High Planes’ 1/72 Dassault Mirage IIID

By Chris Bucholtz

History

After the M.D. 550 delta-wing fighter program foundered, Dassault decided to take what it had learned and invest its own private capital in building a better fighter aircraft. The fuselage was designed around a SNECMA Atar 101G1 turbojet, but the knowledge gained from the M.D. 550 program enabled the new plane to take flight in November 1956. This was the Mirage III-001 prototype, and it quickly grabbed the attention of the French military. Export sales soon followed, and the Mirage III went on to build an impressive combat record. Israel developed the type into the Kfir, and many Mirage III variants still play important roles in air forces around the world.

For many pilots, the Mirage III represented a significant jump in performance. A conversion trainer was deemed necessary, especially for smaller countries whose air forces might be making the leap from propellers to supersonic jets all at once. The straight line of the Mirage III’s fuselage spine was altered with the addition of a second cockpit, which was raised about nine inches to provide the rear-seater with forward vision. The canopy was elongated, and the spine now had an elegant curve to it.

The Kit (click on thumbnails for larger image)

High Planes’ kit captures these curves very nicely. The kit is molded in High Planes’ own shade of blue plastic, with a resin tail pipe, vacuformed canopy and white metal control panels, landing gear struts and wheels and control columns. The typical amount of flash is present, but removing this will require more patience than skill. The cockpit starts with two well-rendered white metal ejection seats, which go onto a very simplified cockpit tub assembly made from a floor and two contoured but wholly undetailed sidewalls. The control columns butt-join to the floor, and the instrument panels fit at the front of this compartment. The rear panel is nice, but the front one is rather rough. The modeler will need to fashion a transparent interior windscreen to go between the front and back cockpits. This interior could benefit from some extra attention, especially with the long and very clear canopy. Any extra work you put in will be visible, whether the canopy is molded opened or closed.

The fuselage and wings feature very fine recessed paneling, and fit together reasonably well once the flash is cleared away. Trapped between these is the resin tail pipe; my example had a few pits in the outside of the afterburner petals, and a large chunk of the corrugated inner surface was broken away. My recommendation is that you pick up a Hasegawa Kfir C.2 at a cheap rate for problems like this, since the planes shared much in common in their details.

The inside of the wing halves will need to be thinned, as will the tops of the wheel wells; High Planes captures the downward curl of the wingtips, and the top wing halves fit this feature with no undue problems. The intakes have an intake bullet nestled inside a ¾-inch deep intake scoop, which may not be deep enough for some modelers, and some research into Mirage FOD covers may be in order. The vertical stabilizer and rudder are molded as a single piece that butt joins the fuselage. The aft "keel" butt joins the bottom of the fuselage. Assembly of the major structural components is almost brutally simple and will prove that complex, interlocking locating tabs and pins are not necessary to build a nice model.

The detail parts are not the finest High Planes has ever made, but they are very good. The landing gear struts and wheels are sturdy, if roughly cast in a few spots. The nose gear and wheel are included as a single piece, with a separate steering actuator and taxi light arrangement. The plastic gear doors are only so-so; the interior detail of the main gear door is soft, and the glue marks left on the master are clearly visible. This reviewer would sand them flat and replace the detail with styrene strip. The cable covers for the nose will require some finesse in removing from the sprues intact. High Planes provides a lot of underwing options, including the large centerline tank and wing tanks, which are of the correct size vs. the undersized Hasegawa items. High Planes also provides missile rails and pylons of the correct shape, which, once cleaned up and equipped with a Matra Magic from another kit, will provide an accurate rendition of this part of the plane. Unfortunately, the instructions give you only a bare-bones idea of where these pylons go on the wing and in what combination they may be used with the drop tanks.

The decal sheet, as is often the case with High Planes, is stunning. Markings are given for three aircraft of the Australian No.2 Operational Conversion Unit, in dark sea gray and dark green over aircraft green paint, featuring a bold yellow and black fin marking; a Belgian Mirage IIIBD of No. 8 Squadron, with a wrap-around scheme of tan, mid-green and dark-green, and two French Mirage IIIBEs from EC 1/13, an OCU flying in dark green and dark gray over aluminum paint. All of these are striking schemes on a striking aircraft.

Despite its rough patches, this kit will more than satisfy the lovers of the Mirage and would make a nifty sidekick to a much larger F-102 or F-106 in a collection of "trans-sonic triangles." When High Planes’ announced run of Mirage IIIs is complete, the line will also include a IIIO, a IIIC and an Atlas Cheetah. Hats are off to High Planes for giving this famous series of fighters the attention it deserves.

Our thanks to High Planes for our review sample.