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Justin Bronk
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North Vietnamese Mig-21PF in 1/48 Scale from Eduard kit

December 9, 2018 · in Aviation · · 17 · 4.1K

This is from a little while back - was my first attempt at Natural Metal Finish work with Alclads...
It's Eduard's Profipack series 1/48 scale Mikoyan-Gurevich Mig-21PF in North Vietnamese Air Force markings.

Used Alclad Airframe Aluminium on Alclad's Gloss Black base for the main body. First try with this paint and not entirely happy with the finish... it's seriously finnicky stuff! A very nice kit though - Eduard delivers as always.

Makes a nice companion for my existing Vietnam-era US Marine Corps F-4B Phantom II

Build video here:
https://youtu.be/HC1P7ELUb1E

Reader reactions:
7  Awesome

9 additional images. Click to enlarge.


17 responses

  1. Very nice work, Justin. The cockpit is breathtaking.

  2. Very nice Justin, NMF schemes are quite difficult to achieve no matter what metalizer you use. It comes down to prepping the airframe to accept the finish. You did well to do just that to get a high quality result. Well done.

  3. I'll second that comment on the excellent work on the cockpit. Your first try at NMF went well.

    You might try the new Vallejo acrylic metallic paints. None of the hassle you get with Alclad, no stench, no worry the paint's going to eat the model, none of that.

  4. I luv that cockpit, wanna jump-in for a mach 2 experience!

  5. Great job ! My favorite Mig, I had a silhouette of one stenciled on my flight deck jersey.

  6. Well done Justin! "Balalaika" looks great!

  7. Justin, This looks really nice and your paint finish looks good. I've been using Alclad for a few years now and find it to be fantastic giving a great finish. I prefer duraluminum as its a little darker shade than regular aluminum (I'm sure some know it all will jump in and say I'm wrong), but you can check out my previous builds and judge for yourself.

    I have found that not using a primer works well on some plastic, like Tamiya and Hasegawa, however some softer plastics do not. You still have to be careful not to spray on very much per coat, as it will eat into the plastic if your not careful. I then wipe each coat down with a soft rag before the next coat. I've also seen wonderful finishes using a nice gloss black finish. Just make sure you let it dry good then hit it with a good high grit sanding of like 8000 micro mesh, then wash it off, before you spray the Alclad as we all know a metal finish will always show you what you missed. With that said, it looks to me like your on the right track, as this looks very nice !

  8. Un trabajo excelente.Los dos combatientes se ven muy bien ejecutados y pintados.

  9. 🙂 … Greetings … 🙂 :
    Nice work on that model Justin, love that cockpit. The finish and shades look very well done.
    It has been awhile since I last saw the numbers to Col. Tomb ( Nguyen Toon ) aircraft. He also flew the Mig - 17. He was killed in action on May 10, 1972, by the U.S. Navy F-4J Phantom " SHOWTIME 100 " crew of pilot Lt. Randy "Duke" Cunningham and radar operator Lt. (jg) William " Irish " Driscoll.

  10. Very nice Justin - and the NMF looks really good.

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