IsraDecal must be pretty near to covering all the important jet aircraft in the IAF inventory with the release of this particular sheet on the Mirage IIIB/C 'Shahak. Arriving in 1962 and in time for the Six Day War in 1967, the Shahak was the front line fighter for this particular conflict. Though rather short legged, it was able to carry out some pretty impressive ground attack sorties at the far reaches of its range. Despite the arrival of the F-4 Phantom for the 1973 Yom Kippur war, the Shahak still got the majority of air to air kills as the F-4, thanks to its prodigious carrying capability, was primarily used for ground attack missions. By the late 1970s the aircraft was at the end of its useful life. Most were re-engined with the same Atar 9C as carried in the Mirage V's that Israel flew and were also part of the Mirage IIIE. In the early 1980s, many extant Shahaks were sold to Argentina to replace losses from the Falklands War.

Through its life the Shahak wore three camouflage schemes. They were delivered in shiny bare metal, were then camouflaged in the well known four color scheme (which later had orange triangles added for the 1973 war and were later removed in 1979), and the final scheme of two greys (similar to what was carried on the F-15 Eagles), though only a few planes were ever so painted.

This superb IsraDecal sheet set provides a wealth of decals and allows you to mark your kit as nearly any Mirage IIIBJ/CJ that was ever operated by the Israeli Air Force. It includes a full set of orange triangle marks and has an additional white area for the insignia to prevent any problems with bleed through. A large number of 'kill' markings of all possible foes is also included, though I'm not sure my eyes can handle a three part decal this small!

IsraDecals has become one of the finest decal makers because of its outstanding instructions. What you really get is a 16 page historical booklet, full of profiles and photographs to help you with decal placement. About the only thing they don't give you is the new exhaust section for the Atar 9C engine that was later used, but I do believe that you can get this from one of the available kits.

Overall, another incredible set that is also available in 1/48 scale.

April 2005

Review sheet courtesy of and available from various retailers around the world.

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