Scale aviation modeller international

Mirage

SPECIAL HOBBY/PLANET MODELS

I

will start with some future

news, for fans of the Saab

Viggen, the wait for the 1/72

scale version is getting shorter.

Special Hobby have started the

moulding now for the kit, which

will be released first by Tarangus

and in around 6 months’ time, it

will be released by Special Hobby

themselves. Meantime we can

look forward to the following

three releases from Special Hobby:

MIRAGE F.1C/ C-200 ‘ARMÉE

DE `L AIR’ 1/72

The first flight of the Mirage F.1

took place on 23rd December 1966

and production aircraft entered

service with the Armée de l ́Air as

the F.1C single-seater fighter and

F.1B two-seater trainer versions.

During their service with France

a number of these aircraft were

upgraded by fitting of IFR probes

which resulted in the designation

F-1C-200. The Armée de l ́Air also

flew dedicated reconnaissance

and a ground-attack version of the

MirageF.1 designated respectively

as the F.1CR and CT, the latter

being converted from the earlier

F.1-200 airframes. A total of 246

Mirage F.1`s of all versions served

with the French and Dassault

also tried to offer the aircraft as

the F.1E (E for European) version

with a more powerful engine to

Belgium, Denmark, the Netherlands

and Norway as a replacement

for their F-104 Starfighter`s but

these countries chose the F-16

Fighting Falcon instead and the

F.1E remained only as a prototype.

Nevertheless, two other

European NATO members did fly

the Mirage F.1 with Greece and

Spain ordering the type and it was

also exported successfully further

afield. In South America Mirage F.1`s

were ordered by Ecuador (F.1JA and

JE two seaters) for the Fuerza Aerea

Ecuatoriana while in Africa and Asia

the Mirage F.1 proved especially

popular, serving with the air forces

of Gabon, South Africa, Morocco,

Libya, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Qatar and

Kuwait. Flying with these air forces

this variant of the famous Mirage

family saw combat action around

the world, including mock dogfights

over the Aegean between Greek

F.1`s and Turkish fighters. French

aircraft saw action over Chad,

Libya, Afghanistan, Mali, Ivory

Coast and even stood up against

Iraqi Mirage F.1`s during the First

Gulf War. Ecuadorian F.1`s were

used in cross border skirmishes

with Peru and South African

Mirages also saw extensive action

as a ground attack aircraft and

fighter during the long Border War

with Angola and Mozambique, often

coming up against Cuban flown

Soviet Mig 17, 21 and 23 jet fighters.

Libyan F.1`s also saw brief action

during the Civil War of 2011 when

several of them defecting to Malta.

Although it is now quite an old

aircraft the Mirage F.1 still sees

frontline service with several

countries including Libya which is

bolstering its remaining fleet by

buying some additional ex French

aircraft, Gabon has bought six

ex South African F.1AZ aircraft

and Iran is believed to still fly

some of the 24 ex Iraqi Mirage

F.1BQ and EQ`s which defected

here during the Gulf War.

The finely detailed Special

Hobby model of the Mirage

F.1C/C-200 comes on six grey

injection moulded sprues and one

clear parts sprue. The decal sheet

offers markings for two French

F.1C machines and two more of

the later C-200 version which

were equipped with the in-flight

refuelling boom. Three of them are

greyish blue on the upper surface

with silver painted under surfaces

and feature colourful markings

of their respective fighter units.

The fourth machine, operated

over African Djibouti, sports a

desert camouflage scheme and

carries, along with its underwing

armament, a centreline fuel tank

with a shark mouth and eyes.

LOIRE 130CL “COLONIAL” 1/48

In 1933, the French Navy requested

a new reconnaissance and light

bomber seaplane able to serve

aboard warships and launched

using their catapults. Six companies

offered their designs, the Loire

130 was the final winner. It

was a shoulder-mounted wing

monoplane with a pusher engine

above the wing and was produced

in two versions. The Loire 130M

(for Métropole) saw service in

home waters while the Loire 130

Cl (Colonial) machines were sent

to the tropical areas. The latter

airframe was built to withstand

more demanding climate, it also

got larger radiator and the crew was

better protected from the elements.

