Le Mirage - Corel build log

[rostam_e_zaal]

Hi All,
I am fairly new to the ship building. The first ship I built was Constructo Albatros, which was very fun. I was looking for more challenge, and I found a good deal on Corel Le Mirage, and decided that Mirage is going to be the my second ship.

The kit seems very old and needs cleaning. The metal parts are losing gold plating, so painting is a must.

 

[rostam_e_zaal]

Started with the keel, and started assembling the pieces. I had to correct the size to reach the marked line, and made sure that the first deck is aligned. Then glued everything together.

 

[rostam_e_zaal]

A little bit of progress, Shaped the fillers to fit the bow.


Decided to assemble the base to use it as a keel holder for now. After gluing the two ends, figured the depth of the center piece is much lower. So I decided to cut the two ends to make them the same height as the center piece. It actually works perfectly, and now I can use it to hold the ship while working on it.

 

[rostam_e_zaal]

Got a chance to do more work on the model.
First starting from the stern, I noticed for the lower balcony to fit an extra 5 mm cut in the keel was needed. This was measured from the designs.



Then started with first layer of planking. On one side I followed the instructions, and on the other side followed my gut. The latter saves me more headache later on.
Side 1:

Side 2:


Then installed the gun ports. However, I made a change here. For the entrances, instead of using a closed port like the gun ports, I decided to have it open, and later on I will plank the floor to look nice.

 

[Peter Voogt]

What nice to see the build of the Corel ‘Le Mirage’. It gives me a great deja-vu. After first restoring a party build ‘Zwarte Zee’, this was my first build from start to finish of a ship model with this kit.
The box was visible from the shop window and as a 21 year old I walked past it quite a bit before I finally took the step inside and bought the kit on Mai 30th 1978 for fl. 595,00. (That’s +/- € 270,00 / $310,00.) Still have the note:

Build it during 1980 till 1984 and it’s still standing proud in my living:

For sure you will have a lot of fun building this model. Will follow it with great, partly emotional, interest.
Regards, Peter

 

[Albert Mary]

This kit looks as as old as the real man of war itself...

 

[Jack Sparrow]

I have completed the Mirage. I really enjoyed it because the plans were very good.

 

[Albert Mary]

I have completed the Mirage. I really enjoyed it because the plans were very good.

Yeah, Corel is still my fav company over the time. Nontheless, the Mirage was an ancient kit even in my early twenties in the 80's

 

[RussF]

The box was visible from the shop window and as a 21 year old I walked past it quite a bit before I finally took the step inside and bought the kit on Mai 30th 1978 for fl. 595,00. (That’s +/- € 270,00 / $310,00.) Still have the note:

Wow! $310 was a lot of money in 1978 - equal to $1519.00 today!

I found Corel's Mirage available at two sites for $690 (reduced to $483) and also $999 (reduced to $699). I wonder if it's the same kit as the old one?

 

[Jack Sparrow]

Wow! $310 was a lot of money in 1978 - equal to $1519.00 today!

I found Corel's Mirage available at two sites for $690 (reduced to $483) and also $999 (reduced to $699). I wonder if it's the same kit as the old one?

When I purchased it, about 5 years ago, it was around 500$ CAD.

 

[rostam_e_zaal]

Thanks for sharing and the encouragments. The ship is really beautiful, and I hope I can finish it in less than 4 years. Actually my first ship (Constructo Albatross) took about 13 years, mainly because of long pauses between stages.

I bought Mirage from eBay about 2 months ago for $260. I think it was a good deal. It seems to be complete as far as I can tell, the only missing parts I noticed are the cloth flags. Also, I think the kit was kept in a humid area, because some of the wooden parts were bent a little, including the keel (which I could fix with steam iron), and the cannon door hinges show corrosion damage. I will try some acid or base to see if I can clean them, and if successful, will paint them.


The wood stipes were mixed, and it was a little challenge to identify what I have. I tried to organize them and identify the types based on the instructions (not sure if I am correct):

And here is the rest of the wood strips in different thicknesses and also masts: