Aluminum finishes

My favorite is Alcad II. It doesn't need a topcoat, it can be masked, and lots of shades are available (you can also mix them for more variety). The only drawback is the primer. If you don't get a primer coat that is even & "thick" enough, the Alcad will craze the surface (this happened to me this week). I only use Metalizers to paint small details with a brush.

my opinion, the best metal finish is a metal finish. i have painted metal finishes and they look good but to get the true metal finish nothing can sub. however i dont believe i will ever use household foil again. bmf or chocolat foil is much thinner and will set a lot better.

joe

I've tried just about every paint there is for NMF. Some of the better ones in my experience are Floquil "Old Silver", ModelMaster non-buffing Aluminum & SNJ. But the best IMHO is Alclad2. Very realistic if applied properly & very durable.

After just completing my 1/48th jug (hasegawa) in NMF, I really am "hot" on this topic. My first go 'round was with BMF, my goal was to cover the entire model. I did so. Guess what! it looked like a model airplane covered with foil!. BMF does have it's uses, but I was not pleased. So I stripped it off and went with gloss aluminum. Still not what I was looking for. The subsequent paint removal ruined my wings ( they warped, alittle too much mineral spirits), so I bought another kit (on sale) and used the fuselage and wings and rebuilt. This time I used SNJ and SNJ polishing powder. Success! I'm sold on SNJ products and will use them again. AlcadII is still a possibility, haaven't tried it yet.

Steve

I gotta go with the Alclad and the Bare Metal Foil. The both have their uses - Alclad because of it's bullet proof, hard finish, and BMF for it's true polished alloy look - but it can be hard to applu over seriously compound surfaces.

I'm with Shrikes. I'm still using the Tamiya Gloss Aluminium in spray cans and find it excellent. I am keen to give Alclad II a go as well but for now, the rattle can will suffice.

Bob

I just use relyable old Tamia Gloss Aluminium in a rattle can... Does the job really well, but if i had my way i'd do Alclad II (they don't sell it here in the Philippines and i don't own an airbrush... yet.). I tried bare metal foil, but it's too time consuming... I choose my sanity over my models, thanks!