Brush painting with Aluminum/Silver Acrylic

Indeed getting a good aluminum finish with a brush calls for a master painter. It takes an extremely talented hand.  Aluminum and silver show brushmarks like nothing else!  If I didn't have an airbrush I'd use a rattle can.

Godzilla,

I don't know how to tell you you'll be happy with the result using a brush if you require smooth finishes. The fact that you are asking the question suggests you also are concerned. My first advice is to get an airbrush. My second advice is to find a can of spray that's close enough to the color you want. If those aren't options, then buy a very wide brush that minimizes the number of brush strokes required to cover the entire wing, get some flow aid additive for your paint that will help with leveling and retard the drying time and find a place that is dust free for the model to sit while it dries. Maybe use a narrow brush to fill in detail points, paint edges, and other hard to reach spots first. Let that dry, sand smooth any paint edges, and then try to apply your top coat with one stroke. You better prime the wing surface first, because you are going to need to get the paint to bite with the first or second pass of the brush. Possibly, you could put on several thin coats, let it all dry really well and then sand out all the brush strokes and coat it with a clear coat. The clear coat should restore the gloss and eliminate the appearance of the sanded surface. But I believe I would experiment with that technique first. I've done it with wood, but never with plastic.

Yikes...That is what I was afraid of.  I have returned to modelling after 30+ years.  I have build several 1/72 kits (Spitfire, BF-109) to get back into the swing.

What do you think about trying it on something smaller (1/72 P-51)?

CCW

Clearly, smaller is better, but the problems remain the same. At least with a smaller wing, you can use a smaller brush and likely fewer strokes. I think you may find using a spray can isn't that much more expensive than the amount of paint you'll use trying to brush it on, not to mention the frustration. I think you certainly better prime the surface if you want to brush it, and probably prime it even if you are going to spray. Also, make sure you have cleaned the wing surface really well before priming or painting. With a surface as smooth and large as a wing surface, any spot where the paint pulls up or just won't stick as you pull the brush over it, will show up.

Not true at all, Bearcat.

Brush painting is a skill that any modeler can and should acquire. If you don't; fine but its a skill that should be in your bag. The British only go that way in their models, and I have gone back to doing it to reacquaint myself with the Junior High School afternoon modeler I used to be.

There are a series of precautions that lead to techniques that lead to talents that then lead to good results.

First, the good thing about brush painting is that you sit at the bench and just model along until you are finished. Running out to the spray booth is fine and it is the only way to go for big jobs like ship hulls and I suppose B-25 wings.

Get a good set of brushes. Round tips are not too useful for models, flat brushes are better.

Treat your brushes like a good tool, firearm or in my case method of prayer as I paint icons with them.

(I have a series of blessed brushes that I only use for that, and they get replaced a lot) but in the secular world have a large collection that you treat with care. I pay about $ 10.00 or so for a good flat 1/4" brush and it lasts me a year or so.

Clean them as you would anything else you value.

When you paint, put the medium out onto a flat surface like a wide piece of tape. Never paint by dipping into the jar. Treat the paint in the jar as an unsolved medium and get it out and onto the flat palette surface with a toothpick or such. Mix it thoroughly and then load your brush.

Apply the paint at the right speed to let the medium flow into the model in an even layer. If you go slowly and pay attention to what you are doing, it is easy to see how it settles in.

I recently did my Monogram Mafia Builds in 1/72 with Testors straight out of the square bottles, brushed on but I did use my good Winsor & Newton brushes.

BTW, if you do not want to use an airbrush nor rattle can, and you want to finish a bare metal aircraft, there is always Bare Metal Foil.  It also takes an acquired skill to use, especially covering large areas, though.

if you are in this hobby, why not try air brushing? once you do, you will never look back.

Certain brands of paints will give better brush finishes than others. Humbrol is one that produces incredible brushed on results for me whereas Tamiya acrylics do better through my Badger airbrush.

Thanks for all the comments and advice.  I live in an apartment so using an airbrush isnt the best option right now.  My brush painting on the 1/72 models has come out pretty good.  I prime, paint, clear coat, panel lines/weather, then dull coat using Model Master Acrylics.

So far the greys, greens, and olive on the fuselage and wings looks good.  I will get a couple of cheap kits and try to aluminum brush and see what happens.  I will let you guys know.

Thanks,

CCW

Godzilla

  I live in an apartment so using an airbrush isnt the best option right now.

Why does living in an apartment rule out airbrushing?

Godzilla, It figures the car guys would have your problem figured out. Here's a link to an article on getting a perfect, glossy smooth finish that should meet your needs, public.fotki.com/.../scale-auto-mag-pain. If the link doesn't work, the post is in the autos section here at FSM under 1970 Revell Hemi 'Cuda. The modeler began with spraying his color with an air brush, but the technique he describes should work with hand brushing as well. You'll just need to spend more time sanding the paint smooth, same with the clear coats, I suppose. You're looking at a lot of work, but I believe if you follow the described technique, you'll have a finish that looks like a plane's shiny metal surface. I have done something similar with repainting a table top. It's weird, but you can sandpaper your paint to a really nasty looking dull surface, and once you apply the clear coat, all you see is the color of the paint through the glossy finish. Good luck. Make sure you post pics of your finished work. I'd love to see how it turns out.

BTW, I saw the trailer for the new Godzilla movie. Looks like your namesake is about to really bust loose! :-) Should be fun.