First off, I love the toy. Definitely a great choice in a car for Mirage.
Besides the obvious problem with the chestplate in bot mode, I think my biggest gripe with this guy is that he's kinda plain. His robot form is too dark--the deep sea blue and ash black just blend together, so you don't see much difference. So I decided to touch him up and make him look interesting.
First, I painted those side panels in white to help break up the monotony of his chest. It helps add to the white of the limbs as well. I also painted the trim under the seats just to create a little extra white lining. I think it looks good that way.
The other thing about him was his 'ribs.' I liked the style in the molding, but it all blends together again. Then he has the hood/chest plating on top of it, so you really can't see the detail. I think the silver helps bring it out, even though it's still covered.
I also added some silver trim on certain parts here and there along his legs and chest. Some parts only show on his legs in bot mode, but most of it is better seen underneath the car mode.
Pipes and random parts I chose to paint. These pics also show me how I need better lighting in my room. My camera pics up spots that I missed better than I can. (mostly in the leg pic)
Here, you can see the 'ribs' when Mirage is in car mode. It actually looks pretty nice this way, and I was happy to see I didn't take away from one look to improve on the other.
With the basics all done, I decided to have a little more fun with hi:
I decided that the look under the hood was dull. Most of the add-ons are either painted parts already molded in or stickers I added. However, I did add a couple of pieces to make it stand out more.
You can see them better here. I had to cut down the back of the vent piece so that the hood would close properly. There's also one of those joint-based O-rings for Gundam model limbs. Painted it silver and tacked it on as some random piece that probably does something important.
Having more fun here. I like to mix the genres sometimes. That, and I haven't really made any 'Doc' Alternators.
Anyway, little improvements can go a long way. Hope you all like.
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