1/32 Revell Mirage IIIE converted to IIID

[AndrewDoppel]

Hi all,

 

For anyone who has been on the Aussie Modeller International website you would have seen that awhile back I started on this conversion for the old Revell Mirage IIIE.  As basic a kit as this is for detail I look at it as a blank canvas as many of the panel lines were missing which has allowed me to fill in the gaps and add the WLE and other detail using several different modification sets.  Firstly, there's the old Plane Bits conversion set that gives you resin wheels, U/C doors and wells, PhotoEtch and bang seat.  My friend Les Appleby of Uncle Les fame provided the resin IIID spine, twin tub cockpit (which I corrected further) and a front instrument panel (again re-tweaked and corrected) as well as other small bits and pieces including an open and closed vacform canopy.  On top of this I am using a Master Brass pitot, Eagle Designs resin SNECMA Atar 9C and corrected vent set and finally a set of white resin undercarriage leg and wheel set.  There is also some considerable scratch building going into the build, particularly the cockpit.  I'm also going to stick a set of AMS Mk.4/6 seats into it.

 

On to the build.  I started this about 18 months ago so I may have missed some images in the post, but firstly I started by removing the inadequate undercarriage bays and replacing them with Plane Bits resin ones.  For anyone who has built this kit previously you'll know how bad the wing fit is on this kit but with these resin replacements it fits so much better.

 

 

Below you can see the re-scribing I have done to the underside of the wings and fuselage.  The wing has been dry fitted and fits exceptionally well with the U/C well inserted

 

 

The resin vents you can see are from Eagle Design.  The instructions for their fitment is brilliant!  Here you can also see how well the dry fitted wing sits on the top surface which has also been re-scribed to some extent.  I had to wait for some info on whether the IIID had a dry or wet leading edge.  Also note how far back I have had to remove the upper single seat spine and avionics area for the shortened IIID one.

 

 

This is the resin twin tub with the Plane Bits photoetch and Uncle Les front and rear instrument panels.  Having a real IIID instrument to be guided by the plastic card you see will be the replacement Instrument panel.

 

You can see here the difference between to the two instrument panels.  I especially bought a punch set in order to do this build.  More of this below.

 

Here's my completed front IP fitted onto the dash.  The instruments will be Airscale decals later on.

 

This is a close up of the two dash panels which will be modified further by the inclusion of the IPs made from plastic card

 

Using Motty's book I have corrected and added more details to the front 

 

With dash and IP dry fitted to the front tub

 

.....and same to the rear tub

 

Here you can see how the basic cockpit is going to look.  I need to add a shroud over the rear IP when fitted.  I glued in the joysticks with the seats sitting in position to ensure I put them in the right spot.

 

Now for a touch of paint again

 

.....and some detailing.  As i said earlier i intend to use Airscale decals for the instruments.

 

The fuselage is joined here with the tail and wings dry fitted.  On each side of the removed spine section I have added some plastic card for support for the IIID spine which drops in.  You might think how are you going to get the cockpit in but even after adding the Plane Bits side wall photoetch, the tub just drops in......with a little assistance. You can also see all the re-scribing  and filling of the slip ups I made with putty.

 

Onto the nose cone.  This was moulded by Les and needs work too.  The cone has a point so off came the tip on an angle and was drilled out for the air cooling vent fitted to these models.  The brass pitot was notched in and a sliced off vent from another kit was placed on top as reinforcement.

 

Here she is sitting ready for sanding.  You can see how different it will look to the single seat IIIE/O 

 

Regards

 

Andrew

Edited November 10, 2016 by AndrewDoppel

[LSP_Kevin]

Impressive and ambitious conversion, Andrew! Great work so far. Must drag out my own Revell Mirage kit some day.

 

Kev

[Jack]

Andrew, great project, anxious to see your progress into this beautiful machine, i like its "lines".....

 

Jack.

[alaninaustria]

Great project! I love the two seater Mirage's!! Great detailing in the 'pit too!!

[Azgaron]

Looking good so far!

 

HÃ¥kan

[Derek B]

Great work Andrew 

 

Derek

[GMK]

Really nice work, Andrew. It's difficult to make Revell's old, dark green plastic look much good - you have though! Nice.

[r0t0rdr1ver]

Love this!!!! I didn't realize there was a conversion for the IIID! Is it still available? The IIID is my absolute favorite Mirage.

[ClumsyDude]

Wow!!!! This is amazing work.  I am incredibly impressed with anyone who can scratch build an entire cockpit.  Loving every minute

 

Jim

[Guest Peterpools]

Andrew

Some mighty nice work ..

Keep 'em coming

Peter

[MikeP]

Most impressed! I bought this conversion a few years ago then put it on hold when rumours started to emerge of a new 1/32 Mirage. Forgive me for asking, but isn't the nose wheel well for a IIID in the same position as for a IIIC ? (measured in relation to the intakes, not the nose cone)

 

Mike

[Marcel111]

Andrew, great work on a very interesting project. I had not heard of this conversion set before, I will need to contact Uncle Les.

 

Cheers,

Marcel

[shark64]

Such an iconic airplane. You are making a great start of it.

[Dandiego]

Great project! I love this kind of modeling. Keep it coming.

 

Dan

Edited November 14, 2016 by Dandiego

[AndrewDoppel]

Hi all, Thanks for your comments.  The conversion set is limited by Uncle Les, so I don't know how many he has available.  From what I am hearing Italeri MAY be releasing a IIID kit to complement the IIIE.  How good would that be especially if someone wants to do other variants like the Cheetah etc?????

 

I have been asked before about the mouldings for this conversion set but as I know Les personally he won't give these up.

 

In relation to the front U/C I have been told there is no difference in its location in comparison to a IIIE, just a different layout due to the tubs above.

 

I've been away in Canberra for a modelling comp over the past couple of days so I apologise for the lack of response.  I hope I have answered everyone's questions. 

 

Regards

 

Andrew