1/48 Airfix/Heller FAP Mirage 2000DP

by Eduardo "Fulcrum" Cárdenas

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South America has a long tradition flying Dassault Aviation planes, Mirage III family (Mirage III, V, 50, etc.) was the most sales successful aircraft in this world area since several countries purchased the different versions of this bird. Peru is the only South American purchaser of Mirage family next generation member (after the Mirage V), the Mirage 2000.

 

Mirage 2000P (single seater) and Mirage 2000DP (two seater) operate with Fuerza Aerea del Peru, Escuadrón 412 of the Grupo Aéreo de Caza 4 at La Joya, Arequipa .

 

Mirage 2000DP numbered 193 was formally handed over in Paris Air Show on 7 June 1985 and began to train pilots in France . The trainer version retains full capability of single seater; it features sand-brown camo with pale blue undersides and black nose cone. With standard export RDM radar and equipped for defense and strike roles.

 

Exterior improvements and corrections

 

Building this plane in 1/48 required some corrections and modifications, because the Airfix Mirage 2000B includes the standard French trainer version.

First the flaps were removed and relocated in dropped position use pics for the correct dropping angle. Narrowed the leading edge slats profile because they are so wide in the plastic kit.

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Modifications include the fin base which was wided a little; the Mirage 2000 export versions include this little detail so I used styrene sheets on lateral sides and putty to get the right width. Spirale chaff-flare dispensers included in the kit are very spartan, so I decided to improve them using two little plastic rods from heated sprue and placed on carved plastic kit pieces.

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The wingtip RWR antenna array was removed and scratchbuilt using plastic rod and shaped and scribed using Dremel moto tool, result was decent for me...Mirage 2000 export versions also includes a longer rear RWR in the fin, 2 mm. of extra styrene will serve. The refueling probe is scratchbuilt using the moto tool and a piece of sprue from the kit and turned. I preferred this option when I noted the kit piece is ridiculously shorter and bad released.

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Critical zone was the entire forward fuselage section and, I reshaped with help from my expert in Mirage friend Ernesto Ponte. This zone is a little curved when look from upside below the front office so I used a lot of ANYPSA plastic putty (used for real car exterior surface damage). Nose cone suffered the same required attention, reshaped using the same material and several pics from different angles for reference. Adding full metallic nose pitot tube was necessary I stealth a sewing needle from mama’s hobby box and using soldering pistol , Radio shack Rosin-Core Solder and Lötfett Stanoll Soldering grease and turned fastly with motor tool and sandpaper.

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All blade antennas on dorsal spine and bottom of fuselage, the same for strakes on intakes were built using thing styrene sheet glued with Cyano. I added some wiring on landing gears using copper wire.

I don’t lithe the idea of building a nothing original air to air configuration again and tired of see the same Mirage ordnance in 1/48, so a candy delivery (bomber) configuration is fine for me, I scratchbuilt the bomb pylons for ventral fuselage zone and made two part silicone mold for casting in resin, the same for the 1700 liters underwing and 1300 liters belly tanks, the first doesn’t exist in 1/48. Heller includes the underwing tank in the Mirage 2000N version but this is the improved 2000 liters tank with more capacity and the back ending is incorrect so I mastered my own version of them and get a good result.Mk.82 bombs come from Testors F/A-18 Hornet kit  

Matra Magic missiles come from the kit, required effort on painting, wanted to scratch them but University final tests doesn’t let me, next time maybe...

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Internal details  

No cockpit resin set is provided by manufacturers to improve the Mirage 2000 trainer office, Black Box promised to release it a pair of years ago, but it was that: only a promise… so I decided to close the canopy but previously wanted to include French style pilot, so I mastered one including the original helmet and hard modified an American pilot and added life surveillance pack, casted in resin and painted them based on pics. SEM MB Mk.10 ejection seat was detailed using the one included in kit. Then I added copper wire to make the oxygen hose.

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Finishing

 

Required colors to paint the Peruvian version are a rare thing, I recommend to use MM Armor sand and Field Drab for upside and Light Ghost Gray downed with 40% white for the underside. MM Glosscoat lacquer is airbrushed before Aztec Decals 48005 are placed....u will need the several little stencils from the Heller/Airfix kit, they are excellent and well detailed. Then I sealed the decals with one more gloss coat and light-weathered it  using oils and pastel chalks, usually FAP Mirage 2000 looks almost clean in pics...after all that I sealed again the weathering with a semi-gloss coat and retired the masking tape from transparent pieces...finally the Mirage 2000DP is ready to drop the candies!!!

Well I hope u enjoy my first ARC Gallery contribution, it includes a lot of  enthusiasm, effort and time, next project will include another Peruvian Air Force like Mig-29SE or Su-22M3...I am still thinking about that...

Greetings from Peru !!!

Eduardo

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Photos and text © by Francisco Echegaray & Eduardo Cárdenas