1/48 Eduard Mirage III

Gallery Article by Ian T.M. Holahan on Apr 12 2012

 

 

This is a 1/48th scale Eduard Dassault Mirage III that I recently completed. Construction of the aircraft was straight forward, although there were some fit issues on the aircraft, especially around the intakes on the bottom of the fuselage near the gun ports. I used all the Eduard accessories that came with the kit, namely a resin ejection seat, pre-colored photo etch and a complete set of masks. 

 

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Once the main assemblies were complete, I sprayed the model with Testors Enamel Primer. Once that was applied, the primer was buffed down with #12000 sanding pads. For the natural metal, I tried something different. I applied Testors Chrome which was thinned down about 50-50 with Testors Metallizer Thinner. Once that cured, I buffed the plane with Hawkeye's Hobbies buffing powders and got a good sheen on the metal. All panel lines were then drawn with a Micron pen. The red trim was also applied, using a Testors color from their automotive line. 

The plane depicted is "Shahak Five-Two" from 101 Squadron. circa 1967. I used the decals from the kit and the numbers came from a generic decal sheet of Israeli Air Force codes. The plane is shown carrying two kill roundels and went on to score several more in the 1973 October War. Photos showed a very high gloss sheen on the metal so I applied a top coat of Future and left that as is. However, the photo references showed the red trim was very flat and peeling so I applied Testors Dull Coat and then added the chipped paint areas with a brush. I had a panic moment at the very end of the build because the Eduard windscreen would not fit and was entirely to small. However, I had a Heller Mirage windscreen in the spares box and this fit perfectly. Lastly, the boarding ladder and helmet were added to the airplane and all the sub-assemblies were added. as well. This was a challenging project but I think it is safe to say that Eduard captured the sleek, lethal look of the Mirage III. 

Best Wishes, Ian

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Photos and text © by Ian T.M. Holahan