Mirage 2000 MSModel 1/33

[ricleite]

Thanks for the comments Yes, the dorsal spine came out well. The fit was just fine and the good quality paper helped.
I used my traditional method to make the wheels and tyres. The rims are part of the kit.

[ricleite]

The wire that links the gear leg to the fuselage does not link to the wire that serves as the wheel’s axle. So, there is a weak point. I improved it somewhat by inserting a card bit above the rolled paper that contains the wire axle and a (barely visible) paper strip below. Well, the weight on the nose is quite small. The last picture is just a dry fit test.

[romanmodels]

nice work Ricleite

[MacSongLi]

I love the nose gear. Great work on the wheels.

Gary

[ricleite]

Thanks, David and Gary
For the main landing gear, I put an extra bend on the wire and made the corresponding cut on the wing structure parts. The wire extremity is fixed by a pair of card parts, one above and one below. The assembly is solid.
The paper quality is commendable. Often, I have to delaminate rolled parts to get a decent finish. It was not necessary here. However, I didn’t hesitate to cut the parts to be rolled in several bits, so that each roll is made from a simple rectangle that will result in a cylinder. The main part (right/lower corner, in the first picture) was cut into 5 parts: the thinnest cylinder, around the wire, from tip to tip, the central section with a larger diameter, rolled over the inner cylinder, and each of the three ribs, rolled individually over the central section.

[ricleite]

Skinning the wings was surprisingly straightforward. The paper took well the small curvature radius at the leading edge. On the other hand, the landing gear compartment provided an excellent clue to the structure/skin relative positions. The last picture shows the flap/aileron actuator’s fairings.

[Erik Zwaan]

Nice work Ricardo, I like the way you reinforce the landing gear although such reinforcement is a unique solution to each different model you make. For the P38 it wouldn't work....
For the wheels: Do you wrap the paper first completely around, and then apply glue at the very end and seal off the sides by e.g. diluted glue to make sure that the tires stay in place?

Regards,
Erik

[ricleite]

@Erik – right, the method is not easily applicable everywhere, if at all. Regarding the wheels, I put a bit of glue almost randomly while rolling and systematically on the last 20/30cm. I don’t “coat” the tyre with glue after rolling, as the water-based ink I use would not adhere.
Frankly, I was expecting trouble when skinning the front fuselage and adding the engine intake assemblies. However, the work proceeded remarkably smoothly, much to the designer credit. Aligning the rear skin part of the front fuselage to the structure was “automatic” because the horizontal formers extend outwards through holes on the skin part, which fits perfectly. I prepared the intake assemblies as you can see in picture 70 and added them one by one, with no need for adjustments. Quite remarkable and a big “thumbs up” for the designer!

[Michael Mash]

Beautiful work Ricardo.

[ReynoldsSlumber]

Incredible craftsmanship with that air intake, including the perfect cone and the even gap to the fuselage. Curious whether the interior liner matches up with the exterior leading edge or is inset.