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Alistair Gauld
102 articles

Airfix 1/72 Mig-17F Fresco

September 3, 2021 · in Aviation · · 22 · 2.4K

Done as an experiment for myself in doing a NMF.
It came out reasonably.
Primed with Tamiya LP Black Gloss
Painted with Xtreme Metals Polished Aluminium
Alclad Duraluminium,Dark Aluminium, Airframe Aluminium.
Tamiya Nato Black, Rubber Black, Medium Sea Grey.
Finished with Aqua Gloss Varnish

I knew that metallics like this would be fragile but how much surprised me.
There were numerous touch ups and resprays due to them rubbing off even after coating with aqua gloss.
I have learned so much doing this though and thought I'd stick it up for viewing.
As always and comments, criticism and help gratefully received.
Thanks for looking,
Cheers,
Alistair

Reader reactions:
16  Awesome

7 additional images. Click to enlarge.


22 responses

  1. NMF is not the easiest painting, and you did very well here, Alistair!
    For your first NMF , the result is truly excellent!
    That Mig looks nice and shiny!

  2. I can echo what Spiros said and reiterate that you've done a fine job. It can be tough to do NMF, but just remember that in real life, they are/were hardly ever perfect. The neat thing about shades of aluminum is that each shade brings out a different character in scale form, so touch ups just add character, if not uniformity. As far as wearing goes, I've found that when I spray on my aluminum (using Vallejo colors), I layer so much that a glossy base coat helps only for a smooth surface. With this realization I usually use smoothed down and carefully applied MrSurfacer 1500 Black for base, as it's more durable (than something like Tam X-1), and hold the alum better with proper drying time. Additionally this will help prevent paint lifting or peel when masking, which I prefer to do after the NMF has been applied. That said... I do not usually try for such a highly polished example as you have achieved. It looks very close to Bare Metal Foil! I'll of my attempts for such a finish with the paints I have have failed, so again kudos!

    • Thanks so much.
      I'll try some Mr. Surfacer in future.
      I did this to try it and to learn from any mistakes that I knew I'd make.

      Cheers,
      Alistair

      • It's only a mistake if you aren't happy with the final result. Many people do it differently, with successful results... A view to always learn is the right attitude though, and trying new things is the best way to accomplish that. 🙂

  3. NMF is hard, even after you've done it for awhile. A good first step.

  4. Looks good, Alistair. How did the kit build? I’ve got one in the stash.

  5. You certainly achieved a highly polished finish, Alastair, definitely liked.

  6. Awesome result for a first NMF build, Alistair @alistairfgauld
    Seems like you tackled the difficulty of NMF despite some issues.
    Looking forward to your second one.

  7. Wow, this plane looks great with the shiny metal. Been meaning to buy this kit for a long time and i might just do so after looking at the pictures of your awesome build. Very much inspiring!

  8. Well done for perservering Alistair - it looks great!

  9. Great job the finish of your build, it came out looking great.

  10. Looks great to me! Nicely done.

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