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The
“Matterhorn Circle:
www.matterhorncircle.ch.vu)
”, a group of semi-renegade Swiss IPMS modelers is well known for their
exhibitions at the Swiss nationals, as well as their attendance at the IPMS(UK)
meetings at Telford. Several of these modelers have established an international
reputation, such as such as Nicholas “Nick the Ripper” Ponchini, who
continues to amaze with his abilities to strip models to their bare minimum, or
Andrew White with his collection of improbable prototypes, to Urs Bopp or
Alberto Martinez with their talents for things Japanese / Spanish.
Robert
Schneider (MC-ONE :
www.mc-one.ch), is now
setting out to make his mark on the modeling landscape with the
recent release of several resin and photo etch (PE) items to enhance
deficits in a number of kits, e.g., a PE set for the 1/72 Revell Su-27 and a set
of resin intakes for the 1/72 Trumpeter Tu-128.
The
set which immediately grabbed my attention was that for the old, and thankfully
re-released Revell Mirage III in 1/32 scale. This kit has long been out of
production, and was starting to fetch “collectors” prices on EBay, when it
was released in 2004 to commemorate the passing of the Mirage III from Swiss
skies.
This
kit, although from the great heyday of Revell’s 1/32 releases in the 70’s is
generally accurate in shape, and with a little care and attention can be built
into a show stopper. It cannot, however, betray its vintage, as apart from the
raised panel lines, it has a spartan cockpit, wheel well bays and jet exhaust.
Time to move it forward into the 21st Century!
“Robi”
has decided to address this last issue first and has produced a very detailed
resin & PE kit to rectify this situation. This consists of 5 large resin
blocks, which are impeccably cast (typical Swiss finish) and a large PE sheet. A
detailed 3 page instruction sheet is included (which can be downloaded at
www.mc-one.ch),
providing step by step instructions, and a view of the real product on a Mirage
IIIS. This is a real boon, especially when compared to some of the
“instructions” included in many after-market kits, and will really enable
the modeller in an exemplary manner to achieve a superb product.
In
my short examination of an Atar 9C engine exhibited at the
Swiss
Air
Force
Museum
in Duebendorf, it appears
that MC-ONE has really captured the complex design of the exhaust system
perfectly.
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Click on
images below to see larger images
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The
re-release of the Mirage III in 32 scale by Revell has had modellers clamouring
for a set of add-one detail items in order to improve the look of this vintage
kit. MC-ONE has taken the first step by producing an excellent product to
up-grade that large cavernous “burner can”.
The good news is that work is in-progress for a new detailed cockpit and
wheel well bays.
The
only caveat is that with all that resin weight, the rather flimsy gear will need
to be replaced by a set of metal ones – now can we encourage somebody to help
us with that?
Highly
Recommended.
Sinuhe
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Photos and text ©
by Sinuhe
Hahn
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