F-22 Raptor Sheen

That is a conundrum!

I visited a buddy of mine, who is a V-22 crew chief...he took me out to his squadrons hanger to check out the planes. There was another squadron there that had that sheen on their 22's (my buddy's squadron did not). My first thought was..."how would I replicate that?" It's such a different look....I don't think a gloss would be right, or even a semi-gloss. Honestly, I came up with nothing!

 Now, thinking about it...I have mixed some Metalizer with rgular colors to get that metalic blue/green used on Japanese interiors, and it looked the part. I think that may not be a bad idea to start doing some test shots with...with varying amounts of "metal" added.

I think a clear gloss would kill it though....I'd do all the usual stuff and finish with a flat coat, then buff it with a piece of soft cloth.

Food for thought...if nothing else. Good luck, and I'd like to see what you come up with!

Back when it was available, I tried that Raptor Sheen product and found it to be useless.  Side by side test panels showed no difference at all, with or without the sheen mixed in with the paint.

I think the best chance is mixing some basic paint with something metallic.  I have a feeling that the final mixture needs to be mostly metallic, so I would use something like aluminum mixed with a little gray paint- and test first on a sheet of styrene.  Good luck.

This is indeed a conundrum Fermis! It will take plenty of experimentation with the mix to get that metallic effect. As usual I know that after I'm done with it, a paint company will come out with the 'Raptor' paint line.

Chuck

I read about your same experience on that product from a couple of other reviews so you were not the only one that saw no difference. This subject is out of my comfort zone as I deal mostly with WWII subjects and even an ocassional semi modern jet.

Once I'm done I will post some pictures.

Unfortunately, most metallic paints do not really create a metallic sheen, so lots of experimenting will be necessary.  In fact, paints that create a metallic sheen properly are just becoming available, and I suspect it will take awhile before the technology trickles down to hobby paints.  This is pretty high tech.

I wonder if any of the automotive pearls would give that effect.   Might see if you can get a sample from a local shop or supplier.  You don't want to buy a bottle of that powder, man is it up there $ wise.  Maybe mix in with semi-flat clear.......

Just a quick thought

Yes Don, plenty of experimentation is ahead.

GH

Dude you just gave me an and will see if it works first before I spill the beans!

FSM had an article in which someone built the Hasegawa's F-22 and replicated the metallic sheen.  I belive it came out this year or last year.  The exact month escapes me though.

I'll chime in. Just recently I've been trying to cope with how to create the appearance of engine oil smearing across the cowl of my Pacific P-51A Mustang. Something I noticed while working some weathered painting in layers was that the oils from my finger were starting to stick to the surface (uniformly, luckily) and created the sheen that I was looking for. As soon as I heard the word "sheen" in my head, I recalled that I have an Alclad Light Sheen for sealing the surface. After I was done with my painting, I conservatively sprayed down some of the Light Sheen and backtracked with Alclad's Flat coat to cover some overspray that I didn't want and I have to say I'm quite happy with the appearance.

This sheen could be a very easy way of duplicating the Raptor Sheen seen on F-22s, and better yet it's straight out of a bottle. I think the look is very close...with some light coats of a Flat to follow up to control the amount of sheen you're looking for... might be worth exploring. =]

Build it as one of the ones operating over Syria, where thepaint is melting off 

https://southfront.org/american-f-22-raptor-fighter-jets-lose-anti-radar-coating-in-syria/

In all seriousness, this is what's kept me from building a Raptor, so I'd love to see how you tackle it.

-BD-

Maybe some mother of pearl powder mixed in with a clearcoat 

I am wondering the same thing right now.  I am building a hypothetical F-16XL as a wild weasel. 

Do a search for Have glass V paint.  I found an article on a way using Alclad as a base for a mixed Tamiya/alclad topcoat that should work.  I assume that if you painted the base metal colors in the camo pattern and then painted the overcoat with the gray it might work.

This is the thread which explains his method:

http://www.intscalemodeller.com/viewtopic.php?t=15860

I am looking to give this a try in the next week or so, hopfully it works.

blkhwkmatt

I am wondering the same thing right now.  I am building a hypothetical F-16XL as a wild weasel. 

Do a search for Have glass V paint.  I found an article on a way using Alclad as a base for a mixed Tamiya/alclad topcoat that should work.  I assume that if you painted the base metal colors in the camo pattern and then painted the overcoat with the gray it might work.

This is the thread which explains his method:

http://www.intscalemodeller.com/viewtopic.php?t=15860

I am looking to give this a try in the next week or so, hopfully it works.

 

Please by all means post your results. Thanks for the link. Now that is interesting mixing Tamiya acrylic with Alclad. I Have read  somewhere that they are not true acrylics.

blkhwkmatt

I am wondering the same thing right now.  I am building a hypothetical F-16XL as a wild weasel. 

Do a search for Have glass V paint.  I found an article on a way using Alclad as a base for a mixed Tamiya/alclad topcoat that should work.  I assume that if you painted the base metal colors in the camo pattern and then painted the overcoat with the gray it might work.

This is the thread which explains his method:

http://www.intscalemodeller.com/viewtopic.php?t=15860

I am looking to give this a try in the next week or so, hopfully it works.

 

Agreed!! I like the way this sounds. =]

I have a couple of good leads and just have to do the mix and see how it dries. Once I have something positive I will post the results.