What is a good choice for NMF paint vs 'Aluminum Lacquer' paint for Mustangs (esp in the MRP or Vallejo Metal lines?)

[CANicoll]

Folks,

 

My addled brain seems to have lost a chunk of my previous Mustang knowledge but I'm not sure I ever had a good handle on this particular question.  Looking to start up some Mustang builds and back to the age old NMF vs Aluminum Lacquer question.  I'm NOT asking for the demarcation lines of what was where.  I do have those discussions and reference pics saved up.  Now I'm back to what colors are best to reflect NMF and AL.

 

Cheers all!

CN

[Juggernut]

I use Alclad II aluminum shades (there are several but I don't use anything labeled as "polished" as it's too shiny) and their associated white or grey primer. Note these are not acrylic, they're lacquer based.

Edited July 15, 2022 by Juggernut

[CANicoll]

@Juggernut, thanks for the quick reply.  Which shades do you use?  I currently have Alclad 101 - Aluminum, 102 - DuraAluminum, 106 - White Aluminum and 117 - Dull Aluminum.  

 

Chris

[Juggernut]

Those are the shades I use.  I also have dark aluminum but I rarely ever use that shade.

Edited July 15, 2022 by Juggernut

[dashotgun]

 If your talking about the wing which was not natural  al.  I use tamiya lacquer silver leaf decanted to my  iwata

Edited July 16, 2022 by dashotgun

[Paul2660]

Alcald II makes a beautiful finish and can be sprayed directly from the bottle no thinner. Their basic Aluminum “aircraft aluminum “ is the one I use the most. I would recommend using their glossy black base first. And give the base a good period of time to cure. 

 

Also consider Mr Paint aluminum or super silver. 
 

Only have issues with resin kits. While masking I get consistent pull off even with the gloss black base. Still looking for a better primer. 
 

Paul. 
 

 

[MikeMaben]

Hey Chris, I used MRP silvers for my only Mustang (Revell with a Tamiya tail),

Silver (MRP-128 (mostly), White Aluminum (MRP-9), Duraluminum (MRP-8) and

for the painted wing tops Alclad II Dull Aluminum (rubbed down with a T-shirt).

Base coated with MRP White Primerwith some light blue and  grey mottling to

break up uniformity. Turned out OK.

 

 

 

Have fun.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited July 17, 2022 by MikeMaben

[CANicoll]

Thanks @dashotgun and @Paul2660.  @MikeMaben your (one and only??) Mustang looks terrific - it turned out very nice, and thanks for the info.  I have ordered some of the Alclad Dull Aluminum which should arrive this week.  

 

Appreciate your help!  Now, back to the Me-262...

[chuck540z3]

I tried to create multiple shades of BMF Aluminum using several Alclad shades of lacquer on my CF-104 build almost 2 years ago.  Rather than re-describe everything here, the link to the painting portion starts about here:

 

Alclad BMF Painting sequence

 

While not perfect, you can certainly get a very interesting contrast of Polished Aluminum, Dull Aluminum, Titanium- and many other shades in between.

 

 

 

 

HTH

 

Cheers,

Chuck

Edited July 25, 2022 by chuck540z3

[Thunnus]

Another possibility for the aluminum lacquer portion of the wings is Tamiya AS-12 Bare Metal Silver.  I used it on a 1/48 P-51B build in addition to various Alclad shades for the NMF portions.

 

[LSP_Kevin]

AS-12 is what I use.

 

Kev