Mirage IIIC

Eduard Weekend Edition, 1/48 scale

Reviewed by Michael Drover

Eduard's 1/48 MiG-21MFN Weekend Edition is available online from Squadron.com

The Mirage IIIC was the first major production airframe developed from the Mirage III lineage. It first flew in October of 1960 and entered the French Air Force with first deliveries being made in the July of 1961.

The C model was flown by the Armée de l’Air with export version being successfully flown by the air forces of Israel, Switzerland, South Africa and Pakistan to name a few.*

In recent times Eduard have been releasing their well known Profipack kits in the more budget friendly Weekend edition. TheWeekend Editions are cut down versions of their more substantial Profipack cousins. The kits are supplied without the additional photo etch, resin and paint masks. A single decal option is usually supplied.

This kit is based on the Mirage IIIC that was initially released in 2004. The weekend edition of this kit has been released before though that was almost ten years ago. The initial weekend kit was item 8495. It featured a single decal option for a French Air Force jet ’10-RF’ in the blue grey scheme. This new release now features two marking options. The first is an natural metal scheme of ’10-RT’ based at Cazaux in 1976.

The second is a tan/brown over light blue scheme of ’10-LB’ based at Djibouti in 1984. Both of these schemes as well as the initial weekend release (8495) decal option feature in the Profipack edition of this kit.

The kit contains 137 parts in grey plastic on 8 sprues and 9 clear parts on a single sprue. Six parts are excluded during the build.

The molds appear to have tested the ages as the finely engraved detail is showing no signs of wear. There are some tool marks on the lower wing held but they should polish out easily or could be hidden with a primer coat.

Construction follows the standard formula with the cockpit tub, ejection seat and nose wheel well built up in one sequence. This along with the full length engine exhaust is then sandwich between two full length fuselage halves. The air intake cones or ‘mice’ are attached to the left and right fuselage halves at this stage. Multi piece main wheel wells are built up from individual sidewalls and roof and then dropped into the single piece lower wing. A curved two piece intake blank is installed behind the cockpit bulkhead ato provide the appearance of an intake tunnel. The lower wing is then attached. Upper wing halves are then installed while the outer walls of the air intakes are added.

Once the airframe construction is complete, the completed underwing and under fuselage pylons are attached. At this stage the under carriage is attached and final items such as gear doors, gun barrels and ordnance finished of the model. A four piece crew ladder and seven piece pilot figure are supplied if you wish to add them.

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Thumbnail panels:

Plenty of ordnance is supplied as follows:

1. 500L fuel tank

2. 650L fuel tank

3. JL 100R Rocket pod

4. Matra 530C and 530K air to air missile

5. Matra 530E and 530M air to air missile

6. AIM-9D Sidewinder air to air missile

7. Matra ATM-9D captive training round

Overall the detail of the parts is perfect for the kit and offers a suitable canvas if you choose to do add some scratch built items.

One thing that I did notice that perhaps should have been included is the nose weight provided as per in the Profipack kit of both the C and CJ. I have both of these kits and they slot neatly into the nose cone. I’d suggest adding some weight at the nose based on the considerable lead slug provided in the Profipack kits.

Marking Options

Two markings options are provided:

Option A: Mirage IIIC, No.92, EC 02/010, Seine, Armée del l’ Air, BA 120 Cazaux, April 1976 (Natural Metal Scheme)

Option B: Mirage IIIC, No.87, EC 03/010 Vexin, Detachment Air 188, Armée de l’ Air, Djibouti, October, 1984 (tan/brown over light blue)

With its relatively low parts count, excellent detail and attractive price, this kit will build up quickly into a great looking facsimile of the Mirage IIIC.

Recommended.

*Background information from Wikipedia

Thanks to Eduard for the sample

Review Text Copyright © 2016 by Michael Drover
Page Created 16 February, 2016
Last updated 16 February, 2016

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