mirageiv

Thank you Markus for the kind words, yes the Swiss Mirages are quite special in the III series and their unit price reflected that at the time, even more so after their update programs. Everything I have done is pinched from others always, I'm just winging it! Cheers Andrés, glad you enjoy the progress, I'm waiting for more progress and lessons from your excellent Mirage F1 also! Thanks a lot Col, another Mirage fan! The decals are on (always seem a breeze compared to DACO's F-104 stencils now), I chose 'J-2305' as it was the aircraft in the video linked in the first post of this thread fully armed up. I will save the last Mirage IIIS of the production line, 'Geronimo' , for my 1/32 Mirage IIIS where the artwork should look more impressive in the larger scale, whenever I get around to it. I also applied a light oil wash and a water colour wash over the more delicate Alclads (polished/airframe aluminium-enamels thinners just strip this stuff regardless of clear coat). These early Swiss NMF Mirages were kept in pristine condition, especially newish ones in the 60's like my model so other than some streaking here and there and light grime I've not done much weathering. The Matterhorn decals really do a great job because the decal film is almost invisible over the NMF which I guess is always one of the pitfalls in these models, really chuffed with them. However, I have learnt another lesson in the world of NMF. On my first go at painting this model, I applied a clear coat of Aqua Gloss before placing the decals and the resultant decal film was invisible. Below is a photo of the prior paint/decal job without any Klear over the top of the decal, just underneath. Instead, this time I thought I wouldn't bother putting a clear layer underneath the decals and directly decal onto the Alclad to preserve more metal appearance which has backfired a tiny little bit. Below is a pic of the decal directly over the Alclad, then an Aqua gloss clear layer over the top. It is still nearly invisible and I've taken a photo at a non-flattering angle to highlight/capture it but the contrast in metal appearance between the naked Alclad underneath the decal and the Aqua gloss has shown up a little bit compared to how I went about it first time over. I guess the slight difference in reflectivity between the Alclad-decal-clear and Alclad-clear around the decal has caused this. So next time I'll apply a clear coat before and after the decals to have a uniform reflection and the film should be back to being 100% invisible again. Don't get me wrong it's still pretty much invisible but another interesting potential pitfall in the NMF world I hadn't thought about, I think the Matterhorn decal's thinness have probably helped here, thicker or ones with less transparent film really could have backfired with the contrast difference. After the decals and then the Aqua Gloss overall varnish to seal everything (which did take away a little bit of metallic feel but surprisingly not overly so) I then used MRP clear matt varnish (thinned with Gunze levelling thinner some more) to mottle over the wing panels and control surfaces as these on the Mirage IIIS were really quite a dull and flat aluminium in contrast to the fuselage. I got the MRP matt varnish specifically for this because it is so thin and clear it didn't change the metallic appearance of the Alclad at all, just making it flatter so it worked well. I still need to touch up a few of the little scoops on the underside. In order to get some of the smaller details on easier, I decided to finish the landing gear. I wish now I'd replaced the front lights with some clear lenses as they aren't great. When I added the details I just wanted to finish the project so kind of passed over them. The decals for the wheels come from the Matterhorn sheets. The gear parts as stated earlier were bit of a mess to clean up properly as there was some misalignment in them but I guess this is a short run kit after all so things like this aren't unusual. Getting the correct 'sit' was a tad difficult as using aftermarket wheels (with slightly different size to the kit) and the mods I had done to the nose leg made sure some adjustment was necessary. I *think* it is right enough now, the nose wheel fork could be adjusted and I've seen photos of it in all sorts of positions and therefore nose up attitudes of the Mirage so I just settled on one photo and set everything to that with a moderate pitch up. The small intake strengthening struts added (bleeding difficult!!) And another Swiss Mirage mod, the small triangular hoist hooks used for lifting and positioning the Mirages inside the mountain hangars. The red arrows on the right show another less than stella job I did in rescribing some of the spill over main panels after filling the rivets. I did the rescribing over a black primer and now remembered why I don't use black primers, seeing the work done/corrections was difficult for my eyes compared to light greys so I scribed too lightly (I thought better than too heavy at the time) and the result, a few places of inconsistent panels, I'll see if I can do something about it but correcting things and Alclad I've found don't go together so well. Also in this close up you can see the rivets on the wings are a different metal colour, I used Humbrol metalcote polished aluminium as a wash on these (the normal type Alclads underneath are bullet proof to any wash other than lacquers) and carefully applied it after studying some close up photos showing the brighter rivets, hardly noticeable in my other photos but quite nice in real life and something I'd do on other NMF models. A more focused close up of the forward hook, I think I used Humbrol metalcote steel for these. One more update for the remaining weapons, details etc...and we should be done. Thanks for looking, David

