Cheetah11 Posted October 18, 2020 Share Posted October 18, 2020 My sons surprised me with this birthday present. One of my favorite aircraft and in 1/32. A pleasant surprise and one I am going to start immediately. The build will take some time as I need Berna decals for the aircraft I want to model and our post is still in limbo due to covid. I still have this book from the way back and will use it for some reference. I intend to do a Mir 2000 C from the late eighties. I had a look at the instructions and the kit in general. The kit is a bit of an enigma. Beautiful engraved details but very poor instructions and some strange stores choices If you are one of the modelers that like to display everything open, this kit can be build from the box and it will be very impressive, but not in an correct or typical configuration. You will have to do a lot or research for a particular sub type to be accurate. But fortunately most of the parts are present. All you will need is patience and a good set of references. More a little later. Nick Stevepd, Derek B, Marcel111 and 12 others 15 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marcel111 Posted October 18, 2020 Share Posted October 18, 2020 Looking forward to this, Nick! Must say I was really impressed with the kit when I opened the box. Cheers, Marcel Derek B 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alain11 Posted October 18, 2020 Share Posted October 18, 2020 hi Nick of course , I will follow your thread , , I think , I will get mine tomorrow , , this will be another challenge , as some modelers pretend .... let's go .... Alain Derek B 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cheetah11 Posted October 19, 2020 Author Share Posted October 19, 2020 (edited) Hi Marcel 19 hours ago, Marcel111 said: Looking forward to this, Nick! Must say I was really impressed with the kit when I opened the box. Cheers, Marcel Yes the kit looks great. A few funnies but at least the detail is good and fit is great. Hi Alain 18 hours ago, alain11 said: hi Nick of course , I will follow your thread , , I think , I will get mine tomorrow , , this will be another challenge , as some modelers pretend .... let's go .... Alain Great news. I do not think you will be disappointed. I am eager to see your impression of the kit. Now onto some decisions on the config. The leading edge slats on the Mirage 2000 retract when the wheels are extended. The kit only allows for the slats to be build in the extended config, so to model an a/c on the ground some adjustments are needed. The undercarriage doors are closed on the ground, even in photos of pilots doing pre-flight inspections. The kit has great detail in the undercarriage bays and can be enhanced by adding more piping. Unfortunately this will not be seen in a typical config, so I will not detail this too much. The aux intake doors are only modeled in the open position. Unlike some aircraft where aux intakes hang in under gravity, aux intakes of Mirage aircraft are spring loaded closed and only open with the engine running and low speed. New ones from plastic card needs to be made as the kit ones are way too small for the closed position. I you want to see a Mir 2000 model with all the fixes and a correct typical config, you can see the Mirage 2000N posted by Discus yesterday. Great research and model. One more fix for me . No AM on this kit so I will need to fix the AB nozzle. The resin part in the kit is undersized with a prominent step not visible on the full sized aircraft.( Why resin ? Leave that to the specialized companies. What do they say about good intentions............?) The oversize ring was sanded off and a new one made from plastic card. To facilitate the fitting I also added a section of card on the inside. Enjoy Nick Edited October 19, 2020 by Cheetah11 LSP_Kevin, HerculesPA_2, Whitey and 8 others 11 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Collin Posted October 19, 2020 Share Posted October 19, 2020 Will be following this for sure. I plan my build in the in-flight takeoff configuration just lifting off. Aux doors, LE slats, gear doors luckily will be displayed. I’m not looking forward to making those speed brakes look good in the closed position. Cheers Collin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cheetah11 Posted October 19, 2020 Author Share Posted October 19, 2020 (edited) 17 hours ago, Collin said: Will be following this for sure. I plan my build in the in-flight takeoff configuration just lifting off. Aux doors, LE slats, gear doors luckily will be displayed. I’m not looking forward to making those speed brakes look good in the closed position. Cheers Collin Hi Collin A great idea how to display the model. I think you would have to retract the slats anyway for that config. Cheers Nick Edited October 19, 2020 by Cheetah11 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cheetah11 Posted October 19, 2020 Author Share Posted October 19, 2020 I decided to follow a slightly different building sequence on this build by first fixing most of the errors/anomalies and then proceeding with the build. First to fix is the 1300 liter tank. Two are provided and fortunately unlike the Italeri Mir III ones these are accurate in dimension. The fit is another story. There