B-17G 1/48 Alclad chrome prep work question

There's no way to over state how important a smooth surface will be. Anything at all, putty, whatever, will show up in the worst way. In fact, I've built a few smaller models where I prefer to live with the seam in favor of the inevitable mess of filling seams.

I would clean it with alcohol, not thinner. I can't guess what thinner might do if it creeps under your masks.

I have never used Revell primer. Can you find Tamiya white? Whatever you use, polish it down to smooth and thin-to-nothing. I get good results with gloss black enamel as a base.

I don't think a mirror finish is accurate. It's not an airliner. But it's up to you.

first of all, thanks for your reply!

I agree on the fact that a smooth Surface is important. If I slide my hobby knife across one of the seaming lines you can‘t feel anything!

I don’t know if Tamiya has a enamel primer. most of their paints are acrylic.

I don’t think I want a to achieve a totall mirror finish, but I think a polished aluminium finish will look the best. I didn’t want to buy allclad polished aluminium and ending up with a aluminium finish without any gloss. So I thought it was the best to buy something with the most gloss. 

To get the shine you are looking for using Alclad, any Alclad, you will need to have a near perfectly smooth, shiny, preferably black base. When I state this anyone will agree that if you have any, and I mean any, imperfections in the model the Alclad will show them like crazy. Black gloss base coat works the best for a shiny finish. Alclad is an unforgiving medium when it comes to the results. Your base must me as good as you can possibly muster or you will not be happy with your results.

This was after hours of polishing the surface and making sure there were no errors in the plastic. In the end I repainted this kit and dulled it down, you can be too shiny it seems.

BK

Just because you can't feel a seam doesn't mean that they are all gone. Wipe the model down first with rubbing alcohol. Then prime with Tamiya fine primer and check and recheck all your seams this is very important as the smallest flaw will show up like crazy in the finish paint job. Alcald recommends a gloss black under the nmf paint, I use Tamiya flat black and then Alcald aquagloss over that. The aquagloss says it can be used as a primer by itself for nmf paint but I still prefer to put down black before. Hope this helps a bit.

Thanks for your reply and photo!!! Amazing work! what did you use to polish the model? what Grid?

That kit was polished with a dremel and soft cotton buff. The Alclad is laid down over the clean clear kit plastic. It looked good, but it wouldn't hold. A base layer is a must.

Bk

I use Alclad frequently and like the others mentioned surface prep is VERY important. Putty will show up under Alclad so if any was used it needs to be sealed either with a primer or Aquagloss. I use Testors gloss black enamel in the small bottle heavily thinned and sprayed to get a glass smooth surface. Any orange peel or pebbly finish will show up under the Alclad ruining the metal skin effect Of the Alclad chrome paint. The Chrome Alclad must be lightly sprayed to cover most of the gloss black paint which gives it depth. Go easy till you get the desired effect, spray too much Alclad and the metallic effect is ruined. A hint of the black has to peek thru the Alclad for a realistic metallic finish. 

I suggest getting a large clear plastic bottle or several plastic spoons to practice first.

When I do NMF I build as per normal than prime with tamiya rattlecan light grey, it goes on very fine and smooth to show where more work is needed, Then I pollish with micro mesh up to the 3600 gritt for a base for the gloss black tamiya enamel.

This I sand up to the 6000-8000 grit for the base for alclad.

In my personal view I would rather used pollished alluminium as chrome might be way to shiny. Pollished allu over closs black makes for a mirror like high shine on its own but still has a feel of "depth" to it.

Theuns

Hmmm... I've only tried the chrome on a couple spinners with limited success mostly due to surface prep.  I've done aluminum with pretty good success and yes surface prep is king.  I did the Novus polish 1,2,3 after sanding as mentioned.

BTW - I've never used these paints but wow, what a finish!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4v4oET1w4Yg

I find Alclad Polished Aluminum can give you a very polished look so if you have not bought your alclad yet, you might consider that instead of chrome.  I have used a number of primers successfully under the gloss black.  Some of us have found the Alclad primer not that easy to use, others swear by it.  Personally I use Testors gloss black.  As others have mentioned, the care in applying that black will determine how polished the result is.  I have found sanding out the primer before the black with anything around 600 to 1000 grit is good enough.  Finer is okay, but those grits are sufficient.

BK that NMF is simply gorgeous. I have a similar finish on a Fujimi Cutlass I did a while back in Alclad Polished Aluminum.The thing is one needs to get rid of the clear carrier film when decaling.

plasticjunkie

I use Alclad frequently and like the others mentioned surface prep is VERY important. Putty will show up under Alclad so if any was used it needs to be sealed either with a primer or Aquagloss. I use Testors gloss black enamel in the small bottle heavily thinned and sprayed to get a glass smooth surface. Any orange peel or pebbly finish will show up under the Alclad ruining the metal skin effect Of the Alclad chrome paint. The Chrome Alclad must be lightly sprayed to cover most of the gloss black paint which gives it depth. Go easy till you get the desired effect, spray too much Alclad and the metallic effect is ruined. A hint of the black has to peek thru the Alclad for a realistic metallic finish. 

I suggest getting a large clear plastic bottle or several plastic spoons to practice first.

 

Thanks for your help really appreciate it!!!

Theuns

When I do NMF I build as per normal than prime with tamiya rattlecan light grey, it goes on very fine and smooth to show where more work is needed, Then I pollish with micro mesh up to the 3600 gritt for a base for the gloss black tamiya enamel.

This I sand up to the 6000-8000 grit for the base for alclad.

In my personal view I would rather used pollished alluminium as chrome might be way to shiny. Pollished allu over closs black makes for a mirror like high shine on its own but still has a feel of "depth" to it.

 

Theuns

 

thanks for your answer with a lot of helpful information!!! I guess I‘ll Buy some micro mesh then With a gritt up to 3000 or even more for the gloss black.

But I have already bought my allclad chrome which I’m going to use. 

If you look closely to this photo you can see that the B-17G has a real mirror finish, since this is my first project with allclad I don’t think I’ll get a perfect mirror finish. So I thought I would get the best results with the paint which has the most shiny and best mirror effect and that is the chrome paint from allclad instead of the polished aluminium. 

I honestly think that I can get closer to the result on the photo with  allclad chrome paint than the Allclad polished aluminium.

Dutch-modeler

 

 

If you look closely to this photo you can see that the B-17G has a real mirror finish, since this is my first project with allclad I don’t think I’ll get a perfect mirror finish. So I thought I would get the best results with the paint which has the most shiny and best mirror effect and that is the chrome paint from allclad instead of the polished aluminium. 

I honestly think that I can get closer to the result on the photo with  allclad chrome paint than the Allclad polished aluminium.

 

Yep I agree too. The Fortress has been super polished to a bright  mirror finish. Just remember to go nice and light with the Chrome coats to get that effect.