Mirage IV A 1/72 A&A Models

    After World War II, France and the whole world were involved in a series of smaller and larger conflicts. Especially the Cold War and the establishment of NATO affected the development of the Mirage IV. The aircraft, capable of carrying nuclear weapons, was therefore surrounded by political discussions. I sourced much of the historical and technical informations from a 5-part series HERE. Articles can be easily translated into English. I highly recommend finding a Mirage IV kit in stock at one of the retailers. I believe you will want one to buy immediately after reading the story 🙂 …

   … however, examining the kit´s moldings, it was clear to me I had one of the worst kits in my hands. Poor negative panel lines and rough moldings based on the short-run technology indicated that it would not be easy to build it. I considered to throw the kit away or build it out of the box. Thanks to my strong motivation, the second option won out, even though any modification of the kit would not make sense. Especially for someone who has bad skills in engraving panel lines. Here I noticed a benefit. My imperfect engraving fit nicely with the rest panel lines 🙂 There was also quite a lot of filling. I struggled a bit with the fitting and overall geometry, especially the exhaust nozzles.

    Unfortunately, the overall building quality led to decission not to make natural metal camouflage of the most famous plane No. 9. (The No.9 dropped a CN-21 atomic bomb in the South Pacific in 1966 as part of Operation Tamouré).

    Thanks to the above mentioned article, I have got more interesting informations and finally chose one of the later camouflage styles. It is a Mirage IV with serial number 62 and “CI” codes. I designed all the black markings and printed them on a laser printer.

    Originally, I wanted to equip the model with additional fuel tanks and CT-51 jammers. Unfortunately, I mistakenly ordered one piece (there were two used) from L’Arsenal brand. (This is a resin casting similar in quality to Pavla Models). Well , I ended up with “smooth configuration” with only a reconnaissance po. Just exactly as the plane took part in the reconnaissance mission over Chad on May 13, 1978.

    The final result of my Mirage IV is not perfect, but I am happy with it. The Mirage collection has been increased by an historically and technically significant aircraft. It is also interesting to see the conceptually similar but otherwise large Mirage III and IV side by side.

Note: The text was translated with the help of deepl.com translator (free version)