Mirage IIIS conversion, Modelsvit 1/72

[Courageous]

What an update. Very impressive stuff.

 

Stuart

[colossusfr]

An amazing work !

 

alain

[Col.]

The quality continues. Lovely work David.

[Gene K]

Wonderful chronicle, thanks.

 

Gene K

[72modeler]

Just now discovered your WIP- what incredible modeling! Very clean and precise, and everything you have done to correct and enhance the details on this kit are spot-on! I'm not that well-versed on the Mirage III's, but the IIIO and IV are my very favorite French lawn darts, with the Aussie IIIO being my all-time favorite. Can't wait to see the RFI, David!

Mike

[mirageiv]

Thanks chaps, glad you are enjoying the WIP! Hopefully updates should be more frequent now until completion. 

 

4 hours ago, 72modeler said:

Just now discovered your WIP- what incredible modeling! Very clean and precise, and everything you have done to correct and enhance the details on this kit are spot-on! I'm not that well-versed on the Mirage III's, but the IIIO and IV are my very favorite French lawn darts, with the Aussie IIIO being my all-time favorite. Can't wait to see the RFI, David!

Mike

 

Cheers Mike, the kit OOB is so intricate (I think the most by a good margin I have ever seen in this scale) you have to be really careful in building it (it has been quite challenging tbh), especially since this will be a NMF. IIIS,  F-1EQ and IV are my fav from the Dassault line , oh and Rafale and IIIB and..... well most of them!

 

David 

Edited November 8, 2019 by mirageiv

[Hewy]

 I'm  late to the party but this is Most impressive david, especially for 1/72 , I'm  really looking forward to seeing those extra details under the nmf ,

smashing modelling

[Hook]

What the others said - very impressive!

 

Cheers,

 

Andre

[mirageiv]

Cheers Glynn and Andre!

 

The Modelsvit canopy fitted pretty well but I wasn't sure if it would look the part under a NMF and went ahead blending it in. The downside is there is next to no wiggle room in sanding the fames so I lost a little framing near the front, I'm hopping though to apply a few more layers of Mr.Surfacer primer near the front to build up a bit of frame, I'm not sure it will work we will see. 

 

 

 

After sanding and polishing I brushed on a layer of Klear to help bring it back.  I added the two little disc antennae mounts forward of the canopy which Modesvit has supplied some tiny etch ariels to go on.

 

 

 

There should be some more little details for the cockpit frame like the compass to go here but after the painting,

 

 

 

The various lights have been sprayed with Tamiya red/green clear so now I think ready for paint.

 

 

Thanks for looking,

 

David 

 

[Andrés S.]

Hi

I love the thorough work you are doing.
And I think that the Modelsvit kit I will have to ask because the detail it has on the surface seems very good. I have the Mirage III from PJ production and I am hoping that Special Hobby will launch his own but I think he will not be able to beat Modelsvit's.

 

Regards.

 

Andrés.

[Hewy]

Your detailing belies its true scale, impressive modelling david

[Col.]

Your great work continues to impress and all those tiny details will conspire to create a stunning finished model.

[reini]

Stunning work! Details really bring this to life and your quality of work and skills really show.

[mirageiv]

Thanks guys, glad you are liking the WIP.

 

I usually break off my Master pitot probe at least once during a build and well no exceptions here  

 

 

 

I'd inevitably do it again with all the masking needs for the paint job so instead I decided to cut off the tip of the Modelsvit IIIE nose to rebuild the tip and use the kit pitot ( the diameter is more true to the real thing after all) that I will simply glue on at the end.

 

I ended up combining the Master tip and kit pitot (still needs a bit of blending) to get the best of both worlds.

 

 

 

I've been looking forward to the painting as I've not really had a proper bash at a NMF before using Alclads. Looking at photos of the early Mirage IIIS deliveries the fuselage area and vertical fin seem to be relatively shiney, check out the reflection of the wing in the vertical fin in the photo below (Linked from this mc-one thread: https://forum.largescaleplanes.com/index.php?/topic/73589-mirage-iiis-swiss-air-force/page/5/)

 

 

 

The only Alclad paints that can really do this imho are the 'High shine' ones, my favourite for this is 'Highly Polished Aluminium.' This paint however is quite fragile (I've done quite a bit of testing) and masking over it seems touch and go, because of this I will paint these bits last and do all the other various painting first in order to avoid masking it.

 

This started with the fin antennae,

 

 

 

The Mirage IIIS could use the SEPR rocket for interception and this required the surrounding panel to receive protective paint, looking at the pictures I went with a yellow/green/tan shade. I haven't modelled the rocket engine here but it would be quite nice to add that in a larger scale build. 

