not use the wing tip AAM rails so the fitments are now gone.

 

Later this week i hope to sand the Gloop and get some PPP and Squadron White on her. :)

 

Martin

 

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  • RidgeRunner changed the title to Special Hobby Mirage F.1AZ Armée de l'air Gabonaise 1/72 - 21sep21 a bit of filling with Gloop and addressing the fiddly bits

Today, in between wrapping up the Fitter and some house stuff, I have got the Gloop areas sanded as well as any obvious irregularities along the seams. Then it was a matter of plastering her with PPP :) Meanwhile I need to start assembling the fiddly bits ;). I never learn my lesson and race to get paint on the basic frame and then getting the little bits painted etc holds me up :(. 

 

Mirage15

 

I'll give her a clean up tomorrow when I have more time :)

 

Martin


Edit: oops, I’ve forgotten the ventral strakes! 

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I managed a bit more on the Mirage today. 

 

The ventral strakes are fitted now.

 

After last week's plastering with PPP it was time for some clean up. Those of you whouse it will understand its benefits but will also know how it gets everywhere once wetted during clean up. It isnt a problem, it just akes the job more tedious. Anyway, I have given her a first top to bottom, front to back clean with cotton buds, a stiff paintbrush, a toothbrush and a damp cloth. She will need more atention before I attempt to get any primer on her, though. 

 

I have also got the HUD transparencies attached and fitted the windscreen. The latter proved to be a litle troublesome. Maybe it was just my moulding but I found that the lower mating surface of the windscreen was bowed slightly whereas the fuselage surface is flat. Again, it wasnt an issue as I sanded the windscreen flat after checking photo references. 

 

I have also got the centreline tank assembled and lightly sanded. To be these tanks from the kit look too cumbersome, with thick seam lines. I have therefore sanded them back too.

 

I painted the emergency access hatches behind the cockpit (white) and the inside of the lower nose circular housing (metallic). I will fit the transperencies tomorrow, using Kristal Klear, as I did with the windscreen. 

 

Finally  attemptedto get the transparency in place for the under-nose housing. THe kit  has a woefully small aperture for this and so I think I will fill it and use a decal for the right shape and size. 

 

Here she is today:

 

Mirage16

 

    Martin

 

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  • RidgeRunner changed the title to Special Hobby Mirage F.1AZ Armée de l'air Gabonaise 1/72 - 27sep21 cleaning up PPP, ventral tank, etc

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