The Loire 130 began to be deployed

on all catapult-equipped warships

even before the outbreak of the war

and also on shore bases in France,

Africa and Indochina. The machines

took part in the defence of France

in 1940 and when the country was

eventually defeated, they went on to

serve with the Vichy forces. Several

airframes were used by the Free

French forces, too. The Vichy France

even ordered further production.

Some captured machines were

evaluated by the German Luftwaffe.

The Loire 130s which were operated

from African bases struggled with

the shortage of spare parts and in

1943, when French colonies in Africa

were liberated and joined war effort

with the Allies, as many as fifteen

airframes were still airworthy

and took part in war operations.

Machines of the Loire 130 Cl

version did their part in the French

Indochina War against Siam and a

handful of the machines flew till

the end of the war, one of them was

seen flying in Saigon as late as 1949.

The decals bring markings

for four machines. One of them

saw service in the Indochinese

Union (commonly known as

French Indochina) transporting

French Navy commanding

officers and the marking she wore

underwent certain evolution over

the course of her flying career,

all these alterations have been

painstakingly researched and

illustrated in the camouflage

scheme and the decal sheet.

The second machine with eye-

catching livery and red and yellow

Vichy stripes was operated by the

French Naval Aviation in Africa.

The third camouflage option brings

a green-camouflaged Loire 130Cl

machine with red empennage which

saw service between 1943 and 44

also in French Indochina. The final

option is a Free French Loire based

at Fort-de-France, Martinique.

The kit contains four grey styrene

sprues, one clear plastic sprue and

a set of detailed resin cast parts.

SUPERMARINE SPITFIRE MK. VC

‘OVERSEAS JOCKEYS’ 1/48

The Supermarine Spitfire definitely

belongs among the most famous

warplanes of the Second World War,

and the Spitfire Mk.V version was

produced in the largest numbers.

The Mk.Vc subversion was equipped

with a strengthened wing enabling

it to carry various cannon/machine

gun configuration and bombs

beneath the wing too. The ongoing

production brought enough

airframes to equip not only British

Isles based units, but also those in

overseas, so the Spitfire Mk VCs‘

combat area reached as far as Malta,

India and Australia. The units

using this version also varied in the

origin of their aircrews, the pilots

flying the Mk.VC came from various

countries of the Commonwealth,

from France, the USA, Poland,

Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia

and many other countries.

The aim of Special Hobby, with

this kit, is to show this interesting

diversity in where the type operated

and from where the pilots came

from. The kit’s instruction booklet

and decal sheet offer the following

scheme options – a machine of

Polish ace Antoni Glowacki, named

the cuckoo with kill markings

beneath the cockpit, an Australian

machine flown by Wg Cdr. Clive

‘Killer’ Robertson Caldwell which

bore serial number BS295 and

famous CR-C fuselage code letters.

The third machine wore a rather

unusual camouflage scheme and US

star and bar insignias, the fourth

of the kit’s options is a French

machine as operated by GC1/7

‘Provence’, marked White 4 and

the final option is a Yugoslav Mk.Vc

used by 1.(lovačka) eskadrila of

the NOVJ (or also known as No.352

‘Yugoslav’ Sqn. RAF) with Yugoslav

national markings and bomb

mission marking under the cockpit.

The kit comprises of 10 grey

styrene sprues, one sprue with

clear canopy parts, resin cast

details and a fret of photo etches.

Hopefully by the time you read

this these kits should be ready

to order! If you fancy something

a little bit different, then take

a look at the new release from

Planet Models, the resin kit arm

of Special Hobby. They have just

released a 1/48 scale kit of the

rather wonderful/strange looking

(depending on your point of view),

Miles Libelula. The kit is cast in

resin from 3D-designed masters

and has white metal undercarriage

legs and a vac-form canopy. One of

the more obscure Miles prototypes,

but if experimental designs are

your interest, this release may

be just what you’re looking for!

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Heinemann’s Hot Rod

Design and Development

Chapter 1

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