Mirage IIIE and Lighting progress.

I’ve assembled all the weapons and tanks for the Mirage.

Missiles and stuff
Missiles and stuff

For some reason I can’t find anything on how to paint any of them in the instructions, and I also need to figure out the loadouts for the Argentinian AF during the Falklands conflict.

The instructions doesn’t say anything about weight or how much, so I just threw in as much as I could in the nose cone, and then glued it in place.

Nose glued in place
Nose glued in place

This kit is fighting quite a bit and there are things that could have been done better and in a slightly different way to avoid some issues. I have some steps on panels that needs to be taken care of.

On the Lightning I decided to go with an aluminium cover instead of chrome. Here the area is masked.

Area around cover masked
Area around cover masked

I think it turned out ok, but forgot to take a pic, so after a while I masked the entire bottom area, making it ready for the next step, black basing. So I painted black to cover all areas that should be painted with squiggles later.

Underside painted black
Underside painted black
Topside painted black
Topside painted black

As I never done black basing before, I needed something to practice on, and as the Harrier should have the same colours, I thought it would be a fitting subject.

Harrier black basing test
Harrier black basing test

I sure need some practice to get the squiggles right, and I will add a few other grey nuances before I start painting the camo colours.

Quick Mirage update

I’ve painted the landing gears and some other parts.

Landing gears painted
Landing gears painted

The front gear should have lights that I’ll paint and add later. I also need ot sort the tires and add a few brake lines.

Newly bought neccessities.

I picked up a parcel today with 2 needed items for my builds.

Argentinian AF colours and nozzle for my airbrush.
Argentinian AF colours and one .4 nozzle for my airbrush

So now I have the paint needed for my Argentinian Mirage and the nozzle will hopefully solve the problem I have with my airbrush.

Mirage IIIE – build start.

Finally I’ve actually got something done! I’ve started assembling the parts for the cockpit and then I’ve painted it all black.

Cockpit assembly and test fit.
Cockpit assembly and test fit.
Cockpit painted black
Cockpit painted black

Not much additional painting needed. The seat cushions will be khaki and the I’ll pick out some details and dry brush the entire cockpit. I just realised that I forgot to paint the inside of the fuselage black.

Mirage IIIE Argentine AF – Kinetic 1/48 – introduction

This will be the first Kinetic kit I’ll build. So far I’ve only looked through the parts and the instructions to see what I have to work with and to check which colours I need.
Here’s some pics of the contents.

Mirage III boxart
Mirage III boxart
Instructions, front page
Instructions, front page.
Sprue-bag 1
Sprue-bag 1
Bag 2
Bag 2
Decals
Decals

My first impressions with this kit is that the instructions are very sparse when it comes to detail painting instructions, so you better have to prepare and do research on what colours to use in the cockpit and other details.
2nd the panel lines is a bit on the thick side. Pretty much like some of the Airfix kits. How fit is and how it is to build, is something I’ll experience, once I get started.