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Mushroom Model Publications |
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Mirage IIIO Colours and Markings In RAAF Service by Paul Mason and Darren Mottram |
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Reviewed By Jim Pearsall, #2209 |
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MSRP: £25 GBP (+ £5 Shipping) The Basics: Soft Cover, 312 pages, A$ (8 ¾ X 11 ¾). Over 1000 photographs, most color. 19 x 4-view color illustrations, 3 x4-view 1/72 line drawings, plus a page of “scrap view” line drawings illustrating aircraft modifications. I want to thank Mushroom Model Publications for sending this review copy. The Aircraft: The Mirage IIIO entered service with the RAAF in 1964, and the last group in RAAF service were sold to Pakistan in 1990. The aircraft was pretty much the standard Mirage III. The type should have probably been called Mirage IIIA, but that designation was already used, so they came up with IIIO, for “Ostralia”. There were 3 basic types: air superiority, ground attack, and trainer versions. The first 15 air superiority versions were built by Dassault. (A3-1 through A3-15) All remaining aircraft (A3-16 through A3-116) were built by Australia’s Government Aircraft Factory (GAF) and Commonwealth Aircraft Corporation (CAC), both located at Fishermen’s Bend, near Melbourne, Australia. The Authors: I’ve found that pilots aren’t necessarily the guys who are really interested in the aircraft. It’s the support personnel, the guys who join the AF because they love airplanes, and are willing to do just about any job just to be near aircraft on a daily basis, who are the best sources for aircraft and unit histories. And Paul Mason and Darren Mottram fill the bill here. Paul is an Aircraft Life Support Fitter for the RAAF’s F/A-18s. He joined the RAAF just in time to help pack the last of the Mirage IIIOs for shipment to Pakistan. Darren was an Instrument Fitter on Boeing 707s, Hercules, and Macchis. He came too late for Mirages, but his father was an Instrument Fitter on Mirage IIIOs. The Contents: This book is a marvelous reference, and a pretty darned good read, too. Because of the subject matter, it sometimes gets pretty technical, but it’s all there. Where possible the authors have used primary sources, since they have access to the people, documents and photos contemporary with the Mirage IIIO’s service. And the photographs! Great photos, well printed, interesting, and lots of them. On a whim, when I first got the book, I started checking to see if they had managed to get a photo of every Mirage in RAAF service. I had about 90% of them, when I got to page 291, where the chapter called By the Numbers begins. And there they are. 116 photos, 8 per page, from A3-1 to A3-116, good quality photos, with only 11 of these not color. |
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| The illustrations are extremely useful. Instead of the usual side profile, or even 3-view, Juanita Franzl gives us 4 views, left, right, top and bottom. This feature alone makes it a super reference for modelers. Combined with the 1/72 line drawings, which show all the panel lines, ducts, vents, and doors, you should have no trouble determining whether your kit needs panel lines reworked. | |
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Also of great use to modelers is that fact that when a color scheme is
discussed, the colors are called out in FS595 or BSC references. No
trying to guess from a blurry photograph. The authors do admit that there
were a few locally mixed colors which they can’t find color chips or
original paint for, but they have given the FS or BS which closest
corresponds to the color. There is also an entire chapter, with photos, showing personal markings and “zaps” on individual aircraft. Then an entire chapter of detail photos….Cockpit, seat, speed brakes, landing gear, gear wells, engine, and engine bay, it’s all there. |
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| Conclusion: If you have any interest at all in Australian aircraft or Mirage III, you need this book. Not just because it’s got great photographs and encyclopedic coverage of Australia’s aircraft, but it has details which would be difficult to find anywhere else. Mushroom Model Publications found a couple of authors who have put their hearts and souls into producing a book of super content and super quality. The photos, details and drawings will satisfy even the most advanced case of AMS. Buy it. Buy it now. It’s going to be a collector’s item if it ever goes out of print. | |
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