Renegade

Hi guys, It's been going crazy my side, but managed to get some more molds done and successful first castings for the 1/32 Mirage F.1C/CZ. Cheers

I see Rafju beat me to posting an update... The pictures shows less parts, because only one master is made for certain parts that are to be duplicated Cheers, John

Thanks Marcel Apologies for not posting much lately, as studies and exams have once again restricted modelling time. There was a couple of panel lines out of place that I spotted while test fitting the rudder linkage and installing antennas on the front and rear edges of the the tail fin. The lines were filled and correct ones scribed. It has just been sanded down, and will be refined once more. Molds for the main landing gear assembly were made for mirrored parts, as well as some vents on the airframe. The wing tip launcher for the Matra 550 Magic is also work in progress. Cheers, John

Hi Alain, Not to worry about the strength. As you might recall with the Mirage IIID2Z, the gear will be cast with a metal rod inserted. Not so much hahaha Some more work on the nose gear. Sometimes one can lose track of a project, and just to review on where progress is at, a picture of the parts that I could manage to fit on an A3 cutting mat. Cheers

Hi Guys, What a pain in the butt did the nose gear leg turn out to be. Cheers

Growing legs...

Good work, Nick. It's quite a lot of fun to combine and fiddle and match parts from different kits. Congratulations on becoming a grandfather! Cheers, John

Thanks guys Nick, you are right, that is the norm. I have tried to fill and make those darn covers and failed miserably. Don't want to buy the Kitty Hawk kit just for RLF-4 cones either. I don't think that this is a deal breaker though. The time has come to make the parts that are probably the most challenging on an F.1, the Main landing gear! ... The complexity of it is not too bad once broken up into individual components. The main strut of the leg is the key, and tricky to find the correct angles outward and forward. A mold will be made of it to assure the same on both sides. After that, most of the other parts can be used for either, with minor little mirrored details added. Cheers, and thanks for looking.

Hi Guys, MATRA RLF-4 rocket pod master in progress. Removed the tail cone and cut out the lower portion of a Type 155 rocket pod. A disc from plastic card attached for material lost during cutting, in which the corresponding holes were also drilled. Inner blast pipe shaped from a piece of scrap resin. The rough work looks the part, and will now be refined. Thanks to all for popping in to see the progress Cheers, John

Hi Guys, I haven't posted in a while, due to studying and writing exams. Some work did get done in between, like successfully removing the starboard wing combat flaps, slats, flaps and aileron for their deployed positions. Also made some vents for underneath the belly. The standard ventral fins as well as the SAAF mod with CHAFF/Flare dispensers. The two underwing CLB30 and Alkan 915/916 pylons (still working on getting the rough shape right) are currently in progress. Cheers, John

Hi Nick, One has to say that the F-1AZ is quite a good looker. As a separate kit, it might even be a good idea to cover the Libyan F-1AD. Cheers, John

Hi Alain, It should not be a problem to cast the fairings as part of the wing. The control horn and it's push rod would be best as separate parts. Copies have been made of the fairings. Cheers, John

Hi guys, The aileron control horn and push rod (Push rod is still to long) are pretty much done. Again, molds will be made to ensure that they will be the same shape size. Cheers, John

Hi Nick, That would be awesome. However, the AZ has a couple of unique features, and would have to be considered as a completely separate product. Besides the nose, the following are also different: Cockpit bulkhead, instrument panel, instrument cowl. Not to mention the weapons loadout Cheers, John

Hi guys, Mold has set, and will cast copies today. Also made the aileron control fairing, and will make a mold of it as well. Cheers, John

Yes, French markings will be included Cheers, John

Nick, I did not explain it clear enough. That is where the molds come in after the break up lines have been scribed for port and starboard fairings. They will indeed be supplied for the retracted position. Thanks Marcel, Armament will be: 4 x LRF-4 rocket pods 2 x Matra Magic The centerline pylon will have a drop tank. The fairing has been shaped, and rough pencil markings to help wrap my mind around it. A mold will be made of it today. Cheers, John

Thanks Nick and Raph. Your comments are greatly appreciated. That is true, and why I am not using any reference to either of those for the build. Although the Kitty Hawk kit is better engineered and sadly oversized, the Italeri kit looks pretty good for it's age, besides the short wingspan and very odd/squashed cockpit layout and windshield that is too long and tapers out too much. Back to the build, the flap mechanism underneath the F.1 wing is a mindblowing design. I'm first going to make the fairing in the retracted position and make a mold of it to ensure they are the same shape and size. Seeing that they are mirrored, then only scribe the lines on the resin copies where they split up like a Swiss Army knife...lol. Then molds of them will be made (because i'll probably screw one or two up) to cut up into the sections for deployed flaps. Cheers, John

Hi Guys, The flaps and aileron cut out. The flap slots were a pain to get the curves and angles. After some primer, I can see that I sanded away a little uneven on some spots, but will get it right. A quick mock up to see what they look like, but will get a better idea later when their brackets and rails are in place. Cheers, John

I do quite a bit of vac-forming and also use PETG as well. Mostly with 0.7mm thickness, and 1mm for ones that needs to accommodate for more stretching. PETG is quite tough, and you can almost push the windshield flat and still return to it's shape without cracking. You can easily flair the windshield wider without worries that it will be damaged. It might be a tad lower at the top afterwards. Cheers, John

It's great to hear the feedback from you guys. So, the solution is then for me to make the flaps and slats to be in either position, and the modeler would assemble them deployed or retracted at their own discretion Cheers, John

Hi Nick, It is surprising how far they travel to back. Making the slots will be a delicate task, not to mention casting them eventually. Cheers, John

Great video, I've watched it many times. Thanks Raph, The flaps and ailerons share a complicated mechanism and housing that splits asymmetric. It's going to be a fun challenge. Cheers, John

Hi Nick, Thanks for clearing that up, and it makes sense to protect the mechanisms from dust. It does look awesome when they are deployed though. I do have the flap and slat setting from the manual. I still have to make the plate that covers the gap above the combat flap hinge when it pivots down. Cheers, John

Thanks Alain, Yes, it will be a dirty wing, because it just looks so cool with the control surfaces deployed. The spoilers will not be open though, because it is not normal for the aircraft in a static display.