Mistral

So then, looking all the part like a mini Cheetah - it's really quite a looker, even with that droopy nose :
 
 
 
All major resin parts are now present and accounted for, including the refuelling probe trunking on the starboard intake and the long trunking along the starboard wing/fuselage interface - I think this has something to do with electrical looms. The rectangular opening on the starboard fuselage side is characteristic of Mirages and Cheetahs powered by the Atar 09C engine. For the later modification of the Cheetah D to 09K50 engine, this was closed up. I added grilles with small sections of plastic card to both the rectangular and square openings as seen on the real aircraft. The elevons have been added and drooped as was characteristic of the Mirage III / Cheetah aircraft. The inner SAS control surface was normally seen in the neutral position.
 
 
 

So, time for another foray into the Cheetah sanctuary. This time, to give my Cheetah E a friend, I am busy with the Cheetah D. This is based on the Revell reboxing of the Italeri 32nd Mirage IIIE/R as the donor kit and the ScaleWorx Cheetah D resin conversion set :
 
The kit should be well known by now, so no image of the box art is necessary 
 
The ScaleWorx conversion set arrives like this :
 
 
 
Standard baby-blue resin parts - these are not 3D printed but rather of the moulded variety. The set also includes two vacform parts - the canopy and windshield as one item and the wind deflector between the front and rear cockpit. The set is comprehensive in providing all the major and fiddly parts to do an accurate Cheetah D conversion :
 
 
 

Back to some regular programming . Cheetah D now painted in base colours as follows :
 
Light grey - Mr. Colour 306 (FS367290)
Dark grey - Mr. Colour 305 (FS36118) (x3) + Mr. Colour 366 (FS35164) (x1) + Tamiya X-2 white (x1), then overpsrayed with thinned 366.
 
The SAAF has not published official colour designations for the Cheetahs and I approximate these using reference photos where the white balance in the image appears to be accurate. In this case, I think the colours work. Most Cheetah Ds with the original Mirage IIIE/D undercarriage and framed windshield were painted in an overall medium grey. One of two were painted in the later two-tone grey camouflage prior to being upgraded to 16 ton undercarriage and single pice windshield (and Atar 09K50 engines). One of these was #841 which will be the subject of this model.
 
So, base light grey on and now masking prior to applying dark grey diamond - I use stuff called "Prestic" in South Africa (blutac) rolled into thin worms to give a nice soft edge :
 
 
 
 
Masking removed :
 
 
I've used mottling mask to provide a random patchy appearance to the base colours :
 
 
 

Back to some regular programming . Cheetah D now painted in base colours as follows :
 
Light grey - Mr. Colour 306 (FS367290)
Dark grey - Mr. Colour 305 (FS36118) (x3) + Mr. Colour 366 (FS35164) (x1) + Tamiya X-2 white (x1), then overpsrayed with thinned 366.
 
The SAAF has not published official colour designations for the Cheetahs and I approximate these using reference photos where the white balance in the image appears to be accurate. In this case, I think the colours work. Most Cheetah Ds with the original Mirage IIIE/D undercarriage and framed windshield were painted in an overall medium grey. One of two were painted in the later two-tone grey camouflage prior to being upgraded to 16 ton undercarriage and single pice windshield (and Atar 09K50 engines). One of these was #841 which will be the subject of this model.
 
So, base light grey on and now masking prior to applying dark grey diamond - I use stuff called "Prestic" in South Africa (blutac) rolled into thin worms to give a nice soft edge :
 
 
 
 
Masking removed :
 
 
I've used mottling mask to provide a random patchy appearance to the base colours :
 
 
 

Back to some regular programming . Cheetah D now painted in base colours as follows :
 
Light grey - Mr. Colour 306 (FS367290)
Dark grey - Mr. Colour 305 (FS36118) (x3) + Mr. Colour 366 (FS35164) (x1) + Tamiya X-2 white (x1), then overpsrayed with thinned 366.
 
