Dassault Mirage 5PL(M)

[DogfighterZen]

"Back in 1968, the Portuguese Air Force was quickly becoming obsolete. Plans were made to acquire new fighters, attack/transport helicopters and other vehicles needed for a full modernization of the PoAF's inventory.
With the sanctions imposed by NATO regarding armament sales to Portugal, France was the only real option to consider because of the good relations between both countries and also because of a mutual interest in keeping colonies in Africa.
This situation led to the choice of the Mirage IIIE as the high performance fighter that the PoAF's generals desperately wanted."

So, for this whif i'll be building the PJ productions 1/72 Mirage IIIE kit with a couple of extras...



Heard so much about the Yahu instrument panels that i had to buy one to see what the fuss is about and there's also a metal pitot tube by Master model.
The kit looks good although i believe this is an older release as i've read somewhere that either High planes or PJ had reworked the molds and reduced the panel lines' width and depth. The panel lines on my kit seem a bit too wide and deep, and also soft edged but anyway, that's what i've got and it'll have to do.
Still, the majority of the parts look very good and the kit has a lot of parts that are not used on the OOB Mirage IIIE, including 4 types of nose cones, styrene and resin tail fins, 2 pairs of different intake shock cones and more.

I've already cleaned up a few parts and this build will not begin with the cockpit but instead, it'll begin with the main fuselage and wing parts so, that's a first for me.

[Captain Canada]

Gonna be great !

[NARSES2]

Heard so much about the Yahu instrument panels that i had to buy one to see what the fuss is about

I'm a fan of them and always check to see if they do one for a kit when I buy a new one. They are specifically tailored for an individual kit, so as long as the one you have is for the PJ kit it will simply drop in  No fiddling about with multi parts like Eduard, although I think Eduard have started going down the Yahu path ? Tend to be very good price as well.

Advert over, I shall return you to the build  . Looking forward to it 

[DogfighterZen]

Gonna be great !

Heard so much about the Yahu instrument panels that i had to buy one to see what the fuss is about

I'm a fan of them and always check to see if they do one for a kit when I buy a new one. They are specifically tailored for an individual kit, so as long as the one you have is for the PJ kit it will simply drop in  No fiddling about with multi parts like Eduard, although I think Eduard have started going down the Yahu path ? Tend to be very good price as well.

No worries, advertise good products all you want, mate! 
Well, looking at the package, this one doesn't mention any specific kit just that (and this is why i may have some issues) it's for a Mirage III CJ and this is an E model so, i'm not sure how that will affect the use of the part. The kit also has a very good resin instrument panel that is molded with the coaming and all... guess i'll have to see what the kit's parts look like.
Really getting psyched on this build too, i love the Mirage jet fighter family and i'm very curious to see how this kit builds up.

[ChernayaAkula]

Excited to see where this one's going, especially regarding the camouflage.    Mirages look equally fantastic in either greens and browns or in greys.

[chrisonord]

A favourite aircraft  of mine (and the Honduras airforce) I have lots of various  versions built and waiting to be built.  Looking forward to seeing what you do with it 
Chris

[comrade harps]

A favourite aircraft  of mine (and the Honduras airforce) I have lots of various  versions built and waiting to be built.  Looking forward to seeing what you do with it 
Chris

I'd like to see a Honduran Mirage.

[chrisonord]

A favourite aircraft  of mine (and the Honduras airforce) I have lots of various  versions built and waiting to be built.  Looking forward to seeing what you do with it 
Chris

I'd like to see a Honduran Mirage.

I should have some pictures on here if you  look back through the pages

[DogfighterZen]

Excited to see where this one's going, especially regarding the camouflage.    Mirages look equally fantastic in either greens and browns or in greys.

Regarding a scheme, that's always a hard choice for me... 
I've got a few options which include going with a real world scheme, and that in itself will provide more options.
Then there's the overall olive dark green scheme which was supposedly the scheme the PoAF's Mirages would have worn.
Profile below by Paulo Alegria taken from the online page of the PoAF's magazine "Mais alto" or in English "Higher"



I'll be modelling the EPL as a modern Mirage 5 that entered service as a IIIE, so i have almost total liberty with this one but i also wanna keep it within some degree of plausibility.
I have plenty of time to choose so no worries for now.

