Some Important Information about Alclad

[Nigel Heath]

I think I have made an important discovery about the use of Alclad. I don't think this has been commented on before as I did do a quick, but not exhaustive, search.

I have been using various colours of Alclad recently and had a lot of problems with Tamiya masking tape pulling the Alclad off when demasking. There is also a related thread here:

http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234926778-whats-the-best-thing-to-seal-alclad-before-masking/?hl=alclad

What I have found is that Alclad, although touch drying almost instantly, needs an extended cure period to fully harden up, I think it is at least several days, possibly a week to be fully bullet proof against masking and masking tape removal. Once cured like this it seems to be a very adherent and robust finish.

I hope other Alclad users find this information of some use and manage to avoid some of my disasters.

Nigel

[Abacus]

Good point Nigel. Same can be said of many types of paint, surface preparation, use of primer etc. all have an effect. However, there is a big difference between dried paint and fully cured paint.

[noeyedears]

i find its the high shine alclads that do this. i try not to mask them at all.