Mirage III E

[mgbooyv8]

Hi guys,

 

This is the first post of the new year.

A belated happy new year to all of you!

 

Filling and sanding took more iterations than anticipated.

This is the result:

 

 

I'm happy with that.

 

Because the cockpit is sparse, the canopy will be closed.

The resin ejection seat of Scaleworx had to be painted.

After sawing the pouring block off, the seat was test fitted.

It sat correctly below the canopy!

It was painted up to look like this:

 

And installed into the cockpit:

 

This is the complete cockpit of the kit, with the only addition the resin seat.

 

There is a reason this old mould is retired. It is worn out.

This is the visor:

 

The burr was removed and clarity restored.

 

These are the forward nose wheel doors:

 

Some excess plastic needs to removed here as well.

 

Unfortunately, this also means a poor fit of the windscreen and the canopy:

 

Remedial action will be required to make it all fit.

The windscreen will be easy:

first fill the gaps with Kristal Klear, then paint anthracite, then fill with acrylic putty, which can be wiped away with a damp finger or cotton bud.

The canopy will be more involving.

I started gluing some plastic strip to its edges...

 

To be continued!

 

Cheers,

 

Peter

 

[mgbooyv8]

Thanks, Maru!

 

The canopy was slightly enlarged with plastic strip to make it fit better:

 

After the internal edge was painted Revell Anthracite (nr. 9), it was glued on the fuselage with Tamiya Extra Thin.

There were still gome gaps which were treated with Kristal Klear.

Then, the closed seams were again painted in Revell anthracite.

When this was dry, some Vallejo acryl putty was smeared on the edges, the excess being removed by a wet finger.

This was the result:

 

 

This looked tidy enough, so the canopy and windshield were masked:

 

Then the first coat of Revell Anthracite could be sprayed.

This colour had to go first to ensure the the canopy interior has the same colour as the cockpit.

However, it still revealed some nasty seams...

 

So, these were treated with Mr. Surfacer:

 

This is the 4th application I think.

I'll let it harden and decide tomorrow if a fifth application will be required before sanding it back and do a respray.

 

In the meanwhile, I turned my attention to the navigation lights.

Ofcourse, the ones supplied were too small, so new ones were made from a thick piece of clear sprue.

Here is the starboard one:

 

The port one is similar.

When the glue has hardened I can sand it flush with its surroundings.

 

To be continued!

 

Cheers,

 

Peter

[mgbooyv8]

Hi guys,

 

In the mean time, the large 1700 L tanks of the new Revell/Italeri Mirage were assembled.

The parts are large and flexble, so I added tabs to the joints to ensure alignment:

 

Then the halves were carefully glued together in sections: rear rightside, forward rightside and the same for the left side:

 

Their pylons were adapted to fit the old Revell wings.

After careful measurements on the wings of both kits, 1 mm wide plastic strips were glued to the top of the pylons:

 

The canopy turned out OK after sanding and a coat of Revell 9 Anthracite.

Now the black area around the canopy could be painted.

For this I used Humbrol 85 Coal Black.

The whole model was sprayed in this colour to act as an undercoat for the silver paint:

 

Also the big tanks, their pylons and the undercarriage doors were sprayed Coal Black:

 

After drying overnight, dust particles were sanded away with very fine sandpaper and the black was polished up with a piece of cloth, from an old T-shirt.

The black area was masked with Tamiya flexible masking tape and filled in with normal masking tape.

For this I used Tesa Professional washi tape from the DIY store, cut in narrow strips, which is my go-to masking tape:

 

For the aluminium paint I used Revell 90 Silver.

Revell themselves recommend their nr. 99 aluminium, but I think that nr. 90 has a finer pigment and is more suited, looking at photographs of the real deal.

 

Silver is on, the paint will be left overnight to harden before I remove the masking:

 

And the tanks, pylons and undercarriage doors got Silver 90 as well:

 

To be continued...

 

Cheers,

 

Peter

 

[MikeMaben]

[mgbooyv8]

Thanks Mike!

 

The masking tape was removed from the forward fuselage.

The right side was ok:

 

The left side less so:

 

The masking tape lifted some paint.

 

Before I proceeded further, I gloss coated the whole model with Alclad Aqua Gloss, to protect the silver paint and to make touch-ups easier.

