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Heller 1/72 Mirage IVA


Lifeline

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Hi All..

I was actually plan to do a second build on the F-16 STGB, but the decal was still has not arrived, while I have to go out of town for my job. 

So I took the Heller Mirage IVA kit from the stash with me and try to build it for French GB instead 😅.

IMG-20210828-132059.jpg

 

Mandatory sprue shot;

IMG-20210828-132038.jpg

 

I plan to rescribe the panel lines and the rivets, add several details, probably finish the cockpit, before I'm back home and start with the major painting then. 

 

Cheers,

Mario

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Another great choice Mario!  Glad to see one of these in the GB.

 

A word of caution, the spine joint is very long and without any internal support provided, any flexing of the fuselage will open up the spine joint, do yourself a favour and add some tabs and bracing to the spine.

 

Good luck with it!

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Thanks guys... 🙂

@Wez yes... I saw several build in the internet, I will address the issue. And probably also the oval radar on the Mirage's Belly. 

@Zorglub to be honest, build it as bare metal version is really tempting me, but realistically speaking, the heller livery is my only option at this moment..

 

Cheers,

Mario

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59 minutes ago, Lifeline said:

build it as bare metal version is really tempting me, but realistically speaking, the heller livery is my only option at this moment..

 

I have some Model Art decals that I'll be using on my A&A Models Mirage IV when I get around to it.  Well worth looking out for.

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I built one in the Heller GB a while back and as I remember it went together pretty well except for the big circular radome transparency underneath, which was a terrible fit - ended up putting a lot of filler over it and rubbing it down. It might be possible to make it fit whilst gluing the fuselage halves together if you can work out how to put some support "flanges" on the fuselage first. 

 

Good luck

 

Pete

Edited by PeterB
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  • 4 weeks later...

Hi all,

Due to the busy days, I have to scrubbed the plan to continue building it during my hitch on the rig, although I was able to scribe the fuselage. 

But I'm back home now and able to continue to scribed the wings also... All and all, it was challenging and I hope the end result will he good enough.

IMG-20210927-150100.jpg

 

A lot of twisted parts and the the fit are challenging... 

Heller instructed to assemble the nose section first then attach it to the fuselage assembly, but judging the parts condition, I decide to attach the nose parts to the fuselage parts first instead. Hopefully it will help with the alignment later on.

IMG-20210927-150651.jpg

 

It's gonna be fun I guess....

IMG-20210927-150921.jpg

 

I added a new bulkheads for the cockpit and add a bit details. I won't add any other details, since I close it down.

IMG-20210927-204505.jpg

 

Cheers,

Mario

 

 

 

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Cockpit painted, nothing special just regular drybrushing with dark grey and permanent marker pen on several area.. unfortunately I forgot to take pictures of it before it was fitted to the fuselage half. Following advice from @PeterB, I also fitted the radar dome, into the fuselage half and added some "support flanges".

Several leads also added to move the CG a bit forward. Those are painted dark grey, and clear parts depicting light lenses were added. I choose to replace these with clear sprue leftover which I cut and sanded down.IMG-20210930-193138.jpg

 

Fuselage assembled... Followed by lower wing section, and upper sections glued carefully to avoid any gaps and steps

IMG-20210930-193210.jpg

Intakes added and paint the red lips.

I still added quite a lot of putty. For extra insurance I guess..

IMG-20210930-193101.jpg

 

Which paid off..

IMG-20210930-233818.jpg

I primed the whole assembly, and although the support flanges helps, I wish I could add more on the area just behind the cockpit. I didn't add a lot support on the said area, and the result it took multiple puttying and sanding... 

The belly radome also had gap on it, but not so much, glued it before putting the fuselage half together really works 😁

 

 

Cheers,

Mario

 

 

 

 

 

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Hi,

Referring to several build article I found on the internet (few also found in BM), I add some wiring on the landing gear strut. 

IMG-20211004-114926.jpg

 

Painting using Mr.color grey and dark green

IMG-20211004-100337.jpg

 

IMG-20211004-114438.jpg

 

And the result...

IMG-20211004-235631.jpg

 

Will start with the decal as soon as possible, along with other subassemblies such as ejection seat and landing gears..

But frankly, I don't think I will able to finish this on time. I just got a call from the office telling me to go back to my work site for 5 weeks, and so far I'm not comfortable of bringing the kit there..

We will see... 

 

 

Cheers,

Mario

 

 

 

 

 

 

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  • 1 month later...

Just got back from the work couple of days ago, and went straight to the workbech...

The night before leaving home for the rig, I was able to put on the decals, simple weathering with a simple acrylic wash.. clear coat it and left it..

Unfortunately I forgot to take pictures.

 

And yesterday, the ejection seat is finished..

IMG-20211121-100341.jpg

Only add stripes of masking tape.. since hardly can be seen from the closed canopy.

 

Then all small bits are on, followed by semi gloss clear.

IMG-20211121-100322.jpg

 

IMG-20211121-100307.jpg

 

IMG-20211121-100244.jpg

 

Will try to post on the gallery as soon it's dry....

I hope..

 

Cheers,

Mario

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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