ALCLADII Questions

By no means an expert but:

1. Yes you can mix them

2. I have left masks on for quite a long time as long as it is not too sticky.

You can look here for some great info on Alclad

Nice link, thanks

I'll try mising and testing just in case, but thanks for the reply.

John

Dunno why I'm just seeing this, but 

1) Yes you can mix them. I'd hesitate to mix the high-shine and regular finishes together, but high-shine to high-shine and regular-to-regular are definitely doable. I particularly like mixing Steel and Exhaust Manifold for exhaust stubs.

2) Alclad is very durable and takes masking without complaint. Since you're using Acryl for the rest, I'd definitely mask the Alclad...

I've left masking (tamiya tape and post it notes) over Alclad on my current build, for days and had no issues.

I recently had a problem with Alclad air frame aluminum:  No matter how long I shook or stirred the paint, I could not get a uniform color.  There seems to be a metallic color and a darker color that remain separate and visible in the bottle.  I tried a test spray anyway, and got a bad result- sort of aluminum with random dark streaks, just like it looks in the bottle.  I had the same problem with their stainless steel.  No such problems with the polished aluminum.  What the heck is going on?  Do I have a bad batch of paint?  I would be interested in hearing from anyone else who may have had this problem.

Interesting. I used a whole bottle on my 1/32 P-47 and didn't have that problem. I did notice it, as well as regular Aluminum,  and Duraluminum have that mixed look, but it didn't reflect it on the finish.

I've never had a problem with AA either...how old is the bottle? When I shake mine it mixes up pretty consistently and I've never had problems with random dark streaking...

Thanks for the replies.  Both paints are new bottles from Sprue Bros. last month.

I used the Alclad gray microprimer, followed by the Alclad black base coat, all per intructions.  The mystery goes on.

I have had super good results with their polished aluminum, so this surprised me.

Hi Cadet Chuck,

Could you post a pitcure of this streaking? I've never seen that although my Alclad often has that kind of swirly appearance with the two colours. Could it be in the way you apply them? I mean like to slow and lite, for example? You'd think if it was your methology though it would be like that with all of them.

I was going to say though as for masking just today I was working on an airliner that I masked like 9 months ago! Haven't pulled the tape yet but I'm confident it will be good! IMO once a mask is on if it's going to pull it's goin g to pull wether you leave it on for a day, a week or a year!

I did have a problem masking on alclad once though. I sprayed the high shine aluminum and then masked off for a bunch of dark aluminum panels. The first coat lifted like crazy. I get it in the end but it was a bit of a nightmare!!

That's the only bad experience I've had though.... *knocks on desk*

Sorry, I haven't been able to get a picture that shows it very well.  Apparently the effect is too subtle.  Actually, it might be useable as a "weathered" finish, come to think of it.  Dirty aluminum!  Why not?

The other thing I thought of was that maybe I didn't spray enough color and I am seeing the black base coat through it where color coverage might be uneven.  I will try spraying another coat or two and let you all know if that fixes it.

Well, I just sprayed another coat of color and it looks worse than ever.  Seems like there are two colors of paint in the bottles,  one metallic and one a darker color, that just will not mix together, and will not spray a uniform metallic color.  I have had it, and will not use this stuff any more.  I'm going back to Testors Metallizers. 

Fortunately, I have experimented on a test sheet of styrene, and did not ruin an expensive model!