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As part of the kit PJ Productions added two small photo etch sheets to the kit. There are a few small surface details and two ladders that are perfect for a static display.
AMD Mirage III BE DS/D2Z/5BD
Model No. 721029
1/72 Scale
Maker: PJ Productions/High Plane Models
MSRP: $41.00 US (29,80 €)
Introduction
The concept for the Mirage III was born out of the early 1950’s when the French government ordered specifications for the development of all-weather Interceptor Aircraft that could climb to 52K feet in six minutes and reach at least Mach 1.3 in level flight. Dassault Aviation, a French aeronautics manufacturer, soon produced the Mirage I prototype. This aircraft met the criteria of the governments mandate for the new plane.
A sleek delta wing design was incorporated with the Mirage. Unfortunately this design lacked maneuverability, added buffering and wind loading as well as needing long runways for takeoffs and landing; but was cheap, easy to manufacture and was able to reach the speeds needed. From the concept of the Mirage I, the design quickly moved through an abandoned Mirage II and right into the Mirage III design.
The Mirage III was much larger than its predecessor, the Mirage I. The cross section of the aircraft was slowly modified and after test flights in 1956 development progressed until 1958 whereas the Mirage IIIA production model was created. The IIIA was capable of hitting Mach 2.2 in level flight and orders were soon placed.
In the coming years, The Mirage III would evolve into several variants, each with slight variations and would make their way to the world scene with export versions manufactured for many countries. One of the most well-known successes of the Mirage III was with the use of this aircraft in the 1967 during the Six Day War where Israel would use the Mirage III in their efforts to bring an overwhelming victory.
The Mirage III has been phased out of many air forces with the development of newer, faster and more agile winged masters of the skies; however there are many countries keeping the Mirage III in their arsenals around the world.
The Kit
PJ Productions, in collaboration with High Plane Models, brings yet another addition to an already vast list of Mirage models, along with other aircraft, conversion kits and figures in various scales. The AMD Mirage III BE DS/D2Z/5BD in 1/72 scale is a plastic molded injection kit including resin and photo etch upgrades within. High Plane Models, an Australia based model company makes the plastic kit for PJ Productions which supplies the resin and photo etching parts to the kit. The kit is sold in a sturdy flip-top style box with attractive box art showing a depiction of the Mirage III contained within.
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There are the following contents contained within this kit:
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123 - Grey Styrene parts16 Resin parts
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7 – Clear Styrene parts
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2 – Small photo etch sheets
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1 – Decal Sheet
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1 – Set of instructions
To briefly explain the name of the AMD Mirage III BE DS/D2Z/5BD for those who may not be familiar with the aircraft, the “AMD” stands for Avions Marcel Dassault, the manufacturer of the Mirage III. After the Mirage name is a series of letters, these are letter designations or country codes if you will, for the aircraft and tell us here which service depictions offered as options with this kit. The BE is stands for the two-seat training aircraft based on Mirage IIIE for the French Air Force, the “DS” of the DS/D2Z refers to the interceptor fighter aircraft for the Swiss Air Force, the “D2Z” refers to the two-seat trainer for the South African Air Force and finally the “5BD” stands for the two-seat trainer version for Belgium. Yes, all four versions of this aircraft can be accurately represented with this kit through interchangeable parts and decal selections provided.
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Looking the kit over, I found the molds crisp and free from flash. One thing I notice is the panel lines which seem a bit heavy as the 1:1 Mirage has very fine panel lines but certainly not too bad especially for the scale. This may be a turnoff to some diehard aircraft modelers but I feel the majority of builders that enjoy items offered up from other mainstream makers, such as Airfix, would feel right at home with this kit. The details are presented nicely and accurately represented here.
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Taking a look at the landing gear wells, the front well is nicely done and could use some added piping features but not necessary and certainly not needed if the model is presented with the gear stowed. The rear well is lacking much of the piping details and there are some ejector pin marks in the wells that will need filling and sanding. The landing gear is not too bad for the scale, but could use a little sprucing up with a couple of bolt heads and maybe some fine wire for representing the brake lines.
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As part of the kit, PJ Productions has enhanced the model with resin upgrades. Both seats for the cock pit are replaceable in resin. These two seats are cast with much more detail than the kit supplied styrene. The harness and parachute pack are well defined and there is separate ejection handles to spruce up the kit seat nicely. The two cockpit instrument panels are offered in resin as well. This is an excellent upgrade to the kit supplied panels. The bezels are well defined and although the appears to be a couple of bezels left out, these two resin upgrade parts represent the instrument panels very well. I noticed on small air bubble remnant on the top visor of the pilot’s panel…this should be an easy fix with a small amount of putty. The final resin pieces included in this kit are the two drop tanks with fins that can be used for the Israeli 5BD option.
The instructions provided with this kit are laid out in a combination exploded and profile view format spanning nineteen steps over 4 pages; all cleaning and clearly printed as well as easy to follow. The adding and subtracting of some parts depending on the version you choose to build are marked clearly as is the photo etch and resin parts.
There is a four page painting schematic included for the four variations that can be depicted with this kit and the decal placement are laid out along on these four sheets as well. Each variation has its own paint legend allowing the options of Humbrol, Gunze, Tamiya and Federal Standard. For each depiction there is a left and right profile pictures as well as the top and bottom layout shown.
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There is a large decal sheep provided from PJ Productions with this kit. All four variation options are included on this sheet; French, Swiss, South African and Belgium.
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Briefly, there is a conversion kit that PJ Productions sells for this kit. This conversion allows for the creation of another 3 versions of this aircraft; MirageIIIS/RS/DS. I am pleased to announce I will have a follow up review of this conversion set to accompany this kits review.
Conclusion
This is my first time getting the opportunity to have a close look at a PJ Productions kit; I have to say that I am impressed at what I see. High Plane Models has molded a decent base kit for the PJ Productions AMD Mirage III BE DS/D2Z/5BD. There is virtually no flash to speak of and the parts are molded cleanly throughout. Although there are heavy panel lines represented her, I consider this to be an exceptional kit for anyone who has a passion for this classic aircraft. This kit is only enhanced by PJ Productions addition of upgraded resin parts and of course the photo etch. For what you get with this kit, I feel that the $41.00 US price tag is a fair price to pay. Over one hundred quality made parts, added resin and photo etch with four options for different versions between parts and decals; this kit is a winner in my mind.
I would like to thank PJ Productions for this review sample.
Please take the time to stop by the PJ Production website and check out all they have to offer.