Alclad II

I just got the same kit and will also be doing a natural metal finish.  I just  finished a 1/72 B-17 with allclad and thought it turned out well. It was my first time with a natural metal finish.

I used the" aluminum" color and for variances in ajacent panels I used their" dark aluminum"..I use them straight from the bottle. Test with your particular airbrush.

The black enamel basecoat is generally used with the" high shine" colors which you probably won't use on a war era bird. However I have not tried this combination.

You will need to be sure that the prepped surface is very smooth and clean as this paint goes on thin and any scratches/defects will telegraph thru. For cleaning I use the Testors "Surface Prep" product. Wear a glove to handle the plane after cleaning as finger prints can contaminate the base/primer coat!!

As far as primers I would recommend testing on some scrap first because the aluminum color looks different if you spray it over their gray primer or their clear base. On my B-17 I had to primer all the seams/joints but then sanded very smooth and used the Allclad clear base overeverything.

Allclad has a exhaust color that looks pretty good and then maybe you could work some dry pigments over that to give it that dead flat sligthly rusted look

Good luck

Thanks ST! I am going to go with the regular aluminum. I agree, the shiny aluminum probably wouldn't be too appropriate for a WWII warbird (not hangered, all weather UK/France field conditions, etc) I'll test out the grey primer vs. clear to see which is better. I also plan on getting the alclad burnt iron for the exhaust. I have been using an acrylic mix of flat black, red brown, and silver metallic for that. I think dull aluminum or duraluminum over a few random panels, ie. top gun panels, might break it up a bit. Did you topcoat with Future on your B-17? Not sure if that's the way to go with alclad(?) I am thinking of doing that, slightly dulled down, then using a post shade for panel lines and some thinned oils sparingly underneath for oil streaks, gun exhaust, etc. It's gonna be fun!

I have only used it twice so far. The first time i made a mistake or two, the second was better, but still room for improvment. I use Humbrol Black enamel as a primer, and i also have the alclad polishing kit. On the second build, i masked some of the panels to give some slightly different shades. I did find that when lifting the tape, the edges of the Alclad underneath came up on a couple, but i was able to get it back down and it don't look to bad. I am not sure if i had not left the alclad to dry long enough before adding the tape or not.

Another lesson was that on my first build, i didn't polish the primer enough, and when i went to polish the finished alclad, some of the black came through. And the alclad must be put on in thin layers, i use two or three, at least with the first shade. After that just one shade is enough to alter panels.

Try this link for some great advice on Alclad, and it really helps if you understand how this type of paint works, which i didn't until i read it.

http://www.swannysmodels.com/Alclad.html

Both the kits i used it on were small. Both 1/72nd, a MiG 19 and P.1101. I wanted to start small before moving onto bigger and more detailed kits. I have 3 72nd P-51's and a B-17G i want to use it on and i want to do a good job. Here is my second attempt, the P.1101, still room for improvement, but i really liked the look.

Hope all this helps, and be sure to share some pics of your build.

Hi,i've tryed several basecoat to search the best shining and finishing:1)Gunze Mr metal primer,the best in term of shining and finishing,2)Acrilic black gloss,3)A Future very wet hand,4)Alclad grey primer.Good luck Enrico!!!

try using different shades of greys and even blacks as the primer coat on selected panels. Then spray the Alclad on. This method will give you different Alclad shades while only using one color.

Hey Panzerpilot

I ended up spraying Allclad "Matte" clear to seal everything. Heres a couple of pics

:550:0]:550:0]

ST, firstly, WOW, that is one lovely B-17. 1/72nd scale i assume.

I had left my two Alclad coated kits unsealed, as i wasn't sure what to use that would not ruin the finish. I had not seen the MATT you mention.  It's down as Klear Kote MATT on Hannants, i assume thats the same stuff. Though i am a bit confused as they also have a Klear Kote FLAt, and i am not sure what the difference is.

Let's see if DoogsATX, chimes in. He was of great help when I started to explore Aclad2. Some Alclad finishes work well without the black coat like Aluminum Dura-Aluminum and others. IMO, the black coat should be used for high shine finishes (Chrome, Polished Aluminum). I have their black base ALC-304 and works well, the downside is the smell.

