Airfix 1/72 Dassault Mirage IIIC

AIRFIX 1:72 DASSAULT MIRAGE IIIC
'INBOX Review'

Reviewer: Myself (rec.models.scale)

Kit Details: Airfix 1/72 #02012-9 [X:208] Dassault Mirage IIIC

Aircraft History: The Mirage III was part of the 'first generation' of Mach 2 Jet fighters designed in the mid-1950's, along with such other famous aircraft as the MiG-21, F-104 Starfighter, English Electric Lightning and Saab Draken. This was a period of very fast evolution in terms of aircraft technology and design, with a variety of radically different fighter configurations being researched in the quest for speed, and a good many of these made it to the production stage. Indeed, each of the five aircraft already mentioned had a quite distinct configuration. In the case of the Mirage III, this was the tailless delta wing layout, with an 'area ruled' fuselage. Among the other aircraft mentioned, only the Draken came even close, and that had a 'blended' wing/fuselage which was a markedly different concept.

Like all of the other aircraft mentioned, the Mirage III was originally designed for the interceptor role, but eventually found itself being pressed into service in the ground attack role. In this, the Mirage III was probably more successful than most of its competitors, despite the basic drawbacks of the tailless delta layout - poor manoeuvrability and high landing speeds. Of course, its main competitors were also hampered to some extent by their optimised design. While the Mirage III did not have the 'Superpower' advantage of MiG 21 or F-104, it nonetheless enjoyed considerable export success as well as in France. The successful employment of the Mirage III by Israel during the 1967 six-day war gave an obvious fillip to export sales.

Over 1,400 Mirage III's were built, with production only terminating in the early 1980's. A number of different variants were produced, including the dual-role 'E' model designed for the fighter bomber role, and which introduced a 30cm 'plug' behind the cockpit to store extra avionics and fuel. There was also the simplified Mirage 5 which proved popular with poorer countries, and the more advanced Mirage 50 series. Israel commissioned the development of the Mirage 5, but the French government blocked the delivery of the aircraft, which eventually found their way into the Armee de l'Air. Having been refunded, the Israelis then copied the Mirage III without license as the Nesher, although suspicion of collusion by Dassault remains. Some 61 Neshers were built, some being later re-exported to Argentina and given the name Dagger. These saw combat in the 1982 Falklands/Malvinas conflict, where they were outclassed in the air superiority role by the Royal Navy Sea Harrier FRS.1's, the latter being equipped with the 'all-aspect' AIM-9L Sidewinder.

Although long since retired from French service, some 'genuine' Mirage III's are still in service around the world, almost 50 years after the aircraft was originally designed.

The Kit: This is a kit "made in Japan" so some of the following information will not apply to those kits found in hobby shops in the English speaking world. The box is sturdy but very small, giving an initial impression this kit may be 1/144! But thankfully I read the box right! The parts come inside a plastic bag and are either loosely floating in the bag or attached to a couple of makeshift sprues, common Airfix arrangement particularly of these types of 1970's kits. There are 37 light grey injection molded parts with raised panel lines and surface detail typical of the era. Most parts will need a quick run over the edges with a sharp #11 as there is a very very minor amount of flash encumbering some of them. A one-piece canopy is supplied which is a little scratched from years of storage and distorted a little, again typical of the era.

Instructions: Bearing in mind this kit was made in Japan, so the instructions are not the usual type that will be found in Airfix kits nowadays. As such the small 2-sided instruction sheet is in Japanese with a very basic three-view painting/decal on the front and two assembly steps on the back. These are a little bit confusing with a number of lines (both dotted and solid) going everywhere, so it will pay just to study the diagrams first before assembling. Small numbers in boxes I worked out are obviously painting information for individual parts, and after checking a Hasegawa instruction sheet and matching the numbers up with Humbrol chart through and what I am pretty confident will be the colours, these appear to come from the Mr.Color range.

Colour Options: A single natural metal scheme as shown on the boxart is covered for by the kit. As the instructions are in Japanese, and a pretty poor decal sheet, I was not able to determine the exact example but by the depiction could be one of the early (or even prototype) Mirage IIIC's.

Decals: The decals in my kit will be unusable so an aftermarket source will be used when I do this project. For the record these ones are produced by Gunze Sangyo, is a very small sheet of roundels, fin flashes, serials, unit number and danger triangles and that's it. On close inspection the roundels are printed a tad off centre but otherwise register appears that it would have been okay, thin decals with a matt appearance. Almost similar in appearance to some early Propagteam sheets. Unfortunately, there are no decals supplie for the red flashes that can be seen on the boxart around the intake, behind the cockpit, on the wings and airbrakes so these will have to be painted on.

Cockpit/Wheel Bay Detail: There is no detail at all in these areas really. The cockpit has two pins in the side of the wall which you affix the typically bland ejection seat upon which also goes a pilot figure and that's as much detail as you will get in the cockpit (no stick, panel or any other detail). The wheel wells are comparatively bland, effectively being cut outs in the main wings.

Optional components: Underwing stores is the only optional parts for the kit, with a pair of rocket pods underwing and a centreline slung large Matra missile.

On the Sprue Impressions: For a start this is a pretty old Airfix kit by today's standards so impressions are going to be in line with this in mind - if you know what I mean. This is by no means a state of the art kit and will no doubt build up into a nice little project. Test fitting some of the parts, particularly fuselage, nose, wing pieces - even with flash removed - shows a few small challenges to overcome which is probably a result of long term storage and some minor warping. Some join lines and so forth will need to be tackled and I am certain there will be a nice trench to deal with for the underwing piece.

Breakdown of the parts is pretty standard with the fuselage halves one piece, and include the intake and tail fin already molded. The wings are two upper halves and a one-piece under section which fits in the belly section of the aircraft.

Given the instructions are a bit busy there will need to be consideration given for the internal sidewalls of the intake (which go in before the fuselage halves are closed) and test fitting the exhaust section. Also, by what I can see it appears that neither of these have "back walls" or are blanked off, so no doubt you will be able to see right through the intake and out the tailpipe! Something I really hate.

Accuracy: Without really putting a lot of effort into this I can confidently say that this kit will probably give you the most basic replica of the Mirage IIIC, with a reasonable depiction of outline but is far from being a state of the art kit and will no doubt have a few concerns in a few areas. That's pretty broad isn't it!

Conclusion: This is a long way from being up to today's standards but funnily enough I have never really thought the Mirage was well catered for in 1/72 so this might be one of the few ways you can get your hands on one. A few fit challenges and a bit of work to block out internal areas and provide a bit of detail to cockpits etc will no doubt be part and parcel of the project. However, for what appears to be an otherwise basic AMS cure and a bit of a kitbash weekend, nothing wrong with putting these old nostalgic fun kits together!

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