Alclad, tricks and tips for a newb! :o)

[trickyrich]

Hi all,

I have always wanted to use Alclad paints but have just been a bit afraid, plus it's not the easiest to get here (Oz) without ordering it on-line.

Will be with luck finally getting a replacement for the old beast of a compressor, can't stand the weezing any more!

After seeing all the amazing results with using Alclad I think I finally have to give it a go, plus have found somebody local (in Sydney) who stocks them. Up to now I have been using the Master Modeller Metallics, which arn't too bad.

So am after any tricks, tips, hints and people have for using this paint (even links to good web docs would be great).

thanks

Rich

[gcn]

Just follow the instructions on the side of the bottle and you'll be fine.

Ensure you have a good surface finish.

Prime with gloss black for a shinier finish or grey for a normal finish

Pressure about 12 psi

No need to thin and clean up with lacquer thinner

That's about it, it's easy to spay the hardest bit is if your doing a NMF aircraft is getting the surface spot on prior to spraying.

[rmcclure]

Your prep must be immaculate as the Alclad will show every last imperfection, no matter how minute. A simple "how to use Alclad" in Google will show loads of results - this one is always good - http://www.swannysmodels.com/Alclad.html

[SaintsPhil]

The guys have covered everything but I'll reiterate surface prep is paramount! Great paints.

Here's a couple of articles for bed time reading

http://www.clubhyper.com/reference/nmfcb_1.htm

http://www.clubhyper.com/reference/nmfcb_1.htm

[viscount806x]

Careful with masking as well. Some are better than others at standing up to tape sticking over them. Gloss black primer is good for all of them but essential for the highly polished ones like chrome.

[pte1643]

Just go for it and enjoy.

It's actually not that hard a beast to get along with.

As above re: prep and primers... Just to add one thing... Wear a mask... It stinks.

[trickyrich]

Thanks for that everyone, greatly appreciated.

have played with lacquer paints before, nearly always use the on 1/12 & 1/24 scale cars. get great finish plus realistic colours.

Plus is there a prefered order in laying down paint types, I have read that the order is very important.

Will grab those recommended articals and have a good read.

have always been tempted to do a NMF aircraft!

cheers all

Rich

[Flying Badger]

I've been using them for a year or so now.

as per the above prep is essential - Tamiya do a fine surface primer (in grey and in white) in a rattle can (but it decants OK) which is a help here as it does cover very fine scratches and if you then hit it with a gentle polish using micromesh or similar then its a really good base for the alclad (or the gloss black paint undercoat needed for the high shine alclad colours).

Alclad also sell a primer that fills slight imperfections and whilst I have some I haven't got round to trying it yet - by all accounts it does a good job.

Also remember that as the Alclad paints dry almost instantly then you can put multiple really thin layers of different shades of Alclad to get good effects - this is particularly useful on jet exhausts.

You can also tint Alclad paints by adding touches of other lacquer based paints - again useful for getting really good effects.

And finally: re: masking over the top of Alclad. I'd second the comment about being careful of masking over the top of Alclad directly, I've had the same issues with it pulling off with the tape sometimes. However, whilst the instructions say you don't need to put a varnish over the top before decaling or finishing - I tend to put a thin layer of Klear over any Alclad metal finish that I'm masking off to overpaint - the Klear hasn't any issues with pulling off with the masking tape and if you want you can add your masking tape and then give the tape edges a v light layer of Klear as well and you'll have no issues with paint creeping under the masks.

Oh and lacquer thinners is OK to use to clean your airbrush as long as you don't have any teflon or other plastic seals in it as it will dissolve and eat through them if left to soak for more than a min or so!

In the UK Lacquer thinners is called Cellulose thinners and Halfords sell cans of the stuff fairly cheaply.

enjoy!

TFB

[trickyrich]

thanks for all that guys.

will get some when I get back to civilisation, have a few things I can experiment on.