Eduard 1/48 Mirage IIIC, Djibouti - Work in progress

Hi gents,

Just a little update, nothing special.

Cockpit completed. Needs a few touch-ups but that's that. 

Primed with Vallejo black primer, filtered with Vallejo Intermediate Blue and washed with a black wash. Slight wear drybrushed with aluminium.

The seat was painted with Tamiya Olive Drab and filtered with Tamiya yellow followed by a brown wash. Then the seatbelt decal was applied with some more brown wash. 

As I said, nothing special.

I didn't plan on putting too much time into the cockpit and investing in interior details as the canopy will be closed anyway. This will be a simple weekend edition OOB, more of a practice and painting experimentation model. 

Thanks for looking!

Best,

Nikola

Hi gents,

The cockpit is in. 

Since I will have the canopy open due to some misalignment of the canopy and the fuselage top (could be my own doing) I thought to add some interest by painting the ejection pull handles as they should be.

The handle is wrong as it should be a "D" handle, but I just didn't have enough patience and will to change it this time. It is what it is.

I masked the darn thing which was very touchy, nevertheless interesting, so the scale of the spiral is probably off.

I could have just painted it without masking but hey, why do it easy when you can complicate things. 

Thanks for looking!

Best,

Nikola

I shouldn't have thinned down the yellow that much for brush painting since now I have it in a slightly thicker layer than I intended.

Lesson learned.

A couple of closer (bad) shots:

That's a nice-looking cockpit, Nikola.  

Hutch6390

That's a nice-looking cockpit, Nikola.  

 

 

Thanks Hutch! Glad you like it.

It's OOB so not too interesting but I am giving it a shot to make it slightly better.

Still got to add red to the handle attachment point. Forgot that completely. :) 

Best,

Nikola

Hi gents,

OK, definitely not a kit for someone with little free time like moi. 

The fit is not tragic, but also not very good. Needs filling, sanding, rescribing and all that jazz which I would rather not be doing that much right now. I should probably have chosen a nice Tamiya kit...  ...and should probably stick with Tamiya kits until the kids are a bit older and I have more time to waste on fixing fit issues.  

Anyway, pushing through... Almost ready for the primer.

It is a practice build anyway.

Thanks for looking guys!

Best,

Nikola

Very nicely done!  Great craftsmanship.

Your friend's, Toshi & Ezra

Tosh

Very nicely done!  Great craftsmanship.

Your friend's, Toshi & Ezra

 

Thank you very much Toshi and Ezra. Glad you like it so far.

We'll see how it turns out in the end. 

Best,

Nikola

Nice work so far.  Those big step gaps are the worst.  I find they take the most time and are the most dificult to conceal but it looks like you're working the issues.  Comming along nicely.

keavdog

Nice work so far.  Those big step gaps are the worst.  I find they take the most time and are the most dificult to conceal but it looks like you're working the issues.  Comming along nicely.

 

Thanks Keavdog!

Yep, it was a pain in the butt. Had to fill it twice or three times. We'll see what the primer says, haha.

Best, 

Nikola

BTW I did the ESCI KFIR as an aggressor - almost went in the trash or 3 times, proabably my biggest nightmare of a kit.  Maybe it's a Dassault issue lol

The Mirage is looking great. Surprised how big it is in 1/48.  Keavdog, nice job on the Kfir. I built that kit years ago and I remember it being a tough one. 

keavdog

Maybe it's a Dassault issue lol

Hahaha, Dassault Aviation Filler Co. :) 

That's a crackin' camo scheme on the Kfir. Looks great!

I was thinking of using Vallejo Middlestone and Green Brown for the camo, and Sky Blue or USAAF Light Gray for the underside. Any better suggestions? 

Best, 

Nikola

Chemteacher

The Mirage is looking great. Surprised how big it is in 1/48.  Keavdog, nice job on the Kfir. I built that kit years ago and I remember it being a tough one. 

 

Thanks Chemteacher! Glad you like it so far.

Definitely not a shake and bake kit. Good for practice though. :)

We'll see how it turns out.

Best, 

Nikola

Hi gents,

A little progress:

- Vallejo German Dark Yellow primer applied.

- White highlights applied to simulate directional light later on.

- Sticking with my Complementary Pre-shading method and experimenting further, I pre-shaded with purple as it is in the complementary color range to the base color (Vallejo Middlestone) and also to the dark yellow primer.

Apologies for awful photos. My phone camera is not very talented. :)

Thanks for looking!

Best,

Nikola  

Hi gents,

A few steps down the line in experimenting with my Complementary Pre-Shading method:

First couple of very thin passes of Vallejo Middlestone over the purple and white pre-shading scheme.

The paint withdrew from the panel lines in some spots (maybe it has something to do with it being very thin) but no worries, since more layers are coming along with panel line washes.

The color varies in the photos due to my bad phone camera and different lighting conditions. I tried to get it as best as I could.

I like it so far. We'll see.

You be the judges. Comments are very welcome.

Thanks for looking!

Best,

Nikola

I purchased this kit just a couple days ago, and expect it wll arrive before the weekend. 

Your magnificent build gives me inspiration and will serve as handy guide when I start assembling my Mirage IIIc.  Although I can assure you, my build won't be close to your quality.  Thanks so much.

