Mirage IIIO
Hi everyone HNY from a very warm (27deg) & sunny Middle Zealand.
So this project is a sort of 'getting back to basics' build. Initially I started it back in April'ish last year, then after just two sessions, boxed it all up and found something else that was 'newer' and 'shinier'. I dug it back out just before Christmas but have only been able to grab 30mins here and there whilst 'Daddies little Stormtroopers' have been home on the SEVEN WEEK summer hols - I work from home, so guess who was on 'entertainment duties'.
OK, 'nuff talk, this is the 1981 (?) Esci kit, released a couple of times by Italeri, this particular boxing is the one with the HUGE AdA decal sheet and the updated weapons sprue. Massive amount of PSR needed to get the wing-roots flush with the fuselage and various other filling chores. I built this purely for the fun of it, no detailing of any sort, even left the seat out (for now) just to have it sitting on the shelf alongside my Marineflieger TF-104...
Looks good...did that HUGE decal sheet include the large camo patterns or is that YOUR doing?
Not sure what you mean, Craig. The camo pattern is the standard Dassault 'delta' scheme, I just masked & painted it as usual.
Ian.
I just thought when you said the decal sheet was unusually large, that it may have included the camo pattern(s) seen as decals or YOU masked and painted 'em - and you answered that. Thanks. Nice job, by the way.
Great work Ian - like the southern cross tail flash, the Oz scheme looks good on the Mirage. Thanks
Nice job Ian, always like the looks of a delta wing jet, this one looks especially good in camo.
Interesting colour/decal combination. I like the satin finish. Nice work.
Ian, what a beauty! Looks like them photos I used to see of the flightline at Butterworth, probably in Koku Fan. Great things can be done with them oldish Esci kits. Vive Marcel D'Assault!
Good-looking Mirage Ian! Like the scheme, and a nice, clean build. Didn't know the Aussies flew them.
Great looking paint work, a real beauty.
Thanks everyone, really appreciate the response. It's true about 'old' kits - I remember this in the original box with the infamous Esci 'crosshairs' - They can be a challenge, but so many of them are bypassed simply because they have raised panel lines or are awkward to build.
This has both of those, but man it was fun, and isn't that what the hobby is about ?
I enjoyed it so much, I dug-out my old Academy F-15C to follow it on to the bench... now that is a challenge !
Ian.
Nice Mirage !
I guess you mean +27 deg? I don't want to make you jealous, but it's -27 deg here! Yes, that's seriously cold. Whatever, Ian, a very neat job of this old Esci kit, I love the way you say "I just masked and painted it as usual".
Ian, you're a cruel and heartless man, laying all that nostalgia on a doddery old Aussie "knuck" (RAAF slang for fighter pilot, and a term of endearment or derision, depending on the circumstances).
A3-96 your subject? Well, the yellowing pages of my log book tell me that I strapped on A3-96 on many occasions during a tour as a Flight Commander and later Operations Officer in No 3 Squadron at Butterworth in '70-'72, and later as CO from '79 to '81.
What a lovely aircraft the Mirage III was. It was not for nothing that we Aussie "knucks" invariably referred to her as "The French Lady". She was, without question, the most elegantly beautiful jet fighter of any era, and I will brook no argument about that 😉
My flagship when I was CO was A3-10, which the "troops" always kept in immaculate condition for me. Needless to say, the saddest day of my life was when I climbed out of her for the last time. Anyway, I had a quick go at a 1/48 representation of her when the Kinetic kit came out. A few shots of it are here:
http://www.netspeed.com.au/brick/images/mirage 1.jpg
http://www.netspeed.com.au/brick/images/mirage 2.jpg
http://www.netspeed.com.au/brick/images/mirage 3.jpg
http://www.netspeed.com.au/brick/images/mirage 4.jpg
http://www.netspeed.com.au/brick/images/mirage 5.jpg
That's just made-my-day !... So you were flying them at the same time as Bill Evans or a little earlier ?
Ian.
Hello Ian.
Earlier than Bill, but not by much. I think we overlapped a bit. Bill was a student on the Avon Sabre operational conversion course at No 5 Operational Training Unit when I was a fighter combat instructor (FCI) there. So he was a "generation" later than me.
But thanks for posting those photos of your Mirage. Brought a tear to an old fighter jock's eye, I can tell you that.