I did absolutely nothing. I didn't bother wearing gloves after I washed it... Nothing. i did paint the invasion stripes and anti glare before the metal. However I screwed up things a couple of times and touched them up by hand. The propellor hub was a total challenge for me and it shows if you zoom in on it. 

Your NMF came out nicely.  It's interesting that you didn't prime--did you prepare the surface in any other way, cleaning and polishing, for example, or some other method?

Looks pretty close to perfect to me. 

Nice job! I built that one as a kid, but I have no idea what happened to it. It certainly didn't look anywhere near as nice as this one.

I think your NMF turned out great. And the checkerboard up front looks fully painted-on. Thanks for sharing the tip about printing it and doubling up on it.

Great stuff.

-BD-

For some reason, North American did not put relief valves in  the hydraulic pressure system.  instead they put in a small T handle at the bottom of the instrument panel and made an entry in the Flight Manual telling the pilot or crew chief to pull the handle out and lock it in that position immediatly after engine shutdown so that the sun shining on the aircraft would not raise the pressure in the system to the point the system failed.  And if you started the engine without shoving the handle in, you got zero hydraulic pressure.  Depending on how tight the system in your aircraft was, the flaps and the inner gear doors would start to droop as soon as the handle was pulled out, taking everywhere from 30 minutes to 12 or more hrs for those items to drop completly.

And you have done an excellent job on that kit.

Thanks for the explanation on the flaps. I had just assumed they put them down so they could get onto the wing easier.

thanks also for the nice words. I agree we are humble here because of the amasing work that people do and post here. I have one friend who gave up on the hobby because he felt he could never do anything close to what he sees. That's sad. My skills and enjoyment have grown over the years because of the forum and magazine. I also treat every model as an experiment. If I botch it well, it didn't work out. that was my idea here and it worked out in my opinion. Even my kid liked it" he said "I can tell my friends that my Dad can build models like they look on the box." best compliement ever.

Nicely done. Too many guys on here are too humble about their skills, as long as you're happy, our opinions shouldn't matter

An explanation for the lowered flaps on parked airplanes.  Usually you are supposed to raise flaps for taxiing after landing, to keep from sand/gravel blasting low wing flaps.  However, once the engine is shut off when parking the plane, the hydraulic fluid can/will leak around inside the system.  The flaps are not counterbalanced like control surfaces, so the weight of the flaps slowly pulls them down.  After a few hours, depending on age of hydraulic system, they will be virtually fully down.  In the meantime, it is not incorrect to have them partially lowered, even different amounts on each side.  I have never done a model that way, 'cause I figured most of my friends would ride me unmercifully, believing this was poor workmanship

nicely done!

What an exceptional job you've done on your build!  

Toshi