32nd Mirage IIID2Z (with ScaleWorx conversion set)

[Mistral]

Immediate observation on the resin parts - these are in ScaleWorx' standard baby blue which makes seeing details in photos a little difficult. But details will be revealed once I start to prime each component with Tamiya grey surface primer. John is using a new "formulation" of resin which is a little harder than his previous resin components I've worked with. The result is an improvement in crispness of surface detail as well as a smoother surface with a minimum of air bubbles present. 

 

I've taken photos of the various resin parts - excuse the quality as my cell phone is a lowly Samsung and not an iPhone ...

 

So main parts first. The nose - John has got the intake in the front very neatly rendered. The exhaust vent on the bottom is shallow due to the limitations of resin casting. It was either a deep hole at the front or the back. I prefer the one at the front...the Master pitot probe is going to finish that off very nicely.

 

 

 

And the two seat forward fuselage halves - interior detail cast in-situ :

 

 

 

 

Dorsal fairing aft of canopy and ventral fairing with slot for tail hook. As noted previously, the D2Z was the only SAAF Mirage to have a tail hook. Must've been an insurance policy against wayward learner drivers  :

 

 

 

Neat single part intakes. These come from ScaleWorx original Mirage III detail set :

 

 

 

Cockpit tub :

 

 

 

[Mistral]

Here's the corrected vertical stabiliser, also from ScaleWorx's original Mirage III correction set - it's clear where the problem areas with the kit parts are - rudder too short in span and the rudder actuator fairing not at all well rendered in kit form :

 

 

 

Rudder comparison :

 

 

 

 

[Mistral]

Corrected main wheels - kit parts 1.5 to 2mm too small in diameter. John has also provided some nice tread on his resin tyres :

 

 

 

Corrected main landing gear bay covers - you can see the additional strudel ribbing :

 

 

 

Some of the cockpit parts - the rear IP has some nice detail on the forward facing surface which you cannot see in this photo :

 

 

 

And more smaller detail parts including the tail hook which is very nicely done indeed. Also note that the nose landing gear retraction arm is different to that on the single seater Mirages. The metal reinforcing rods incorporated into the landing gear legs is a great idea :

 

 

 

[Mistral]

Resin seats. Nice detail provided - the kit seat is really no good at all....:

 

 

 

Exhaust - nice detail on the inside and outside of the petals. Can you imagine trying to remove those mould blobs which Italeri so kindly provided :

 

 

 

This image shows the light through the exhaust indicating how thin the petals actually are - very nice :

 

 

 

 

 

[Mistral]

And then onto the JL-100 pods :

 

 

 

Comparison with the kit parts - kits parts are too small by 2mm in diameter and slightly off in length by 4mm :

 

 

 

And the inboard pylons. The kit parts are too shallow and too short :

 

 

 

[Mistral]

I was wondering why John provided these rudder pedals as the kit parts are good enough. After some head scratching, I realised that this is a two seater - duh !!. This is the result of working from home for a year due to that horrible little covid-critter - brain is getting all mushy :

 

 

 

Decals printed by MavDecals. Great that the Bokkies are gold and not Italeri yellow ... MavDecals quality has been variable in the past with some showing quite significant pixellation. I can happily say that these ones are OK with limited pixelation :

 

 

 

And last but by no means least, the vac formed canopy. The photo doesn't do it justice. It's very well done for such a large clear vac form piece. With some internal structural detailing I'm sure it'll look just fine. There'll need to be some very careful cutting with a very sharp blade...

 

 

[Mistral]

So there you have it. Once again, thanks to John for trusting me with an online test build of his latest conversion set. Work will commence in earnest this weekend !! I can't wait for this sexy lady to take form...

[JMcD]

Looks like a very good project worthy of following 

[alain11]

can't wait .. let's go !!

[Kagemusha]

1 minute ago, alain11 said:

can't wait .. let's go !!

 

X 2!

[Renegade]

Hi Malcom,

 

Thanks for the kudos . This is indeed going to be exciting to see her taking shape!

The IIID2Z is one of the best looking "Strykysters" and just such an elegant beauty.  They look really awesome with the JL-100 pods!

Daan's photos are truly stunning and not mention extremely rare to see IIID2Z's photographed this well. This picture below is from Herman Potgieter I think, and although not the best quality, it's one of my all time favourite photos .  Can't blame you for ordering the JL-100's to go with this

 

 

 

Cheers,

John

 

[Mistral]

Whilst mentally preparing myself for chopping up the fuselage, I spent some time on the nose gear bay. Firstly, the abomination kit lights need some work with a dremmel tool - left side is kit standard, right is  after some work. I'll insert a clear piece of sprue for a bulb later :

 

 

 

Electrical wires for the lights added, as were some hydraulic hoses for the wheel steering mechanism :

 

 

 

I added some thin fisherman's lead wire to replicate random hydraulic piping in the nose bay.

 

 

The two seaters had a different leg retraction configuration to the single seaters. The retraction piston on the D2Z is offset to one side. This was replicated by modifying the standard kit part - here's the whole assembly treated to some Tamiya grey primer :

 

 

 

 

[Mistral]

 

Before cutting the fuselage I added the louvres :

 

 

 

The fuselage spine needs to be removed along with the whole forward fuselage. So that's the first cut which needs to be made :

 

 

 

Rough cut :

 

 

 

Rough cut smoothed down to see how the resin is going to fit. I glued the rear fuselage and the spine section just aft of the cut to provide some rigidity :

 

 

 

 

Dry fit of replacement spine. Some more fettling and trimming will be required before it's glued in position :

 

 

 

[Grunticus]

On 3/11/2021 at 6:11 PM, Mistral said:

 

Put it this way,  got my order in first for the "test build" 

 

You can actually build a DZ as well. Just add the kit doppler antenna and leave off the vertical stab blade antennae. And this certainly opens up the realms of possibility for the European and Latin American two seaters, even the ones fitted with canards (as John has made those for the Cheetah E conversion already). Some of the European two seaters had fillets at the leading edge of the vertical stab similar to the IIIB/C. I'm sure John will do these as well.... And he has the MB Mk.10 seats for the Belgium ones...many, many possibilities have been opened with this set. Good times for Mirage fans 

 

Very nice subject, will follow this one. So am I correct a Belgian 5BD could be made with this conversion set? They looked mighty sexy (I’d say one step lower on the ladder than the SAAF ones).

 

[Kagemusha]

7 hours ago, Grunticus said:

 

Very nice subject, will follow this one. So am I correct a Belgian 5BD could be made with this conversion set? They looked mighty sexy (I’d say one step lower on the ladder than the SAAF ones).

 

 

Yes you can, it's what I'm going to do, you can pre-order now at scaleworx@yahoo.com