Mistral Posted August 30, 2020 Author Share Posted August 30, 2020 22 hours ago, alain11 said: hi this " long nose " Mirage will turn very nice , indeed , the resin parts as much as we can see look nice , and .. "smooth" , can't wait the following step ... good job Alain Thanks Alain. Indeed a long nose but wait for the D !! Renegade 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mistral Posted August 30, 2020 Author Share Posted August 30, 2020 Some more bits and bobs - here's the RWR antenna which fits under the nose. Due to it's protrusion from the surface, I reinforced this by inserting a small brass rod before gluing in place - the last thing I want to hear is the sound of "ping" and discover that it's been gobbled up by the carpet monster... IMG_6114 - 800 by Malcolm Reid, on Flickr The ventral gun tray on the Cheetah E is different from what Italeri would have - I've filled in some panel lines using Tamiya light curing putty and have added the hard points for the intake bomb pylon : IMG_6119 - 800 by Malcolm Reid, on Flickr Some additional panel lines were scribed onto the gun tray. I also added the muzzle brakes from hollow plastic rod with slots sliced into them using a thin saw and sharp knife. Although Italeri supplies brass items which need to be bent to shape to replicate these, the end result is rather dubious. Gun barrels still to be installed. Same for the two gun bay vent intakes : IMG_6128 - 800 by Malcolm Reid, on Flickr Like on the Mirage IIIE, the Cheetah E has three intake reinforcing rods : IMG_6126 - 800 by Malcolm Reid, on Flickr Rudder and actuator installed. Rear ECM and RWR antennae in place. Cheetah E had four small vanes installed on the upper rear fuselage - I assume something to do with sorting out the airflow for proper drag chute extraction - possibly required because of disturbed airflow in this area care of the new ECM antenna... IMG_6131 - 800 by Malcolm Reid, on Flickr Exhaust still to be painted : IMG_6135 - 800 by Malcolm Reid, on Flickr Canards glued in place - you can see I battled with the intake to fuselage fit on the port side... IMG_6138 - 800 by Malcolm Reid, on Flickr Lothar, alain11, Landrotten Highlander and 13 others 15 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alain11 Posted August 31, 2020 Share Posted August 31, 2020 Hi great show !!!!! Is the rear bulkhead plainted grey like the rest of the cockpit tube ? Alain Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BLACK MAMBA Posted August 31, 2020 Share Posted August 31, 2020 Great work thus far Malcolm! Can't wait to see the first coat of paint being applied. Out2gtcha 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dodgem37 Posted August 31, 2020 Share Posted August 31, 2020 Love this. Sincerely, Mark Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mistral Posted August 31, 2020 Author Share Posted August 31, 2020 11 hours ago, alain11 said: Hi great show !!!!! Is the rear bulkhead plainted grey like the rest of the cockpit tube ? Alain Hi Alain. Thanks ! Yes cockpit painted a blue grey - I have to admit that I got the colour a bit too dark. But too late now Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mistral Posted August 31, 2020 Author Share Posted August 31, 2020 Thanks Black Mamba and Mark - I appreciate your kind comments. So then, I finally got the assembly sorted and the model primed earlier today. I used Tamiya fine grey primer decanted from the spray can and airbrushed on - I prefer the finer control that an airbrush offers over the potential saturation of the Tamiya spray can nozzle. I still have to add the wing fences but this will be done as the last build action before applying the dark grey finish. I also still need to scribe the nose / fuselage panel line. The primer has highlighted a few areas where small pin holes in the resin need to be filled. Then a final treatment of the primer coat with some fine micro mesh to smooth the surface nicely. Apart from that, I'm happy with how the whole lot went together. Ready for primer : IMG_6144 - 800 by Malcolm Reid, on Flickr Primer on - sexy in her new grey suit IMG_6148 - 800 by Malcolm Reid, on Flickr IMG_6153 - 800 by Malcolm Reid, on Flickr Out2gtcha, Renegade, scvrobeson and 14 others 17 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Troy Molitor Posted August 31, 2020 Share Posted August 31, 2020 Such a unique airframe. It's almost like the airframe couldn't handle anything more internally and they just kept adding & adding to the exterior to keep it relevant to the threat environment. Lovely efforts going on here. thanks for sharing this amazing build with us. Troy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Out2gtcha Posted September 1, 2020 Share Posted September 1, 2020 Wow, that does indeed look terrific! The blending of all the parts really looks seamless. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Renegade Posted September 1, 2020 Share Posted September 1, 2020 Bakgat! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeMaben Posted September 2, 2020 Share Posted September 2, 2020 Very nice Malcolm Hey Black Mamba Hope you don't bite ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mistral Posted September 3, 2020 Author Share Posted September 3, 2020 (edited) Thanks all for the positive comments. Been busy with the bombs and their pylons. One thing I like about the Cheetahs and Mirage Vs were the intake bomb pylon configuration. So I decided to go with a standard load out which goes as follows : 2 x Mk. 81 bombs in tandem on centreline PM3 pylon, 2 x Mk.81 bombs on the intake pylons, 2 x 1,300 liter wing tanks and 2 x V3B IR air to air missiles on outboard wing pylons. There are photos of a Cheetah E with 3 x Mk. 81 on TER on centreline, 2 x Mk.81 on intake pylons and 4 x Mk. 81s on wing RPK combined fuel tank / bomb carriers but I suspect that was a bomb or two to many...maybe Nick can confirm or not. Anyway, I used some Trumpeter Mk. 81s from my spares stash. These looked way too skinny and a check on the internet showed the scale dimensions to be 4.5mm too short in length but with the diameter correct. I chopped out a 4.5mm section at the wide point of the bomb. Here you can see the comparison. The shorter bomb's proportions are more appealing. A bit of sanding smoothed the rough transition out : IMG_6157 - 800 by Malcolm Reid, on Flickr After a whole bunch of elbow grease, here are the bombs and their pylons. I had to scratch build the 3 pylons using laminated plastic card. The sway braces were again from the Trumpeter spares stash. The intake pylons are the simpler configuration. The later Cheetah D and C (and Kfirs) used a more complex pylon shape for the Griffen LGBs - the Cheetah E didn't carry these as far as I'm aware. Each pylon has 1mm brass rods glued in place which will fit into holes drilled in the aircraft belly. The PM3 pylon had a stabilising rod fixed to the rear of the pylon to support the rear bomb. This stil needs to be added but that will be done much later : IMG_6181 - 800 by Malcolm Reid, on Flickr Bombs and pylons temporarily in place on the Cheetah : IMG_6176 - 800 by Malcolm Reid, on Flickr IMG_6179 - 800 by Malcolm Reid, on Flickr Edited September 3, 2020 by Mistral Text updated alain11, Troy Molitor, LSP_Kevin and 6 others 9 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marcel111 Posted September 3, 2020 Share Posted September 3, 2020 Looking good and dangerous! Will you be adding some 500 pounders to the wing tanks? Cheers, Marcel Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Renegade Posted September 4, 2020 Share Posted September 4, 2020 She's starting to look really nice and sleek, and with the additional pylons and bombs (nicely corrected), even better! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mistral Posted September 5, 2020 Author Share Posted September 5, 2020 On 03 September 2020 at 10:36 PM, Marcel111 said: Looking good and dangerous! Will you be adding some 500 pounders to the wing tanks? Cheers, Marcel Thanks Marcel. No standard 1,300 liter subsonic tanks. And V3B on outboard pylons. I'll leave the wing tank bomb combo for the Cheetah D. John, you need to add That funny looking centerline 800 liter tank to you D conveRsion set Marcel111 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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