OT's Silver Springbok ***Did Not Finish!***

[Old_Tonto]

Having been a Mirage fan since a boy I don't remember completing more than one in all my years as a modeller.
When I was at school I used to draw planes that looked like Mirages (I should have been learning! ). I always thought they had a certain Gerry Anderson look about them.

I have started many builds but they were either Airfix or Matchbox & to be truthful, not too accurate or very well fitting.

I wanted to do something like this:



I managed to grab a High Planes kit on Ebay for a very reasonable price. Or so it seemed at the time - I must admit it looks a bit rough.



Not sure if I can fettle this in 4 weeks but I will give it a good go.
A hell of a lot of flash is on show.

[Chris]

Few mirage kits in 1/72 are very good I'm affraid, the revell kit isn't too bad.

This little guy sounds like a lot of prep work will be needed.

[Old_Tonto]

This little guy sounds like a lot of prep work will be needed.

You are not wrong mate. this one is a bit of a stinker but my choices are lacking.

Anyway, it won't build itself & as GBL I had better take part.

Spent today just cleaning the parts & reading the instructions.
This is what is in the box:



Lots of flash! I mean loads of it.

The rest looks very nice though:



Although I hate vac canopy's.

The resin parts looks very nice indeed.



The decals are good too although I don't intend to use them so if anyone has a need for them PM me.



Let the big clean up begin.

[DavidWomby]

I'm with you on vac canopies - they fill me with dread. Especially if the manufacturer only provides one in the box. That aside, these HPM kits are supposedly VERY accurate and nicely detailed. Good luck.

David

[Old_Tonto]

these HPM kits are supposedly VERY accurate and nicely detailed. Good luck.

David

Thanks David. I picked this one up really cheap on the bay, I just stuck a daft bid in & won it as the only bidder.

The surface detail is quite impressive with very lightly recessed panel lines. Unfortunately there is a lot of flash.

Here is the wing underside:



Lots of sanding required.



The U\C bay prevents the top wing part from fitting! It will need to be sanded to within an inch of it's life.

I have not even tried a test fit of the resin cockpit yet.

[DavidWomby]

Clearly you like a challenge! :-)

David

[Old_Tonto]

Clearly you like a challenge! :-)

David

I can't deny it - I married one.

[Chris]

Saying that kit is a little rough would be an understatement.

[Saxon]

a good start, I love SAAF aircraft.

[Old_Tonto]

I love SAAF aircraft.

Me too. Maybe we should start a SIG - although it would be pretty small with just the two of us.

I started last night by reading the extensive instruction sheet.



That's it, just the one page.

So ignoring them I pressed on cleaning up the parts and sanding.
Here you can see the top of the wheel well where I got a bit carried away:



Still not sure if the upper wing will fit but I dare not remove anymore. Anyway, no one will see the underside of this Mirage.

The good news is that the resin parts seem to fit without any sanding. Yay



I will get some paint on them later.

[beany]

Me too. Maybe we should start a SIG - although it would be pretty small with just the two of us.

You could, but you might get into trouble with Phil...

(Copied from IPMS website)
SAAF SIG Leader: Phil Cater
Address: 53 Middlefield Road, Sawtry, Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire, PE28 5SH
E-Mail: phil@umch.wanadoo.co.uk
Notes:
Since 1998, the SIG has displayed all over the UK, and further afield in Europe, USA, and South Africa itself. No SIG newsletters are planned. Check out http://www.ipmssa.za.org;, and the Unofficial SAAF site for latest news, http://www.saairforce.co.za;. IPMS members wanting information for one-off projects, or who wish to join, are most welcome to drop a line.


Great progress on what looks to be a challenging build. I'm looking forward to seeing all that lovely resin detail picked out when you paint it.
Cheers
Al.

[Molly-new]

Nice start OT, the resin parts seem to be nicely detailed.

[Old_Tonto]

Nice start OT, the resin parts seem to be nicely detailed.

They won't be when I am finished with them.

[Old_Tonto]

This kit is doing my head in.

I just can't get the wings to fit. I have had them attached then detached twice now.
So in true modeller style I am putting them to one side & ignoring the issue.

So I have progressed the cockpit resin parts ready for installation.



Dry fitting shows that, if anything they are a little loose. Which is odd as the online review I read suggest that lots of sanding is needed. The very nice resin jet pipe is far too wide, I just can't make it fit so that is one for the spares box. There is a dodgy looking bit of plastic on the spruce that could be a blanking plate for a jet exhaust.

Hopefully I can get the fuselage fettled before I tackle the wings again.

[Saxon]

Yeah High Planes have some very rough kits. Their new tool Mirage though is quite the looker.