Mirage 2000C, ESCI 1:48

Wow, I'm the first non-french to post here. I would like to have a better model for the occasion, but I don't... Anyway, the following is more or less a copy-paste from what I've posted on ARC forums...

This is my first 1/48 kit, and I've been building it for 7-8 years now (on-and-off of course, but more off than on ). I have some time on my hands now, so I decided to finish it.

The idea behind this Mirage 2000C by ESCI was - since it was my first '48 and actually one of the few kits I actually got close to finishing - to build it without any major surgery done: just a neat, clean and quick build.

A few words about the model itself. It's pretty old, my guess would be 10+ years. The cockpit was typical of ESCI, clean, flat surfaces with decals to simulate instruments. The ejection seat... should be ejected. Lines are engraved, and should be corrected on the nose, where they are wrong (IIRC, the prototype had panel lines like that). Landing gear provides good base for jazzing up (as does the entire model), except for the main gear actuators, which are too short (yes: too short) and new ones are needed. The exhaust is quite plain. All in all, IMHO, it's a good base to, with a certain amount of work, make a really nice M2kC.

IMHO, the most difficult part of the model...




Lower part of the front fuselage with the nose gear bay just visible on the right side.



Two shots of the re-engraved panel lines on the nose.






Main landing gear with what are supposed to be the new actuators ...




The afterburner and exhaust parts. Although I said I wouldn't do any major reworking, this simply had to be done.

My first preshading ever... I did it with a Humbrol paint that was seven or eight years old - how stupid can I be..?

You can't really tell, but there's a lot of mistakes/faults/can't-remember-the-right-word there... Anyway, the major painting is done, now I have to paint some smaller details, gloss cote it and so on... Hopefully, in a couple of weeks I'll be done with it.

Hi Huda

Nice kit...the blue seems to be a little more bit 'pale' than it should. Is it due to the flash of your camera ?
Nice preshading.

Florent

Thanx... I look at it as more of an incentive build - I want to finish it fast, without any extra detailing... Given my overall skill level, it might look a bit plain, bit this is my first 1:48, so I did not want to go into any serious detailing.

Apart from my skill level, I sometimes have moments of pure stupidty, and, sadly, this was one of those occasions... Although I have more than 400 photos of the C version alone, as a painting guide I chose the model's instruction sheet... Hence I got wrong the shape of the blue spots, particulary the on on the spien... Dumb-dumb-dumb. The blue color should, IMHO, be more light/pale than in is - it's probably due to the flash on my camera... I'll use daylight for the finished model.

I'm done with decaling... I used Tamiya's acrilic gloss cote, can't really say I'm satisfied with the result. The date on the decal sheet was 10/1989. - two of them ripped, but I managed to fit them togedher... Here are a few pics...

The most difficult decals to place (for me, at least):







Some sloppy paintwork on the formation lights, I know ...





I'll put a matt cote on it and use chalks to dirty it up a bit...



I still have to finish the exhaust, seat and landing gear: a couple of weeks, hopefully...

Hello welcome on the site!!! Beautiful entrance !!!
Excuse my English !!
Mantéa

Hello Mantea, and merci for your welcome.

So, it's finally finished - you can take a look here...