Just a quick update on this one. I got the canopy & nose cone to fit after a bit of hassle so off to the paint shop she went.
A coat of Halfords primer is now drying:
I see that I will have to blend the wing in a bit more at the shoulder but everything else looks good.
The MiG-21 has been striped of paint thanks to Mr Muscle:
Just a little cleaning up to do. I removed the canopy this morning to fit the pilot but am toying with the idea of having the ejection seat launching out.
I still need to find or make U\C doors, four pylons and a pitot tube. Oh, & missiles.
I have also found this description of the combat from
Vlamgat: The Story of the Mirage F1 in the South African Air Force by Brigadier-General Richard Lord (Author)
Quote:
At 07h00 on 6th November Mission 269, the early morning shift, was scrambled by Major Marsh Facer, the Dayton radar fighter controller. He was tracking enemy aircraft moving south to wards Quiteve. Previously, during attempted interceptions, the MiGs had always retired out of range when ever SAAF fighters were detected by their early-warning radar. On this occasion, the F1CZs used a low-level penetration up to the Cunene River to stay be low enemy radar cover, while accelerating to combat speed.
Major Johan Rankin and Lieutenant Johan du Plessis, pitched to 25,000 feet in fewer than 30 seconds and were undetected by the enemy radar controllers. Johan du Plessis sighted the enemy flying in the opposite direction as they passed between three and five nautical miles on the port beam. They identified the enemy as two MiG-21s flying in a fighting element formation at the same height as the Mirages.
Jettisoning their drop tanks, the F1s entered a hard left turn that brought them in behind the unsuspecting MiGs. The enemy were flying 1,000 to 1,500 metres apart, with the No 2 aircraft trailing 30 degrees behind the leader’s beam. The MiGs were flying directly into sun, precluding a shot with the Matra 550 infra red guided missile. Instead Rankin, closing from astern of enemy No. 2, fired a burst of 30mm explosive shells from approximately 350 metres. Immediately, a puff of smoke appeared around the MiG and fuel started leaking from the fuselage.
The MiGs entered a tight, descending, left-hand turn and jettisoned their fuel tanks. Major Rankin, by now in missile range of the lead MiG, attempted to launch his own missile, which malfunctioned. Rankin re-entered a curve of pursuit on MiG No 2, telling Johan du Plessis to go after the MiG leader. MiG No. 2 committed a cardinal sin of aerial combat and reversed his turn, allowing Johan to close range rapidly and fire again with his cannons. The MiG exploded, immediately breaking in two behind the cockpit and forcing Johan to break away violently to avoid the debris. He watched as the stricken aircraft spiralled down in flames and saw the enemy pilot eject.
Mean while, Johan du Plessis followed the Mig leader, who had entered a last-ditch spiral manoeuvre. Twice he entered the firing parameters for a missile launch, but his missiles also failed to fire, the high “G” descending turn possibly exceeding the Matra 550 launch limits.
Both Mirage pilots were fêted on their return to Ondangwa, the MiG 21 being the first aircraft shot down by the SAAF since Korea. The celebration was short-lived, as all indications pointed to further encounters with MiGs, and our air-to-air missiles were shown to be below standard.
This tells me that I need to display the Mirage minus centreline drop tanks whilst the MiG still has one until after the initial contact. I think I will try to depict the moment when the MiG explodes and Rankin pulls away violently. I'll try to mock this up later to better show what I mean.
More to follow.
Hopefully the Klear will improve things.