That is seriously outstanding, could easily pass for a 1/48 model! The weathering and (even more impressive for me) the overall crispness of the finish you have achieved are something to aspire too, awesome job! David

Thank you Cookie! I own none of these ideas though , everything I have done including the dry brush is seen here or online and just copied. I have borrowed your panel shading variation from your Mustang on my wings also however ...I think the combo of dry brush and tonal variation goes someway to helping us get the finish we want. My reference to foil is that you can use the grain and gently sand the foil to any sort of scuffing and wear you want, for me it still is the benchmark finish for NMF. As a point of reference, check out this Mirage build using foil: https://www.aircraftresourcecenter.com/Gal15/14001-15100/gal14037-Mirage-Doll/00.shtm I think that is simply the best representation of a NMF Mirage I have seen, my attempts to replicate something like that with paint I just can't do tbh, that's why I mention for my 1/32 build I will try foil route in hope of getting something 1/4 as good as the build linked above. Thanks for your input as always! Hi Srkirad, thank you and yep I'll either spray or brush a layer of Aqua Gloss over to protect everything. The Humbrol metalcote used for the dry brushing seems to argue with any non water based varnish going over it, so I'll go for the least intrusive to the finish. I will loose some shine and NMF feel but the protection to the decals and delicate Alclad I think is worth the trade off. Cheers Terry, thanks for the kind words and I agree with your points! I seem to be making a habit out of repainting models, my last two needed repaints so I'm going to be more careful in the future. So I began adding the first few decals yesterday and thought the model looked too pristine. I started to have second thoughts about building a super new finish in this scale, it was looking maybe a bit too toy like and needed more realism for my liking so I decided to make the dry brushing and wear a bit more obvious on the central fuselage and fin. I'll do more weathering later but not excessively as even examples of the IIIS in service for a few years were almost always relatively pristine. The below image shows more what I'm trying to do, I think it has some sort of filter exaggerating the tarnishing of the surface but it is more what I want to replicate, (used under clearance from poster of MC-ONE) I carefully dry brushed some more Humbrol Metalcote polished aluminium on the surface to exaggerate the wear compared to the previous post, also on the tanks My phone's camera seems to capture the dry brush finish better than my camera (but makes everything seem more chromatic), in reality it is somewhere between the two cameras, Back to the decals! Thanks for looking, David

