We are working on the Mirage right now, the paint is no issue I am told so the camo version is good to go, decals however are a little more complex, and looks like I will have to order 300 of the tail decal to get a decent price.

Anyone has some good photos of other options, or links to sites showing the various schemes please post them up asap, if there is another one that is easier to do I will certainly consider it!

Just remember the Mirage moldings are based on a 2000 series, so while I am looking at the 2 seater IIID version its not going to be exact or super scale, its a rendition that will look nice in the air and flies on rails.

will this mirage have e-retracts? or hand launch ??? thx.

Doing final details on the Mirage, it will be fixed undercarriage just like all the topgun models, and for retracts you will have to cut out the wheel pattern in the depron covers under the wings etc.

HTG Electric retracts will be available to order with the kit, they are pretty good for this size model, I used the original air version in my 2.9kg Sabre years ago and they are still working for the new owner today.

Looks like this week will finalise the first batch and decal design, then I can work out the final cost and get the shipping cost for various countries.

jepe in europe did extensive modification on this mirage 2000 (v-3) like ducting, wings (together in 1 piece) .... will this particular mirage be like that ???
thx.

Yes and many of the modifications I had done and posted on forums before jepe even had "fast foam" on the market. My 8s mirage had stock inlets yet it managed 150+mph on 2800 watts, panels were used in a later 6s test bed model. I modified the tailcone cutting 8 wedges out and reducing it to the correct outlet size, and it had a custom wing mount that used bolts both front and rear and allowed the wing to remain removable without compromising the strength.

I wont be adding mods into the kits, but I will be supplying documentation on how to do them as they are all fairly easy to do and to be honest the mods like ducting do not make huge differences to the performance until you get up into very large power setups, most owners will never bother with this mod, the tailcone mod is far more important, in fact its 100% necessary.

Ok I have started building the spare Mirage kit I have had in storage, I want to get one up and running with the Extreme Alloy Jetfan fan unit and the weather is getting better now so I can get it glassed in a couple of days.

First up wings. I wanted to hide my servos inside the wings and as it will be belly lander I wanted my horns topside.

I dont like the old flyfly horns much so made my own from 1mm ply sheet, 3 pieces CA'd together with the centre piece cross grained. Very tough horns.

Pictures show where I put the servo, if you plan on retracts then easy enough to move the servo back further in the wing so there is space to cut out the wheel well.

I am using Hyperion ATLAS DS13TMB metal gears, yes they are a little pricey but there is only 2 of them, and I want this thing to be reliable and last.

I dremel out all the areas for the servo horn clearance, and I used the round horns cut down as they are the toughest horn. Mirage needs very little throw on controls and even with this horn I have to cut the throws back to 50% or less on the radio. I will likely do it in the servo though with the emeter as limiting them digitally is better than using rates in the Tx.

Dremel out the area for the servo tray, epoxy in the ply, line everything up and then epoxy the servo in all round with a spruce block to secure the open end. I will add balsa to the top of the servo and carve it to shape so when the wing covers go on they contact the servo and provide extra support.

I use K&N alloy tube heated under gas then pushed through the wing to make the channels, its not easy to get it dead aligned but dont worry if the hole ends up too big or messy, once you epoxy the plastic guide tubes in you can fill the hole at the top then spackle it over, ends up looking clean on the outside which is all that matters! )

Wing is now glued together, next up put covers on and sand back lightly with 320 alloy oxide paper ready to glass. Next pics will be glassing the wing, and I will prepare the fuse halves ready to lay out the electronics.

Hi Guys!!!
SO sorry for not posting more build pics, I will take some more snaps and post up photos over the weekend. Mirage is finished to the paint stage and has flown, very nicely too. Only thing I need to do is reinforce the belly panel of the fuselage, as it warbles on high speed passes downwind, a friend had this part fail on his Mirage tearing up the model. Funny my 8s one never had an issue but this one makes the sound. Simple carbon rod epoxied into the belly should sort it, will post pics when I do it.

Here is the video of the 3rd flight.

Topgun MIRAGE with Extreme Alloy 90mm Jetfan! (4 min 11 sec)

UPDATE ON NEW MIRAGE KIT:

Am terribly sorry the delivery on the new Mirage's has dragged out a few more weeks, the factory promises me the Mirages will be ready to start shipping on Monday. All orders for kit only will be going out first, I have forwarded the shipping manifest for all the pre orders and they are preparing the EMS documents.

Orders with retracts will be delayed a few days as the have run out of them! Should be in by mid next week then the retract kits will start shipping out as well. I believe everyone who has pre-ordered will get their kit before xmas.

Hey guys, just to let everyone know, decals are now in stock and ready to ship out, I have a good pile of them here and hundreds more on hand. Water slide Aussie Mirage markings, could use them for other aussie AC as well.
Find them HERE!

Well I got busy over the weekend, seeing as it will be a few more weeks before I can fly again I wanted to get the Mirage done so the paint and clear coat hardens up nicely. My green is not as dark as it should be but not being able to drive meant going with what I had If it annoys me I can always redo it, got plenty of decals!

Decals are very easy to use, quite thick and strong for water slide, colours are not bad but the yellow and red could have been a bit deeper, so much for CMYK colour matching, trust the chinese to take no notice of colour codes....

Hi Mark,

Great Job, looks the part. I have just about finished my one too. I will post some photo's when that is done and decals applied. I didn't do as good a job as you did, just slapped her together. hehehehehe, I don't have any info on the throws. I have read somewhere that the Mirage doesn't need that much. What have you set your throws at? Just need a ball park for the first flight. We are going through floods and tornado's here in bundy at the moment so it might be next week before I have photos for you. Thanx mate, it's Great too, to hear that you are feeling much better and on the mend. Stay well, Mark

I hope you guys get through this weather unscathed, it looked really bad on the news last night, didnt realise how much tornado was going through up there!

I use small throws on the Mirage, and dual rates, my throws are usually around 5mm for ailerons with expo, and then double them up for low speed landing/takeoff. Eelvator I get as much as I can for landings, and around 10-15mm for flight, its not such an issue as the ailerons, the Mirage can get twitchy depending on its speed.