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Playing in the Sandbox Group Build Sept 1, 2024 - Jn 1, 2025

Let's talk NMF


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Alclad?

Mr. Color metallics?

Model Master?

Which paint to y'all use for the best results?  I've used Alclad with great results, but it can be blotchy over larger areas.

I'd love to try foil, but I don't have the time.

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Carl, that looks awesome, my friend!   I’m a huge supporter of Alcoa’s, but I really doubt being able to have a smooth, even coat with no blemishes or thin spots for the entire airframe.  

Did you use a black base with that silver?

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3 hours ago, Clunkmeister said:

 

I'd love to try foil, but I don't have the time.

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But later every time you walk by and the real metal light effect moves with you making the model stand out from your entire plastic fleet...  how many times could it catch your eye...  how many times will you think:  “I wonder how great that could have looked foiled?”

 

....sorry....  lost control for a second...

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2 hours ago, Clunkmeister said:

Carl, that looks awesome, my friend!   I’m a huge supporter of Alcoa’s, but I really doubt being able to have a smooth, even coat with no blemishes or thin spots for the entire airframe.  

Did you use a black base with that silver?

For whatever reason, with the Alclad I was getting a very translucent finish and after several coats gave up. One thing I've noticed is don't seal it with a lacquer clear coat. It seems to affect the paint a bit. Tamiya X-22 with their regular thinner or Alclad's Aquagloss should work ok though. 

I used a base coat of Tamiya gloss.black for it.

IMG_20190208_225443-L.jpg

 

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1 hour ago, GazzaS said:

But later every time you walk by and the real metal light effect moves with you making the model stand out from your entire plastic fleet...  how many times could it catch your eye...  how many times will you think:  “I wonder how great that could have looked foiled?”

 

....sorry....  lost control for a second...

Gaz, not to worry. I have a 1/48 B-36 in the que and I’ll be leaning on you for help.

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10 minutes ago, BlrwestSiR said:

For whatever reason, with the Alclad I was getting a very translucent finish and after several coats gave up. One thing I've noticed is don't seal it with a lacquer clear coat. It seems to affect the paint a bit. Tamiya X-22 with their regular thinner or Alclad's Aquagloss should work ok though. 

I used a base coat of Tamiya gloss.black for it.

IMG_20190208_225443-L.jpg

 

I used Alclad over black with my RCAF Mustang, and I hit it with MM dullcoat afterwards. It dulled the finish to a very realistic worn aluminum look for me. I wanted used, but not abused.

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Hi Ernie, I tried different tones of Alclad Aluminium on NMF Planes and had no issues. Grain is fine and it sprays perfectly without clogging. That said, there was almost no masking required with these planes. Test strips showed, that masking is a problem with Alclad, even with detacked tape and thoroughly primed plastic.

On this build: https://forum.largescalemodeller.com/topic/6233-the-lady-from-the-lake-p-47-dottie-mae/?tab=comments#comment-84264
I used AK's Xtreme Metal Colours which I recommend for NMF jobs with masking involved. They are definitely more durable than Alclad, but have their issues as well.

Quote from the above build:
The lady was painted mainly with AK's Xtreme Metal Colours, like polished, pale and dark Aluminium on Tamiya rattlecan primer and Alclad gloss black primer with a heavy dose of sanding to get rid of imperfections in between coats.

The metal Colours behaved well, with a little to much grain for my liking, but that might have been my fault. Shininess is great as you can see and these Colours are very durable with masking and are sealable with future. You have to be careful with removing of panel liner. I nearly ruined my build while removing access panel liner with alcohol (on the plane of course :D). 

More info from the building thread, where there was some discussion about NMF.
https://forum.largescalemodeller.com/topic/5968-jug-gernaut-p47d-in-nmf/page/5/?tab=comments#comment-84050

The key with Alclad or AK is perfect preparation of the surface, the shinier the more ;)

Cheers Rob

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As a newbie to Alclad, I found that a mix of 50% Tamiyas X-20A and 50% Pledge floor wax makes for a great guard against masking over.  I have been letting the alclad dry a good day and then hitting with a very fine mist of the solution.  It doesn't change the sheen as I use a very light coat and I can build it up as I see fit.  After it drys I can mask over it and haven't had any issues. 

Rob,  Thank you very much for the links and information this has been very much my focus as of late.  The information is very timely. 

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Rob, I agree on the Alclad, with one exception. I used it to do the NMF on my Tamiya Mustang, and I sprayed it over the Alclad black base. (I'll never use that stuff again. It dried in about a month). I was able to mask different panes and spray off tome Alclad panels within a day, along with the glare shield, wingtips, etc. I was extrelely careful about detacking my tape, and didn't encounter one single issue of lifting Alclad.

Why? Maybe the base I put down? I have no clue, but I walked away impressed with Alclad.

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21 hours ago, Clunkmeister said:

I was extrelely careful about detacking my tape, and didn't encounter one single issue of lifting Alclad.

For me, it's not so much that the Alclad lifts in the regular way paint lifts, but just a bit of the sparkle remains on the de-tacked tape.  I'm gonna try Frank's technique next time.  Thankfully I only use metallic paints on little parts.

Really...  once you have learned how to cover both the convex and concave sides of an intake with one piece of foil...

110254.jpg

 

 

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