Hi guys, well after a long delay I've almost got back to where I was a few months back. Whilst removing the crazed paint with Mr.Color thinners (it doesn't harm plastic even clear parts but strips anything), I realised there wasn't any easy option to remove the residue from the intake area so I broke off the forward fuselage area to get at it better. Whilst seemingly back to the building stage I decided to address a few things. First thing, I filled and scribed new correct panels on the wing using IIIS drawings and close up images of the wing. Swiss Mirages featured a slightly different panel set up here due to extra strengthening measures introduced to the airframe compared to baseline variants. Before and after below, spot the difference, not much but it makes the model seem that bit more a true Mirage IIIS in my mind. Also maybe noticeable, I have reduced the appearance of the rivets on the wings and vertical fin by some sanding. After looking at many photos I decided to fill the rivets on the fuselage as despite them being readily apparent on the wings and fin, the fuselage hardly showed any visible rivet traces, especially if we consider the scale. I used Zap-A-Gap superglue and even with this I kept finding rivets here and there that refused to be filled. It became a game of 'whack a mole' in a way as I spotted some and filled them, after the sanding a few more appeared in other places so I called it a day after most had been sorted, my excuse is that on the real airframe some of the rivet lines are visible here and there in a sporadic way so I'm cool with not getting every one. I then repainted the model roughly the same way as before with some changes in the order, fortunately I saved all the little masks I made for the tiny access panels across the airframe, this saved hours of masking second time around! The finish is my attempt to replicate an almost factory fresh Mirage IIIS soon after delivery, so this called for some quite reflective areas such as the main fuselage and vertical stabiliser. The exact finish I was trying to achieve can best be seen in this linked video below from the website 'notrehistoire.ch' (which has some great videos on the Swiss Airforce), showing detailed construction of the Mirages in Switzerland. Go to the time '35.55' in the video and you can see the different finishes of the various areas of the airframe of what think is a brand new or near new airframe. https://notrehistoire.ch/entries/49a8VOvPWnv time, 35.55. My photos here really aren't capturing reality but you get the gist, I'll take RFI photos outdoors where the finish really comes alive. Trying to replicate a foil finish with paint I'm finding is an impossible task for my abilities, I'm not good enough to do it so for my 1/32 Mirage IIIS I think I will try foiling first which should give the look I'm truly after. I used Alclad Airframe aluminium for the darker reflective areas such as the fin, intakes and rear exhaust shroud and a 50-50 mix of Airframe and Polished for the brighter fuselage areas. The forward fuselage around the cockpit simply used Alclad normal aluminium with polished aluminium over the top to replicate a modest shine. The nose rings around the folding nose cone were painted with airframe and white+polished aluminium to give the various contrasts here. I did mottle the Alclads on the wings to the vary the finish but again this is largely lost on the photos which is rather annoying! I've sprayed the red intake trim at the end this time to prevent any paint lip build up, because of the super smooth fuselage surfaces any paint lip is magnified and impossible to really work on properly without damaging the surrounding Alclad, the decals do cater for this but cutting them and adapting their fit I think would be harder to do than just paint it. However, I left the red trim around the avionics hatch behind the cockpit and will use decals here as painting the correct shape of red trim here was really tricky to do correctly and symmetrically first time, best left to the decals which fit well here. I noticed in a few images a strange patchwork pattern along the rivet lines on the underside wing panels so below is my attempt to replicate it. The exhaust is just in primer atm. There are plenty of shades and mixes of Aclad all around the airframe but the photos aren't doing them much justice. After painting Alclad's aiframe and polished aluminium you get a super reflective finish which I find not so realistic, it looks like you have dipped your model in chrome so I slightly weathered it up with thin mottling of normal non high shine alclads (thinned with levelling thinner btw which helps a lot) and then dry brushed very very slightly with Humbral Metalcote polished aluminium which gives a slight bit of 'texture' and grain or character to the finish, enough to take it from a mirror finish but to still be shiney. This last dry brushing is largely lost on the photos but hopefully I can capture it better later on. It is hard to see. I did a little bit a blotching on the wings too. I decided to spray the main crosses on the upper fuselage (to speed things up I'll simply use decals on the lower wings). First time I've done this and I totally underestimated how long it takes to get everything lined up correctly, kudos to those who do this often! Btw in the below pic the fuselage looks a bit duller compared to the other photos, this is because I over did the dry brushing so after a layer of Alclad Aqua gloss as a barrier I re-sprayed the Aiframe and Polished aluminium to bring back the shinier finish, then repeated with a much more subtle dry brushing. I used Tamiya matt paints with levelling thinner to reduce any chance of a lip forming around the mask, overcoated with MRP super clear and a final very high grade micromesh gave a result I'm really chuffed with, not perfect but from normal distance I'm happy. This is ready to start adding the decals now. I've also been working on some of the smaller details. First up the modified front gear leg and extended nose wheel fork. The Swiss had strengthened gear but also an extended, positionable nose wheel fork used to adjust the height of the aircraft (raising the front therefore dropping the rear) to allow the vertical fin to duck under the entrances of the mountain hangars. On the left is the Modelsvit part (I have two kits) and the right shows my modified version using 1:1 dimensions to make sure everything is ok, here is a pic of the real thing for comparison: http://master194.com/photo_avion/mirage3-suisse/pages/train-avant01_jpg.htm I'll be using the kit's nose wheel with a thin steel rod as the axel or strength, I know it looks small but this took ages to replicate and adjust! I've scribed some tread into the wheel since this photo which is the problem with the Modelsvit wheels, they don't have any and in this scale is a hard thing to add. I'm using the Reskit main wheels because of the tread issue and added some basic brake lines to the main legs. I found the main legs to be pretty horrible tbh, there was tooling misalignment between the parts (one half had shifted) so cleaning them up was difficult in this scale, they aren't perfect but will do. The Barracuda resin ejection seats I realised aren't quite correct for the Mirage, they are for the EE Lightning and have the side walls. So I carefully sanded these off and then rounded off the cushion and added a few fold creases to better represent the Mirage IIIS seat. Also a few extra parts like the oxygen supply were added using a good online walk around of the seat. The base sides needed some sanding to fit into the Modelsvit cockpit but this will all be hidden when in place, the pull handles will be added at the end. I've been working on the armament too. I got some Eduard Brassin Aim-9Bs as they really nail the sidewinders in this scale imho but I noticed something a bit strange during painting. One of the four missiles provided was noticeably shorter than the other three, and the other three had these strange raised panels on the outer surface. Looking at some photos of Aim-9Bs, these seem to be fictional so I made up another Aim-9B of the same length and sanded off all the raised panels, now both equal and ready for painting. Strange! The seeker heads will be made up with Gauzy glass agent. Sorted, I've been at this model since last August, about time I finish it now! (oh and a RF-104G from a group build a year ago) Thanks for looking, David

Really great work, the cockpit looks fantastic! I have a IIICJ planned from the Heller kit using the Eduard details and decals so an interest topic for me. How do you plan to do the NMF? I agree also on the AK real colors being much better matches than Gunze in the few I have used, I plan to use more in the future. Best, David

