1/48 Mirage Models Lublin R.XIII Ter

[ElCapitan]

Hi everyone - it's been a while!

This is a kit I found on Ebay while looking for something I'd never come across before. Should be an interesting build, I think. I've also got myself a PE set from Part in Poland, and a Yahu control panel as another option. 





Not too many parts, and they look pretty good. Not sure about the deep lines on the floats though...a bit "padded cell":




Also not many decals for a 1/48 kit. 1930s aircraft had fewer markings though, I guess. 



Only one page of instructions, along with a black and white painting guide:




I've made a start on the all-PE cockpit, which has been fiddly so far. The instructions from Part are not especially clear, and there isn't much in the way of references online so I've no idea what some of the pieces are supposed to look like when they're in place...I'm happy with it so far though.

[digger303]

This will be interesting

[ElCapitan]

Please excuse the radio silence - I've not had a lot of bench time recently, but finally managed to get the cockpit pretty much done. The fiddliest part was holding the side frames in place to glue them, but I managed to lean them up against a bottle while I lined up the floor section.





In the absence of any reference photos, I just painted it with Vallejo Metal Color dull aluminium.

[digger303]

Please excuse the radio silence - I've not had a lot of bench time recently, but finally managed to get the cockpit pretty much done. The fiddliest part was holding the side frames in place to glue them, but I managed to lean them up against a bottle while I lined up the floor section.





In the absence of any reference photos, I just painted it with Vallejo Metal Color dull aluminium.

That does look impressive and very nice work to get to look so good.

[Kevthemodeller]

What an interesting aircraft, I do like a float plane especially bi planes. Looking forward to seeing this come together Rob

[ElCapitan]

It seems I'm not taking as many photos as I normally do. Since my last update I've buttoned up the fuselage and built up the wings and pontoons. Here's a photo of some seam work being done on the fuselage - just a bit of vallejo plastic putty which I'll sand down once it's fully dried out.



Not too many issues so far, I'm just trying to do a better job than I normally do on the seams. I actually think I'll be ready to paint soon - I figure I'm best to paint the wings and pontoons separately from the fuselage.

[Tomcat64]

Missed this one when you first posted it up Rob.

That's something a bit different and great work on all that fiddly stuff in the cockpit

Will be watching out for updates now

[ElCapitan]

Should be ready to prime this at the next opportunity!

[ElCapitan]

Here are the three subassemblies ready for primer:

[Kevthemodeller]

Coming together very nicely

[digger303]

The panel lines on the floats seem very pronounced. Is that a manufacturing problem or were they actually like that ?
Regardless I do like the build. Shame the excellent cockpit work is mostly hidden away. Did that fit into the fuselage without any drama's ?

[ElCapitan]

The panel lines on the floats seem very pronounced. Is that a manufacturing problem or were they actually like that ?
Regardless I do like the build. Shame the excellent cockpit work is mostly hidden away. Did that fit into the fuselage without any drama's ?

Yeah the lines on the floats are like chasms and I'm not sure why. Seems to be mentioned on all reviews I've read. The very few other panel lines on the kit are all fine.

The cockpit went in with no problems. I had to remove the raised cockpit detail from inside the fuselage but that wasn't difficult.

[ElCapitan]

With the wife out with a friend tonight I had an incredibly productive evening painting and assembling. Not many photos as I went along, but here are a couple:





Quite a big wingspan!

The only parts I still need to assemble are the prop and the gun, then add the windscreen.

Thanks for the comments so far - encouraging as always!

[digger303]

That's looking really nice I like it a lot.

[Kevthemodeller]

What a great looking kit I've never seen these Mirage kits before

It just keeps getting better

[ElCapitan]

Thanks guys.

It's a very basic kit, but not had any fit issues at all. Just parts that I'm like "that is supposed to look like THAT?!"

Just noticed the name of the manufacturer is actually Mirage HOBBY - I must have read it wrong at the start!

[ElCapitan]

And just like that, it's finished!











Thanks to everybody who had a look and commented.

[digger303]

Fantastic work of art and you made it look easy..

[Kevthemodeller]

Superb build Rob, lovely cockpit detail

[ElCapitan]

Thanks guys! It was nice to try something different.

[Tomcat64]

Lovely work on a really unusual subject Rob - the mottling on the top surfaces is very subtle but works really well.

Nice job mate