Jump to content

1/72 Mirage 2000C


Recommended Posts

As I finished seven models last year, which is my highest output rate of the last 20 years, I started my first kit for 2016 to see if I can top it this year.

I've decided to do a 1/72 Mirage 2000C, as I am currently heavily involved with a different product of that aircraft manufacturer. The Italeri kit was reboxed by Revell, and since I've put two sprues into the Revell box, I don't know if it is the Revell or Italeri kit. Anyway, the sprues are exactly the same. This will be an OOB build with decals from Daco.

The fit of the wings to the fuselage is good, requiring minimal amounts of filler. But some sanding is needed on the fuselage seam. The bottom of the intakes is a different story, which I had dryfitted briefly. More on that later when I get to that step.

Mirage_01.jpg

I'm not sure which aircraft Italeri used as their reference, but the highlighted panel lines are not present on a real Mirage 2000.

I also sanded off all detail of the centerline tank, as it was completely imaginary.

Mirage_02.jpg

Edited by Lancer512
Link to post
Share on other sites

After an initial coat of automotive putty and a coat of Tamiya XF-19, some panel lines were still visible.

I decided to cover that with a thick layer of Mr. Surfacer all over the radome. Hopefully it will come out smooth.

Mirage_03.jpg

Some pictures of the instrument panel. I starteted with a grey base coat followed with some black drybrushing and filling the screens with black paint. A dark enamel wash toned everything down.

Mirage_04.jpg

The kit's ejection seat appears too bulky and is not a representation of the real one.

Mirage_05.jpg

Link to post
Share on other sites

Not much happening today. I was doing homework for another build which I'll do after this one.

The nose came out nice and the seams on the fuseage are gone. The next step will be fitting the intakes. I guess I'll have to paint them on the inside before installation.

Mirage_06.jpg

Link to post
Share on other sites

Today, I installed the splitter plates with the molded-on intake cones...

Mirage_07.jpg

...and sprayed the parts on both sides of the fuselage with white primer. I used up the remaining primer on the Super 530 missiles. The missiles will receive an extensive array of colored bands all around them.

Mirage_08.jpg

Link to post
Share on other sites

Slowly moving on. I painted the inside of the intakes with Vallejo Model Color FS36375 followed by French Mirage Blue. This will be the two colors for the camuflage scheme. I am really starting to like the Model Color range. Correctly thinned, it has a great coverage and goes forever.

Mirage_09.jpg

Link to post
Share on other sites

I placed the painted intakes on the model and glued them in place with Tamiya Extra Thin. Everything was left overnight to dry thoroughly. The difference in the grey plastic color is due to spraying XF-19 on some areas to see if there are any gaps before I installed the intakes.

Mirage_10.jpg

Actually, it came out better than when I first dryfitted everything last week. Only a small step on the bottom of the intakes required filling and will be blended into the mating surfaces. The gun recesses need some more work. I also put Mr. Surfacer 500 onto the unused hole locations, which were visible on the bottom of the wings.

Mirage_11.jpg

Link to post
Share on other sites
  • 2 weeks later...

Small update: I encountered some challenging repair when I tried to attach the front canopy. I did not pay attention while I was applying Tamiya Extra Thin to the forward canopy/fuselage seam. This resulted in the glue attacking the inside of the clear plastic through the coat of Future. Fortunately, I was able to remove the canopy and save the part with sandig sticks of different grits, Micro Mesh and Future. The canopy was reinstalled, being more careful this time. After beeing too busy with work during the last couple of weeks, I finally found some time to continue today.

I masked the canopies with Tamiya Tape and cut along the frames. The rear canopy was then temporarily installed with White Tac.

After spraying the canopy frame black, the complete model was primed with Badger Stynylrez to check for gaps. The intakes were plugged with White Tac, also.

Mirage_12.jpg

Mirage_13.jpg

Link to post
Share on other sites

Agelos, I am 100% sure that it's your ISP. I've noticed that quite a few british users are unable to see my pictures.

The images are hosted on IP address 217.13.199.30

Try to ping the address and if that fails ask your ISP to see if that address is blocked. Nothing gets through in that case. Or try it from a computer that is connected to the internet via a different ISP.

Happened to me, too. I was not able to see Jennings's pictures for over a year.

Link to post
Share on other sites

Finally, some more paint.

The nose radome was primed again with Stynylrez and I applied a preshading with Tamiya XF-1.

Mirage_15.jpg

Mirage_16.jpg

First, the bottom was painted overall with ModelColor 70.990 (FS36375) thinned with two parts X-20A acrylic thinner. The preshading looks nice, not sure how good you can see it.

Mirage_17.jpg

This was followed with FS36375 on the top, in accordance with the camouflage scheme.

Mirage_18.jpg

After 30 minutes, I masked the camouflage scheme with white tac and filled the light grey areas with bits of tape.

Mirage_19.jpg

Just a few spots to touch up, and then it's ready for painting the radome and postshading.

Mirage_20.jpg

Edited by Lancer512
Link to post
Share on other sites
  • 2 weeks later...

Afer several attempts to get the correct color of the radome, I settled with Vallejo Model Air 71.120 (FS 36320). It still is too light, but this will be ok, as I will weather the radome heavily with a sludge wash later on.

The wheel wells have been airbrushed with Vallejo Metal Color 77.703 Dark Aluminium. This color is typical for the wheel wells found on Dassault products. The landing gears will be painted in the same color.

Mirage_22.jpg

I also filled the two ejector pinmarks on each wheel and the nose gear door with Milliput. I seem to get better results filling those holes with Milliput rather than with any of the fillers.

During my recent venture into the world of 5" resin figures, I found Milliput and silicone shapers are great on smaller scale models, too.

Mirage_23.jpg

Edited by Lancer512
Link to post
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...