Beautiful F-104, the red tip rails and lack of tanks really compliment the look, superb! Love the tarp too! David

Cracking chopping Cookie! Kit-bashes are quite fun if they kits are relatively similar, I look forward to see how you tackle this one. David

Fantastic result Cookie! The patina with the NMF fuselage really paid off, I think this is the way to go for a worn NMF using paint, the combo of various metallics blended but also some subtle dry brushing here and there, really top work! I'm going to go with this method too. How much did the clear layer knock off from the variation? From the pictures it doesn't look like anything at all but I know pics can be deceptive in portraying what we see in reality on our bench. David

Ah, well that whooshing sound you may of heard wasn't Fritag reliving some of his Hawk hours in his model cave, but the intended meaning of your post going right by my head. Apologies to you mate also for any conveyed preciousness on my part, I thought I'd better make myself clearer incase it did come across wrong to those enjoying the thread! Crack on chaps David p.s I now understand why this thread is 135 pages, the modelling alone frankly takes the p**s, which then merely is the building blocks of plenty of more p**s taking, good stuff.

Superb work Cookie, I always enjoy a thread by yourself and great to see you back at it ! I'm interested to see how the blue base works out here, I don't use Vallejo so I can't comment. The main reason I used it on my build (I should have used a lighter, dark blue (what?!) than I did tbh) was that the Alclad Polished Aluminium over it is semi-transparent, so a slight blue hue will come through, which did give some kind of allure that it is under a blue sky, slightly being reflected from the metal fuselage. I'm not sure how much this works however on the more opaque metallic paints of other manufacturers, surely it must come through as they always seem dependant on the base colour to some extent. On the non-transparent Aclads I used, the blue base did still come through a little but not quite the same effect as with the semi-transparent Alclad. I'm eager to see how this turns out! David

hmm ok poor phrasing I agree. What my brain intended was, "That cockpit is really outstanding, the fact that it is in a 1/72 Hawk even more so". I'd assumed we could all see it is fantastic regardless of scale. Anyways, top work Fritag!

This cockpit is outstanding for 1/72, just brilliant work! David

Fantastic work! The 'Slivers' F-104 looks very slick with just the Aim-9s and the Luftwaffe is looking the business! My Italeri main canopy arrived to me cracked in the box IIRC and they still made me buy a new clear sprue (hence the missing main) so they take no prisoners on replacement parts. I look forward to them being completed. David

See post 22 of this thread. Again I will repeat it in short here to prevent any confusion. It is entirely possible to backdate the Tamiya Block 50 kit to any version you want, A to D (and all the rest) but you must use the Revell kit for parts as the dimensions between Tamiya and Revell are very close indeed. The only reason I attempted these was due to the similarity of the kits. Tamiya Block 50 kit backdated to Block 10 A using Revell parts below (which is the same as 1, the earliest operation variant), still to be finished. Tamiya Block 50 kit backdated and converted to Block 15 F-16B using Revell parts. If you are alluding to whether it is worth it or not after doing it, imho, no. Revell's kits are 80% as good as Tamiya so I wouldn't bother to do it again, it was a lot of work. David

Excellent work Andrés, I look forward to this WIP! How you managed to make such a clean refinement to the intakes in this scale is very impressive, I think a lot more difficult than it looks. David

Thanks Kushan, agreed the NMF Mirages look so nice! Cheers Cookie, it did surprise me when I came to the model an hour later after spraying, it looked pretty nice when I clear varnished it. I can't blame anything but myself, there was always a chance of it happening I guess when using a wet layer of X-22+levelling thinner. I have stripped a model before using Mr Color thinners which was clear varnished with Aqua gloss, where the Mr Color thinner had a lot of difficulties removing the Aqua gloss compared to the underlying paint so I assumed 2 layers of Aqua gloss was going to be a sufficient barrier here, guess not! Thanks guys! I'll fix it when I can. Cheers Graeme, yes the Mirage IIIS was quite an interesting and specialised variant of the delta. I've ordered another set of Matterhorn decals and will try to contact Modelsvit to purchase a replacement set of the kit decals for the walkways etc...as they fit the kit accordingly. hmm I might think about trying to use foil on the model second time around, at least I'll avoid potential problems like this! David

