Painting
It’s at this point where my faux pas with the camera images returns to bite me. So let me just describe the gap in pictorial content.
The wings are an extremely good fit and needed no filler at all. The undersides were pre-shaded on the panel lines and a coat of Light Aircraft Gray applied over the primer, little drama there.
The airframe around the wheel bays are masked and the bays finished in Alclad Flat Aluminium before the complete underside is masked off in preparation for our camouflage top coats on the upper surfaces.
Upper surfaces are pre-shaded on the panel lines and the leading edge slats and spoiler inner surfaces masked prior to our base coat of Desert Tan.
The topcoat is built up in light layers so the pre-shading comes through effectively.
Then using the old tried and tested rolled Blu-Tack method the contrasting Dark Earth shade is applied.
The tip of the tail fin is masked off and prepared with Alclad Gloss Black primer before a coat of Alclad Airframe Aluminium. The engine coaming is masked and Alclad Stainless Steel and Light Burnt Exhaust applied for effect. The afterburner ring has some nice Eduard PE detail added and finished in Burnt Exhaust with some dry brushing to highlight the detail.
The remaining parts can all be painted off model.
One particularly nice detail is the Eduard PE for the main undercarriage.
Finishing up
With a coat of gloss to avoid silvering I used the Colorado Decals, Gulf Air Power Part II set for serials and national flags and the kit decals for stencils.
After matting back the surfaces, the radome and upper nose anti-glare are masked and a semi-gloss black coat applied.
Weathering is a wash with water soluble oil based artist paint using a burnt umber and yellow ochre for the dusty effect, Tamiya pastels for oil and grime and gray panel line accent wash to pick out detail in the wheel bays and cockpit.
The control stick has a distinctive yellow and black striped top which was a common feature of the Mirage F1 cockpit.