Blog de l'auteur (excellent) : http://bjornsmodeller.blogspot.se/
At first, my plan was to build a Mirage IIIB by combining Heller and Eduard kits. But checking my calendar, I realized that it would be impossible to manage that before july. So instead I have chosen something more easy to build. Well, that was at least what I thought...
Cockpit is rather OK, since I probably will have canopy closed, it will do. Especially since it is pretty dark in there...
I had hoped that such a new kit would have good fit. Especially since I am going to do this one in NMF. But since Kinetic have used - and will continue to use - this kit for a number of Mirages, Kfirs and others, the kit is engineered in a way to make this possible rather than to get a good fit. And since moulding is pretty bad, at least by modern standards, the fit is much worse than expected. Not extremely bad,not much filler is required but I think that I never have used this much violence on a kit trying to get the parts together...
Detailing is good, but Eduard's Mirage IIIC is far better. Since this is an OOB build, I did not add anything to the wheel wells.
But after lots of violence and superglue, this is starting to look like a Mirage.
The beginning of a seat. I will of course add seatbelts.
Another annoying thing is the instruction sheet. It looks good, but sometimes it just gives you clues. Detail painting instructions are limited to about half the parts, you either have to guess the rest or check references. And some parts are just stated as "optional", which means that you once again have to find out in another way which parts you are going to use.
On the good side, the overall shape seems correct to me, the decals (by Syhart and printed by Cartograf) look brilliant and panel lines are crisp and not too deep - in fact not deep at all which is a challenge when you have to recreate them after sanding. And as I mentioned earlier, detailing is good, but not as good as Eduard's IIIC, which may be older but still is a better kit in many ways-
Yes, disappointment is really the feeling about this kit. I also thought that this would be the ultimate IIIE, maybe even the ultimate Mirage III kit. But i isnt. Yesterday i spent almost two hours to glue the wheels (in total 9 parts, 3 per wheel - no fit at all) and to trim the windshield. But as you say, still it is a Mirage III! There are also some positive things, among them that parts for correct hanging flaps are provided, and a wonderful clear canopy. And, of course, the marvellous decal sheet.
My plans is to do a NMF one, with the classic red stripes, as seen in the comic (and TV series) Les Aventures de Tanguy et Laverdure. Pure nostalgia!
I also have made some progress on the rest of the kit, soon it is time for primer:
I am not a NMF specialist... Normally I try to avoid it, but Mirages are so cool in natural metal, so I have to leave my comfort zone for a while. After polishing (not with Micromesh) I used Tamiya's can with Gloss Aluminium. And then some masking:
After that I used Xtracrylics Silver mixed with some black i different shades:
As said earlier, this colour scheme is not what I normally do. But I am pretty satisfied anyway,
The model might not be the best one on the market. But the decal sheet... It is absolutely brilliant! And these classic NMF Mirages of the 60s are really lovely.
Soon finished now... Just details left. First the seat:
And then some cables on the landing gear. Maybe a bit too thick, but... well...
Finished!
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