Well the decal stage arrived. The Matterhorn decals are rather comprehensive, you can decal two of any Mirage IIIS/RS throughout their operation history from very early NMF aircraft to the final canard equipped KAWEST85 updated camouflaged aircraft which is great. The few missing off my sheet below were used in tests to see how they would go over a NMF, they are super thin so everything looked good! During the decal phase I realised I had masked off the red trim around the fuselage avionics panel incorrectly (the red trim covered the panel too much as threw off the look), it was a borderline 'is it worth it?' decision but I went ahead and corrected the red trim, first off by sanding the access panel to prep for Alclad, Black surfacer then polished up. After accidentally pulling off the intake warning triangles with Tamiya tape during the process I more approximately made little decal coverings (paper over the decal secured with tape) to prevent the same story with the main markings. Going back a few steps, before I placed the decals, I applied a brushed layer of Alclad Aqua gloss over the main fuselage to protect the delicate Alclad Polished Aluminium, I find I get a much better finish with Aqua Gloss by brushing rather than spraying and this does a great job at allowing you to handle this paint with no rub off. Then to add a little wear to the metal finish I dry brushed slightly various panels and areas with Humbrol Metalcote polished aluminium and steel in various mixes, very subtle to break up the pristine finish like in the previous posts, unfortunately it is difficult to capture on the photos. After this another layer of Aqua Gloss was brushed on to protect this, so that is two layers on so far, this is important for later, then I went ahead with the decals. I choose the aircraft 'J-2336' Geronimo which was the last aircraft off the Swiss production line with some nice artwork, these freshly delivered jets had slightly different stencils (more French) in places, soon these were replaced with more Swiss trilingual German, French and Italian stencils so you need to check exactly what time your aircraft is the decal correctly. I was worried about any decals over a NMF, the decal film is always supposed to be a problem. The Matterhorn decals were quite the opposite, the decal film is practically invisible and really didn't even need a clear layer over the top, very impressive. Check this close up of 'J-2336' number below, this is without a clear layer over the decal and no trimming of the film. I have no relation to Matterhorn-Circle and I'm certainly not here to advertise anything, but I think how good they were deserved to be highlighted. I choose to build J-2336 as it came off the production line. The airbrake decals and red wing walkways were from the Modelsvit kit sheet as they are sized very specifically to the kit's dimensions in these places, these went on very well indeed also, top decals all around fortunately! I didn't apply any decal softener to the crosses as, contrary to any other build I've done, I didn't want them to shrink into the rivets, highlighting the rivets through the white of the cross I think wouldn't look so scale going off images of the real aircraft. The dry brushing of Humbrol Metalcote gave a slight variation to the super pristine Alclad in the prior posts and I was quite pleased how it helped bring a bit a realism (or at least non uniformity), it is difficult to photo but in the shot below you can get a sense of it, Then, disaster. I decided to spray a fine clear varnish layer over the model to protect the decals, only a few light layers to avoid disrupting the Alclad shine too much using Tamiya X-22 clear and levelling thinner. I tested it prior and it worked just fine over Alclad, no reaction, no crazing just a super clear rock hard varnish that kept the NMF really well, better than Aqua gloss. man-vegetables. I'm guessing the levelling thinner penetrated the two brushed layers of Aqua gloss, then the Alclad Polished Aluminium, then the underlying Xtracolor gloss enamel and finally reactived the Mr.Color lacquer paint underneath all of this, which then reacted with the Xtracolor enamel on top of it and crazed everything. Pretty gutted tbh, tough way to learn this lesson on this model! I thought there was always a chance but I wrongly assumed enough barriers were between the X-22 and the earlier Mr. Color silvers. There is no reaction on the wings where no enamel paint was applied over Mr.Color, so thinking logically the Xtracolor enamel-Mr.Color interaction therefore has to be the reason for the fuselage crazing. I didn't do a test piece of Mr.Color---Xtracolor enamel---Alclad---Aqua gloss---X-22 as it wouldn't have been a quick test, another lesson there, if in any doubt whatsoever always test paint compatabliity no matter what! I think I would be able to strip all the paint off, hopefully trying not to get any paint remover inside the cockpit, but because of the scale this will be a difficult job indeed. I just don't fancy doing this and then going through the tortuous paint process all again anytime soon, so I'm going to put the model aside for a bit until I'm prepared to fix this carefully probs in the new year, way too much work has been done modifying the base kit to quit on it totally. I'm sorry to those viewing and commenting on the thread that is ends here for now. Cheers, David P.S

Dave that paint job is perfect, super crisp! Just a fantastic model. David

Wow, just a brilliant F-15A, I love the crisp blue look and you have done an excellent job replicating it! Are the exhausts nozzles kit items? They look not too dissimilar to my Aires resin ones. I plan to also build an early F-15A and this will be my reference, absolutely top draw! David

