Alclad...my nemesis has been vanquished

I understand the amount of elbow grease this type of finish requires and I am an appreciator of your hard work.  very beautiful.   This is how I'd hoped my John Glen F-86 tribute would come out.  It's temporarilly on the shelf after the 3rd attempt at getting a good black base coat but it's haunting me and I will try again.

That is very cool and real shiny.

I have found that for me tamiya gloss black enamel works well as a base. If sprayed on correctly it takes very little pollishing to get right.

Now that you have mestered the NMF why not join in on the metal masters GB to show us how it's done ;-)

Theuns

Theuns

Now that you have mestered the NMF why not join in on the metal masters GB to show us how it's done ;-)

This bird was nearly 40% done when that started so I wouldn't join for that reason. But, I can jump in and go over what I did if there is interest. I know there are many ways to pull this off, but this one is the only one I could get this result. I just can't get my gloss paints to lay as flat as I want.

BK

Dang! 

You are welcome to post your experience on the GB.

But why not get another model and join the fun, results can only get more stunning with practice :-)

Doesn't have to be a huge expencive model, just something fun.

Theuns

Wow, that looks great!

Theuns

get another model and join the fun,

I want to do an F-86 now. I just don't know if I'll find the time to work it in. These early jets look real sexy all polished up. 

I have learned alot about dealing with Alclad lately and now I think I know what I need to do to acheive a certain look.

Put me down for a tenative F-86 later in the year. I'd like to try another polished bird.

BK

Umm, Brandon, you have one glaring issue with this paint. I'm surprised you did not notice... The anti-glare panels are not shiny at all! What's up with that??

Just kidding!! I am in awe of how well that turned out! Absolutely spectacular! OK, sounds like you did not use a black primer? You just prepped the plastic very well, then sprayed the Alclad? Just checking because eventually I'm going to build a NMF aircraft. Looking forward to seeing this one complete. And I hope you don't mind my messing with you in the beginning!

hogfanfs

OK, sounds like you did not use a black primer? You just prepped the plastic very well, then sprayed the Alclad?

I've tried primers, both grey and black with both sanded smooth, as well as gloss black paint. I just can't get that near perfect finish from those surfaces, so I tried polishing the surface instead. I worked it from 1000 to 12000 grit and then with a dremel and cotton buff. It shines like chrome and you can see yourself clearly in the surface.

I know others have thier personsal tricks, but this is what finally worked for me.

It took me over 25 hours of surface prep to get it like that before I shot the Alclad. The outcome is worth it to me. If I were doing up one for service use I would primer and spray, but that is not what I had in mind for this one. She's a restored bird, in my eye.

BK

Very bright and  shiny use cotton gloves 

BrandonK

 I wanted an "airshow" look. Now I am afraid to touch it.

BK

 

 

lol. The pitfalls of scale modeling.

That is one beautiful finish.  Air show worthy alright.

Holy cow! that's one shiny bird, congrats! you have much more patience than me.

Brandon, that thing is NICE!

If you want to save some time, you can actually use Alclad Aqua Gloss as a primer for their shiny paints. That on top of pure bare plastic doesn't have the depth of spraying gloss black first, but you can always spray something like Tamiya X-1 gloss black, then aqua gloss it (it's self-leveling and helps with the shine on a surface that isn't glass smooth), and then spray the silver stuff.

But yes, your nemesis is very much vanquished, and that looks like an airshow job for sure!

-BD-

Well, all is not happy in chrome town. The alclad surface is so smooth and slick that decals will not adhere to it. And these are good decals. Not to mention even handling it with gloves on was causing it rub off.  SOOO, we stripped it completely down and and hit the surface with some 3000 grit to give the alclad something to bite to, then cleared it with Agua gloss. Now it looks like your standard AC aluminum dull surface. But, at least the decals will stick this time.

BK

OH MAN !  I feel your pain. 

Such a beautiful finish gone. My first thought was painting the markings on instead of roughing up the finish but since even your gloves damaged the finish when handling the model , taping on the stencils for painting would have messed it up as well.  There must be a way but the answer is way over my head for sure.

I'm pretty sure this is my fault. I think the surface was just TOO smooth and nothing had anything to bite ahold of. I've nearly completed the repaint with LOTS and LOTS of on an off masking with almost no issues. What few I've had I have been able to easily repair. 

YUP, I'm dead sure the finish was just too smooth that even Alclad couldn't stick. Lesson learned: Moving on.

BK