Val Posted December 24, 2016 Share Posted December 24, 2016 Hi! My little 'stang! Kit manufacture: Airfix Scale: 1/72 Type: North American P-51D Mustang Extras used: Scratch seat belts from tape . Paints and colours used: AK Xtreme Metals Aluminium, AK Dark Aluminium, AK Black Base Primer, Tamiya XF-7 flat red, XF-3 flat yellow, XF-85 Rubber black, XF-62 Olive Drab, Vallejo 71.010 Interior Green, various Vallejo colours for hand painting, AK Gauzy Agent, Flory Dark Dirt. So this is another kit I've been working on for another group build/SIG on another forums. It was all about metal finishes, and as I've never really attempted a true NMF, I thought I'd give the new excellent AK Xtreme Metals a go. The kit is a fantastic mojo-buster. Fit is generally excellent, detail is good, engraved panel lines are lovely. The only problems I had were a warped landing gear strut, so the wheel had to be superglued to the undercarriage door, and the antenna was so full of flash it was unusable and had to be scratched from plasticard. I'm fairly pleased with the result of the AK Xtreme Metal and I loved the AK Gauzy agent; self levels a treat and doesn't diminish the metal finish. I did have a problem at times with the AK stuff pealing away with the masking tape despite de-tacking and leaving the paint to dry for a week at a time. However it goes on a treat and looks beautiful. Comments, tips and feedback as always greatly appreciated. And here are my two latest completions hanging out with each other! There we go! Thanks for stopping by. Have a fantastic Christmas everyone, I hope Santa fills your stockings with plenty of kits! Val 40 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GREG DESTEC Posted December 24, 2016 Share Posted December 24, 2016 Superb finish Val. Well done. cheers Greg 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Basuroy Posted December 24, 2016 Share Posted December 24, 2016 Top class model Val ! Red - aluminium combo looks so lovely 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doozer1974 Posted December 24, 2016 Share Posted December 24, 2016 Beautiful job! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
modelling minion Posted December 24, 2016 Share Posted December 24, 2016 Fantastic result, the NMF looks superb. Hard to believe it's in 1/72 scale. Very well done. Craig. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WildeSau75 Posted December 24, 2016 Share Posted December 24, 2016 Great build mate - looks nice with its opponent. Cheers, Michael 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Val Posted December 25, 2016 Author Share Posted December 25, 2016 17 hours ago, GREG DESTEC said: Superb finish Val. Well done. cheers Greg 17 hours ago, Basuroy said: Top class model Val ! Red - aluminium combo looks so lovely 13 hours ago, doozer1974 said: Beautiful job! 13 hours ago, modelling minion said: Fantastic result, the NMF looks superb. Hard to believe it's in 1/72 scale. Very well done. Craig. 12 hours ago, WildeSau75 said: Great build mate - looks nice with its opponent. Cheers, Michael Thank you all for you kind words! Merry Christmas all! val 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stew Dapple Posted December 25, 2016 Share Posted December 25, 2016 Lovely job Val, merry Christmas to you and yours too Cheers, Stew 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Val Posted December 25, 2016 Author Share Posted December 25, 2016 Cheers Stew, and to you Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevej60 Posted December 25, 2016 Share Posted December 25, 2016 Superb finish on this one Val,beautiful job. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevehnz Posted December 25, 2016 Share Posted December 25, 2016 Now that is a great NM finish. Even though an off modelled scheme, that finish makes it something special. Steve. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
modelglue Posted December 25, 2016 Share Posted December 25, 2016 Hiya Val and Merry Christmas, nice job on the 'stang! I might be alone in thinking the yellow is nicely done, but from your collection of positive comments I know I am not alone in my appreciation of the rest of it. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spaddad Posted December 26, 2016 Share Posted December 26, 2016 tasty 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BerndM Posted December 26, 2016 Share Posted December 26, 2016 Cracking Mustang ! The finish with this NMF shade is absolutely flawless. