Always a favorite with me, Carpena of France produced several dozen sheets before going out of business. I understand that they re-emerged in Portugal, but I've seen none of their more recent sheets.

This particular sheet provides markings for no fewer than thirteen different aircraft. Even though this sheet is at least 10 years old, there are many options that are not available directly in kit form. This means either hunting up older conversion sets or trying your hand at some modifications. As you can see from the section of instruction sheet that I've included, the markings guide is quite good, offering FS 595 numbers where appropriate. The instructions are in both French and English and since the duplication is not that good, the builder would do well to find photos of the subject aircraft if that is possible.

 In order of what is in the instructions we have the following:

French Mirage IIIC EC II/5 in overall unpainted metal, Spanish Mirage IIIEE of Escuadron 111, Chilean Mirage 50 of 4 Gruppo, Argentine Mirage IIICJ of X Brigada, Lebanese Mirage IIIEL, Gabonese Mirage M5DG, French Mirage IIIR ER 2/33, Belgian Mirage 5BR of 42 Squadron, Lybian Mirage 5D, Israeli Mirage IICJ, Zaire Mirage 5M and finally a French Mirage IIIB of EC 1/13 in the only plane marked for the Bicentennial of the French Revolution.

A fine sheet and one you should seek out if you get the opportunity.

October 2007