Rather an old Airfix kit (originally issued in 1964...) I really can't recall the origins of this one. It came to me bagged rather then boxed - possibly having been part of a set?
Tuesday, 29 April 2014
Mirage III - part 1
According to Cambridge Dictionaries Online, one definition of a Mirage is "a hope or wish that has no chance of being achieved." None of which bodes well for the chances of my completing this kit...
Anyway - the major parts went together reasonably well, with the aid of tape and clamps to hold everything in place while the glue dried. I'm thinking silver finish again.
What sort of rules will you be using for them?
ReplyDeleteConrad Kinch
ReplyDeleteIt is destined to see service as part of the 'Little Cold Wars' project, as top cover for my 1970s French.
I remember having this in the 70s as part of a "dogfight double" set with a Mig 15
ReplyDeleteHi Tim. Fantastic, brings back many old memories. One of the first kits I ever built. I have written several blogs about the Mirage family on my Aircraft nut blog: http://aircraftnut.blogspot.co.nz/2013/09/saaf-dassault-breguet-mirage-iii-part-1.html
ReplyDeleteSilver? Israeli Mirage, 6 Day War? Or even Australian, I'm pretty sure they were silver. I remember one screaming overhead from behind surprising the crowd at an airshow at Wigram in the early '80s. I'm sure there were some wet pants that day!
ReplyDeleteOne of my favourite aircraft...I fell in love with it when I was a kid in the 70s because of a French TV series called (in the UK) 'The Aeronauts'. (Based on the French comic books by Jean-Michel Charlier and Albert Uderzo titled Tanguy et Laverdure.)
ReplyDeleteIt's got to be silver! :)
Vintage Wargaming
ReplyDeleteAh yes - not one of the better balanced Dogfight Doubles! But not as bizarre as the Mig-21 and Cessna 020.....
Not a bad kit, once you get into it.
ReplyDeleteThe rocket launcher/fuel tank combo always seemed rather risky to me!
Herman van Kradenburg
ReplyDeleteJust been having a look at your blog - and I suggest everyone else does so too!
Nick Grant
ReplyDeleteThis one will be French - I'll even be using the decals provided with the kit!
Stephen Beat
ReplyDeleteNever heard of the series - or the books it is based on. Wasn't Uderzo one of les hommes who wrote Asterix?
Paul Foster
ReplyDeleteA combined rocket launcher and fuel tank? Hell why not? What could possibly go wrong.....
Tim
ReplyDeleteI used to live on a ridge in Waterkloof, Pretoria overlooking the valley with the airbase in it. One day, 3 Mirages came over the ridge whilst I was in the garden, so low I could see the color of the pilot's eyes - well, almost. Their formation can best be described as close. It was awesome.
The only time I have seen lower was two Buccaneers delivering stuff and I am sure they had dusty windshields afterwards.
So,there's more for you to do.
Regards
Arthur
ReplyDeleteSounds like RAF Buccaneers - they only retracted the wheels so they could get closer to the ground!
Tim
ReplyDeleteThey were SAAF Buc's; those guys were insane. Seemingly they practiced horticulture as a hobby as picking plants is the only rational explanation for their low flying antics.
Regards