Eduard 1/48 Mirage 3C Shachak
Hello!
This is my most recent project, an israeli Mirage IIIC Shachak, the Eduard 1/48 profipack kit. Have to say that, at least for me, Mirages III, in 1/48 scale, seem to be cursed. In the past, I built a Kinetic kit, a truly nightmare. Really bad engineering, even worse fitting and almost useless instructions.
So, after some reviewing of other brands, all of them still looked not great. But, since Eduard has a good reputation and I've built some of their other kits fine, I've decided to give it a shot. Big disappointment, because this one is also not good. Flashes all over the places, the fuselage halves are too flexible and a lit bit warped. There are no location points for the cockpit tub, and you have to hold the 2 halves and the cockpit together and try to glue them in the right position. If you succeed in this, you'll find out the windshield panel is too high for the front canopy to sit properly. I've managed to minimize this by a lot of dry fit and clipping the base of the PE for the instruments panel and gunsight. Not to mention the plastic part in front of the gunsight also had to be very sanded, otherwise the front canopy would not be flushed with the fuselage. I just don't get it, the guys at Eduard have to know this, still…
Main landing gears engineering is also bad. No positive locations and/or fixing points for most of the many pieces.
And for the plastic parts, all of them have their issues. Front canopy slightly too narrow, rear part too wide (better keep it open); lights lenses all too big for their respective spots.
Decals are Cartograph, so no problems here. Nevertheless, all the yellow triangles and red stripes on the wings were masked and painted. Way better!
Well, I know these are a lot of complaining for my part, sorry for that, but probably because I had good expectations from an Eduard kit.
Anyway, I'm happy with the results now it's finished.
Hope you enjoy!
Cheers!
Fantastic job on a troublesome kit, funny I only built one Mirage and that was not one of my best, you made a brilliant job on that difficult IAF camo.
What colour did you use for the large triangles and what is that super matt varnish by the way ?
Amazing work.
Thank you! The yellow was a mix of Gunze Mr Color's 7(brown), 113 (RLM04) and1(white). Gunze Aqueous 20(flat clear with IPA).
The cammo colors were a local brand acrylic paint.
A wonderful build and finish.
Thank you!
Turned out very nicely. You were able to overcome the many challenges and produce a fine aircraft for your collection.
Thank you!
Superb result, George!
Thank you!
I own this kit and started building it. Progressed far enough in to conclude that it is not an easy one. I'll pick it back up when I cultivate more of an interest in the subject. You've done a very nice job with yours.
Thank you!
Amazing build, George @george72
Excellent choice on the scheme and perfectly applied.
Thank you!
That looks very close to real!
Having done that "difficult kit" - kudos to you for good work and a great result.
Thank you!
To be fair to Eduard, the Mirage is one of their earlier kits when Eduard was still working out the kinks in their molding process.
Very good job on a difficult model.
Thank you! Good to know, because my other Eduard kits went pretty well. Let's hope they come up with an improved Mirage one of these days...
Congratulations on the great build. I have the kinetic kit for the "South American Mirages" which I will do as a Brazilian plane. Already preparing for the worst...
Um abraço
Thank you!
Yeah, brace for impact, specially in the wing/fuselage junctions areas and air intakes.
Nice work, George! I love Mirages.
Thank you!
Absolutely perfect. I wish to do the same. Bravo!
Thank you!
No pain, no gain. Or you get back what you put into a project. Looks like a lot of time and energy went into making it look easy. I really like the paint job on this build. With the fading and blotching in places it really adds to making the kit looks like the real bird.
Two thumbs up George.
Thank you!
George @george72- that's a very good looking Mirage. Well done. Great photography too.
I believe the molds date back to 2004 when Eduard was just starting out, like Dan mentioned. Having built a few of those early Eduard kits, they don't hold a candle to what Eduard is now producing. I would think the Kinetic kit would be decent as the tooling is less than 8 years old.
Thank you!
Regarding the Kinetic Mirage IIIE that I built, I'm afraid I'll have to disagree. It is even worse than this one. The intakes areas and rear wing/fuselage junction fitting is really bad. Not to mention the very poor quality of the instructions sheet.
Looks great, George (@george72). It looks like a Mirage when done, so everything came together well.
Thank you!
George
This is a nice result on the Eduard Mirage III C . She looks good in that colour scheme.
As said above this was one if Eduards first ventures into mainstream modern jet kits. All of the issues you mention are familair ; I built one last year.
I have a soft spot for the kit as its a beautiful aircraft and nice kit and once forwarned of its vices its a question of planning your build around them. I have 2 more in the stash.
Thanks for posting it here.
Brian
Thank you!
Great build
P.k
Thank you!
That is a real beauty! Love the paint and weathering, and one of my favorite camo schemes. Well done.
Thank you!