rohan Posted March 20, 2013 Share Posted March 20, 2013 I have never painted a model in a bare metal finish. Can anyone tell me the best way to do it? Cheers, Rohan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geedubelyer Posted March 20, 2013 Share Posted March 20, 2013 Hi Rohan, That is a very big question. There are probably almost as many techniques as there are modellers. If I were to offer one bit of advice it would be to make sure that the surface of your model is perfectly prepared. The smoother and more blemish free it is, the better and more convincing the metal effect will appear. Make sure that seams are all perfect before you begin for example. There are numerous finishes that you could try from basic silver paint in enamel or acrylic form, through the buffable metallisers that include metal particles and that can be polished to a very convincing sheen all the way to the Alclad II range of lacquer paints. Are you thinking of a particular subject or is this a very general question? For some aircraft a weathered dull metal effect looks best. For others, a highly polished chrome would look better or more authentic. If we are to help you more thoroughly, perhaps you might try to tie down the specifics a bit more? Cheers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rohan Posted March 20, 2013 Author Share Posted March 20, 2013 thanks for that. Yes Im doing a RAAF P-51K Mustang which were in a metal finish. (Circa 1945). Im using the Tamiya 1/32 P-51D/K kit so Ill have no probs having a good smooth detailed model to begin with. I think the Mustang will be a dull metal finish going by the photos. Im doing a specific aircraft A68-529. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scvrobeson Posted March 20, 2013 Share Posted March 20, 2013 If you're going for a dull metal finish, I would recommend the Alclad lacquers. They have a color in their line called Dull Aluminum. That should give you what you want. Or you can use the normal Aluminum shades, and then hit it with a flat coat. For the Mustang though, the fuselage was in Natural Metal, while the wings were painted Aluminum. So you can have some fun doing different shades on the fuselage part. Hope that helps Matt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rohan Posted March 20, 2013 Author Share Posted March 20, 2013 cool, thanks for that. Is that Alclad a model paint? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KOTR Posted March 20, 2013 Share Posted March 20, 2013 cool, thanks for that. Is that Alclad a model paint? Yes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rohan Posted March 20, 2013 Author Share Posted March 20, 2013 ok. Ill look it up. Thanks again Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Out2gtcha Posted March 20, 2013 Share Posted March 20, 2013 I also would highly recommend the Alclads. They are in fact lacquer based, so they do bite well into the plastic. They are not cheap though. At my LHS, Alclads are around $9 - $10 USD, so invest wisely. They do not need any thinning but do need considerable shaking, as well as a base coat for your particular Alclad variant. Some Alclads need a gloss black base to look correct, and some need grey primer. You can achieve a pretty nice and realistic finish Ive found. Here is airframe aluminum over a gloss black base right after spraying: Here is that same panel installed, after I toned the sheen down with a light mist coat of semi-gloss: In areas like this, IMHO Alclad is the only way to go. However............................That being said, if your willing to try something a bit different, I personally use strictly kitchen foil to replicate NMF on any large surfaces or airframes. Its a bit more work, but no matter what paint you use, in the end unlike foil, its not metal. IMHO only metal really looks like metal when there is a lot of it abounding. Here is a P-40 I covered in kitchen foil a while back: and after paint: IMHO, its worth the effort as nothing looks like metal as much as actual metal. Cheers, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rohan Posted March 20, 2013 Author Share Posted March 20, 2013 wow, that looks very nice indeed. Top job. What is the technique to do this? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KOTR Posted March 20, 2013 Share Posted March 20, 2013 When shaking the Alclad bottles, it might be wise to put the same into a Ziploc bag. I heard more than once that the metal ball broke the bottle... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rohan Posted March 20, 2013 Author Share Posted March 20, 2013 thanks for the heads up!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Out2gtcha Posted March 20, 2013 Share Posted March 20, 2013 wow, that looks very nice indeed. Top job. What is the technique to do this? Thanks.............Ill be going over the tecnique when I foil my HKM B-25. Im not sure where I put it, but I have done some foiling how to's in the past..........im just not sure which thread they were in........... When shaking the Alclad bottles, it might be wise to put the same into a Ziploc bag. I heard more than once that the metal ball broke the bottle... Not necessarily the case. Im not sure about Alclads in other countries, but AFAICT, there are NO metal or glass balls in any of the Alclad bottles I have ever purchased........neither on line from SB.com nor from my LHS. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LSP_Kevin Posted March 20, 2013 Share Posted March 20, 2013 When shaking the Alclad bottles, it might be wise to put the same into a Ziploc bag. I heard more than once that the metal ball broke the bottle... Interesting! I'm not sure my bottles even have a metal ball inside them. I've certainly never noticed one. Brian's statement about how expensive Alclad is made me chuckle; they're around $14-16 per bottle out here, depending on the type. Cheap in the US by comparison! Kev Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Out2gtcha Posted March 20, 2013 Share Posted March 20, 2013 Brian's statement about how expensive Alclad is made me chuckle; they're around $14-16 per bottle out here, depending on the type. Cheap in the US by comparison! Kev YIKES! Is that AUS dollars or USD? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Out2gtcha Posted March 20, 2013 Share Posted March 20, 2013 Guess that really doesnt matter seeing how close they are...............HOLY SHNIKEEES! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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