Thanks Squibby, I was pleased also how the cockpit turned out by my eyes were not! Col, Cookie, thank you guys, glad you like it! I'm going to try and weather it a bit now to introduce some texture to the 'metal' as maybe it is looking a bit too pristine atm, well we will see how it goes in the next update! Hi Andrés, yep the first photo in the article was the only photo I could find that gave a reasonable clue to the colour of this panel, finding a clear photo here seems difficult for a Spanish Mirage. I agree and would go ahead with weathering a base of zinc chromate yellow, especially as you plan for a weathered example. As you are going to build the kit I can't stress enough you must test fit the main landing gear assemblies with the wings and fuselage to prevent fit problems later on when you attach the forward fuselage+nose assembly, the tolerances with the kit's fit are small and problems can snowball from this point if the main landing gear bays are allowed to distort the fuselage/wing before you attach the forward nose/fuselage assembly. Cheers guys, David

No problem Eero, I'm happy to help and glad it arrived ok, I feared it was MIA! Great work on the Kinetic kit also, I think I will get one soon and build a RNoAF example with the Eduard decals. Cheers, David

Hi Andrés I agree, I never 100 percent trust manufacturers instructions blindly, I always use images of the real subject to check things, nothing beats the original source! I'm no expert on Mirages nor Spanish jets but I would assume this panel is generally coloured like other operators of the base Mirage IIIE airframe that used the SEPR rocket, or when they used the SEPR. From my findings on the Mirage IIIS, the colour of this protective paint could vary from a lighter tan-yellow (with a hint of green) when new to a darker shade, mostly due to oil and dirt streaking from the underside panels and maybe rocket exhaust fumes if fired. Sometimes this panel wasn't even painted with this coating and the rocket was still ignited! The Matterhorn decal instructions for the IIIS state it as a 'translucent tan-green paint coating' over this panel for SEPR firings. I used this image for mine, but as my model will be of a very new aircraft I made it slightly lighter on my model, (linked from pininterest) I think the dark lighting and contrast in the above photo is making it look darker than reality. If you look at this article linked below on flying the Spanish Mirage IIIE, the first photo you can just see the colour of this paint on the Spanish Mirage IIIE, https://hushkit.net/2017/10/16/mirage-pilot-part-1-mirage-versus-phantom/ . To my eye, it is maybe a bit more yellow and tan as the coating looks quite fresh, this then would darken with flying hours and the associated weathering. If you are planning to model a weathered example, I would start with this yellow-tan colour then go from there with different paint shades and oil staining, it does always seem a very matt finish so it probably accumulated dirt quickly to produce a darker non uniform shade like your image. From the images I have seen this panel is not always painted however on the Spanish Mirage IIIE and the normal aluminium/silver paint colour is there, I guess the SEPR rocket was not planned for use anytime soon. I hope that helps a bit, just my take on it if I were to build a Spansh Mirage IIIE. Thanks for commenting, David

