1:72 Mirage IIIR n°317 ER 1/33 Belfort 1986

A reconnaissance delta over Alsace

The reconnaissance version of the famous French delta-winged fighter differs from the combat one in the forward part of the fuselage, where a set of photographic cameras sits instead of a radar. The example with the number 317 served with the escadre carrying the name Belfort and the sheet captures its form from 1986.

The camouflage of the 1980s

French reconnaissance machines of that time carried a multicolored covering finish on the upper surfaces and a light underside, separated from the upper camouflage fairly high on the sides. It is exactly this dividing line that is the most conspicuous thing on a model and decides the credibility of the whole more than the shades themselves. The markings, against that, look restrained: national insignia, unit codes, the badge of the escadre on the fin and a dense net of small service lettering.

Machines of the end of the Cold War tended to be noticeably worn on the outside, and reconnaissance examples flew very low, so they had a dusty belly and scuffed leading edges. Once stuck down, let the markings sink lightly into the overall tone, therefore, otherwise they look like freshly stuck paper on an old machine.

What will make the work easier

• Lay out the boundary between the upper camouflage and the light underside with a thin adhesive strip before the first spraying, not by eye afterwards.
• Compare the codes on the fin and on the fuselage with the illustration; French machines carry them in precisely determined places.
• Work with a small amount of water around the photographic windows, so that no moisture gets under the glazing beneath the print.
• Apply the small lettering only at the end, when the rest of the markings is already fixed with varnish.

The contents supplied consist only of a printed sheet; prepare the kit of the delta-winged machine, the paints and the varnishes in advance.