Latest pictures. NMF mid and final stages. Alclad II Airframe Aluminum over Mr Surfacer 1200 (thinned with leveling thinner) and Alclad Gloss Black Base.
Mid-stage - Airframe Aluminum 3 uber light coats plus duraluminum over the gun covers:
Final-stage - Regular Aluminum over inside wing panels and various panels / hatches in the fuselage, followed by a final 4th coat of Airframe Aluminum. Didn't blend it much, but did bring the overall finish up to the correct level of silver (3 coats was too dark.)
I had the Grex dialed down to right at 10 PSI, just enough air to atomize the paint and not much else. Took quite a while for each coat. On a practical note, it's somewhat easier to paint during daylight hours with a lot of light bleeding through the blinds than it is under the lights. You have to position the model just perfectly under the lights for each panel to see the AA coat going on and know where you've been, as each one is so thin and just barely brightens up the base.
Once it's down, though, it's just an incredible paint to use. The pictures don't do it justice... you can't shave in the AA finish, but you can certainly see some reflections, and it looks exactly like polished new metal. All that work with the micromesh over the Mr Surfacer comes to fruit, and it just looks glorious. I used right at half a bottle of AA for all 4 coats, and it's a BIG model. Used Kamoi tape, post-its, and some Tamiya for masking. No issues at all with pull-up.
Much to my wife's amusement, we took a trip to Joanne's Fabrics and Crafts yesterday to pick up Artists Tape for Curves. It was the only place in DFW to have any in stock, and I want to start masking the cowling today. The above pictures and others I took will capture the finish just in case I totally bollox up the Red cowling and swoosh work. That tape for curves is really promising, though... you can just flow it right around and it sticks where you want. Now hopefully it won't pull up the AA...