The SAAF has not published official colour designations for the Cheetahs and I approximate these using reference photos where the white balance in the image appears to be accurate. In this case, I think the colours work. Most Cheetah Ds with the original Mirage IIIE/D undercarriage and framed windshield were painted in an overall medium grey. One of two were painted in the later two-tone grey camouflage prior to being upgraded to 16 ton undercarriage and single pice windshield (and Atar 09K50 engines). One of these was #841 which will be the subject of this model.
 
So, base light grey on and now masking prior to applying dark grey diamond - I use stuff called "Prestic" in South Africa (blutac) rolled into thin worms to give a nice soft edge :
 
 
 
 
Masking removed :
 
 
I've used mottling mask to provide a random patchy appearance to the base colours :
 
 
 

Back to some regular programming . Cheetah D now painted in base colours as follows :
 
Light grey - Mr. Colour 306 (FS367290)
Dark grey - Mr. Colour 305 (FS36118) (x3) + Mr. Colour 366 (FS35164) (x1) + Tamiya X-2 white (x1), then overpsrayed with thinned 366.
 
The SAAF has not published official colour designations for the Cheetahs and I approximate these using reference photos where the white balance in the image appears to be accurate. In this case, I think the colours work. Most Cheetah Ds with the original Mirage IIIE/D undercarriage and framed windshield were painted in an overall medium grey. One of two were painted in the later two-tone grey camouflage prior to being upgraded to 16 ton undercarriage and single pice windshield (and Atar 09K50 engines). One of these was #841 which will be the subject of this model.
 
So, base light grey on and now masking prior to applying dark grey diamond - I use stuff called "Prestic" in South Africa (blutac) rolled into thin worms to give a nice soft edge :
 
 
 
 
Masking removed :
 
 
I've used mottling mask to provide a random patchy appearance to the base colours :
 
 
 

Back to some regular programming . Cheetah D now painted in base colours as follows :
 
Light grey - Mr. Colour 306 (FS367290)
Dark grey - Mr. Colour 305 (FS36118) (x3) + Mr. Colour 366 (FS35164) (x1) + Tamiya X-2 white (x1), then overpsrayed with thinned 366.
 
The SAAF has not published official colour designations for the Cheetahs and I approximate these using reference photos where the white balance in the image appears to be accurate. In this case, I think the colours work. Most Cheetah Ds with the original Mirage IIIE/D undercarriage and framed windshield were painted in an overall medium grey. One of two were painted in the later two-tone grey camouflage prior to being upgraded to 16 ton undercarriage and single pice windshield (and Atar 09K50 engines). One of these was #841 which will be the subject of this model.
 
So, base light grey on and now masking prior to applying dark grey diamond - I use stuff called "Prestic" in South Africa (blutac) rolled into thin worms to give a nice soft edge :
 
 
 
 
Masking removed :
 
 
I've used mottling mask to provide a random patchy appearance to the base colours :
 
 
 

I actually received this set around 2 years ago to do a test build, but work got in the way and I had the joy of spending time in the sandpit where I could not model. So, I started this build as soon as I got back home.
 
Some words on the Cheetah D. In the 1980's during the Apartheid years and the international sanctions against South Africa, and on the back of ongoing combat operations against Angolan and Cuban Armed Forces in southern Angola, there arose a need for a replacement for the Mirage III and F1 series of fighters used by the SAAF. Israel to the rescue with a derivative of the Kfir / Nesher T design. The SAAF's fleet of Mirage IIIDZ and D2Z aircraft were selected to be upgraded with new wings (Kfir style with dogtooth leading edges), canards (70% of Kfir canard size), an extended nose incorporating an advanced avionics suite, fixed inflight refuelling probe and additional weapons pylons on the intakes. 8 Mirage IIID2Z airframes and 3 Mirage IIIDZ airframes were modified as part of the Cheetah D project. An additional 5 Nesher Ts were obtained and were also modified for commonality with the 11 Mirage III based airframes. The Nesher T derivatives were initially referred to as Cheetah Bs, but as a general rule, Cheetah D became the common designation. Some of the Ds were later upgraded to incorporate strengthened undercarriage (16 ton) and a single piece windshield. Even later, the Atar 09K50 engine was installed to replace the 09C engine and this provided much needed additional thrust. The main reason for this was to provide operations commonality with the 09K50 powered single seat Cheetah C. The Cheetah D project may be considered a success. 
 
