I've finished mine finally. 

The ship is Testors German Silver. The name plaque in flat black sanded partially sanded away then painted with gloss red and yellow covered with clear orange.

It's not as nice as Matt's, but I think it came out good.

Mark

Joe,

You might consider Postit Notes. They might be low tack enough not to damage the finish. Just a thought.

Rogue

Yes, that is correct, and I neglected to do it, which may have had something to do with my disaster.  You could also stick the tape to a clean surface, like a sheet of poly or countertop to reduce the tackiness, one or more times.  That would avoid picking up little hairs off your arm and possibly transferring them to your model.

 I also think it helps to let the primer and the finish coat cure for a good long time, many overnights or maybe even a week.  Most metallic paints are tricky in this regard, but Alclad is the most sensitive I have used to date.

 Alclad finish colors are approximately 95% solvent and 5% pigment, so when it dries, it leaves behind an extremely thin coat of paint, and strangely enough, one coat is enough.  Spray lightly until the color looks right, then quit.

I had asked some modeling acquaintances about their experiences of masking over Alclad, and the consensus was to use the Tamiya yellow tape, but to first apply it to another surface - like the underside of a forearm, or  the palm of the hand, and then carefully peel it off and apply it to the model.   The theory is that human skin oil would weaken the sticky side of the tape slightly, reducing the odds of paint removal.  And also that I should consider the 3M Blue tape for this purpose.

When I get results, I'll post images!

That sounds good, Joe.  But I would be very careful about masking over Alclad.  I ruined a model beyond repair by doing that recently, the tape pulled off all the Alclad paint and primer, right down to the bare surface.  Maybe I didn't let it cure long enough, or the tape was too tacky.  I used the yellow Tamiya tape which has always worked well for me on enamels and acrylics.

So, good luck, but be careful.  Please let us know how it works out for you, if you do it.

Thank you!

For mine, I'm looking at different shades of Alclad II, and thinking about simulating some of the fuselage paneling with (relatively!) simple masking.  Some of the build sequences shown on Doug Drexler's site illustrate the process:

http://drexfiles.wordpress.com/2009/02/25/when-worlds-collide/

Joe Brown

That's a nice finish -- what paint did you use?

Thanks, Joe. The rocket is finished with Floquil Platinum Mist. It's much shinier than it looks here; the diffusers in the photo studio tend to tone down high-shine finishes.

Matt @ FSM

Beautiful model Matt!!!

I love the old days when men were real men, women were real women, and rockets were real shiny!!!

I just finished mine today (sorry, no pix yet.)  I jazzed up the base with various shades of earthen tones airbrushed on the surface, added model railroad gravel and scrubby lichen vegetation; I painted the ship with Alclad polished chrome (VERY shiny) and did the ramp in Alclad magnesium, a much darker color.  I painted the nameplate solid Alclad copper, which looks pretty classy.

With a subject like this, I like to take artistic liberties.  Matt built his more or less like the picture on the box, and did a fine job, but I like mine better!  When I get a pix up, we can have a vote, hopefully!

This was a nicely made kit, and fun to build, and suitable for beginners as well.  And, it just begs for improvisation.  I give it a

Nice.Ron

that's cool. perhaps ship could have been a bit shinier but otherwise excellent.

http://t1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQRnOe1HApto_XwLji9bzECqwnbc_bAtDsOuJhS2mLDMsHqobOlhQ&t=1

That's a nice finish -- what paint did you use?

Nicely done Matt .

Regards,  Rick

Nice, I like it.

Not enough rust...