Alright, here they are, the “official”, finally wrapped up & put away, Final Flanker Frenzy Photos.
This is the older Italeri kit, custom mixed colours, markings from an Authentic Decals sheet. I tried an “acrylic wash” (sort of a modified dot-filter, with various craft acrylics) after the decals were sealed in & before the final flat coat.
Blasted the contrast in Photoshop to show there actually IS some detail inside the cans…
Nice work, Vance. Glad to see it finished. I’m really loving that base- I may steal the idea for myself.
Hey, very nice build ya got there Vance! [Y] I love that camo (musta been a nightmare to mask that!). That’s a great way to display it too! I’ve yet to try decals from Authentic. Looks like they went on without a hitch.
Dre - thanks buddy! The one thing I was looking to add to that base (and may still do so) is to add a sheet of clear acrylic over the printed section, run the brass rod down through that as well.
ruddratt - The pattern wasn’t tooo bad to mask, lots of straight lines & 3 pounds of masking tape! 
The Authentic Decals… Kinda torn about the decals themselves. Very thin, but maybe too thin, with some show-through on the yellow. Very tempramental, I think the final formula was “warm water, soak 13 seconds, let set on paper towel for 10 seconds, slide off VERY carefully.” Also had a couple stencils just completely come apart. I think next time I pull decals from that sheet I’ll add a layer of liquid decal film, see if they play nicer that way.
Zowie, that’s a beauty! Great build, great finish, and a smashing base.
Yeah, those Authentic Decals are nice and thin, play nice with setting solutions etc., but on a set I’ve got the colors are just plain wrong. They do respond better to warm water than cold.
Hey Vance, I think I have something will liven that base right up- don’t change a thing until you get that package, K?
Thanks Greg!
lol, I’ll keep her in a holding pattern Dre!
Very nice build! Masking that in 1/72 must have been quite a job.
Mike
I think that you may be pleasantly surprised… and make others quite jealous!
Lots of straight lines, lots of masking tape…
That’s not a model, that’s a crafts project![:P]
Lovely build Vance. WOW, thats some masking.
Very nice looking camo. The Flanker is definitely up there for me in terms of being one of the nicest looking aircraft ever built.
Thanks guys!
Sweet looking Flanker Vance, those colors look awesome! And thanks for posting your method for the masking, I may have to give that a try!
Thanks Jester - and that masking method is standard for me now with anything that is a hard-edged pattern. I have to lay tape on something to take some of the stickiness off of it anyway, right. Als recently used it on a Mirage F1c, also 1/72 scale;
Nice!! Should about put an end to buying masks!!
Great work on the camouflage scheme!