jep1210

Yeah, I noticed the Aircraft aluminum was much more grainy on my test subject than the Duraluminum over the same under coat. Sorry I should have mentioned that in my post, I just thought it might have been the fact that my under coat was a bit rough and needed a bit of Micromesh treatment. Seems like you got it to where you want it after a sand and respray so...Yay!!!

I'm not sure if polished and aircraft aluminum are the same. If polished aluminum turns out to be too shiny you can always tone down the shine with an over spray of one of the other aluminums. Looking forward to seeing your results.

Just got caught up on this build, very nice work.

Yeah, just stay away from Aircraft Aluminum over the gloss black, it's way too chrome like.

YIKES!!!! Big pictures...let me fix that.

I found a "test mule" a Tamiya 1/48 ME262. I used Model Master enamels as a base, I hope no one minds me sharing my results here. http:// Top to bottom flat black, Navy Gloss Gray FS16081, Gunship Gray FS36118, Dark Ghost Gray FS36320, Light Gray FS36495 and gloss black which is not pictured. http:// Here they all are sprayed on to give a sense of what the colors look like. I really can't believe the gloss black turned out as glossy as it did, I could never get a finish like that when I was into modeling cars. Flat color are SO much more for giving. http:// I decided to try two Alclad colors, I sprayed Duraluminum on the bottom(of the fuselage). The aluminum really makes the dirt particles stick out, I suggest going over the base with 4000 micromesh should be good. Fortunately this is just for test purposes. http:// Then I hit it with Aircraft Aluminum on the top. I masked the lower color with a Post It, a great low tack making solution and handy for taking notes and posting them for all to see. The next couple of shot are just the same thing taken in different light. http:// Outside in sunlight http:// http:// http:// That thick dark line is the reflection on my black shirt. So, the color of the undercoat has less effect on the finish than I expected. The Gloss vs Flat black had the greatest affect on the finish than the differences in color.

Yes a gloss base will yield a higher shine...as close to mirror as you can get with paint when using their chrome. I recently used the chrome on the afterburner can of a Thunder Birds F-16 with a gloss black Model Master base. It actually was too chrome like so I misted some aircraft aluminum over it and it really gave the result I was looking for. The chrome seems to be the most fragile of their finishes. I think if you go with a flat finish base it will give a more used look...aircraft in service wouldn't be all new and shiny. I've always wanted to try different shades of grays and black to see if that would give a convincing dis-similar panel look you often see in photos of real NMF planes. I've been lazy up to this point but I may have to get off my butt and find a test subject to try that. As for varnish, I don't like using them over metal paints, it seems to lose something, but that might just be me. Alclad is smooth enough that decals stick to them just fine...in my experience. The draw back is your markings and nose art and what not are shinny. I guess you could always brush a flat clear over them if it bothers you too much. You might want to consider spraying the red, yellow and black first and mask those then spray the aluminum. Alclad lays out really thin so you shouldn't have an issue with a paint lip.

What happened????

Yoo kin doo eet!!!!

What's to fear? They need no thinning and spray perfectly out of the bottle. As long as your base coat is nice and smooth (you must base coat with Alclad, I've used Model Master enamels) you'll get good results. You DO have to think about procedure though, while they're more durable than Model Master's Metalizers, you may want to spray camo colors before the Alclad paint and mask those. With that said Post Its work well for masking, if you want to create panels with different sheen's.

"Not satisfied"???? You absolutely should be, its looking great.

Oh man, this is shaping up really nicely. Looking forward to seeing this one progress.

Nice work, the paint work is stunning.

Nice work so far.

I finally got to the end of the your build to date. Your wing root chipping is very good since you added the tiny ones with the silver pencil, really ties it all together. The tape residue on the gun ports look very convincing too.