1/32 Atlas Cheetah D (Italeri kit and ScaleWorx resin conversion set)

[Mistral]

So, time for another foray into the Cheetah sanctuary. This time, to give my Cheetah E a friend, I am busy with the Cheetah D. This is based on the Revell reboxing of the Italeri 32nd Mirage IIIE/R as the donor kit and the ScaleWorx Cheetah D resin conversion set :

 

The kit should be well known by now, so no image of the box art is necessary 

 

The ScaleWorx conversion set arrives like this :

 

 

 

Standard baby-blue resin parts - these are not 3D printed but rather of the moulded variety. The set also includes two vacform parts - the canopy and windshield as one item and the wind deflector between the front and rear cockpit. The set is comprehensive in providing all the major and fiddly parts to do an accurate Cheetah D conversion :

 

 

 

[Mistral]

I actually received this set around 2 years ago to do a test build, but work got in the way and I had the joy of spending time in the sandpit where I could not model. So, I started this build as soon as I got back home.

 

Some words on the Cheetah D. In the 1980's during the Apartheid years and the international sanctions against South Africa, and on the back of ongoing combat operations against Angolan and Cuban Armed Forces in southern Angola, there arose a need for a replacement for the Mirage III and F1 series of fighters used by the SAAF. Israel to the rescue with a derivative of the Kfir / Nesher T design. The SAAF's fleet of Mirage IIIDZ and D2Z aircraft were selected to be upgraded with new wings (Kfir style with dogtooth leading edges), canards (70% of Kfir canard size), an extended nose incorporating an advanced avionics suite, fixed inflight refuelling probe and additional weapons pylons on the intakes. 8 Mirage IIID2Z airframes and 3 Mirage IIIDZ airframes were modified as part of the Cheetah D project. An additional 5 Nesher Ts were obtained and were also modified for commonality with the 11 Mirage III based airframes. The Nesher T derivatives were initially referred to as Cheetah Bs, but as a general rule, Cheetah D became the common designation. Some of the Ds were later upgraded to incorporate strengthened undercarriage (16 ton) and a single piece windshield. Even later, the Atar 09K50 engine was installed to replace the 09C engine and this provided much needed additional thrust. The main reason for this was to provide operations commonality with the 09K50 powered single seat Cheetah C. The Cheetah D project may be considered a success. 

 

The ScaleWorx conversion set only provides for an early mod state Cheetah D i.e. framed windshield and standard Mirage IIIE main landing gear. As such, the decals provided (printed by MavDecals) are consistent with the early overall medium grey colour scheme :

 

 

 

 

Edited October 3, 2023 by Mistral
Text corrected

[Mistral]

The resin parts are indicated in the image above. ScaleWorx supplies the MB.Mk.10 ejection seats used in the Cheetah D. These replaced the Mk.4s used in the Mirage IIIs. Oddly enough, the later (more advanced) Cheetah C used MB.Mk.6 seats 

 

So then, the bad part of any resin set was tackled - removing the bits and pieces from their casting blocks. I did this with a combination of a dremmel operated circular cutter and other methods (and a face mask...).

 

 

I decided to start with the nose gear bay. The two seat Mirage III / Cheetah nose gear retraction system was different to the single seat Mirage III / Cheetah. The resin nose gear bay is lacking in detail and the detail provided is very soft and needs help. The kit retraction arm also needs to be shortened significantly. The kit nose gear leg is a bit of an abomination and needs lots of work.

 

 

 

I added just enough detail with plastic rod, card and fishermans lead wire to create some interest. You can see that the retraction piston has been shortened - not entirely correct but you get the idea... :

 

 

 

[Mistral]

Test fitting the dual seat cockpit section - nice detail and will look great once painted. Note the Mk.10 seats.

 

 

Very loose fit of droopy nose to forward fuselage - it doesn't look great in the image below but actually turns out better once glued in place as later images will show :

 

 

 

[Mistral]

The first operation with the kit parts is to glue the two fuselage halves together. I only glued the top seam. The rear bottom seam near the exhaust is kept unglued as there is some flexibility needed when gluing the wing bottom section. This is then followed be several cuts where the resin parts must be inserted using the ScaleWorx instruction dimensions as a guide :

 

The area in the image below is where the dual seater resin spine must be inserted. The double curvature on the kit upper fuselage is incorrect and must be a smooth curve. So this will require a bit of work once the resin part is glued in place :

 

 

 

Test fitting the vertical stabiliser - the Cheetah D had the same vertical stabiliser shape and size as the Mirage IIIDZ/D2Z. The reason for the resin replacement part is that ScaleWorx has corrected the inaccurate rudder dimensions (kit = too short in span, too deep in chord), corrected the dreadful kit rudder actuator fairing and has provided the rectangular inspection panel which can be seen on the port side of the Cheetah D vertical stabiliser. The Cheetah D EW antenna at the top of the vertical stabiliser is also included :

 

 

 

The resin vertical stabiliser was slightly warped to one side as can be seen below but this was corrected with some hot water persuasion.

 

 

[Cheetah11]

Interesting build Malcolm,

I am sure you will do justice to Pinocchio.