is a gap between the pylon and the tank on the real aircraft but it is so small it can hardly be seen on photos. Nothing like on the kit. To fix it I cut the stabilizing stays from the pylon. There is a missing access/drain panel missing at the bottom of the tank that needs to be added. I also added missing weld marks by using stretched sprue and super glue and then sanding it back to just a hint of the welding line. Completed. I followed the panel line on the tank but suspect the weld lines might be on the 12/6 line if the tank. Happy modeling Nick dodgem37, Paul in Napier, blackbetty and 12 others 15 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marcel111 Posted October 19, 2020 Share Posted October 19, 2020 Coming out with some big saves already! Cheetah11 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Collin Posted October 20, 2020 Share Posted October 20, 2020 (edited) 21 hours ago, Cheetah11 said: Hi Collin A great idea how to display the model. I think you would have to retract the slats anyway for that config. Cheers Nick Assuming M2K LE slats movement is based on AoA/speed variables....seems they are deployed early in the takeoff phase before speed/AoA increases to the point where they automatically retract. All my flying was done on dumb aircraft where LE slat movement was based on the flap handle...and what little Hornet time I got...well that was all automatic like the M2K. To your point: I've seen some take off photos with no LE slat extension....my assumption is that AoA/speed is great enough that the aircraft's flight computer doesn't extend then for the lift/stall warning benefits. I plan to build based on the following examples (two drops, A-A loadout): Edited October 20, 2020 by Collin Derek B, Greg W, Whitey and 5 others 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cheetah11 Posted October 20, 2020 Author Share Posted October 20, 2020 Hi Collin Lovely photos. The way the Mir 2000 slat operation was explained to me was that the slats are up with the gear down. In the above photos the gear is cycling so I presume the slats are activated by a signal that the gear is not down. In the first photo the gear is at a slightly different places in the retraction sequence, as are the slats. This leads me to believe the slats started extending as the gear was raised. Maybe some of our French or Greek colleges can clear it up. Derek B 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cheetah11 Posted October 20, 2020 Author Share Posted October 20, 2020 Some more adjusting of the kit. The aux inlet doors in the kit are too small for the closed position and was replaced by plastic card. At the same time I added a larger piece of clear plastic to the light position and polished it up. I will add the light later. One anomaly in the instructions is the Super 530 missile. The Super 530D was carried on the Mir 2000 and the Super 530F on the Mirage F1. They have different lengths and different spans and the F have a protruding nozzle. The instructions show the nozzle of the Super 530F. Thankfully the kit parts seem to be correct but I would appreciate it if someone has detail of the 530F nozzle or the lack thereof. Happy modeling Nick. Greg W, dodgem37, Marcel111 and 5 others 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cheetah11 Posted October 23, 2020 Author Share Posted October 23, 2020 Alain sent me a photo of the Matra Super 530D showing the nozzle. Thanks Alain I used the mini drill to turn a nozzle. And fitted to the missile I also fitted the speedbrakes. On the Mir III from Italeri I fitted them flush and upon applying Tamiya thin cement they sank to slightly below the surface. This time I put .25mm plastic card shims in to prevent the sagging, The rest of the wing is finished and strips of plastic card were used to fill the spaces underneath the slats. The slats ended a little proud of the wing which then had to be sanded down. Happy modeling Nick Landrotten Highlander, Greg W, Derek B and 8 others 11 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alain11 Posted October 23, 2020 Share Posted October 23, 2020 Nick each door , hatch etc .. need a bit of work for a perfect fit ...............good luck Alain Cheetah11 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cheetah11 Posted October 24, 2020 Author Share Posted October 24, 2020 15 hours ago, alain11 said: Nick each door , hatch etc .. need a bit of work for a perfect fit ...............good luck Alain You are right Alain. As long as one realizes that each panel needs to be test fitted and on most some of the detail on the inside removed, a great model can be build. Here is a test fit of the main gear door with some inside detail removed and important pieces of plastic card added to adjust the fit. I am really enjoying this kit as it needs a bit of forward planning and old school modeling skills. Stevepd, Lothar, Greg W and 9 others 12 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ROM Posted October 25, 2020 Share Posted October 25, 2020 Great work! Unfortunately, the 1300L belly tank is almost 1cm too long. It is 186mm in the kit but should be 178mm in 1/32 scale Romain Cheetah11 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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