Completed: 1/72 Airfix Mig-23 Flogger
Discussion
After 13 cars, my first plane. Planes are a lot harder. By the time half the ordnance is glued to the underside, there's precious few places left to pick up the plane without leaving oily fingerprints on the nice matt paintwork. Considering the age of the kit (sourced from Ebay), it went together very well. The undercarriage is fiddly though, and
there are just so many bits to snap off. Michael
there are just so many bits to snap off. Michael
Looks good.
That would be a mid 1980s boxing as it was in that period that Airfix (and quite a few other model manufacturers) switched to photos of built up models on the box rather than an artist's representation of the real thing.
I'm sure the decline in the hobby was helped by this move.
Regarding protecting the matt paint surface, you need to spray on a coat of a protective matt/flat varnish.
That would be a mid 1980s boxing as it was in that period that Airfix (and quite a few other model manufacturers) switched to photos of built up models on the box rather than an artist's representation of the real thing.
I'm sure the decline in the hobby was helped by this move.
Regarding protecting the matt paint surface, you need to spray on a coat of a protective matt/flat varnish.
It looks very, very nice. Congratulations on that one.
I did notice that the decals (paticularly the numbers) are silvered. This is often caused by air being trapped between the matt paint surface on the model, and the smooth underside of the decal. You can all but eliminate this by applying your decals to a gloss surface (either by overcoating your matt finish with gloss varnish or a few coats of Johnson's Klear, or by unsing gloss paint to start with) before applying the decals. You then overcoat the whole thing with matt varnish to seal the decals and give the final finish.
There are other decal application tips such as using "Micro Set" which helps the decals to adhere to the surface, and "Micro Sol" shich soften the decals and allow them to conform better to compound curves, and sink into panel lines and other fine surface details.
If you're already aware of all this, then please excuse the above - they were hopefully just constructive comments!
I did notice that the decals (paticularly the numbers) are silvered. This is often caused by air being trapped between the matt paint surface on the model, and the smooth underside of the decal. You can all but eliminate this by applying your decals to a gloss surface (either by overcoating your matt finish with gloss varnish or a few coats of Johnson's Klear, or by unsing gloss paint to start with) before applying the decals. You then overcoat the whole thing with matt varnish to seal the decals and give the final finish.
There are other decal application tips such as using "Micro Set" which helps the decals to adhere to the surface, and "Micro Sol" shich soften the decals and allow them to conform better to compound curves, and sink into panel lines and other fine surface details.
If you're already aware of all this, then please excuse the above - they were hopefully just constructive comments!
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