Silver/Chrome?

An all too common myth folks think the Mustangs were shiny silver chrome during WW2. The reality that during WW2, the P-51 Mustangs weren’t always shiny and new as if they’ve been rolled out off the factory during conflict. If you’re doing wartime P-51 Mustang, go with Tamiya Bare Metal Silver.

If you want to do a modernized restored P-51 Mustang just like you see at air shows today; go with the shiny chrome finish. A shiny chrome finish on a P-51 during wartime doesn’t fit in accuracy-wise.

Personally, I don’t like the shiny chrome look of WW2 Mustangs. They look too unrealistic. Sure, show me photos online of WW2 era Mustangs, but they’re restored photos to make it look like they have a chrome finish. They’re dull silver reflecting off the sun.

Sure. Any time that you reference to a restored aircraft, do bear in mind that those aren't representative of aircraft in service.

A natural metal P-51 would have a shiny but somewhat subdued finish, and the wings were painted silver lacquer so they'd be pretty flat.

If you have an airbrush, try Alclad II lacquer. The color they call airframe aluminum is the shiniest one I've tried.

Testor's sells a spray can named Chrome Silver I think, which is also good.

There are numerous acrylic mettalic paints now, others who have used them can opine.

I've just used flat aluminum (XF-16).

Thank you Blacksheep for pointing that out.  I didn't think that modern mustang are going to be much shinier than WW2 mustangs.  I'm going to see if i can find any tamiya bare metal silver because I'm going for WW2 accuracy.

I would recommend Alclad.  There are three or four versions of their aluminum, all with different sheens.  Even their polished aluminum, which can be used for a highly polished appearance, does not have to be.  You can control the sheen as you apply it.  A very thin coat over a flawless gloss black undercoat will be extremely shiny.  But the thicker you put it on, the duller it gets.  And, by using that, and also their aluminum and their white aluminum on various panels you can alter the sheen on different panels to see the the varying sheen you see on unpolished bare aluminum on real planes in service.

Don Stauffer

I would recommend Alclad.  There are three or four versions of their aluminum, all with different sheens.  Even their polished aluminum, which can be used for a highly polished appearance, does not have to be.  You can control the sheen as you apply it.  A very thin coat over a flawless gloss black undercoat will be extremely shiny.  But the thicker you put it on, the duller it gets.  And, by using that, and also their aluminum and their white aluminum on various panels you can alter the sheen on different panels to see the the varying sheen you see on unpolished bare aluminum on real planes in service.

 

 

I agree with Don’s explanation. I’m also an Alclad user and love the results which is easier to apply than bare metal foil. As sheep said, the mirror like shine would eventually get dull on service aircraft. 

Do you have an airbrush? You need one for Alclad, it isn't designed for brush-painting.

Start with Aluminum, ALC 101.

[Greg]

[Do you have an airbrush? You need one for Alclad, it isn't designed for brush-painting.]

Yes, I have a airbrush, not a great one but still an airbrush.  

Alclad is easy to a/b. It atkes a number of coats, but when applied over black you have grtat control over th 'depth" of the coating.

Best thing to do when trying out a new product is to experiment and test on some sheet plastic cards till you become familiar.

Here is a link to the Alclad site:

http://alclad2.com/how-to/

Oh yes, i have many old and broken models that would love to be a test subject. ;)

Noah

Yes, I have a airbrush, not a great one but still an airbrush.

Good. That gives you more options.

I stopped using Alclad after despite careful priming it melted a kit and refused to cure and dry on an engine.

I now use AK Xtreme metal which is just as good and doesn't melt anything. It does hate masking so I would put on a coat of AK's intermediate Gauzy shine enhancer which puts a protective clear coat over the metal paint if you do intend masking at some point.

They have several shades of Aluminium in the range and you need their cleaner for it as it is an Acrylic Enamel.

This is one of the engines of my latest build, ZM's Ki-45, Metals by AK, rest chipset accurate Vallejo model air. (Exhausts are actually Vallejo Metal colour burnt iron)

James

Noah

Thank you for mentioning Alclad, i whatch a youtube video a while ago and the guy building his mustang use Alclad paint, which came out perfect( just couldn't remember what type of paint it was). Except now that i look, my local hobbystore has many different type of Alclad aluminum, semi-gloss...semi-dall...matt...high gloss...and so on. Which type would be the best (well most accurate) for a WW2 mustang. Thanks for your help.

