Natural metal finish - my attempts with alclad

Very impressive, TUG. To me, the sheen is just right, not the polished aluminum look, but some oxidation. Well done, sir.

I remember your Marauder from an earlier post. They all look magnificent. And I'm certainly no expert but I think the weathering on all of them is fine. It makes the model more interesting in my opinion. And because of how that Mirage looks I think at some point I'm gonna try painting markings. Looks WAY better than decals.

I agree, they all look great to me.  Tug, you got it down man!  That F-86 looks spot on to me, a real hard-workin' aircraft.  Your painted markings are also so well done, these are mighty fine models sir!

Gary

Very nice. You are a NMF expert, and know how to weather them properly too.

Absolutely Tug. I'll echo what everyone else here is no doubt thinking. Great job on all of these. Your attention to the little things is what ties everything together. All of what I see here is exactly what I set out to do on my builds...only I see you've done it already...and more of them! =]

Looking forward to seeing your sabre on the NMF group page.

Awesome as ever Tug.  I always enjoy seeing your work.

Darn, Brother!  Those look fantastic!  Superb work - one day I hope to emulate those fantastic finishes.

Thanks for sharing the pics.  

Simply stunning work.  Some of the finest NMF's I've ever seen.  

NMF one of the greatest thorns in my side yet you make it look easy. congrats!

Hi Guys - Thank you for all your kind and appreciative comments - nothing gives me a greater buzz than if someone is inspired to have a go at something because of something I've made. Although I have in the past - I don't actively compete now, much more preferring to just display and talk with those who find a model of particular interest. I think sharing what you do has to be the best bit about this hobby. If I can pass on anything just say.

My initial interest in metal finish transpired with the need to do the engine area on a Flanker which was the first aircraft I tackled after the Lanc described elsewhere. I choose Alclad because it's made close by where I live and found it so easy to use. Consequently, though I have the odd jar of other stuff here and there, I've never used anything else and it was from this that the desire to do more NMF arose. Incidentally, the Mirage was built halfway through this Flanker build - this was a long haul.

(BTW excuse the dead spider! I only noticed it as I inserted the image. All my models live under card covers but looks like he found a way  in)

When I did the Sabre I used the 'new' heat stain colours....

I find the affects you can get with these is so varied - the only minor issue is the constant need to change colours/ clean the airbrush occasionally. Alclad also produce a colour called Gold Titanium. I found that if this is just 'dusted' on in a very thin layer the effect is even more striking. This is the one area I'm really looking forward to painting on the current build.

Should you be wondering the bases are all made from 'Poly-Filla' a water based DIY wall crack filler. The surface is textured by various means and takes Acrylic very well. It's joy is it will then take layers of oil paint/ white spirit washes to create some very nice effects. The tire marks on the sabre base where done by mounting a small felt wheel on a motorised tool, rubbing the wheel in paint then bouncing it off the base (with the tool running). I like to keep them as simple as possible though - just enough to convey their environment

Hope that's of interest too - Thanks once again

Regards - Tug

Thanks Silver for your thoughts but I'm afraid I shall have to decline - that's an awful long way to go as I'm in the UK.

I'll think about your show though and be there in spirit if nothing else - I hope you do as well again and that you'll put some pics up for us

Regards - Ramon

Those look fantastic.  I have to ask how did you "chip" the colored paint markings?  Was it a mask or did you actually chip them off?  I was never a huge fan of NMF because I always felt it looked too clean, but I may have to give one a shot to dirty up and make it more visually appealing!

Groot

I think I'll send you all my kits that need a bare metal finish and let you paint them for me....... Simply astounding work!

Thanks Guys nice to hear you like them.

'Groot' - The chipping was done by various means. On the F-86 and the B-26 I mainly used the 'salt technique' but replaced the salt with a card craft product called embossing powder. (I think it's used with a heated stamp to emboss designs in card) It's a coarse powder like substance bought on spec to see whether it would work. - It does! Unlike salt, though it absorbs water, it does not dissolve and reduce to a mushy paste.  

After some experimenting i found the best way to use it is to wet the area required then sprinkle the powder into the water' moving it around with a paint brush if required. Let it completely dry then gently flick off the areas not wanted. The initial spray coat has to be very light and at low pressure as the powder is only just attached and is easily knocked off but once that first layer is on it's quite resilient to further spraying. Once the paint has dried it's a matter of brushing off the granules leaving exposed metal beneath. These granules can be reused by the way. This shot might give a better impression of how it works.

The other thing I have used successfully is a food product called 'Marmite' in the UK ('Vegimite' elsewhere?) If this is applied with a sponge, again very lightly, then spayed over it's just a matter of washing it off with water as soon as the paint has dried. If used over Tamiya paints it can bleach the area very slightly which also adds to the effect. As opposed to the usual masking fluid this is also a good masking material if very small parts require masking as the removal is much less stressful than fluid

Finally I have found if any area needing chipping that hasn't been masked as above and has been over painted with Tamiya paint - if the area to be chipped is washed over with water and left for a few minutes the Tamiya paint will soften slightly allowing hand chipping with the tip of a scalpel or a tooth pick without damaging the underlying surface.

