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Mirage III, 1st Sq., 8 Air Grp, Caza, Rio Gallegos Air Base, June 1982...


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I'll get into this one soon enough.  I have a few builds going on now so I need to clear a space on the bench.  This looks fun and I have not built a Mirage before, so here it is...

 

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Here's the profile...

 

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Give me a couple of weeks...

 

--John

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That looks like a nice kit John

 

156 parts - my "Dagger" probably has less than 40 so at least you should not have to raid the spares box or scratch build anything with luck! The placement of the number I-014 on the wings is interesting - your instructions show the one on top reading from the back as it were and the one under the wing reading from the front - bit like the serials under the wings of post war British aircraft, but the instructions for the High Plane Dagger I am using as a reference for my build show them both reading from the back. The wing drop tanks look a bit like 1700 litre ones - do they give you a choice?

 

Pete

Edited by PeterB
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I’ll be watching how this goes together as a I have a couple of these, in III O version, to build ad RAAF Mirages.  It looks like a really good kit, but there are a lot of parts!

 

AW

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That's a cracking kit, I built it myself, altough the Brazilian markings with canards. It goes together nicely, just typical short run kit feels... no locating pins, etc. Dry fit a lot and double check fit often I would say. The only thing I would replace is the cannons with metal ones or hypodermic needle. Plastic parts just don't do justice there.

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Thanks @drake122.  I might jump into it tonight now that the Mig-21 is done.

 

On 4/5/2022 at 7:31 PM, heloman1 said:

I'll follow your build with interest.

 

Please do, and I yours.

 

On 4/5/2022 at 2:50 AM, Andwil said:

It looks like a really good kit, but there are a lot of parts!

 

 

And all really small.  Thanks!

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2 hours ago, drake122 said:

That's a cracking kit, I built it myself, altough the Brazilian markings with canards. It goes together nicely, just typical short run kit feels... no locating pins, etc. Dry fit a lot and double check fit often I would say. The only thing I would replace is the cannons with metal ones or hypodermic needle. Plastic parts just don't do justice there.

Thanks @drake122.  With the Mig and the F-18 off the bench, I gave the workspace a good tidying up.  Let's see what's inside the Mirage box!

 

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Sprue shots...

 

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Nice looking detail and very little flash.  Some of the gates look a little knobby, but that can be easily cleaned up.

 

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Some PE, also a set of masks for the canopy and wheels.  Apparently some clear foil too.

 

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Nice looking decals.  Lots of options.  Stencils too.  Only one choice for me in this GB!

 

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The instructions are comprehensive.

 

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I'll get into it tomorrow.  

 

--John

 

 

 

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Wow!

 

It looks like you get the option of using PE or decals for the instrument panel ans side console details, this looks like a cracker, is there only one type of seat included?

 

cheers,

 

Pappy

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8 hours ago, Pappy said:

is there only one type of seat included?

I haven't investigated that far yet.  Later today I will suss it out.  I think some of the PE is for the seat harnesses too.  

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I managed to get through the first page of instructions today, sans the nose wheel landing gear assembly.  I leave these things until later.

 

51992734829_efac0e5651_z_d.jpg

 

Lots of little pieces made this...and some blue language.  This kit is already a bit fiddly.  But the detail is nice and things fit together if assembled in a thoughtful way.  You'll see...

 

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All the little cockpit pieces (and some are really small) and the PE.  Ready for primer.  Black.

 

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Decals for the IP and armrests that go over the PE,  post-primer...

 

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All painted up...

 

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And seat installed...

 

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Other view...

 

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I put together the wheels.  In cleaning up the seam on the nose wheel it went SPROING! and popped out of my fat fingers, airborne...I heard it hit the marble floor and skitter away...but where?  

 

"Oh Tony, Tony, help me find it, help me find it if you please!

  Oh Tony Tony help me find it, here I am down on my knees!"

 

St. Anthony rewarded me 10 minutes later.  Phew!

 

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Nozzle...Funny.  All this fine detail and no one will see it.  Especially the PE piece.  Notice they don't even tell you what colour to paint it.  They know!

 

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It came together piece by piece.  Nicely done.

 

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And then I tackled the inside of the delta wing, the wheel bay walls...4 of the pieces need to be bent into shape in order to fit.  They don't mention that.  It's not a big deal but it could cause a bit of confusion when one is wondering how something is supposed to fit.

