32nd Cheetah E (ScaleWorx resin conversion set)

[ericg]

 Very nice work, and the conversion set looks great.

 

I am tempted to get one. I am fairly certain that my subject pilot for my SAAF IIIC mirage build flew Cheetahs as well.

 

cheers,

 

Eric.

[Cheetah11]

 

 

1 hour ago, ericg said:

 Very nice work, and the conversion set looks great.

 

I am tempted to get one. I am fairly certain that my subject pilot for my SAAF IIIC mirage build flew Cheetahs as well.

 

cheers,

 

Eric.

 

Yes he did. He was the OC of 5 Sqn 1988 to 1990 flying Cheetah E.

Cheers

Nick 

[Mistral]

6 hours ago, Cheetah11 said:

 

Very nice start Malcom

 

I am glad John has started doing 1/32 . Hopefully he can get the Fi and a Kfir conversion out soon.

 

Cheers

 

Nick

 

Thanks Nick. Ja, I'm happy John's moved in the 32nd scale direction - so many options for Mirage III/V sub-variants.

[Mistral]

6 hours ago, Madmax said:

Welcome Malcolm, it's about bloody time!   Looking forward to seeing lots of your work here.

 

You are off to a great start on this lovely canard-delta. Although I am very much a Cheetah C fan, the E had something going for it. As with the old Mirage III BZ, it had no radar to weigh it down and thus accelerated beautifully.

 

Lekker, bakgat en iets moers,

 

Sean

 

 

Thanks Sean. Hope you're doing well under current trying circumstances.

 

Daan mentioned that the Cheetah E was a nice aerie to fly - punt in die wind !!!

[Mistral]

5 hours ago, ericg said:

 Very nice work, and the conversion set looks great.

 

I am tempted to get one. I am fairly certain that my subject pilot for my SAAF IIIC mirage build flew Cheetahs as well.

 

cheers,

 

Eric.

 

Thanks Eric. You need to get the book "Cheetah - Guardian of the Nation" - lots of nice piccies of the Cheetah and the guys who flew them. I like your SAAF IIICZ very much by the way.

[Mistral]

For Alain - some pics of the Cheetah E cockpit :

 

Cheetah E 842 - IMG_6516 - 800 by Malcolm Reid, on Flickr

 

Cheetah E 842 - IMG_6632 - 800 by Malcolm Reid, on Flickr

 

125_2547 - 800 by Malcolm Reid, on Flickr

[Mistral]

Time to get some minor corrections done on the fuselage. Italeri kindly moulded a nasty step onto the upper middle of each fuselage half - this looks like a slide mould mismatch which initially led me to think that Italeri had a Kfir planned (replacement upper fuselage to accommodate J-79 intake) :

 

20200522_191339 - 800 by Malcolm Reid, on Flickr

 

20200522_191351 - 800 by Malcolm Reid, on Flickr

 

Anyway, this step needs to be dealt with. I filled in the step using Tamiya light curing putty which, when cured, provides a very nice sanding material - not as hard as super glue. Once the putty has been sanded down, the various panel lines and rivets impacted can be reinstated :

 

20200522_210448 - 800 by Malcolm Reid, on Flickr

 

Once sanding is complete, there are a number of prominent vents in this area which, in 32nd scale, should be opened :

 

IMG_5940 - 800 by Malcolm Reid, on Flickr

 

Here they have been openend and thin plastic card sections glued in place to replicate the grilles :

 

IMG_5996 - 800 by Malcolm Reid, on Flickr

 

And then on the forward fuselage just aft the cockpit are the distinct emergency canopy release handles which are located behind small windows. Italeri has provided a decal to simulate the handle inside the fuselage. Again, in 32nd scale this will not do. I drilled these open and blanked off with plastic card. Handles and clear windows will be installed as a later step :

 

IMG_5993 - 800 by Malcolm Reid, on Flickr

 

IMG_5995 - 800 by Malcolm Reid, on Flickr

 

[lrmf777]

Very exciting to see more SAAF planes being converted/built. Ek is moerse bly.

I’ll be following this build intently.

Cheers Neil

[blackbetty]

hm, the revell repop does not seem to have this step in the fuselage

[Starfighter]

That step is indeed most probably due to a misaligned slide or insert... seems they didn't take time to properly debug the moulds before shooting the parts. 

 

Great work so far, keep the pics coming! 

[Mistral]

12 hours ago, blackbetty said:

hm, the revell repop does not seem to have this step in the fuselage

 

Hi Blackbetty. The Revell repop has the same issues. I'm currently building another Mirage using the Revell kit and had to do the same filling treatment . I've now built 2 x IIICs and 1 x R (all Italeri) and they all have this issue.

[Mistral]

14 hours ago, lrmf777 said:

Very exciting to see more SAAF planes being converted/built. Ek is moerse bly.

I’ll be following this build intently.

Cheers Neil

 

I just love the SAAF Mirages / Cheetahs. The nice thing about the Mirages is that they saw real combat ops. However, my favourite SAAF aircraft ? The F1AZ !! Why, oh why, is there no 32nd scale model of this most attractive of all aircraft ???

[Mistral]

10 hours ago, Starfighter said:

Great work so far, keep the pics coming! 

 

Thanks Starfighter. I'm sure, hailing from Belgium, that you would like a nice three tone camo Mirage V 

[Mistral]

Anyway more piccies of progress - onto the main landing gear legs. I cut off the casting block first :

 

IMG_6009 - 800 by Malcolm Reid, on Flickr

 

Then shortened the oleo. John has purposely provided an extended oleo allowing the modeller to cut to preferred length :

 

IMG_6005 - 800 by Malcolm Reid, on Flickr

 

Comparison of revised length undercarriage leg to kit part - much better :

 

IMG_6008 - 800 by Malcolm Reid, on Flickr

 

Here's the real deal - note how compressed the oleo is - and this is an aircraft without fuel / weapons :

 

Cheetah E 842 - IMG_6563 - 800 by Malcolm Reid, on Flickr

[Mistral]

And then onto the dog tooth mod to the wing - easy cuts to the wing upper and lower halves along kit panel lines :

 

IMG_6014 - 800 by Malcolm Reid, on Flickr

 

Dry fit :

 

IMG_6018 - 800 by Malcolm Reid, on Flickr