Paint Peeling

Aluminum isn't a BAD paint to use as a base coat.  You just have to know about its funny little quirks.  The reason I used it as a base coat on my P-51B wasn't because it's the most awesome primer ever (it's not!).  It's because after I applied the olive drab top coat, I dabbed at the OD with a wadded up piece of masking tape.  This lifted off random patterns of paint off of leading edges and other worn spots to reveal the underlying silver.  I sometimes use this method to simulate paint chipping on various places on the aircraft.

Using silver as a base coat has its uses so I wouldn't rule it out entirely as an option.  I don't think I'd use it strictly as a base coat though as a replacement for a good primer.

Eric

All thanks for all of your comments. It seems in my learning I made several errors.

1. The main issue was trying to perform touchup on my camo that I air brushed. It was the brush strokes that lifted the base layer of aluminum paint. All I use are enamels so I'm not sure in the future how to avoid this. I guess wait longer for the paint to dry before performing touchup or don't make mistakes.

2. I will not use Aluminum as a base layer in the future. Not only the issue I mentioned above but I started to see aluminum flakes. When I get more experience I'll try the metal type of paints.

3. I have seen lots of different opinions on using primer. I just took the plane that I was having an issue and stripped it, primed and applied first color for camo. I already see a difference in using primer. And I'm using enamel.

4. As Don mentioned I should have posted this in the right forum. I was wondering when I originally posted there has to be more specific forum subject. I never thought to look further done on the web page.....

Thanks Again.

Are you using MM Enamels or Acrylics? Their acrylics tend to be transluscent when hand brushed.

Not an adhesion problem. It's a solvent based paint BRUSHED onto another solvent based paint.

If you airbrushed the aluminum, why would you brush the cammo colors?

Strip it, startover. Spray the aluminum, then spray the light cammo color. Mask for the dark cammo, spray that and you'll be fine.

Indeed I find aluminum paints to be the most problematic for adhesion.

I also should point out that there is a painting forum. When you have a problem or question, I urge folks to look over the forums in the tools and techniques area. If there is a forum that covers that problem, ask there- you are likely to get more replies. If there is no forum for the problem there, then ask in this general discussion area.

Oooooh yeah.  Been there.  Done that.  Don't you hate it when you find things out "the hard way"?  Ha-ha-ha!  My guess is that you used two similar paints.  In other words, your silver base coat was an enamel.  Then when you brush painted the next color over it, that was an enamel as well.  So basically the enamel in your medium green "reactivated" the enamel in your aluminum base coat causing the two to mix together and your paint brush just basically acted like a big mixing stick.

There is no problem whatsoever to use an enamel over an enamel.  I'm currently working on Revell's 1/48 P-51B/C.  I used MM Buffing Aluminum as a base coat and then applied the Neutral Grey and Olive Drab on top of that.  I used an airbrush to apply my paint, though, because in doing so, you're just laying one color over on top of another.  You're not aggitating the underlying paint in any way.  In the future you might want to use the MM aluminum (enamel) as a base coat and then use acrylics for your color coats.  The water-based acrylics will not react with the oil-based enamel.

On a side note, I think you'll find that half the people use primers while the other have don't.  It's a personal choice.  For me, sometimes I prime and sometimes I don't.  Quite honestly, I think it's just dictacted by whatever mood I'm in at the time.  IF you are going to prime, I highly recommend using Tamiya's primer in the rattle can.  I tried it once on a whim and I was blown away at how smoothly it went on.  It is absolutely phenomenal stuff.

While there's nothing wrong with using the MM aluminum as a base coat, you do have to keep some things in mind:  MM aluminum is very glossy while something like the Tamiya primer, while smooth, still has more "bite" to it for the overlying paint to grab onto.  As I found out, I accidentally applied the olive drab color a bit on the heavy side on my first few passes with my airbrush.  The O.D. paint actually sort of pulled away from the recesses and panel lines due to surface tension.  What I should have done was apply a light mist coat first in order to give the paint a rougher surface.  That way, when I applied the next layer of O.D., the second layer would have a better surface on which to grab a hold.

I hope all this rambling helps and welcome to the forum! 

Eric