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Dassault Mirage F.1 kits in 1/72 scale: kit modelling reports
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OLDER KITS
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Heller as French model company released a F.1 kit #258 in 1/72 in 1978. It had parts for both a single seater C as well as a two seater B. This was a practice that Heller often used like in their F-104 and Draken kits. The parts are in dark green plastic and have raised panel lines, typical of that period in plastic modelling.
... and the transparant parts...
You get parts for wing fuel tanks, central fuel tank, Matra missiles and bombs and their pylons. It is noted that the forward fuselage parts #3, 4 for the dual two seater has recesses for the DEFA canons as well. I am not sure if this is correct as on F.1B photos canons are not seen.
Decals are for 5 Armee de l'Air squadrons. Only Heller paints are indicated.
The kit later appeared under Heller Humbrol brand #80355.
This same Heller kit was released over a few years with different box tops and parts in grey-blue plastic like kit #80355 in 1991. It did not have the B parts but now had a few extra parts for a recce pod, fuselage fairings for the F.1 CR and what seems ECM pods. Decals are for a single CR of Armee de l' Air ER 2/33 Savoie in 1984.
Heller kit #80316 is for a F.1 CT with decals for EC 1/30 Alsace as flown in 1997 on detachment at Bangui in Central African Republic.
A dual F.1. B Heller 1/72 kit #258 was made decades ago in a standard French Armee de l'air scheme. I can not remember if the assembly posed any issues, it was made straight out of the box.
The paint airbrushed was at that time CompuColour Mirage "gris blue" enamel.
The model was finished in a scheme of Armee de l'Air EC 3/30 Lorraine as flown the 1970s. Decals came from the Heller kit.
This F.1 B had early seats which each had a 2 hand pull handles at the seat head rest/top; these were made from yellow stretched sprue that got black stripes and set on the kit seats.
The mid canopy section got a blast screen made from thin clear acetate plastic sheet. Inside dual canopies, I added 3 mirrors in each.
AIRFIX
Airfix released also a 1/72 F.1C kit #04022 in 1978.
There are about 80 parts in soft grey-blue plastic with a few transparant parts and raised panel lines. You get separate air brakes and quite some stores and pylons like for the 1200 liters tanks, 400 kg bombs with a central bomb rack, Matra 55 Magic and Matra R 530 missiles.
The Airfix kit was released a few times over de years but with the same decals. It had decals for France EC 2/30 at Reims and SAAF F.1 CZ South Africa no.3 squadron at Waterkloof markings.
The colours indicated are Airfix enamels but better use more accurate paints. If you want to set the airbrakes open, drill out the perforations.
ACCURACY
The 1/72 Airfix kit looked to be quite accurate in shape at the time. When I compared the Airfix kit decades later with the Special Hobby kits I found that the rear fuselage is slightly too slim and that the wing leading edges lack about 1 mm in chord. But all this is not that obvious.
A few 1/72 kits of Airfix were made decades ago. Some photos are presented here.
AIRFIX F.1
Made decades ago, I opened up the exhaust and added a jet pipe inside. Also add the 3 small pitot tubes/ probes at the nose. The vertical tail is for an early F.1 C.
The paint airbrushed was at that time CompuColour Mirage "gris blue" enamel. (FYI: Special Hobby suggests Gunze Sangyo H42 acrylic).
Some details were added in the canopy and some bits in the cockpit.
This F.1 C had an early seat with 2 hand pull handles at the seat head rest/top; these were made from yellow stretched sprue that got black stripes and set on the kit seat. Inside the canopy I added 3 mirrors from scrap.
A telemetry pod on the port wing tip was made from scrap and a MATRA R 530 missile was set below the wing on a pylon.
Decals came from a Hasegawa F.1 C kit. Note the old style French roundels with yellow border. The F.1 C model is finished in a scheme of Armee de l'Air jet EC 1/5 Vendee.
... set in a scenery ...
Another Airfix F.1 C kit was also made ages ago similarly as shown above but I opened up the main gear bays as sometimes seen for maintenance. This means cutting out the doors, boxing in the bays and making new gear doors from plastic card.
The decals came from the old Heller kit and the F.1 C has a scheme for Armee de l'Air EC 2/5 "Il de France" at Orange-Caritat in 1978. (these decals are also provided in the old-Revell kit #04353).
... set in a scenery ...
HASEGAWA
Hasegawa from Japan came with a 1/72 F.1C kit in 1983. The kit came with many releases.
The 50 Hasegawa parts look crisp but panel lines are raised. A crew chief figure, ladder and some nice stores are provided. The perforation holes in the air brakes are better drilled open when these are to be set open. See also the accuracy notes below...
The decals of kit: Armee de l' Air EC 1/5 Vendee, EC 1/12 Cambresis and includes also a Tiger Meet 1979 tail and decals for the instrument panel and side consoles.
This same Hasegawa kit was also released by Revell in 2007 as kit #04353 with Armee de l'Air decals with a Tiger meet tail. (not to be confused with the decades later Special Hobby rebox seen on page 2).
