Carbus: Thanks! It's not that hard really, the most annoying bit was getting the paper gores onto the globe semi-neatly, but after that it's not too different from painting on a flat surface. Which I'm used to I think we're on the same page about the transparent material, I was planning to just add rather subtle coloring, but letting the black/grey/brown shine through.

Neyjour: Great idea to test it digitally! (Why didn't I think of that? ) Here's a test with red, blue, purple and white. I think I like purple the best, it stands out but matches the slight purple tone of the mountains… sort of?
Click image for larger version. 

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