Global Scale Modeller

I'm working on this Academy 1/48 MiG-21MF. I am finishing it in NMF and Vietnamese markings. I saw this awesome MiG-21 model on the internet made by Diego Quijano. I don't have the skills that he does but I was inspired by his work and decided to try the technique he used for tinting the panels using Tamiya Smoke paint. It works really well! I think I over darkened a few panels as it's very easy to over do, but I'm pretty happy with the results so far. I thinned my smoke with a little bit of X20A and Mr. Color leveling thinner and it sure does spray nicely! Masking the panels wasn't too difficult once I purchased some clear frisket film and cut around the panels with a sharp knife.

Humm grzat job, I heard that some people use the smoke as a wash. I never used it but i thought it was already ultra thinned a bit like the alclads.

will try this technique.

will follow this one

Goose

That is looking real nice, good tip about using smoke paint. I'm guessing you are using Alclads, did you have any trouble masking it, as in did it mark easily? I am about to embark on doing an NMF Lightning, Sabre and P51

Yes, I base coated with Alclad II grey lacquer primer, followed by decanted spray can gloss black lacquer and finished off with Alclad II Airframe Aluminum. I believe I let sit and cure for a week due to laziness. It actually masked very well with Tamiya masking tape. I used some more aggressive blue painters tape to lightly tape up larger areas and it DID cause damage to the Alclad in some spots. I recommend sticking that type of tape to your shirt a few times before applying it. The Tamiya smoke did NOT spray unthinned for me and it does take a while to cure up. The smoke is easily damaged while drying but with the Mr.Color leveling thinners mixed in it seems to re-activate or re-flow/melt together with subsequent coats like lacquer does making slight fingerprints disappear. I am actually kind of shocked at how easy it was to get it to look that neat.

I use blue painters tape and Tamiya, I will make sure I'm extra careful with the blue but I usually de-tack it before I lay it down. The finish looks super smooth but I'm assuming you will still have to gloss it before you add the decals Anyway for your first attempt it looks spot on

It looks like the blue tape effects the parts painted with smoke more than the Alclad. I just had a little bit more pull up from the blue tape. I will have to gloss it before I put decals down because the Alclad isn't impervious to solvents. I tried to clean up some stray smoke with Ultimate cleaner and it ate into the Alclad. I imagine the decal solvents will do the same. I just hope glossing over the different colors of silver doesn't ruin the differences!