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

Hi guys,

She is RFI at:

cs.finescale.com/fsm/modeling_subjects/f/2/t/187622.aspx

Thanks for taking an interest and following along.

Best,

Nikola

Some streaks and grime added with a flat clear on top...

Almost there...! 

Best,

Nikola

M. Brindos

O.O 

She's purdy! 

I love how that violet preshade set that tonal shift! That's amazing how well that works. I'm going to have to try that! 

 

Hi Mike,

Thanks! Appreciated! I am very glad that you like my Complementary Pre/Post-Shading method! Still got to go a long way to master it though. :)

Playing with colours is great! :)

Best,

Nikola

O.O 

She's purdy! 

I love how that violet preshade set that tonal shift! That's amazing how well that works. I'm going to have to try that! 

Got wheels and Matras baby!... And a gloss coat before final weathering touches. 

Thanks for looking guys!

Best,

Nikola

And to answer RadMax's question publicly:

By filter I mean a very thin layer of paint sprayed over the base coat to slightly modulate the color, especially if the color is lifeless as black. In this case I used intermediate blue in ratio 1:20 paint to thinner and sprayed over the black, varying the number of passes in various areas of the cockpit. This gave it a very slight hint of blue.

As for my complementary pre(post)-shading, below is the link to the thread I started since I first tried out the method (scroll through it all the way as I cover a number of builds):

http://cs.finescale.com/fsm/tools_techniques_and_reference_materials/f/18/t/183439.aspx

I am still experimenting with the method and it's far from perfect, but I like how it gives richer colour variations/modulation and richer greys. As I said in the thread, I borrowed this method from painting and color theory.

Best,

Nikola

RadMax8

Nikola,

Very impressive paint work. Can you describe in a bit more detail your complimentary post-shading? Sounds interesting. Also, when you said you filtered the cockpit, did you do a dot filter or some other technique?

This kit is out of my usual area of interest, but I just wanted to compliment you. Thanks for sharing!

 

Hi RadMax,

For some reason FSM won't let me reply to you with a longer text stating  ''403 forbidden''. Maybe it's the link which is included in the text, no idea.

I have sent you an email regarding your question to the address provided in your profile information.

Best,

Nikola

crown r n7

looks spot on with camo 

Tanker-Builder

Hey;

 Panel Lines and all-I like it!

 

Thank you TB! Much appreciated!

Best,

Nikola

mustang1989

This.....is coming together rather nicely.

 

Thank you very much Mustang! I am very glad that you like it so far!

Best,

Nikola

Mopar Madness

Beautiful paint Nikola.

 

Thanks Chad! Appreciated!

Best,

Nikola

Hey;

 Panel Lines and all-I like it!

This.....is coming together rather nicely.

Beautiful paint Nikola.

Nikola,

Very impressive paint work. Can you describe in a bit more detail your complimentary post-shading? Sounds interesting. Also, when you said you filtered the cockpit, did you do a dot filter or some other technique?

This kit is out of my usual area of interest, but I just wanted to compliment you. Thanks for sharing!

looks spot on with camo 

Hi gents,

It's a slow progress so gotta post something 

Added black, brown and gray washes followed by a flat coat. I initially washed it with black only but to me it was too vivid, strong and too uniform colour wise so I tamed it with grays and brown. It still is a bit strong in some areas.

Next: Scuff marks, some minimal chips, maybe gunk wash in some areas, some streaks...

Thanks for looking!

Best,

Nikola

After salt filtering...

Next is the yellow filter to tie it all together a bit better followed by a clear coat.

After that come the washes, some more post tinting and shading, and all that jazz.

The decals are very thin and a bit fiddly to work with, so of course I messed up one of the musketeer tail fin decals after masking (was stupid enough not to clear coat after decals even though I know that I should, just lazy) and am now waiting for another sheet to arrive.

Decals look great after a clear flat coat is put on as the carrier film cannot be seen at all.

Best,

Nikola

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

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

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

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

Salted and ready for the oven 

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 

Hi gents,

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

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,

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 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

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