 

 

 

The differences between the Mirage IIIS with other variants continues even with the painting of the red intake trim, it extends and fills into the intake splitter plate area (see this pic https://www.airfighters.com/photo/230277/M/Switzerland-Air-Force/Dassault-Mirage-IIIS/J-2305/). The Matterhorn decals provide this red trim but I don't have much confidence in my decal trimming abilities in this scale tbh so I opted to paint it instead. 

 

 

The red colour compared to the rest of the Matterhorn decals, I hope it will be close enough. 

 

 

 

After these areas were masked up (with difficulty on the red trim!) I decided to start painting with the basic more durable Alclads, so everything metallic bar the shiney areas. Before this I sprayed some gloss dark blue over various panels as a base for the Alclad Aluminium.

 

 

After a base layer of Aluminium various other Alclad shades were used on the different panels using quite a few pics as a guide, no jet seems to be absolutely identical but similar. The masking required has not been a small amount tbh but doing little bits here and there slowly buildings up the differing panel finish. I've finished all the small panels now so just the wings to do with normal Alclad before the 'High Shine' Alclad. 

 

 

 

 

 

I'm finding it a bit difficult to get the correct shades right, these Alclad paints change hue quite a lot depending on the lighting and angles you look at the model and some seem to be very dependant on the base colour underneath. For example the small panel below is aluminium and the surround 'dark aluminium' but the contrast doesn't seem to be enough here, more work needed! 

 

 

After I've finished the wings I can do the more polished fuselage surfaces, I think I need some more masking tape!

 

Thanks for looking,

 

David 

 

Edited December 18, 2019 by mirageiv

[Sting67]

Hi David,

 

even if it's a bit late for the info below, as you are almost done with painting the Mirage, I found some interesting tips on how to handle the Alclad II colors.

I still don't have any experience with Alclad II, so I can't say much about it. All I know is that the metalic shine is much better if the model is first primed with a high shiny gloss black.

But here's what I got:

 

ALCLAD Regular 101, 102, 103, 104, 106, 108, 109, 110, 111, 112, 113, 116, 117, 120, 121, 123 and 125 need ALCLAD Primer 302, 306 or 309.

 

ALCLAD High Shine 105, 107, 115, 118, 119 and 124 need ALCLAD Primer 303 or 305.

 

ALCLAD Transparent Colors can directly be sprayed on ALCLAD Regular;

ALCLAD High Shine must be sealed with ALCLAD Aqua Gloss 600.

 

Recommended Polisher: Micromesh Polish-Set 301.

 

Decal softener is not suitable for 105, 107, 115, 118 and 119!

 

Ramon

[Apex]

Fantastic paint job! Bookmarked this thread, will come handy whenever I start my kit. I can't say if the gloss blue shows through at all, but the aluminium looks absolutely gorgeous. Not sure why some people dislike the rivets on this kit; your picture of the real Mirage shows they are clearly visible, and in my opinion look just great on the model. To each their own I guess.

[mirageiv]

2 hours ago, Sting67 said:

Hi David,

 

even if it's a bit late for the info below, as you are almost done with painting the Mirage, I found some interesting tips on how to handle the Alclad II colors.

I still don't have any experience with Alclad II, so I can't say much about it. All I know is that the metalic shine is much better if the model is first primed with a high shiny gloss black.

But here's what I got:

 

ALCLAD Regular 101, 102, 103, 104, 106, 108, 109, 110, 111, 112, 113, 116, 117, 120, 121, 123 and 125 need ALCLAD Primer 302, 306 or 309.

 

ALCLAD High Shine 105, 107, 115, 118, 119 and 124 need ALCLAD Primer 303 or 305.

 

ALCLAD Transparent Colors can directly be sprayed on ALCLAD Regular;

ALCLAD High Shine must be sealed with ALCLAD Aqua Gloss 600.

 

Recommended Polisher: Micromesh Polish-Set 301.

 

Decal softener is not suitable for 105, 107, 115, 118 and 119!

 

Ramon

 

2 hours ago, Apex said:

Fantastic paint job! Bookmarked this thread, will come handy whenever I start my kit. I can't say if the gloss blue shows through at all, but the aluminium looks absolutely gorgeous. Not sure why some people dislike the rivets on this kit; your picture of the real Mirage shows they are clearly visible, and in my opinion look just great on the model. To each their own I guess.

 

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 

 

 

 

 

Edited November 24, 2019 by mirageiv

[Cookenbacher]

Another wonderful build thread David, it somehow managed to escape me until now. Amazing detail as usual, and looking forward to the final metal results.

[Navy Bird]

Not sure how I missed this thread, but I'm caught up now. Very impressive modelling! Can't wait to see the final NMF.

 

Cheers,

Bill

[mirageiv]

20 hours ago, Cookenbacher said:

Another wonderful build thread David, it somehow managed to escape me until now. Amazing detail as usual, and looking forward to the final metal results.

 

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! 

 

20 hours ago, Navy Bird said:

Not sure how I missed this thread, but I'm caught up now. Very impressive modelling! Can't wait to see the final NMF.

