Mirage 1/48 Lublin RXIII

[yak face]

Heres one I got a bit back , an Ebay bargain (£9 all in) . Its the Mirage kit of the polish reconnaissance/ army co operation aircraft - the Lublin RXIII.
its a decent kit reasonably detailed but not too much in the way of interior ,more on that later . The kit came without decals or a windscreen but after a quick search online I found some pics of a romanian machine which would be easy to source decals for so these were found and ordered. Ive made a start on the cockpits , the instructions say the interior is a light brown ( flat earth ) but ive also seen posts saying it should be silver , but what the hey , I’ll go with the polish instructions

[colin m]

I've not come across Mirage hobby, but that looks well detailed.

[yak face]

I've not come across Mirage hobby, but that looks well detailed.

Its not bad in most areas colin but the cockpit is very basic , BUT - i have a cunning plan!

[Ian M]

I look at this
Pretty basic kit, then at the guy what's going to stick it together and think...
This is going to be epic.

[yambam26]

Love little kittle like this, as you've said tony basic in the cockpit and other areas but knowing you you'll have loads of fun adding to it ill keep a eye on this one

Cheers.

[papa 695]

Nice one Tony, looking forward to seeing what you do with this one.

[Jim R]

Interesting subject Tony. Kit looks ok if pretty basic but I have no doubt that you're up to the challenge. Looking forward to seeing how it goes.

[Tim Marlow]

Interesting to see this come together……some different colour schemes to play with there as well.

[yak face]

Cockpit painted up , brown as per the instructions! References are very scarce for this aircraft so i just thought that a polish company making a kit of a polish aircraft would have as good an idea as anyone so brown it is . Besides the moulded on framework theres bugger all internal detail except the seats , instrument panel and control column .
The instrument panel was a decent effort and matched the aftermarket ones available in layout except its in mirror image !?
Whos got it right or wrong , I dont know so i just painted it up to match
There is a PE set available which comprises the whole cockpit but it costs twice as much as i paid for the kit !
Solution? — find a couple of pilots and cover the lack of detail:thumb2:

[The Smythe Meister]

Cockpit painted up , brown as per the instructions! References are very scarce for this aircraft so i just thought that a polish company making a kit of a polish aircraft would have as good an idea as anyone so brown it is . Besides the moulded on framework theres bugger all internal detail except the seats , instrument panel and control column .
The instrument panel was a decent effort and matched the aftermarket ones available in layout except its in mirror image !?
Whos got it right or wrong , I dont know so i just painted it up to match
There is a PE set available which comprises the whole cockpit but it costs twice as much as i paid for the kit !
Solution? — find a couple of pilots and cover the lack of detail:thumb2:
[ATTACH=CONFIG]n1188577[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]n1188578[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]n1188579[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]n1188580[/ATTACH]

Nicely done indeed....
... as for adding the crew, excellent idea,I always think aircrew or AFV crews add to the overall build,and if they serve to hide any kit deficiencies,then win win!!

[adt70hk]

Looking good!

[yak face]

Got the instrument panel in and the fuselage is now together . A quick rummage through the spares box revealed a surprising lack of ww2 era 1/48 pilots . I wanted two in different poses but could only find two identical twins . Solution ? - use one of the pilots left over from the 1/48 Mi24 Hind build. This chap is quite nicely done but obviously in modern flight gear . With a bit of fettling I reckon I can get him to look similar to the other bod.
First off his legs need sanding to create a high boot , then I made some straps for the parachute and seat harness. Taking inspiration from Neil Merryweather and his amazing napoleonic conversions I made his flight helmet look more suitable ,sanding to shape and adding bits with squadron green stuff , the goggles are a bit wonky but hey ho ! The Hind pilot is going to go in the front as hes too fat to fit in the scarff ring !

[Neil Merryweather]

Ooh Tony that's very respectable!

[Jim R]

Well done Tony. Pilot looks great. You've taken years off him :smiling:

[yak face]

Ive started to paint up the two pilots ,after a brief search on the net I think the romanian pilots uniform was similar in colour to RAF blue so thats what they got with brown gloves and helmets and black boots . Ive given the faces a quick dry brush with white to try and highlight the lighter areas , flesh colour coming next ( BTW , is it just me or do they look a bit Borg - resistance is futile !:smiling5: )


Ive got the wing and fuselage primed now , and yes the tail is supposed to be like that , strange but heres a pic to prove it
The engine is going to be fitted last off due to the exhausts being very vulnerable . Speaking of which the kit supplies 9 curved exhaust stubs , to be fitted to the rear of each cylinder and curving out past the engine cowling. Trouble is the mould was misaligned during production so the two halves of the exhaust are out of line , making them unusable . I got some brass tube and bent the end with the round nosed pliers then cut it off , repeating this another 8 times . These tubes then had a small piece of brass rod inserted leaving a stub sticking out to fit into the holes on the back of the cylinders. I widened the hole of the exhausts look better and glued them all in place.