The ScaleWorx conversion set only provides for an early mod state Cheetah D i.e. framed windshield and standard Mirage IIIE main landing gear. As such, the decals provided (printed by MavDecals) are consistent with the early overall medium grey colour scheme :
 
 

 

 

So, time for another foray into the Cheetah sanctuary. This time, to give my Cheetah E a friend, I am busy with the Cheetah D. This is based on the Revell reboxing of the Italeri 32nd Mirage IIIE/R as the donor kit and the ScaleWorx Cheetah D resin conversion set :
 
The kit should be well known by now, so no image of the box art is necessary 
 
The ScaleWorx conversion set arrives like this :
 
 
 
Standard baby-blue resin parts - these are not 3D printed but rather of the moulded variety. The set also includes two vacform parts - the canopy and windshield as one item and the wind deflector between the front and rear cockpit. The set is comprehensive in providing all the major and fiddly parts to do an accurate Cheetah D conversion :
 
 
 

And now for my favourite part - adding the Tamiya fine grey primer straight from the can. This stuff is gold and provides for a really nice surface to identify any defects which need to be rectified. Once that's done, I treat the primer coat to some 12,000 grit micromesh for a silky smooth finish upon which the paint can be applied :
 
 
Wing fences have been added but broke off soon after. They'll go on as the last part before final varnish is applied.
 
 
 

Loose fit of dog tooth inserts - care must be taken not to snap off the tips of the tooth...it has a habit of catching on one's clothing :
 
 
 
Then using Tamiya white putty, the gaps are filled in and sanded smooth followed by rescribing the panel line in that area :
 
 
 
Next is gluing on the distinctive ventral fairing which included a chaff and flare dispenser :
 
 
 
At this stage I've glued on the elevons and drooped the outer two units at more of an angle than the inboard one - again, characteristic of Mirage IIIs and Cheetahs at rest. The outer elevon actuator fairing can be replaced with the stores pylon - for the Cheetah D, this is where the V3B air to air missiles were carried.
 
And then checking the loose fit of the major resin parts - forward fuselage, nose, intakes, spine and vertical stabiliser - all that's needed are the canards :
 
 
 

And now for my favourite part - adding the Tamiya fine grey primer straight from the can. This stuff is gold and provides for a really nice surface to identify any defects which need to be rectified. Once that's done, I treat the primer coat to some 12,000 grit micromesh for a silky smooth finish upon which the paint can be applied :
 
 
Wing fences have been added but broke off soon after. They'll go on as the last part before final varnish is applied.
 
 
 

Next was to install the vertical stabiliser. This was slightly warped to port but a liberal treatment of heat care of my wife's hair dryer sorted that out.
 
 
This was followed by gluing the canards into position. This is the trickiest part of the resin set - getting the correct amount of resin casting block removed to allow the canards to sit tightly against the double curvature of the intake trunking. Once again, gentle work with a dremmel tool followed by test fitting (and repeating several times) is the only way to go. Assuming the "bull in the China shop" approach will end up in tears. And anyway, after all the effort to get to this stage, one doesn't want to mess things up !. The dorsal intakes have also been glued in place :
 
 
 
Test fit of the resin exhaust. There is a gap between the rear of the kit supplied exhaust duct and the resin part - will need to figure out a plan to sort this out . By gluing the rear fuselage sections to each fuselage half before gluing the fuselage halves eliminates what could be a problematic step in this area.
 
 

Loose fit of dog tooth inserts - care must be taken not to snap off the tips of the tooth...it has a habit of catching on one's clothing :
 
 
 
Then using Tamiya white putty, the gaps are filled in and sanded smooth followed by rescribing the panel line in that area :
 
 
 
Next is gluing on the distinctive ventral fairing which included a chaff and flare dispenser :
 
 
 
At this stage I've glued on the elevons and drooped the outer two units at more of an angle than the inboard one - again, characteristic of Mirage IIIs and Cheetahs at rest. The outer elevon actuator fairing can be replaced with the stores pylon - for the Cheetah D, this is where the V3B air to air missiles were carried.
 
