Natural metal finishes.

You won't be disappointed with the Alclad. Just remember these simply rules:

1. High gloss balck undercoat (I usually seal mine with Future)

2. Let the undercoat cure for at LEAST 48 hours.

I've never had lifting, peeling, etc. when following these rules.

Declas adhere well, but you don't get the actual blending in unless you seal the decals with

Just like you guys said, I was pleased with the look of the Testors when I painted the over all color with Aluminium Plate on my P51D and buffed it out. I waited several days and then attempted to paint some of the panels offseting colors such as the control surfaces. I used frisket paper as it is very low tack, and bingo! Off came parts of the original finish! I may try the Alclad as there is a hobby store very close that stocks it. I'm not worried about the smell as I work in a well ventilated area.

My biggest concern is when I attempt to decal and using any sort of setting solutions. I didn't know how the Testors would react. I could experiment as I have an old model I use for testing out these things.

here's my take as I've used Testors Metalizer, Alclad, and Talon.

Testor: As you said, its very delicate, but great look. Buffs up to a nice shine, but don't even try to mask it with tape, it will lift.

Alclad: Great stuff. Been using it for a couple of years, you definitely need to have a very nicely finished surface. All imperfections will show through. The only big con for me has to be the smell, its Lacquer based, so its strong stuff and you need to clean your Airbrush with lacquer thinner. You do need to primer your model for best results. Great range of colors.

Talon: Just got it and had some experience with it. The main reason for trying this out is that is Acrylic based and very little odor. Your airbrush can be cleaned with whatever you use to clean water/alcohol based Acrylic paint. Still need to prime, but on small surfaces that will not need masking, have had no problems with paint lifting so far. You can shine it up more with SNJ powder, but I haven't tried that yet. Not as wide a range as Alclad.

Alclad II is very good stuff for Natural Metal Finishes.  Here is a link to their website:

http://www.alclad2.com/alclad-home.html

You could also try SNJ Metal paint:

http://www.hawkeyeshobbies.com/snj-spray-metal-paints.htm