ghodges Posted June 25, 2017 Report Share Posted June 25, 2017 Built these two "B"s at the same time I built the P-51D posted below.This is the ICM copy of the Tamiya P-51B in 1/48. Unless you're on a tight budget, spend the extra few dollars and get the Tamiya kit, as the ICM copy is much cruder in execution.NMF is Alclad and AK Aluminum. I used the Tamiya P-51D invasion stripe decals on this B, and they worked "ok", needing only a little touch up here and there. The Bald Eagle markings are from Aeromaster. Built OOTB overall, and the first Mustang I've ever built with a completely closed canopy.The last of the 3 Mustangs I built at the same time, this is the ProModeler update of the venerable old Monogram P-51B. In my opinion, except for the indented panel lines, this is not a great improvement over the old Monogram kit, especially if you're just building it for your shelf, like I did. The model is OOTB. NMF is Alclad and AK Aluminum. The nose checks were painted after trying to use the Aeromaster nose decals. The rest of the decals worked perfectly. Overall, building all 3 at once was "satisfactory". It felt good to get 3 models built relatively quickly. On the other hand, the quality of each suffered with my efforts spread out instead of being focused on one of them. Cheers! GIL :smiley16: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Deliduka Posted June 26, 2017 Report Share Posted June 26, 2017 Well if your efforts suffered; I'd say you hid that suffering well! I wish I could make any of mine look this good; these would be contest quality if they came off my workbench. Even when you are 'slacking' you manage to get a finish on your metallic coats that is far beyond anything I can achieve when trying every trick in the book. I bow in the presence of greatness. :smiley32: :smiley32: :smiley32: :smiley20: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ghodges Posted June 26, 2017 Author Report Share Posted June 26, 2017 (edited) Mark: there's really only one true trick to a good NMF: start with as close to a glass smooth surface as possible. That means more fine sanding and polishing, especially of the sanded joints, than you'd do for a camo job. Also, if you use a primer, it HAS to be gloss; or either you have to then polish any flat primer coat to a high gloss. I've also found that you CANNOT rely on a gloss primer to completely smooth out a rough surface that you didn't polish enough to start. I've found the AK metallics to be the most forgiving, with the Alclad being a close second. BUT, the key here is to MIST them on and not try to apply them with a heavy "wet" coat like you would a regular color paint. If you apply them over a gray, silver, or black color (primer or plastic), they should shine up nicely. The extra work required, as well as a NMF being prone to show up what you missed, is what makes it tougher to do; but they can be very eye catching too!Thanks for the very kind words! GIL :smiley16: Edited June 26, 2017 by ghodges Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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