Hawkeye Hobby SnJ

Agree with Don.  Alclad is my NMF of choice.  Just pay close attention to the instructions on the bottle.  The shinier finishes require the gloss black undercoat, but the duller finishes of just plain Aluminium, steel, etc. can be achieved with gray primer.  I've used MM Acrylic and enamel gray primers with great results, though make sure the enamel has fully cured.  Even Alclad's own gray primer works really well.  It was my primer of choice for everything until I ran the bottle dry and couldn't find any more.

Can you be more specific on getting the undercoat right?  I have had good luck with Alclad. I have used their own black undercoat, airbrushed Testors enamel gloss black, and a spray can of hardware store gloss acrylic spray.  All three worked well.  One tip if you want really shiny alclad- dial down paint flow and pressure and put it on VERY thin.