Well I hope that helps you 'Groot' and anyone else who may be interested. My current build has come somewhat to a halt of late but I'm off now for a good painting session 

Regards - Tug

Thank you, the results are absolutely incredible!  I'll have to give it a try.

Groot

Sir Tug -  Among the best NMF I've had the pleasure to see, your work is just so very well done. Then, to learn that you paint markings??? You have nerves of steel and some mighty steady hands.

Would you please share with us the types of airbrushes you use, tip sizes and pressures? I use .5 tips and 10-12 psi, looks ok, but nothing at all as perfect as yours.

Quite beautiful to see, thanks so much for sharing. (Wonder if the spider was killed by exhaust heat?)

Patrick

Hi Guys, Thanks once more for your kind and appreciative comments. My apologies for not responding sooner but the last few days have been rather distracting!

Silver - That's one awesome thing to say - From the outset, when I returned to modelling I was inspired by an ad in FSM which said something like 'Any more real and you'd be eating fumes' - I think it was a paint ad. For me it's all about trying to achieve a degree of realism so to recieve that kind of comment means so much - much more than winning any comp. That said - all the very best for the 12th in Seattle, I hope you have a successful time and agreat show.

Patrick -  I began airbrushing using a Paasche double action with a side cup. This tended to get in the way at times so I bought an expensive (to me!) Iwata with a central top cup. Just after this someone at my club showed me a very similar 'brush which cost just £22 (about $35 I guess) - this had the small valve underneath for varying the pressure. I bought one just to see how good it could be - Believe it or not I have used nothing else since The Paashe still gets used for priming and sealing only and all painting is done with this 'Spraymaster'. It had (originally) a .2 jet which became blocked when I tried using another acrylic paint other than Tamiya. Having tried everyway to clean it including Ultrasonic I resorted to opening it with a very fine wire which turned it, I guess to, around .3. It's proved more than aceptable ( particularly the price!) - and has not yet let me down. I think the first model I did with it was the Junkers 52 and have used it ever since - the Iwata virtually redundant except for the very finest detail and thats usually only as a last resort.

One of the things I do do that I don't see referenced that often regards using Alclad (indeed any paint) and one which I believe raises the quality of finish considerably is that I always smooth each and every coat out using Micromesh 6000 with water as a lube. (The water has just a drop of washing up liquid added to about a litre to help break the surface tension)

Before I had this 'brush I sprayed Alclad at around the same pressure - now I have the pressure at a constant 40psi and vary it at the brush to suit. I think it's much better to keep the pressure lower than higher - that can lead to the paint drying before it hits the model leading to rough, dusty surfaces which can also come off on the fingers.

Hope that help some - I'm no 'expert', just someone who enjoys what he does and tries to learn off others where and when I can. I would like to do more but I share this hobby with two others - doesn't leave much time - As my wife says 'something has to go' but which one!

Regards - Tug

Love your models! I've always liked the 1950s-era American fighter jets.

they all look good to me, especially the weathered markings

Hi Guys - Thought you might like to see my latest attempt at NMF finished just today. It's been featured during it's build on the NMF Group Build (where you can find more details) but as that's been very quiet on there lately I thought perhaps this would be a better place to post the finished images.

It's the 1/32 Trumpeter F-100D kit (the Thunderbirds version) which I got for a knock down price at last years Scale Model World. Unfortunately, though it normally retails for the same price as the standard D that kit does not have the missiles nor fuel tanks. (Makes for some expensive decals!) The lack of missiles wasn't an issue but it would have been nice to have the fuel tanks fitted. 

It's an all Alclad finish over Alclad grey primer and the cockpit, exhaust nozzle and U/C bays are Aires resin with  scratch built speed brake bay details.

Major markings are masked and sprayed - decals used for stenciling and information.

Hope you like it.

It's taken three major sessions to complete starting around the early part of the year. I have other non plastic modelling things to do for a while but the result has fired me up for tackling another NMF at some stage.

Regards - Tug

Tug...gorgeous.  =D  Everyone here can take some notes on what you've got going on with this Hun.  And not to worry...the deadline for the NMF GB was extended, so you have plenty of time to amaze us with another beauty if you're up to it.  =]

Two thumbs way up!

Simply brilliant! The 1/32 F-100 is on my to buy list and has been for some time. I have to ask though, where did you get the runway bases for your aircraft? Do you spray them yourself or buy them ready painted? They look superb, and the runway is excellent, of course the palnes are too lol, but I have not seen those sort of bases before.

TUG,

Your work is amazing! I've got nothing else, just amazing.

Steve

Looks great, Tug.  It's nice to see your work again.

Blue

Amazing Hun! Looks 100% real! Exhaust area looks killer!

Dude ....... Whoa!!! 

Wow, absolutely beautiful work on all these models. The B-26 is especially impressive.

These are definitely inspirational. I could probably study the pictures of these for hours.

Tug, do you have an online gallery of these models?  I'd love to see more pictures.