And then checking the loose fit of the major resin parts - forward fuselage, nose, intakes, spine and vertical stabiliser - all that's needed are the canards :
 
 
 

And now for my favourite part - adding the Tamiya fine grey primer straight from the can. This stuff is gold and provides for a really nice surface to identify any defects which need to be rectified. Once that's done, I treat the primer coat to some 12,000 grit micromesh for a silky smooth finish upon which the paint can be applied :
 
 
Wing fences have been added but broke off soon after. They'll go on as the last part before final varnish is applied.
 
 
 

So then, looking all the part like a mini Cheetah - it's really quite a looker, even with that droopy nose :
 
 
 
All major resin parts are now present and accounted for, including the refuelling probe trunking on the starboard intake and the long trunking along the starboard wing/fuselage interface - I think this has something to do with electrical looms. The rectangular opening on the starboard fuselage side is characteristic of Mirages and Cheetahs powered by the Atar 09C engine. For the later modification of the Cheetah D to 09K50 engine, this was closed up. I added grilles with small sections of plastic card to both the rectangular and square openings as seen on the real aircraft. The elevons have been added and drooped as was characteristic of the Mirage III / Cheetah aircraft. The inner SAS control surface was normally seen in the neutral position.
 
 
 

And then, the worst part of this build - cutting the windshield and gluing in position - the fit here is not good to say the least. So a lot of filler and elbow grease is required. Luckily the vac-formed windshield is clear and very robust and retains it's shape irrespective of whatever mishandling the modeller throws at it. Tamiya tape is used to prevent any scratches whilst applying filler and sanding :
 
 
 
Before I glued the windshield in place, I added some internal framing with Evergreen plastic flat sections :
 
 
 
After at least 10 sessions of applying Tamiya white filler followed by sanding followed by more filler we get to this ..... patience is the watchword here. And if you feel like hurling the kit at the closest wall, just take a deep breath, place it out of harm's way and have a beer....
 
 
All that remains is to carefully scribe the panel line around the windshield. It looks pretty bad in the image above but once primer is applied, it looks the part. And just like that, the hardest part is behind us 
 
 

And now for my favourite part - adding the Tamiya fine grey primer straight from the can. This stuff is gold and provides for a really nice surface to identify any defects which need to be rectified. Once that's done, I treat the primer coat to some 12,000 grit micromesh for a silky smooth finish upon which the paint can be applied :
 
 
Wing fences have been added but broke off soon after. They'll go on as the last part before final varnish is applied.
 
 
 

So then, looking all the part like a mini Cheetah - it's really quite a looker, even with that droopy nose :
 
 
 
All major resin parts are now present and accounted for, including the refuelling probe trunking on the starboard intake and the long trunking along the starboard wing/fuselage interface - I think this has something to do with electrical looms. The rectangular opening on the starboard fuselage side is characteristic of Mirages and Cheetahs powered by the Atar 09C engine. For the later modification of the Cheetah D to 09K50 engine, this was closed up. I added grilles with small sections of plastic card to both the rectangular and square openings as seen on the real aircraft. The elevons have been added and drooped as was characteristic of the Mirage III / Cheetah aircraft. The inner SAS control surface was normally seen in the neutral position.
 
 
 

And then, the worst part of this build - cutting the windshield and gluing in position - the fit here is not good to say the least. So a lot of filler and elbow grease is required. Luckily the vac-formed windshield is clear and very robust and retains it's shape irrespective of whatever mishandling the modeller throws at it. Tamiya tape is used to prevent any scratches whilst applying filler and sanding :
 
 
 
Before I glued the windshield in place, I added some internal framing with Evergreen plastic flat sections :
 
 
 
After at least 10 sessions of applying Tamiya white filler followed by sanding followed by more filler we get to this ..... patience is the watchword here. And if you feel like hurling the kit at the closest wall, just take a deep breath, place it out of harm's way and have a beer....
 
 
All that remains is to carefully scribe the panel line around the windshield. It looks pretty bad in the image above but once primer is applied, it looks the part. And just like that, the hardest part is behind us