What primer to use for Alclad II

Hutch,

That is one nice looking bird. Did you use different shades of metals or different primers to get the panels to be different shades?

Would Tamiya's Liquid Surface Primer be good for over the raw (styrene/resin)

Is there something special about Mr.Surfacer that I should try to search one out?

I also have the Alclad primer,Tamiya sprays reg and fine.

I bought the Alclad gloss black but what do you guys think is best I work all medium so I am intriqued about the enamel idea.

Which enamel has the best gloss black how does Testors compare?

I have been sanding the whole model with micro sanding pads starting at (500,2400,3200,4000) the model itself looks mirror smooth but I wonder if I am overkilling it.

It is glass smooth to the touch but I still see micro swirls in the material any tips for sanding around details?

I consider primer what goes over the raw styrene or resin. I use Krylon primer. It is a flat grey.  Over that I use Testors gloss black enamel.  I have used the Alclad black (again, over a primer) and it works okay, but I find I can get a better gloss with enamel. I suspect the Alclad black is a lacquer like the actual metallic coating.  I find that lacquers dry a little too fast for a good gloss and need to be rubbed out with a fine polish.  Enamel seems to flow better due to its longer drying time, and I have never had the Alclad metallic coatings bother the enamel black, as long as I let it set thoroughly (about two days).

I concur with Wing Nut on the high gloss.  My experience with the black primer was not good, but I hear some have had success....  I have had great success with using a gray primer and buffing the surface.  I then put on a couple coats of future.  I used it on my P-47 with excellent results.

I need to type this is Word so I can cut and paste...

There are 2 kinds of Alclad.  Regular and high shine.  If you are using regular Alclad there are several primers that will work and the Alclad site has some recommendations.  None of them a glossy... or black.  I use Mr. Surfacer 1200 that is buffed with a 4000 micro mesh sheet.   Believe it or not, a coffee filter also give nice results.

ONLY if you use one of the high shine colors to do need to have the gloss under coat.  For chrome and polished aluminum it also has to be black.  Not sure about the others.  When I use the high shines I still put Mr. Surfacer under the gloss black so the surface is perfect.  The smallest imperfection will scream at you .

I use black gloss enamel, but i have read some people have used future. But you deffinatly do need to prime. I also have the Alclad polishing set and you need to make you you poilish the whole kit before adding Alclad. I didn't do a proper job on my first attempt and when i poilished the Alclad some of the black showed through. I would deffinatly suggest you read the article on Swannies site that jimbot58 gave the link for.

I have some of the Alclad II set aside for a future project but have not used it. I am to understand that the best to use is a gloss black paint beneath it, and it must be mirror smooth! I understand Alclad has a gloss black undercoating but others use various other gloss paints.

Check out Swanny's article here: Swanny's