We all work differently, but I would use Burnt Iron for the hot aluminum look. It will give you more control over the ''hot surface'' effect than a color specifically for that. I have used it even for post shading.

Cheers!

Wl, what do you use as a Promer for your Alclad. I don't normally use one at all, but as i read lacquer can eat into plastic, i decided not to risk it.

When i did my P.1101, i added a drop or two of jet exhaust to aluminium and found that very effective.

Thankyou  Bish

 Yes thats 1/72 scale.

I was a bit confused myself over the Allclad Matte vs. Flat Klear Kote, but when I went to the local hobby store and saw that the flattening agent in both had settled. It was easy to pick the matte as it had less settling in the bottom than the flat.

Alclad is just like the rest of modeling - there are some established solid ways to do it, but different things work for different people.

For a base, I've found that my favorite is Tamiya X-1 Gloss Black, cut with X-22 I think it is, their clear gloss. The the combo thinned down with Gunze leveling thinner. I've tried Krylon gloss black (dusted like nobody's business). I've tried Alclad's base and didn't like how it sprayed. I've used their primer, and actually really like it. Not sure I'd replace my other primers with it, but it's up their with Mr. Surfacer 1200 in terms of performance. I'd also recommend getting some Micro Mesh polishing cloths. These are my new favorite things ever, and great for polishing the surface prior to Alclad.

On my 1/48 P-51 WIP, I tried a technique I read about somewhere on the interwebs. After spraying the wings with Semi-Matte Aluminum (to represent the aluminum lacquer paint), I masked them off and painted the fuselage with Airframe Aluminum. This is one of Alclad's high-shines, and yes it is.

Once that was laid down, I went over it with regular Aluminum and Duraluminum, spraying the panels but avoiding the panel lines. The high-shine shades are all semi-transparent, which is why they need the black base, but the result is that they are also slightly darker than the regular shades, so this acts kind of like shading. I didn't mask any panels off (save for the strip along the exhaust stacks, which I masked and painted Magnesium), just stayed within the lines. After that, I misted everything with Airframe Aluminum, then with Duraluminum, to blend it all together and give a bit of depth. Overall, I'm thrilled with the results, and will be using this technique again when I get around to my 1/32 Mustangs (planning a double build of the Tamiya and the aged Hasegawa).

Also, if the upper cowl looks a bit shiny, that's because I didn't bother overpainting it, since it'll be getting painted blue anyway.

ST, thanks for that info. So basically the Matt will leave less of a MATT finish that the FLAT. I will try this out, as i hated not being able to seal the two builds i did. I see they do a few other finishes as well, might be worth getting a selection and testing them out, seeing what is good for certain builds, i am sure they won't be waisted. But the MATT deffinatly looks the way to go. Which BG is that aircraft from by the way.

Wow you guys have done some outstanding NMF's. I think I have about every color alclad makes but have yet to muster up the courage to try it out on anything other than a couple of exhausts. One day...

Thanks for the tips! Very impressive models guys! ST, that's the Academy B-17. It's been gathering dust for a few years in my collection. Nice job! I need to finish my 1/32 yellow-tail Dora first. I am looking forward to breaking out the Alclad after that!

Another thing..You guys sure set the bar high! That is one amazing P-51, Doogs! I'll try the "mixed" approach you listed.

Thanks guys for the kind comments on the 'Fortress

Ruby's Raiders (pictured) was from the 385BG .

 It was one of 2 that I built from the recent Revell kit . I also did a B-17 called " Nine-0-Nine" but with an Olive drab/neutral gray scheme instead.

Doogs your mustang looks just awesome!!. Always nice to hear how someone else approaches painting the natural metal finish.

I have a P-47D on the "to do" list and thought I might try a different approach....maybe Hawkeyes products Hmmm.

Herch, you should really give it a go. I put NMF's off for years, short of just painting them silver. I had never used a Lacquer before, and was really worried about Alclad after some of the things i had read. And though my first attempts were not perfect, i was really happy with how they came out.