A few old Revell (ex-Hasegawa mould) F.1C kits in 1/72 were made recently that I had. And quite some spare parts of the good Special Hobby kits will come in handy!
ACCURACY
The Hasegawa kit has a bit less accurate shape as compared to the Airfix and Heller kits. The 9 1/2 millimeter wide cockpit opening is 1 millimeter too much and that shows. That gives a too fat forward fuselage, inaccurate canopy and windshield shapes. I replaced the inaccurate kit canopy by a spare single seat canopy from the Special Hobby kit, it was set tilted open.
The main wheels #D3 look a bit "too fat" and the gear track about 1/2 mm too wide. So I removed 0,25 mm from the wheel stubs of the main gear struts #D4, 5 to compensate a bit.
The first old Revell kit made would be finished as Ecuador F.1 JA in a camouflage scheme.
The main assembly is done as per kit but some changes were made to the landing gear and smaller details.
Some puttying and sanding is needed. Airbrush a grey primer coat to check for any flaws and to get a better base for the paint scheme. I used my favourite Revell Aqua 75 steingrau for this.
The Ecuador camouflage colours were not very clear to me. I looked at a Special Hobby scheme drawing found in their Duo pack #SH72414:
But after looking at photos, slightly different acrylic colours were picked:
- lower surfaces FS36622 with Gunze Sangyo H311
- dark green ~FS34079 with Gunze H309
- lighter green ~FS34258 with Gunze H312 for FS34227
The nose and anti-glare panel was airbrushed mat black and some panels hand painted medium grey.
Decals came from CARPENA set #72.02 for a Fuerza Aerea Ecuatoriana jet as flown in 1979. The "rescue" arrows came from this set. I saw variations like white wing walk way lines and NO PISE stencils (so not yellow) and these were retrieved from the spares box and XTRADECAL set X72254.
The landing gear was installed. As the gear track is about 1/2 mm too wide. I removed 0,25 mm from the wheel stubs of the main gear struts #D4, 5 to compensate a bit. The main wheels #D3 were used though these look a bit "too fat".
For the stores installed were from a Special Hobby kit better looking wing pylons, a central fuel tank and a MAGIC missile on the port wing tip. A Matra 530 air-to-ground missile from the kit was also installed at the lower starboard wing pylon. The 2 DEFA canon openings at the lower fuselage were suggested with black paint.
In the cockpit a better looking spare Special Hobby ejection seat was installed; in order to fit in the cockpit tub sand a bit the lower seat sides.
As noted earlier, the kit canopy can be replaced with a better shaped Special Hobby spare canopy. The inside canopy edges were painted black and the edges scribed black with a permanent marker. And 3 mirrors were installed on the forward inside frame.
The model got 3 missing pitot tubes on the nose made from stretched sprue.
Finally a semi-mat varnish was airbrushed to get an even sheen.
ECUADOR
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[area: 283,561 sq.km | population: 18 million | capital: Quito | GDP 6,500 USD nominal per capita ]
The Ecuador acquired because of the U.S. refusal in the 1970s to allow military equipment some 16 Mirage F.1 JA and 2 dual trainers. Deliveries started end 1978. Codes were FAE-801 to 816 and the F.1JE duals 830 and 831. The main base was at Taura. The Mirages were during their service life upgraded with Israeli assistance (and IAI also delivered the Kfir). Finally the F.1's were retired in 2011.
For more information about the Ecuador "Fuerza Aerea Ecuatoriana", look at my Kfir page here...
The second old Revell (ex-Hasegawa mould) F.1C kit was made similarly improved a bit as described above, now in a GREECE Hellenic Air Force scheme. F.1 CG no.129 had the Greek Thalos painted on the tail and had a scheme in overall aluminium with red trim.
Decals came from Special Hobby kit #SH72294.
The landing gear was set a bit different as described above.
A clean configuration was picked as the real jet. (it seems that Greece F.1 CG could fire the AIM-9J Sidewinder missile). The pylon holes were closed up.
The model got a better Special Hobby kit canopy with 3 mirrors set inside and the 3 missing pitot tubes on the nose.
GREECE
[ area 132.000 sq.km | population 10,8 million | Capital: Athens | GDP 20,000 USD per capita ]
Some 40 F.1 CG "interceptors" were acquired in the mid 1970s for the Greece "Elliniki Aeroporia" that replaced the F-102 Delta Dagger. There were tensions with Turkey. The Greek F.1 CG was modified to fire the Sidewinder AIM-9J missile. First delivery was February 1975 but no trainers/ duals were ordered. Most F.1's were flown from Tanagra air base north of Athens. They probably were retired in 2003. Later the role was taken up by the F-16 Block 50/52.
Look for more information about the Greek air force at the Mirage 2000 page here...
Special scheme Greece Mirage F.1 CH
... at Tanagra air base...
Quite another number of F-1 models to follow.
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Created this page June 6, 2024