 

More than one.  I would use just plain aluminum, white aluminum, and polished aluminum, varying panel to panel.  What I do is start with the polished first, you can dull it down somewhat by putting it on normal thickness (polished effect must be very thin).  When thoroughly dry (a day or so) then mask some panels with very low tack tape (I use post-it notes) and spray with aluminum or airframe aluminum.  Then remask for some panels in white aluminum.  I do most panels in the just-plain aluminum, fewer in the polished and white.

Thank you Don for mentioning the different types of aluminum I'm going to need, I'm definitely going to try that (on a spare model first ;) ).

By the way,  if anyone is interested this is the mustang i was looking at. 

P-51 Mustang

Excellent choice of model.

Excellent kit indeed. Ease of assembly and fit. 

Yes I sprung for this kit because of the fit of tamiya.  There was a revell mustang for $16 but i saw for $10 more i could tamiya quality mustang, so don't mind if I do. ;)

Excellent fiting kit with great details. You can actually use one shade of Alclad and get different panel colors by spraying different primer colors like black, grey, white.  The gloss colors will give you a smoother metal finish and the flat primers will produce a slight oxidized look. 

I have also tried Extreme Metal paints and work well too but I find Alclad more durable being able to mask off panels within a few hours of drying time.

Airfix kits has been getting rave reviews as of late. I know they have the P-51 Mustang kit in Airfix as well - if you can find it at Hobby Lobby. Definitely better quality than Revell.

No, I checked the airfix and it was also about $15 so I thought, just like the revell kit, why not pay ten more and get a tamiya mustang.  Besides I'm a little sceptical about airfix because I have never had or built an airfix model and I know a guy who said the fit on the airfix p-51 was exceptionally bad.  I have built tamiya models though and I know they are one of the best.  

snapdragonxxx

I stopped using Alclad after despite careful priming it melted a kit and refused to cure and dry on an engine.

mustang1989

 

 

snapdragonxxx

I stopped using Alclad after despite careful priming it melted a kit and refused to cure and dry on an engine.

 

 

 

I'm trying to figure this one out. I've never had Alclad melt anything. Not being obnoxious. Just curious.

 

 

Yes I found that very odd. Alclad dries within seconds of application and have never had any issues.

Alclad is laquer base and so plastic doesn't like it.

I painted an engine in their steel colour and for some reason it just wouldn't cure at all. Even after waiting a week I could still leave a fingerprint in the paint.

I gave up with Alclad. If it can melt an expensive kit even after priming and then refuse to dry and cure then there's something wrong.

My adventures with both Xtreme metal and Vallejo Metal Color has, after a learning curve, been very sucessful as you can see above. They may take slightly longer to cure completley, but not being hot products they won't damage the kit and for me give Alclad a run for it's money.

You can use both together and side by side and because both have overlapping colours that have different shades etc then you have very much a broad shade range as well as altering the shade by using different primer colours.

For instance, try doing exhaust pipes with a red primer and then put Vallejo burnt Iron over the top of that. I didn't do that on the engine above, but to add a variance I did the air intake pipes with duraluminium which up against the stainless steel cylinder blocks draws the eye and keeps it moving over the engine.

I do go through quite a lot of plastic spoons testing metal colours with different coloured primers underneath and the variations can be very interesting and informative and can lead to different usages on engines and aircraft. You're not limited to a black gloss undercoat!

Alclad is an expensive product and it has had a chance with me. I'll stick to something that I can spray directly onto unprimed plastic if I need to with no worries that it will not reduce it to a lump of unusable styrene.

Sorry, chaps, but there you are.

Well I would say use whatever works for you and it seems the Vallejo and Xtreme are working very well for you.  Although I wonder if the Alclad melted your model or was it a defective model.  But thanks for the warning( I'll keep my eyes on it)and good modeling.

I don't know why Alclad, being a lacquer, works so well for me over enamels, but it does.  Same thing with glosscoat.  Maybe they evaporate so fast they don't have time to do anything.

I do not find Alclad expensive.  You use such a thin coat, so that a bottle lasts for several models.  It is about twice as expensive as enamel paint, but I use several coats of enamel, and only one thin coat of Alclad.