Cheers Cookie! It sounds like the Testors stuff is certainly better, I must try and find some and give it a go. The Gunze metal looks really fantastic when polished up, I think better than Alclad, but has literally zero ability for handling and masking. Any protective clear over the top greatly reduced the shine and metallic lustre in my tests so I went with good old Alclad in the end. Cheers Hairtrigger, I didn't plan on making this build so involved (after all I will build the IIIS in larger scales) but the kit does give a level of detail in places that rivals the large scales so I found myself doing bit more than planned. I've built a few Heller 1/72 Mirages before, a nice kit for it's age but this Modelsvit kit is from a different planet by comparison tbh! Since I began this build back in August (yikes its almost 2020 now!) I've been doing little tests of Alclad here and there in order to home in to what I think would give the best metal appearance. To make it clear here I think I should say IMHO nothing beats a well done foil job (well it is metal after all) as it has not only a great shine but also the graining and texture. I've never foiled a kit before but the surface details and small scale of the Modelsvit kit ruled that out for me, it would have been a steep learning curve on this one. So, after trying other metal paints I went with Alclad and was sure from the start I would use the 'High Shine Polished Aluminium' for some of it. Again referencing this pic, You can see the fuselage and vertical fin are much more reflective than the wings, annoyingly for us modellers whilst being shiney it also shows wear and scuffs. It isn't a mirror but it is shiner than what you get with standard metallic Alclads, sort of an awkward in between. The Alclad Polished Aluminium (PA) is not lacquer based like the non high shine Alclads, but Alcohol based, semi-transparent and should be applied over an enamel primer. The base primer has a huge impact on the final hue of the PA as you can at some acute angles 'see through' the PA to the underlying base primer due to the transparency of the paint. With this in mind I experimented with using reflective silvers as a base to then apply the more metallic and reflective PA over the top, so you only see metallic paint from whatever angle you view the model. Doing this, you won't get a super reflective mirror surface like an enamel gloss black base but it gives you a chance to pre-shade and vary the silver tones under the PA to make it appear more weathered, whilst also not seeing the gloss black base at certain angles when viewing the model. I did some testing and it looked pretty darn good but I was conscious the Mr.Color paints I used were not enamel as instructed by Alclad. I was ok with this as after testing with Humbrol gloss black I thought it was too shiney, an amazing finish if you want a mirror but too reflective for this Mirage. So I sprayed a base coat of Mr.Color 8 and 159 silver, then masked off and sprayed some darker more chrome-ish panels a darker base colour. After this I then used various mixtures of super thin gloss black and silver to vary the tones of the surface just like a did in my tests which worked out well to vary the appearance of the Alclad PA going on top. In my prior tests I then sprayed Alclad PA over this silver mottle to get quite a nice varied and shiney polished finish. However this time for some flipping reason on the model itself I decided to spray over a few wet layers of GX-122 UV gloss to really make the surface shine before the Alclad PA, assuming it would be ok because they were all Mr. Color Lacquers so no problemo. I was wrong! I applied two very light layers of Alclad PA over this and then stopped and thought something wasn't right, the model had next to no metallic hue like I knew Alclad PA should have, instead it was like a super bright silver, Damn it, the GX gloss really didn't get on with the Alclad PA. No crazing or bad reactions, very smooth and shiney in fact but most of the metallic lustre Alclad PA has just wasn't there, it had killed the 'metalness' which completely defeats the point of using Alclad. So lesson one learnt, you can over lay Alclad PA over Mr.Color silvers no problem, but not the GX gloss series. I then thought maybe I could just spray over the Alclad with Mr.Color silver again and repeat the process but without the GX gloss, however as the Alclad PA is delicate and alcohol based I wasn't so confident in putting strong Mr.Color Lacquers over the top of it, I seriously didn't want to strip this model given all the time and masking I'd put into it incase things went tits up. So I just began winging it. A dark gloss enamel is what the instructions say you should do, so I then kept it simple and followed with a very very thin few layers of a very dark gloss blue, specifically Xtracolor Frecce blue with Humbrol gloss black mixed in. I had again done some testing of dark blue bases under the Alclad PA before and liked the result, it gives the Alclad PA a slight hue as if the reflective metal is under a blue sky, it is very easy to overdo it however so I went conservative and made a mix pretty close to black. With hindsight whilst typing this I should have made it a bit more blue as the hue is very discrete on my painted model. Lesson two, use a dark blue enamel base but not too dark! Sorry for the crappy pic. I only applied two very thin layers just to put an enamel base for the Alclad PA, so the previous metal layers still came through somewhat, a dark metallic blue now! I had by now suspected Alclads instructions of an enamel base for the high shine paint isn't just for a dark shiney surface, but something chemically in the Alclad paint bonds and shines so much better with the enamel base, much much more than any of the umpteen acrylic or lacquer bases I had tested. I think the prior tests with Mr.Color 8 silver as a base only worked because that paint in itself was rather metallic already and reflected though the semi-transparent Alclad PA. After a few days drying I then masked off the darker base areas and applied two thin layers of Alclad PA, leaving about 20 mins between layers, very gradually building up the shine. As the paint is transparent and works on reflectivity of the underlying base, the more you put on the more standard and less high shine aluminium it becomes. However look at the difference in metallic lustre, it was huge! This proved it for me, it doesn't matter how shiney or dark your base is, if you don't use an enamel base you will not get the full metallic nature of this paint. Darker masks off, Then I applied another thin layer of Alclad PA. After this I then checked if the contrast between the small masked off fuselage panels (previously sprayed in non high shine Alclad Aluminium) was ok, It was too stark so all the little masks came off, Then two more layers of Alclad PA were sprayed over the fuselage to blend everything in a bit more, finally stopping at the shine I was happy with. It isn't a mirror as that would be too much for the subject, but it is quite reflective. All the masks were then removed to see what is what. It is a guessing game at this stage, I will clear the model so trying to preempt the final shine after the clear is guesswork for me atm. The contrast between the darker panels wasn't quite as much as I'd hoped but overall I'm happy indeed! The finish is difficult to photo depending on numerous factors. For example compare the above images to the more darker reflective fuselage below, in reality it looks quite different in differing lighting and angles. I need to do a little more painting on the undersides, namely making those dark panels lighter and brush painting the air scoops and small circular panels a more matt aluminium but maybe after the clear to allow handling. The folding nose needs a little detail painting on the bolt/hoist areas too, too small to mask and paint! I'm waiting until the Alclad PA cures for a few days first however. The enamel gloss surface could have been better if I'd just gone for an enamel base at first, prior metallic layers and Mr.Color among others have slightly taken the edge off a super smooth surface but I'll chalk all this up to experience and at least now I know the order I'll use to paint NMF builds. To further highlight my opinions on the difference between an enamel base vs other for this paint check the pic below. The fuel tank was primed with Mr. Color GX lacquer gloss black + levelling thinner then with neat levelling thinner misted over to make it as reflective as I could, it was just as shiney as Humbrol gloss black. I then spayed some very light layers of Alclad PA over, whilst shiney it is miles away from the metallic lustre on the Mirage model itself, I swear it is something chemical wise in the paint doing this. I know in the future if I use the Alclad high shine paint I will only use an enamel base, maybe someone reading here has different findings on using Lacquer bases, if so I'd be interested. The saviour, a very used looking tin of X374! I will let the Alclad PA cure for a bit. I'm unsure weather to clear coat it before and after the decals or just after. I've tested the Matterhorn decals and they are very thin, I don't even think a clear coat is needed for the decal film but to protect the paint it will need it. It is a very delicate paint and will inevitably loose some metallic properties with clear. I've tested the following ones below, For me Tamyia X-22 + levelling thinner was the best by far, it really keeps most of the metallic nature of the paint and provides a great acrylic barrier for some oil washes. The GX is too aggressive, Aqua gloss was ok but not amazing imho, maybe I couldn't spray it right but I didn't waste anymore time testing after X-22 it was that good. The MRP varnishes are new to me, fantastic stuff! The MRP gloss doesn't dull the shine much either but it is so thin it is pointless to use it on order to hide decal film, it's just too thin, amazing stuff for glossing up various smaller sub assemblies though quickly. I plan using these to vary some of the panels to make the surface sheen non uniform again after the X-22 clear. The final decision now is whether to dry brush the Alclad slightly with Humbrol Metalcotes to bring bit of texture to the panels, I have tested it a few times like my first go below, (btw the tank on the right was Mr Color gloss black base, the left used Humbrol enamel, again a big difference in appearance before the dry brushing.) Sometimes it looks very convincing if done lightly and really brings to life the Alclad, other times it looks exactly like what is is, dry brushed silver over Alclad, in testing I've found it hard to keep it a consistent good finish. I'm unsure yet but I guess the model is looking a bit too pristine as it is now, hmm decisions. Thanks for looking! David