I decided to touch-in the area by brush and cover it with Aqua Gloss. Then it is easier to sand the offending area smooth,

with less risk of going though the coal black paint.

Also, Humbrol Coal Black is very forgiving if touch-ups are needed.

 

Turning the attention to the lower side, the outer half of the wings were painted gloss blue Revell 50 and gloss red Revell 31, conform the instructions,

I think the colourful decals have been matched to these paints so they had to be used:

 

The dielectric panel under the nose has to be painted white.

Instead of masking and spraying it, I let heavily thinned white enamel paint (Revell 301) run against the raised edges and filled it in by brush.

This is the first coat.

Obviously, more are needed, but this method is quick and easy.

 

Two small spray jobbies were completed.

The grey dielectric panel on the tip of the fin:

 

And the radome on the nose:

 

 

The Revell sating black turned out a bit matt, but a light coat of Aqua Gloss will solve that, when I also cover the touched-up patch at the left side of the nose.

 

The pointy end will be neatened when I add the Master brass turned pitot tube, but that has to wait until the model is almost finished, to avoid knocking it off.

 

To be continued...

 

Cheers,

 

Peter

 

 

 

[Out2gtcha]

Lovely work!

[mgbooyv8]

Thanks Brian!

 

Cheers,

 

Peter

[themongoose]

That underside is lookimg smart. Really like the silver and the colors!

[mgbooyv8]

Thanks!

 

The lifted paint patch on left side of the nose was touched-in, polished and glossed.

The masking of the canopy was removed, only to find that the Gunze Mr. Masking Sol Neo had reacted with the Klear, resulting in matt patches.

Luckily, the Klear was easily polished away with polishing paste.

I have no picture, I was too eager to get the canopy sorted.

 

 

Now the model was ready for decals.

The decals of the new Revell kit behaved impeccably with Daco Red, extra strong.

 

Right side:

 

Left side:

 

Lower side:

 

A few trapped air bubbles had to be punched with a small needle and were treated with Daco.

It's drying now. Then, de decals can be glossed to protect them and to get rid of their matt finish.

 

The wild boar on the tail consists of two halves.

The division is straight, whereas the kit is slightly curved at that location, so a bit of minor touching up will be required there.

 

Surprisingly, I had the black-silver division on the nose correct, I do not need to touch-up the two-coloured registration number.

 

In the background, it can be seen that the undercarriage has already been started.

The nose gear needed more treatment. If the pegs are used, the strut halves do not line up, so they were removed.

However, I had to make sure the base of the strut kept aligned.

Clamps came to the rescue:

 

To be continued...

 

Cheers,

 

Peter

[themongoose]

Love the hog!  Beautiful application 

Edited February 14, 2022 by themongoose

[Alain Gadbois]

Wow! Stunning markings on this Mirage!

 

Alain

[mgbooyv8]

Thanks guys!

 

Work continued with the installation of the landing gear and the addition of the two remaining air scoops near the big wild boar.:

 

An additional decal (provided) will be placed over the lower one to blend it in with the blue artwork.

 

The pylons for the 1700 Ltr. tanks of the new Revell/Italeri kit had to be adapted to the shape of this old model's wings by inserting  some plastic strips, cut to shape. Also, the mounting tabs had to be lengthened:

 

I forgot to take a picture before spraying, so the modifications are hard to see on this picture.

 

Here they are installed on the wing:

 

The lower air scoop also got its decal. However, some touching up was needed.

The black edge was added with a sharpie after the picture was taken.

 

The Master turned metal pitot tube was glued to the nose and blended in.

A bit of touching up with the airbrush was needed:

 

Then the final bits were added and the black area was give a coat of satin varnish with the airbrush.

And that means... that the Mirage is finshed in time !!!

 

Pictures in the next post.

 

[mgbooyv8]

Hi guys,

 

Here are the pictures of the finished old Revell Mirage IIIE with the commemorative markings included in the new Revell/Italeri Mirage IIIE:

 

 

 

 

 

 

It was a pleasure joining this group build and building this old Revell kit.

 

Until the next time,

 

Cheers,

 

Peter

[mydesign]

Hi Peter

 

A sharp looking Mirage and a nice twist to use the new kit Mirage decals! That will confuse our modellers that will see it on shows when displayed.  

 

 

[LSP_Kevin]

Beautiful result, Peter!

 

Kev