[DogfighterZen]

Started the build and all i can say is that this is going to give me a lot more work than, for example, Monogram's 1962 mold of the Spitfire... 
Good thing the panel lines are deep which means that it'll be easier to rescribe after sanding.
Assembly began with the wings and had a bit of clamping to do from the get-go...



Had to take my time assembling the wings cause there were gaps between the wing roots and fuselage so i had to do it in stages to be able force parts together. I've managed to narrow the gaps down to the point where i'll only need some PPP to cover them. Still, the kit has some rather nice details in most of the parts like the engine's afterburner and nozzle assembly but it seems that most of the kit will require some PSR...





I've been working on the fin and the fit is also bad, had to reduce the attachment tab quite a bit just to get it to fit inside the designated space... Let's see what the rest of the parts have in store for me...
Meanwhile, i've decided to change the aircraft's designation to Mirage 5PL(M) cause that's what it'll end up being as it will be a Mirage 3 that was modified to a 5 standard and modernized during it's service life.

[DogfighterZen]

I've been struggling to move this build forward cause i had to choose which type of nose this bird should have... 
I've got the 4 options included in the PJ kit but got to the point where i had only two of them. Then i chose the one i like the best based on looks so, the next dilemma came up with the number of variants and modernization programs done on them by the several operators and then i had to go back and read some more to figure out what would make sense... and then i find the Mirage III NG pics...
I love the look of that variant, much more than any of the other variants of the Mirage 3/5 family... I guess that my "problem" is having most of the parts needed for any of them but i thought: "What the heck, this is whiffland so, why am i even worrying if it makes sense according to real world events?"    Mirage 3/5 airframes have had so many changes and almost every AF that used them, had modernized their jets throughout the years so, why should it be different with the PoAF? I know, stupid questions, it should be whatever i want it to be so i'll just go with looks good to my eyes...
So, after spending most of my weekend benchtime  wondering and reading and testing to see what looks right, i think i've reached a compromise by having the backstory organized in my head.

I've finally moved on with the build itself and seeing a more complete airframe has given my mojo a boost so, it'll be getting some more work done on it tonight. Pics will be fewer than i normally post cause my cell phone, which is what i normally use for quick WIP photos, died and i'm waiting for a new one.

[Tophe]

then i find the Mirage III NG pics...
I love the look of that variant, much more than any of the other variants of the Mirage 3/5 family...
but i thought: "What the heck, this is whiffland

Your project made me dream of a Mirage 5 with Portuguese-Cross X-Wing, see the drawing of mine at
https://www.whatifmodellers.com/index.php?topic=10054.180 (with many unbuilt what-if Mirages)

[DogfighterZen]

Your project made me dream of a Mirage 5 with Portuguese-Cross X-Wing, see the drawing of mine at
https://www.whatifmodellers.com/index.php?topic=10054.180 (with many unbuilt what-if Mirages)

Now that's an original wing design, Tophe! 
Not sure how something like that could work but, this is whiffland! 
So, time for some pics...
Not very focused pic of the IP... i'm still learning how to setup my DSLR camera...



I didn't use the Yahu PE panel cause it just wouldn't fit in the tub... Not sure why... maybe it's because it says it's for a Mirage III CJ but i don't think that is the real reason cause the CJ's pit is probably very similar to the IIIE so, this part was not designed for the PJ kits although there's no mention of any kit at all in the package... Guess i'll just have to use it on some other brand's Mirage III kit.
I just ended up using the kit's plastic parts as i also don't see a big advantage in using the resin parts cause there is no detail on the resin IP... just holes for the gauges and no buttons or other detail...
The ejection seat is good but i'll save it for a build in which i don't use a pilot in the pit cause it has very good detail with the seat belts.
I just sprayed some XF-69 on the whole tub and IP and picked out details with sharpened color pencils.

Then came the battle of the noses...



I assembled the 3 that i wanted to test and test them i did... also went through hundreds of pics of several variants and ended up choosing the sleekest one like the Belgian Mirage III had... and i also have plans for at least one of the two left.

Then, added some details on the fin and wings, much like the Swiss variants had...



Used some PPP on the seams and tonight i'll be checking nose weight to prevent tail sitting.

[DogfighterZen]

Finally, some progress on the Mirage! 
I couldn't find much info or detailed pics of the NG so i had to go with what i saw on the few available pics of the real thing a a detailed drawing i found on google and managed to scratch the APEX LERX parts today...



And so, the build can progress...

[NARSES2]

Very neat