The aircraft are NMF soooooo figured you all might like to see this video Sure hit the wow factor for me.

http://vimeo.com/18135369

Well I am certainly at the right place to learn here! No doubt about that with what I have seen on this thread :-D

Theuns

Theuns I haven't used Alclad paints but have seen some very nice results using greys from light to medium to dark and black. I even remember someone using white to good effect. The trick seemed to be building the Alclad up slowly to get the effect that is desired, even to the point of misting separate panels to darken them. Hopefully some of the Alclad experts will chime in for ya, there are a number of them here.

Hi Theuns,

Have a look at this site wrt Alcald, it seems that you are the right track,

www.swannysmodels.com/Alclad.html

Like all Academy small kits it is a very simple and fast build. I have already joined the fuse halves aswell as made up the wings, this only took about 30 min or so. The only problem is that as soon as you start to really have fun with the build it's finnished LOL!

I am not sure yet if I am going to try any different shades of NMF with the Alclad just now, I have only the pollished allu paint. Here in South Africa it is extremely difficult to get hold of and even more expensive!

I have read that different shades of grey with the gloss black makes a difference to the overall effect. Are we talking a medium grey or much darker? I assume it will make the Aclad "lighter" than the black base areas?

Can I do the following? - paint the model with different greys and some black in various pannels and then cover the paint with future to give a very glossy finnish . After fully cured then air brush on the Alclad?

Will this give the effect of different toned pannels? Or is the only real way to use different coloured Alclads?

Thanx for any input ,it's all new to me.

Theuns

Theuns a good start on the jug buddy and a good choice for your first try using Alclad. I am sure you wont have any troubles with it. I have updated the front page with your builds, cant wait to see how the jug comes along.

@ Vettemann 42 - I am very sory for messing you about mate, but may I delete the ME 262 and replace it with an Academy 1/72 P-47D? My plans for the 262 is not going to work out so I am in with the p-47, a 1/48 Hobbyboss Mirage IIIcz and a 1/72 Italeri silver painted Sikorski S-55 (or as you called them H-13b Chicasaw)

I got this little Academy 1/72 P-47 Jug as a testbed for using Alclad for the first time, I didn't want to try something totally foreign to me on a nice labour intensive model LOL!

It will be a very simple out the box build.

Theuns

Doogs that pit looks fantastic man !! Makes me want to break my Tami B model out.

Theuns sorry it took me so long but the front page is updated with your builds, Just need kit info for the ME 262.

Doogs I also need info on the blimp, and hope you don't mind me calling it a Doogs & Son build. I started Kenny last year ( he was 4 yrs old then ) helping Uncle Randy at the bench, found all kinds of little things he could do to help. He was really  good at using white glue to glue toothpicks to strategically drilled holes in small parts and a few large ones for painting. We have built a chopper and a couple aircraft that he keeps in his room. He's really proud of them and is surprisingly gentle handling them too. In fact I got him a wooden racer the kind the Boy Scouts build and he painted it all by himself with water colors, did a good job of it too. Anyway just meant to toss an idea out there for you to ponder about building with your son.

vetteman42

Doogs CAN NOT wait to see your son's build !!!! Let me know if you are going to officially enter it and I will get it listed asap

Cool, blimps are awesome!!!

Doogs Wow !!!!! a masterful job on that pit there buddy !!!

Theuns and Doogs in answer to your question yes I will accept your builds A lot of the so called NMF aircraft were actually painted with silver lacquer, Navy birds and even the P-51s were. As for the Blimp they were painted with clear dope with aluminum powder added to it, still a common undercoat for rag wings these days as a UV protectant.

Doogs CAN NOT wait to see your son's build !!!! Let me know if you are going to officially enter it and I will get it listed asap

v-man - question for ya. I know it's not technically natural metal, but would you accept the entry of one cheap dirigible?

My son discovered this K-Class blimp the last time we were at the LHS...planning to build it to hang in his room. I figure it's not NMF, but it is covered with aluminum paint...

Gamera

I've had decent results with putting the Alclad down over a coat of Mister Surfacer but yeah I won't argue the gloss black is probably the best bet- I've used it on all my recent NM builds.

Doogs- again kudos on the cockpit sir!

Yeah, I've had good results using Alclad over Tamiya AS-12 Bare Metal Silver. Thing about black that I like better is you can see where you're spraying!

Oh and...calling the P-51 cockpit:

I've had decent results with putting the Alclad down over a coat of Mister Surfacer but yeah I won't argue the gloss black is probably the best bet- I've used it on all my recent NM builds.

Doogs- again kudos on the cockpit sir!

Looking good Doogs!  Did you use MM interior green for the cockpit?

The -51B is coming along. Still have some details to pick out in the cockpit, and an oil wash to go, but I'm about ready to close the fuselage:

It may be an extra step, but I'd still recommend a gloss black undercoat for a duller natural metal finish. It doesn't hurt, AND you can use some haphazard spraying to add a bit of depth. Did this on the wings of the P-51 I built last year for NMF III:

If you want to dull Alclad, I HIGHLY recommend going with their clear coats. They've got gloss, semi-gloss, light sheen, matte and flat. Light sheen is my favorite for a war-weary NMF job:

Doogs - great work so far on the B-25. That office is about as good as it gets!

Roger - I'm going to be following your build closely. Masking and oleo's are the only thing I've used the foil for - never on an entire airframe. That looks really cool so far!

