Monogram 1/48 Mirage 2000C

The Mirage 2000 is a jet supersonic fighter designed by the Dassault Aviation company of France and first flown in 1978. The plane was put into service with the French Air Force in 1984. It was designed to replace the Mirage III that was in those years still in service in France. The aircraft was sold to the United Arab Emirates, India and Taiwan. The Mirage 2000 was in production between 1978 and 2007, with a total of 601 aircraft produced by Dassault. The aircraft was further developed in the Mirage 2000N for nuclear warfare and the Mirage 2000D, both were developed from the twin seat trainer Mirage 2000B.

History (what if):

After Malvinas, the Argentinian Air Force was in dire need to replace their losses from the war. Argentina formed a purchase comision and sent them to Israel and France. The Israelis were keen on selling more Daggers and Mirage IIICs, but the French offer for 15 used Mirage 2000s was more attractive. The British protested, blocking the sale of the planes. After much negotiation between Argentina, France and Britain, it was agreed France could sell the aircraft to Argentina, only if the refueling probe was removed, so they couldn´t be used too far from the continent, even when using the belly fuel tank. The first aircraft arrived in 1986, and were assigned to Grupo 8 de Caza based at Mariano Moreno Air Base, Buenos Aires. Unlike the MIIIEAs and Daggers, the 2000s were camouflaged in light blue for the upper surfaces (a camouflaged that was really tested on the MIIIEA I-003) and light grey for the lower surfaces. Armament carried was of two 30mm DEFA cannons and two Matra 550 missiles on the outer sections of the wings.

I´m not well versed on modern aircraft, so I´ll use Scalemates for some details. Monogram originally released the M2000 in 1:48 four years after the flight of the original prototype. The advantage of this is that the kit carries the production vertical stabilizer (the ESCI effort has the tall vertical stabilizer). Plastic is hard and has raised panel lines, with recessed control surfaces. Cockpit is ok for the time it was molded, with an instrument panel and side consoles. A pilot is included. Also included are two Exocet antishipping missiles, two Matra Magic 550 rockets, and a single belly fuel tank.

Decals are provided for a single aircraft of the French Air Force, Mirage 2000 2-EL of the Cicognes fighter group in the 90s. It is painted in the normal light bluish grey/light grey camouflage.

I started by painting as many small pieces on the sprues as possible. These included cockpit (Revell 76 Light Grey), seat (Revell 08 Black with Dark Green 68 cushion), instrument panel (Revell 08 Black), landing gear struts (Revell 90 Silver), fuel tank (Revell 49 Light Blue), wheels (Revell 90 Silver hubs with Revell 78 Tank Grey tyres). The control stick was painted in light grey with a black grip. Once the cockpit is done, you have the option to glue the pilot, a step I decided to jump over. The cockpit was glued to the fuselage, and behind it I added a 50 gramme weight, just to be sure I wasn´t getting a tail sitter. The nose gear doors need to be glued before closing the fuselage halves. I did so, and left the fuselage to dry.

The wings came next. These are a bottom half and two upper halves. They already have the holes open for the armament, so if you wish to leave some out, make sure to fill the undesired holes. Both halves were glued together, and then I glued them to the fuselage. Before entering the painting stage, I glued the exhaust nozzle to the back of the plane.

The scheme chosen was simple: Light Blue on the upper side, and light grey on the bottom of the plane. I used Revell Aqua 49 Light Blue and 76 Light Grey. The kit was then glossed with Revell Aqua 01 Gloss Varnish. I used a mix of decals from Condor Decals’s 48054 “Mirage IIIEA/CJ in the Argentinian Air Force.” I used the numerals and insignia to make Mirage 2000 I-012 of the Grupo 8 de Caza based at Mariano Moreno, Buenos Aires. The model was then matt coated with Revell Aqua 02 Matt Varnish.

I glued the landing gear which, unlike ESCI’s Mirages, have two solid attachment points that make aligning the struts a breeze. I then glued the wheels, fuel tank, missiles and Pitot tube. The clear parts were the last parts to be added.

If you find this kit on a hobby shop or Facebook, grab it. It may not be the greatest and latest, especially with the Kinetic kit around, but makes into a very nice model once put together. For me, it served its purpose, making a what if machine of a Fuerza Aérea Argentina that could have been, but never was.

https://www.scalemates.com/es/kits/monogram-5446-mirage-2000-with-exocet-missiles--154995

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dassault_Mirage_2000

Francisco Santoro

18 July 2023