 

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It looks like this.  Good fit.

 

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I took care of the nose weight (4gms) with liquid gravity and CA.  The next phase--inserting the cockpit in to the nose halves, etc...that will require some patience and pre-fitting.

 

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And that, with the exception of the nose wheel, is page 1.  Pretty much.

 

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More to come!

 

--John

 

 

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6 hours ago, Pappy said:

I can see that I will need some of these in the stash!

It's an interesting kit.  Perhaps not the best...see below...

 

4 hours ago, Andwil said:

What are the fit tolerances like for all those little parts?

 

Pretty good.  It's the rest that is a challenge...see below...

 

Big update...I am off-island as of tomorrow for about 5 days so I tried to get a fair amount done last night.  I will focus on a couple other GB today and get them moving along too.  For the moment, I tackled page 2 of the Mirage...

 

It looks pretty straightforward, and it kind of is.  A fair amount of sanding and guesswork was required.  Parts A7/8, for example, are intended to fit into two seperate sections--the fuselage and the bottom section of the wing.  It's a tricky fit, but it works.

 

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With the fuselage halves together, the intakes attached and the nozzle in the rear (not pictured) it should look like this.

 

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Backtrack...the nozzle is neat and has some nice PE...part Z1.

 

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The fit is fine, by the way.  Some light sanding, pre-fitting...no bother really.

 

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This is where it became interesting.  Hmmm...definitely some fit issues and, in the end, will require some filler, but nothing too dramatic.  

You slide the nose section into the fuselage, matching up the shaped ends...

 

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And the underside looks like this...

 

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That is as tight as I could get it.  Some PPP will solve the problems.  Slight gaps, no steps.  

 

And the result looks like thus...

 

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So far so good I feel.

 

--John

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Not on for beginners then 🤔

 

It would have been better if those two rearward facing vents were separate parts as it will be tricky to sand around those and not damage them but overall it looks like it wll turn out okay,

 

cheers,

 

Pappy

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17 minutes ago, Pappy said:

Not on for beginners then 🤔

 

No...and your comment is correct.  I had to use a small metal file for some shaping around moulded bits that stick out.  Still...I think you're right: it will turn out fine.

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I built a fair amount tonight.  I'll wait to do more next weekend when I come home.  I'm impressed by some of the fit.  Very tight, no gaps.  Then there is the rest which needs some TLC.  It's ok.  Nice looking ship.

 

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This is cool.  You can actuate the control surfaces.  I'll probably leave them down for looks.

 

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Flaps, etc...Friday.  I'll check in and see what others are doing and until then, happy modelling!

 

--John

 

 

 

 

 

 

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On 4/11/2022 at 5:44 PM, RidgeRunner said:

Lovely work, John. THats a really nice Mirage :)

Thank you!  I think it'll look good.  Certainly loaded up with two huge fuel pods and three missiles.  

 

On 4/14/2022 at 11:21 PM, exdraken said:

That one is already very advanced!

It's a good kit.  It's not for beginners for sure, but it goes together well and the detail is sharp.  Some minor fettling along the way.  Not a big deal.

 

Neutral control surfaces will make the painting easier.

 

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I assembled the R550 Magics, the 2000 liter fuel tanks and the Matra R530.

 

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And here we are!

 

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I'm pretty much ready to mask the canopy and prime the build.

 

--John

 

 

 

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20 minutes ago, John Masters said:

the 2000 liter fuel tanks

I think on the Mirage III the big ones are "only" 1700 liter, the smaller ones 1300 and the very pointy, supersonic  ones 500.

 

 

The Magics and R530 look great too :)

 

That is kind of a feat for French, kit supplied missiles :thumbsup:

 

 

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11 minutes ago, Wings unlevel said:

Looks like I will need my wits about me!

Thank you Wings!  It's a straightforward build if you follow the directions.  In a way, they are more complicated than the model itself.  Some care is needed on fitting some of the smaller pieces and pre-fit is a good habit anyway.  It comes together easily enough.  I'm at the filler stage today.  

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  • 3 weeks later...

I'm slacking off on this GB.  I need to hit the throttle if I want to build another kit for this GB (and I do!)

 

Painting time...yellow bits first.  

 

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Camo tomorrow!

 

--John

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