discussion Italeri 1/72 Dassault Mirage 2000

[flyjoe180]

Ten years ago I built Italeri's 1/72 Mirage 2000 kit. It was one of many that I built in my early period of returning to modelling. Here it is:




At some point I must have bought another one, which I dug out a few days ago during a hunt for something in my storage boxes. So why not revisit the kit, as much of a dog as it is, to see if I can do a better job on it?

 

[flyjoe180]

Italeri's Gulf War Desert Storm anniversary boxing, the same kit with updated schemes:





I'm going to do the UAE scheme, simply because I like the black nose and desert scheme together.

 

[Geoffers]

That’s a nice idea Joe

I think you will do a much better job with all the skills/techniques you have learnt in that time.

I was thinking of doing something similar for the Tamiya GB

Geoff.

 

[flyjoe180]

Starting with the exhaust nozzle. It is blank inside so needs some detail. Strips of plastic card provide at least something to look at.


And the cockpit has been assembled, painted and thrown in. This is all out of the box. It needs some ballast in the nose cone

 

[flyjoe180]

That’s a nice idea Joe

I think you will do a much better job with all the skills/techniques you have learnt in that time.

I was thinking of doing something similar for the Tamiya GB

Geoff.

Thanks Geoff. It might be a good theme for a GB, a 'second shot' at a kit after a period of time.

 

[yak face]

Great start Joe , the exhaust looks 100% better . Good call on the scheme too , I would have gone for that one too , cheers tony

 

[flyjoe180]

Great start Joe , the exhaust looks 100% better . Good call on the scheme too , I would have gone for that one too , cheers tony

Cheers Tony

 

[flyjoe180]

The basic fuselage assembled and lower wing fitted. The nose is painted with some left over black to check for any panel lines that haven't been completely erased. The kit's nose panel lines relate to the prototype Mirage 2000 and are not relevant to production models. I also painted the intake backing black to provide some depth in case anything will be visible down the intakes.

 

[flyjoe180]

Complete the cockpit with the addition of the instrument coaming and HUD. I then masked the outline of the canopy and fitted the canopy sections, filling the remainder with Maskol.



I used styrene card to fill the pylon slots I won't be using. I prefer kits that offer the option of opening pylon points, rather than having to fill the ones I don't want.

The fuselage is going to require a bit of attention, as the fit isn't great. The lower wing-to-fuselage fit isn't too bad but will still require some filler. I knew what I was getting into with this kit when I opened the box, but it is sometimes fun to get back to basics.

 

[boatman]

SHE'S lookin good joe as i love the mirage 3 c but i also love this big mirage 1v an i would like to get a big 1/32 kit of this one hope you dont mind me fittin in a pic of it if you do say so an i'll delete it
chrisb

 

[boatman]

AN cant understand why the french airforce fits the roundel near the back as to me it dont look right is there a reason for this ?
chrisb

 

[flyjoe180]

SHE'S lookin good joe as i love the mirage 3 c but i also love this big mirage 1v an i would like to get a big 1/32 kit of this one hope you dont mind me fittin in View attachment 1293739a pic of it if you do say so an i'll delete it
chrisb

All good Chris

 

[flyjoe180]

AN cant understand why the french airforce fits the roundel near the back as to me it dont look right is there a reason for this ?
chrisb

Fuselage roundels are usually placed where they can be seen from the ground (imagine an aeroplane banking or rolling). That position is usually on the nose, most commonly between the main wings and horizontal stabilisers, or in the case of some delta winged machines like the Mirage family, aft of the trailing edge.

 

[boatman]

Fuselage roundels are usually placed where they can be seen from the ground (imagine an aeroplane banking or rolling). That position is usually on the nose, most commonly between the main wings and horizontal stabilisers, or in the case of some delta winged machines like the Mirage family, aft of the trailing edge.

THANKS Joe for the exspo on the roundel an so ive leartnt something today cheers sir
an keep this build comin as i think the mirage is a very clean lookin plane an very sleek brilliant plane an do you know if that big mirage had one or two engines ?
chrisb

 

[flyjoe180]

The Mirage IV has two engines Chris