Thanx for the advice Richard, I will give it a try :-)

Theuns

Theuns,

All the high shine Alclads are recommended for use over a gloss black base to make use of the shinyness the most. If shinyness is not the biggest issue but the shade of metal is, then you can use just about any color you want to change the end result metal finish. glossy undercoats or maybe even satin glosses are recommended over matte ones though.

Swanny's article on Alclad on his website even mentions the use of blues or reds to give your panels different shades of metal.

But yes, in general, black gloss undercoats usually give the best and shiniest result.

Richard

Sorry for the hijack here - Do I understand that I can use Alclad 2 pollished allu over gloss black base for the high shine look BUT I can also use the same stuff over grey to look like "normal" bare matal?

If so that is absolutely great! Would the base then be a gloss grey or a matt grey?

I just got hold of some Alclad pollished allu for  my SAAF mirage 3 c and was surprized at how "granulat and dull" it looks in the bottle. Not what I would expect from seeing the results of using it over gloss black!

OK - Hijack mode off LOL!

I will be starting on my Hobbyboss 1/48 Mirage 3 next week (just need to complete a few projects and make space!)

Would a full size aircraft that was actually painted silver (not left NMF) qualify for this GB or did it need to be "real" NMF? (darft question I know!)

Theuns

Gary: If you doing Alclad you need gloss black for the super shiny chrome finishes. For a normal war-time aircraft black or grey should be fine. I don't know about flat, I've never used anything other than gloss black and grey semi-gloss.

Redraider56:  If you do decide to put a yellow stripe, you have a slight bit of evidence to back it up.  Guess it depends on what looks best. 

On another note,  I thought I would ask the participants in this thread about NMF, since I'm planning on doing a P-47 in its bare skin.  But, I was wondering about primers.  Is it best to use flat?  Gloss?  Grey or white?

I've actually thought about using flat black to primer the aircraft to give it a duller finish, but I don't think I have the skill to pull that off.  Anyone tried it?

Thanks!

Gary

Thanks Gary, thats an interesting way to look at it.  It's hard to tell what's a panel line or a stripe, but if the wings were puttied and lacquered, then there wouldnt be any panel lines near the wingtips.  My guess if that there is that partial stripe on the flap that the aircraft did have the stripes at some point.  There's a ton of pictures in that book and with some aircraft the yellow is quite evident and on others they are barely distinguishable.  That photo on the left almost does make it look like there was a stripe and the placement would be appropriate.  If there was a stripe it would have to be yellow because no other pictures I've looked at showed anything other than yellow, but I agree with you, it really doesn't appear yellow, but then again very hard to tell in B/W. 

redraider56,

Hard to say.  There does appear to be a stripe next to the one on the wingtip.  Looking at this:

There might ALSO be one mid-wing about the same place the stripe on the flap is, but looking at the B/W photo, I couldn't say the stripe on the flap is yellow.  The "dark area" that might be a stripe does not (to my eyes) go all the way across the wing.  (Upon looking at it further, that MIGHT be a joint in the wing that makes it look as if it ends there.)

Tough call.

Gary

PS> This technique works better when you have the negative.  I LOVE examining old B/W photos for details!

Question for anyone that has a good eye....does it look like there are yellow stripes on the wings of this plane?

The official markings for 31st FG Mustangs were red noses and wingtips and then yellow bands touching the red wingtips and then another set midwing.  However not every plane had the yellow stripes.  The picture on the right shows a partial stripe on the flap but it doesnt appear to extend on the wing itself.  The decal sheet calls for no yellow stripes, a color profile in the book "The 31st Fighter Group in WWII" says yes, but these pictures are inconclusive.  I'm leaning towards no stripes but idk. 

BIt of an update. I ordered two Eduard P-51 placard sets - had great results with their P-47 placards in the past, so I figured what the hell. Of course they don't make one for the Revellogram B-25, but placards are placards.

Here's a look at where the B-25's office is at:

Another idea for the foil. You can put it in the water whilst you are boiling an egg. It will darken it, and you can control it by when you take it out. I haven't done this trick for years, but it's a good one.

Cheers

Tony

Joly Roger your foil work is really looking good. I know its a lot of work but let me tell ya it pays off big time in the end. I like the idea you have about making panels look different and have a couple of suggestions for you to ponder. You can use the dull side of the foil along with the shiny side, I know they say to glue only the dull side but I have done this quite a bit with no troubles at all. IMHO the dull side works great on the leading edges, I use a tooth pick to burnish it down and the scratches that creates makes it look like the edge has been beat up a bit. Works well on walkways too. Also CallSignOwl came up with a solution she soaked the foil in that darkened it just a bit, looked really good, I dont remember what it was but I am sure she would tell you how she did it.

Stoutfella sorry bout that, the front page has been corrected.

Guys I am happy you like my badge idea, personally I think it really cool and will continue it as builds are finished. Its a neat way to show off your builds I think.

Gamera know how you feel bud I haven't been able to build anything in months it seems. However I am vowing to build the B-29 and finish it for this group.

Doogs: Your usual great work there on the cockpits.

Jolley: Looking forward to seeing how she comes out there, I've seen such good results with foil yet I've still not got up the nerve to try it.

Randy: Those look great! At the rate I'm moving hopefully I'll get to claim one before the GB is over.