 

Cheers,

Bill

 

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

 

 

Edited November 25, 2019 by mirageiv

[Cookenbacher]

I think that the Testors stuff must be more forgiving than the Gunze Mr Metal, it can be masked without harm, but is susceptible to fingerprints. I've also heard that Mr Metal can deteriorate over time, while the Testors seems to look the same a couple years later anyway.

Either way, I'd give up metalisers in a heartbeat if I could build something to the standard of your current Mirage III, just beautiful David.

[Hairtrigger]

Your attention to detail for a model of this scale is mind blowing... 

I'm hammering away at the old Heller 1/72 Mirage at present feel like binning it after seeing your work.. 😁 

 

[mirageiv]

On 11/26/2019 at 10:42 PM, Cookenbacher said:

I think that the Testors stuff must be more forgiving than the Gunze Mr Metal, it can be masked without harm, but is susceptible to fingerprints. I've also heard that Mr Metal can deteriorate over time, while the Testors seems to look the same a couple years later anyway.

Either way, I'd give up metalisers in a heartbeat if I could build something to the standard of your current Mirage III, just beautiful 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. 

 

On 11/27/2019 at 9:39 AM, Hairtrigger said:

Your attention to detail for a model of this scale is mind blowing... 

I'm hammering away at the old Heller 1/72 Mirage at present feel like binning it after seeing your work.. 😁 

 

 

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 

Edited December 18, 2019 by mirageiv

[Andrés S.]

On 24/11/2019 at 19:40, mirageiv said:

The Mirage IIIS could use the SEPR rocket for interception and this required the surrounding panel to receive protective paint, looking at the pictures I went with a yellow/green/tan shade. I haven't modelled the rocket engine here but it would be quite nice to add that in a larger scale build. 

 

 

In relation to this painting point at the bottom I have doubts and I would like your help.

I am accumulating information to make, within a short time I hope, a Mirage IIIE of the Spanish Air Force. For its decoration, Modelsvit's instructions indicate that this area of the lower part was painted Zinc Cromate Yellow. However the instructions of PJ Production indicates that it should be painted like the rest of the bottom.
I have never really trusted the manufacturers instructions. Experience tells me that they are not always right. I prefer to check what I can through photos. In this sense I have not got a clear image of the bottom of the Spanish Mirege IIIE where you can clearly see what color that panel was. In some, at most, it can be seen that it looked much darker than the silver paint of the rest of the bottom.
The set of decals that I will use, which are reputed to be very correct in terms of fidelity, indicates that this panel should be painted in copper color. And I miss a color like that, on this or any relatively modern plane. Be it as a protective color or as unpainted metal.

I attached a photograph where you can see a darker color in the mentioned panel. It is the closest I am to knowing what color it is, which is not much. In the "Ciudad de las Artes y las Ciencias", specifically in the "Museo Principe Felipe" section of Valencia, my city, there is one hanging from the ceiling. It was donated by the Spanish Air Force after ceasing to be in service (since Mirage III was only destined at Manises Air Base at a distance of 5 km from Valencia), but it is a restored device and does not offer me confidence that it is absolutely true to reality.

I would appreciate any help.

 

Thank you very much in advance.

 

Regards.

 

Andrés.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited November 29, 2019 by Andrés S.

[mirageiv]

38 minutes ago, Andrés S. said:

In relation to this painting point at the bottom I have doubts and I would like your help.

I am accumulating information to make, within a short time I hope, a Mirage IIIE of the Spanish Air Force. For its decoration, Modelsvit's instructions indicate that this area of the lower part was painted Zinc Cromate Yellow. However the instructions of PJ Production indicates that it should be painted like the rest of the bottom.
I have never really trusted the manufacturers instructions. Experience tells me that they are not always right. I prefer to check what I can through photos. In this sense I have not got a clear image of the bottom of the Spanish Mirege IIIE where you can clearly see what color that panel was. In some, at most, it can be seen that it looked much darker than the silver paint of the rest of the bottom.
The set of decals that I will use, which are reputed to be very correct in terms of fidelity, indicates that this panel should be painted in copper color. And I miss a color like that, on this or any relatively modern plane. Be it as a protective color or as unpainted metal.

I attached a photograph where you can see a darker color in the mentioned panel. It is the closest I am to knowing what color it is, which is not much. In the "Ciudad de las Artes y las Ciencias", specifically in the "Museo Principe Felipe" section of Valencia, my city, there is one hanging from the ceiling. It was donated by the Spanish Air Force after ceasing to be in service (since Mirage III was only destined at Manises Air Base at a distance of 5 km from Valencia), but it is a restored device and does not offer me confidence that it is absolutely true to reality.

I would appreciate any help.

 

Thank you very much in advance.

 

Regards.

 

Andrés.

 

 

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