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy Dyck Posted December 26, 2016 Share Posted December 26, 2016 Very nice Mustang! It turns out in a perfect NMF finish! These AK extreme metals seems to be nice and may be better than Alclad?? Last times I only have problems with these Alclad colours. What do you think Val ? A merry Christmas Andy 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Val Posted December 26, 2016 Author Share Posted December 26, 2016 14 hours ago, stevej60 said: Superb finish on this one Val,beautiful job. 14 hours ago, stevehnz said: Now that is a great NM finish. Even though an off modelled scheme, that finish makes it something special. Steve. 13 hours ago, modelglue said: Hiya Val and Merry Christmas, nice job on the 'stang! I might be alone in thinking the yellow is nicely done, but from your collection of positive comments I know I am not alone in my appreciation of the rest of it. 10 hours ago, spaddad said: tasty 2 hours ago, BerndM said: Cracking Mustang ! The finish with this NMF shade is absolutely flawless. Thanks guys! Glad you like her! 1 hour ago, Andy Dyck said: Very nice Mustang! It turns out in a perfect NMF finish! These AK extreme metals seems to be nice and may be better than Alclad?? Last times I only have problems with these Alclad colours. What do you think Val ? A merry Christmas Andy Cheers Andy so, I've never used Alclads metal colours but I've got to say the AK paints are very easy to use. I did polish up the kit plastic with micromesh but not sure that's totally nessecary, unlike Alclad. The AK Black Base primer went down very smoothly at around 20psi, and then I just chucked the paint on at around 15psi. They don't seem to mind any air pressure and as long as an area isn't totally flooded, it self-levels a treat, I just put a couple of thin-ish layers down and left it there. The only thing I had issues with was masking. Even detacked Tamiya tape still lifted it places, but touching the paintwork in was easy as you can drop the air pressure down and get in really close. You can't see the touch-ins when they are dry. I'd also so say the AK Guazy Agent Shine Enhancer gloss varnish is excellent and doesn't diminish the metal look at all. I masked up the olive drab panel at the front last of all (after about 3 coats of shine enhancer) and the metal work didn't lift at all. I've seen Alclad finishes that are every bit as good as AK, but from what I understand they require much more preparation and a lot harder to use. I'd recommend this AK stuff any day val 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Knight_Flyer Posted December 26, 2016 Share Posted December 26, 2016 Neat looking build. Hope the undercart isn't going to be a problem, looking rather fragile in your photo. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Val Posted December 26, 2016 Author Share Posted December 26, 2016 2 hours ago, Knight_Flyer said: Neat looking build. Hope the undercart isn't going to be a problem, looking rather fragile in your photo. Thanks the undercarriage is the one part of the build that was a genuine problem; one of the legs was majorly warped and I did my best to straighten it out. It's as good as I can get it without it snapping! In fact it's only straight on one side because the wheel is superglued to the door. Hoping it will last, if not I might have to reinforce with some sections with some metal rods. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy Dyck Posted December 26, 2016 Share Posted December 26, 2016 4 hours ago, Val said: Thanks guys! Glad you like her! Cheers Andy so, I've never used Alclads metal colours but I've got to say the AK paints are very easy to use. I did polish up the kit plastic with micromesh but not sure that's totally nessecary, unlike Alclad. The AK Black Base primer went down very smoothly at around 20psi, and then I just chucked the paint on at around 15psi. They don't seem to mind any air pressure and as long as an area isn't totally flooded, it self-levels a treat, I just put a couple of thin-ish layers down and left it there. The only thing I had issues with was masking. Even detacked Tamiya tape still lifted it places, but touching the paintwork in was easy as you can drop the air pressure down and get in really close. You can't see the touch-ins when they are dry. I'd also so say the AK Guazy Agent Shine Enhancer gloss varnish is excellent and doesn't diminish the metal look at all. I masked up the olive drab panel at the front last of all (after about 3 coats of shine enhancer) and the metal work didn't lift at all. I've seen Alclad finishes that are every bit as good as AK, but from what I understand they require much more preparation and a lot harder to use. I'd recommend this AK stuff any day val Ok Val . thx for this detailed information. I am sure to try this AK metals on one of the next projects. As I said it looks fantastic! All the best Andy 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now