Mirage IIICJ

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Special Hobby have released a new tool 1/72nd Mirage III, with the first boxing as the Israeli Mirage IIICJ version.
Andy Brazier takes a look at this iconic jet.

History

The Dassault Mirage IIICJ became the symbol of the Israeli air superiority during the wars with the neighbouring Arab countries. The Mach Two, high performance, delta wing fighter aeroplanes were produced by French Dassault, but the Israeli CJ version differed from the airframes built for the French military by not being fitted with the rocket booster motor. The Israeli Mirages took part in the War over Water, Six Day War, Attrition War and the Yom Kippur War as well as several more minor clashes. In its air superiority role, the Mirage did very well indeed, and many of their pilots quickly became aces.

In the box

Upon lifting the top opening box you get a 111 parts, of which 29 are not used, spread over five sprues of grey plastic parts, packed in one bag, with another separate bag containing the one sprue of clear parts.

Although there is technically seven sprues, sprues C, E and F are connected by runners.

One set of decals and a instruction booklet make up the rest of the contents.

All the parts look to be nice and sharp in detail with no apparent flash present. The few ejector pin marks look to be in places that won't be seen.

The ejection seat is made up of 5 parts, but does not have any harnesses moulded on or as separate parts or even decals, which is a shame.

The cockpit interior has a little moulded on detail in the form of raised dials and levers, and the same can be found on the instrument panel. There is a decal for the main instrument panel.

The fuselage and wings have very nice recessed panel lines and very fine embossed riveting. The lower wing section is one piece and also forms part of the fuselage. The control surfaces are moulded into the wings and tail, so will require surgery if you want them off center.

Two types of tail are supplied as marking option 1 has a slightly different tail section.

The tail pipe is made up off six parts has has some deytail in the pipe in the way of raised lines. The "eyelet" style variable exhaust is made up of two parts so some seam work will probably need to be done on the inside as the rear fuselage should cover the exterior of the exhaust.

The air inlets and intakes are made up of four parts, and the inside of the inlet is blanked off, so you won't get that "see through" look.

The main wheels have some engraved detail in the bays.

The nose bay has some lumps and bumps moulded into it, but once the gear leg and doors are on you wont see much anyway.

The nose gear is made up of three parts, with a one piece wheel.

The main gear legs are made up of three parts each. The main wheels are split into two halves and does have some nice detail moulded on to the hubs.

The clear parts are undistorted with the canopy being just the right thickness for a crisp, clear look into the cockpit. The canopy can be modelled in the open or closed position.

Raised framework will help when masking and painting.

Two sprues are for the external weapons, so a nice variety can be depicted hanging off the aircraft.

The external weapons supplied with the kit are as follows:

- 2 x AIM 9B/D Sidewinder AAM

- 2 x Shafrir 1 AAM

- 2 x Shafrir 2 AAM

- 1 x Matra R530 AAM

- 2 x 250kg bombs

- 2 x 500L external fuel tanks

- 2 x 625L external fuel tanks

- 1 x 880L external fuel tanks

- 2 x 1300L external fuel tanks

All the weapons are nicely moulded, but do suffer a little from "thick fin" syndrome.

Decals, markings and instructions

The instruction booklet is made up of a folded A5 size paper and is glossy and in colour.

The front page carries a little history on the Mirage.

The first page has the parts tree, with any parts not used crossed out.

The build takes place over 22 parts on three pages, and has some notes on the various parts that need removing, or are optional.

The build is pretty easy to follow, although there is a separate page that has been added, which covers build sequence 10 too 14, that gets you to cut one small protruding part of the main wheel well sidewall.

Interior colours are for the Gunze Sangyo range of paints.

The decals are printed on one sheet and are in register and the colour registration looks pretty good with very little carrier film around the edges.

Four marking options are supplied, all of which are in a metal finish, and are as follows -

1- Mirage IIICJ, 52, 101 Sqn-Tayeset HaKrav/ First Fighter Squadron, Hatzor AFB, 1967.

2- Mirage IIICJ, 745, 117 Sqn-Tayeset HaSilon HaRishona/ First Jet Squadron, Ramat David AFB, 1967.

3- Mirage IIICJ, 60, 117 Sqn-Tayeset HaSilon HaRishona/ First Jet Squadron, Ramat David AFB, 1967.

4- Mirage IIICJ, 784, 119 Sqn-Tayeset Ha'Hatalef/ Bat Squadron, Tel Nof AFB, Heyl Ha'Avir, 1966.

Marking option three shows the aircraft in black/brown colour in the side profile pic as the Mirage is completely covered in soot from the explosion of an Arab jet that it had just shot down.