Cheers cookie! I'm finally attempting a NMF! I did try the buffable type metalizers (Gunze though as Testors seems v.difficult to find here in the UK) as per your technique when deciding on the paint btw. In short I think those give a more realistic metal appearance than Alclad but I just could not mask them properly without halfway ruining the appearance (I think the Gunze Mr.Metal color is extremely fragile) and getting the super fine metal pigments everywhere over everything, how you pull it off with such great results I don't know! Cheers Bill, glad you are liking the WIP! The wings are almost done I think, they are symmetrical in shades but are tricky to photo, especially in sub par lighting. I will do a few more panel shades asymmetrically as per the real Mirage IIIS. I'm not sure how many shades are on the thing now but it looks close enough to the pics. I'm learning with this so I'm not sure if the patchwork might look overdone later, I've tried to make the contrasts noticeable enough but subtle also to look natural, like the image linked in the prior post. I could always shoot a thinned 'blend layer' if needs be later on. Thanks for looking! David

Ramon, Apex thank you for your input and help! I don't think I have explained myself properly in the painting so far so your info isn't too late, it is only about 1/3 complete. The aluminium you see was simply an overall base layer of straight and relatively dull 'Alclad II Aluminium' that I then used to mask off various smaller panels (much easier than spraying many smaller panels individually) like the small less reflective access panels on the fuselage (check the real J-2310 image). Then further shades such as 'Dull Aluminium,' 'Duraluminium' etc...were used on other smaller panels around the wings, fin etc... All these have been masked off ready for the main shades now to go on the wings and fuselage which should be in the next update. In the last image I spayed some Dark aluminium on the wing as a check to see if the contrast was good, but I can see some mixing with darker shades will be needed or a base layer of black to help make the colour more 'solid'. After the wings I'll then move to the 'High shine Polished Aluminium' on the fuselage and vert fin using different base primers, gloss black, silver etc...this is when it should get a nice shine to these parts more like the picture of J-2310, well that is the plan hopefully. Apex-Yes I agree, the gloss blue will not show through really on the Lacquer non 'High shine' Aclads like the basic aluminium as I found out, tbh it was more just to give a smooth base for the normal aluminium layer. I did some testing with the High shine Polished Aluminium however over gloss dark blue and because of the semi-transparent nature of that paint it does give the aluminium a slight hue which looks good, almost like the model is under a blue sky (very subtle however), I'll get some pictures for the next update hopefully. I've not yet made my mind up on the rivets. Somedays I look at real pics and think they look good, others maybe a tad too much, I'll wait until I have finished the kit to make up my mind though! Cheers guys, David