Cheers,   Mark

BigskyMark

Your magnificent build gives me inspiration and will serve as handy guide when I start assembling my Mirage IIIc.  Although I can assure you, my build won't be close to your quality.  Thanks so much.

 

Cheers,   Mark

 

Hi Mark, 

Thank you very much! Appreciated. You are welcome. 

The kit is generally ok, but arm yourself with patience because there will be sanding and filling, especially at the bottom front section, as you have probably seen me whining about it earlier in the thread. :)

You might want to add little pieces of flat plastic on the inside of the fuselage and wing parts to help align them. I was stupid enough not to do it even after test fitting. 

I also added some lead in the nose section just in case, so I don't end up with a tail sitter. It might have been unnecessary but better safe than sorry. :) 

Looking forward to seeing your build. 

Best, 

Nikola

Nikola

Hi gents,

 

A few steps down the line in experimenting with my Complementary Pre-Shading method:

 

First couple of very thin passes of Vallejo Middlestone over the purple and white pre-shading scheme.

The paint withdrew from the panel lines in some spots (maybe it has something to do with it being very thin) but no worries, since more layers are coming along with panel line washes.

 

The color varies in the photos due to my bad phone camera and different lighting conditions. I tried to get it as best as I could.

 

I like it so far. We'll see.

You be the judges. Comments are very welcome.

 

Thanks for looking!

 

Best,

Nikola

 

 

 

Up to this point, the hardest thing for me is controlling the base coat coverage. The effect seems to work in certain areas, while disappearing from other. 

One thing I like about it is that it creates grays and darker tones which are richer in color that would be with just black, like in painting, as shading with black and tinting with white dulls the vibrance of the colours.

I might use complementary postshading to try and enhance the effect, or even try complementary basing to see what it creates.

Best, 

Nikola

Hi gents,

Base coat finished - a few more thin coats of Vallejo Middlestone applied, followed by lightened version of the same, with a yellow filter applied over the whole model in the end. 

I like the color modulation, but in some areas I have lost the pre-shading effect which I will have to regain with post-shading later on.

Next - masking of the camo pattern and painting the second colour.

Thanks for looking!

Best,

Nikola

Nikola

 

 

Hi Mark, 

Thank you very much! Appreciated. You are welcome. 

The kit is generally ok, but arm yourself with patience because there will be sanding and filling, especially at the bottom front section, as you have probably seen me whining about it earlier in the thread. :)

You might want to add little pieces of flat plastic on the inside of the fuselage and wing parts to help align them. I was stupid enough not to do it even after test fitting. 

I also added some lead in the nose section just in case, so I don't end up with a tail sitter. It might have been unnecessary but better safe than sorry. :) 

Looking forward to seeing your build. 

 

Best, 

Nikola

 

 

Thanks for the tips!   Cheers,  Mark

Hi gents,

A little progress, nothing special, but for anyone interested... :)

Best,

Nikola

Hi gents,

A little update:

- First pass of post shading done. I used a 50/50 mix of Tamiya Flat Black and Purple. This time I did Complementary Post Shading for the first time.  

- Also for the first time I did some light sanding and buffing of the camo colors (screwed up in couple of places of course and had to fix that, relatively ok).

Next few steps:

- Main decals

- Tinting and shading using salt technique

- Overall filter to tie it all together

Thanks for looking guys.

Best,

Nikola 

Salted and ready for the oven 

just seeing this nikola and thanks for all the tips and pics....   good learning thread.  question, whats the purple stuff on the canopy towards the beginning?  the shading is interisting and i  now see why the dark lines for accenting.  wm

Mrchntmarine

just seeing this nikola and thanks for all the tips and pics....   good learning thread.  question, whats the purple stuff on the canopy towards the beginning?  the shading is interisting and i  now see why the dark lines for accenting.  wm

 

Hi Mrchntmarine,

You're very welcome. Glad that you find it interesting. :)

I am not sure to what purple stuff are you referring exactly. :)

Best,

Nikola

Nikola

 

 

Mrchntmarine

just seeing this nikola and thanks for all the tips and pics....   good learning thread.  question, whats the purple stuff on the canopy towards the beginning?  the shading is interisting and i  now see why the dark lines for accenting.  wm

 

 

 

 

 

Hi Mrchntmarine,

 

You're very welcome. Glad that you find it interesting. :)

I am not sure to what purple stuff are you referring exactly. :)

 

Best,

Nikola

 

 

so i  may be off on the color, but what did you use in the beginning of the thread pics, to cover the canopy?  A liquid mask or tape or what ?  Tks. 

Mrchntmarine

 

 

Nikola

 

 

Mrchntmarine

just seeing this nikola and thanks for all the tips and pics....   good learning thread.  question, whats the purple stuff on the canopy towards the beginning?  the shading is interisting and i  now see why the dark lines for accenting.  wm

 

 

 

 

 

Hi Mrchntmarine,

 

You're very welcome. Glad that you find it interesting. :)

I am not sure to what purple stuff are you referring exactly. :)

 

Best,

Nikola

 

 

 

 

 

so i  may be off on the color, but what did you use in the beginning of the thread pics, to cover the canopy?  A liquid mask or tape or what ?  Tks. 

 

I used very thin strips of Tamiya flexible masking tape along the canopy structure and Vallejo liquid mask for the rest of the "glass". 

Best, 

Nikola