1:72 Mirage F-1JA FAE806 30 Años 1979-2009 Ecuadorian AF

Thirty years of a fighter over the equator

Ecuador took Mirage F-1JA fighters into service in 1979 and in 2009 it recalled three decades of their operation. They are among the least known machines of the whole F-1 family, even though the Ecuadorian examples have live deployment in the border conflict of the mid-1990s behind them. The airframe with the number FAE806 received the anniversary markings.

The contents of the sheet

The sheet covers the anniversary graphics on the tail surface and the sides of the fuselage, the Ecuadorian national insignia, the number of the airframe and the lettering accompanying the jubilee. The extent is more restrained than with all-over finishes, so the set is among those that can be managed over a single evening.

The format corresponds to Mirage F-1 kits in 1:72 scale. The single-seat version is a condition here; a two-seat fuselage has a different layout of the areas for the side motifs.

Notes on the build

Latin American machines tend to be less well covered photographically, so it pays to look up pictures of the particular example before building. Sunlight in the tropics fades finishes quickly, so a light lightening of the upper surfaces before the decals are applied helps the credibility. Settle the motifs themselves on a perfectly cured gloss varnish and leave the small lettering for last. Seal the result with a matte layer and emphasize the edges of the fin with a dry brush so that they are not lost on the model. Models of less usual users have the advantage that at shows they are not lost among dozens of identical machines of European air forces, and this one belongs exactly among them.