Cheers

Nick

[alain11]

Hi
It's been a while since we saw a Mirage (at least a cousin) here ... no need to say that I am very interested to see how you will fix fitting issues here and there .....I built the III BE version a few months ago (almost the same kit ... except the nose cone and a few other areas), and I admit that I struggled a bit, but I don't complain, I really enjoyed this build.....But.....if I had a complaint, it would be about the quality of the resin, very "smooth" in appearance... OK!..... but, if it's necessary to sand these resin parts, a multitude of air bubbles appear, which induces to fill them .....boring stuff..... . We all know that these kind of "artisanal kits " ( thank you for existing ) need some adjustments 

I like the details added in the wheel well .....well done 

Alain

[Mistral]

11 hours ago, Cheetah11 said:

Interesting build Malcolm,

I am sure you will do justice to Pinocchio.

Cheers

Nick

 

Ja nee Nick. The info you provided me on 841 colour scheme is sure to help. 

[Mistral]

4 hours ago, alain11 said:

Hi
It's been a while since we saw a Mirage (at least a cousin) here ... no need to say that I am very interested to see how you will fix fitting issues here and there .....I built the III BE version a few months ago (almost the same kit ... except the nose cone and a few other areas), and I admit that I struggled a bit, but I don't complain, I really enjoyed this build.....But.....if I had a complaint, it would be about the quality of the resin, very "smooth" in appearance... OK!..... but, if it's necessary to sand these resin parts, a multitude of air bubbles appear, which induces to fill them .....boring stuff..... . We all know that these kind of "artisanal kits " ( thank you for existing ) need some adjustments 

I like the details added in the wheel well .....well done 

Alain

 

Hi Alain. Yes, the kit is not a shake and bake conversion but it's also good to test / reinvigorate one's basic modelling skills. A bit of elbow grease never hurt anyone. I for one am grateful that at least ScaleWorx gave us a good basis for 32nd Cheetah D and E and Mirage III dual seaters.

[Mistral]

So next step is to start cutting away the forward fuselage and intakes. The kit intakes are a few mm too long and ScaleWorx provides correct length items as can be seen below :

 

 

 

The forward fuselage is cut away using a circular blade in my dremmel tool. The spine aft of the cockpit must also be removed to allow the two seater spine to be inserted :

 

 

 

In the image above, the prominent intake scoop is of the incorrect configuration - I actually started this model 5 years ago as a Cheetah E conversion which had that shape intake on the starboard side (similar to the Mirage IIIE). The Cheetah D had two larger and more angular shaped intakes in that area each side of the spine - this will be rectified.

 

 

[Mistral]

Next is to cut off the lower fuselage intake trunking - once again that vicious little cutter makes its appearance :

 

 

 

Based on my experiences having built 5 other Italeri 32nd Mirage III derivative kits, the best way to avoid a potential nasty wing to fuselage joint is to do the following :

a) Glue each wing lower half to the lower fuselage section and

b) Glue each wing upper half to the upper fuselage sections

With a bit of prep work, the fit is excellent requiring no filler.

 

I've also glued the airbrakes into place allowing them to have a slightly open position as was characteristic for Mirages and Cheetahs at rest. These will not break off as the arms are quite springy - I've had no issues with this in the past 5 kits I've built.

 

This is then followed by cutting away the kit outboard leading edges to take the resin dog tooth sections as can be seen below :

 

 

 

The white strips on the wing leading edges are where I've filled in the slot which the Mirage IIIs had. On the Cheetah D, this was covered and a small wing fence added at that location. These fences are fragile items and will only be glued in upon final assembly.

Edited October 4, 2023 by Mistral
Updated text

[Mistral]

As an interlude to slicing and cutting, I completed the assembly of the cockpit including painting the interiors. Cheetah D cockpit were painted a light grey and not black like the Mirages.

 

 

The instrument panels can be wiggled into position later.

 

And now for the major interface of resin to kit - this required a lot of trimming, sanding and test fitting to get the resin forward fuselage to fit neatly into the kit fuselage :

 

 

 

Snug fit :

 

 

[Mistral]

Loose fit of dog tooth inserts - care must be taken not to snap off the tips of the tooth...it has a habit of catching on one's clothing :

 

 

 

Then using Tamiya white putty, the gaps are filled in and sanded smooth followed by rescribing the panel line in that area :

 

 

 

Next is gluing on the distinctive ventral fairing which included a chaff and flare dispenser :

 

 

 

At this stage I've glued on the elevons and drooped the outer two units at more of an angle than the inboard one - again, characteristic of Mirage IIIs and Cheetahs at rest. The outer elevon actuator fairing can be replaced with the stores pylon - for the Cheetah D, this is where the V3B air to air missiles were carried.

 

And then checking the loose fit of the major resin parts - forward fuselage, nose, intakes, spine and vertical stabiliser - all that's needed are the canards :

 

 

 

[Furie]

Impressive work, superbly executed!
I had no idea there was so much difference between a MIR III and a Cheetah.
I see you've left the speed brakes open.
It's very well done and adds dynamism to your model.
Well done!

[alain11]

your experience paid off