I have almost finished the ACE AF1 Guardian I was asking about here awhile back. Due to a number of issues that came up (some kit some my fault) I ended up painting it flat aluminium by brush instead of trying out the Alclad. It came out ok but it is very dull (boring) since it is just a solid sea of metal. There is not alot of detail (panel lines etc) so I don’t think basic weathering (dark wash) will be enough, I was thinking about adding some variation to the metal, either spraying some alclad here and there or using some chrome as a dry wash just to break it up some. I have white aluminium and polished aluminium alclad 2. I have seen a technique described of using a lighter color in the center of panels to give some depth but there are not many panels to do this with. So I was thinking about just spraying some dots here and there but also thought maybe I sould do it as lines.
I have not put on the decals which will help some but will also pretty much be the end of experimenting with weathering. I know Alclad is meant for airbrush but will it work by brush as a wash?
Any ideas greatly appreciated, right now I have a $30 model that looks like something I built when I was 10.
At this point buddy, I can only tell you what I would do. You’re down thirty bucks, so what have you got to lose? Strip off that brush paint, prep your surface, prime with gloss black and shoot that Aclad! Don’t try it with a brush, it’s airbrush only. Even acrylic or enamel aluminum colors (from the airbrush) will give you a good finish. As for contrasting those panels, On the jug pictured, I used SNJ base coat with the SNJ polishing powder to obtain the different shading. You can mask off your panels and shoot with slightly darkened or lightened aluminum color to obtain the effect. When using aluminizers, make sure you have AN ABSOLUTELY CLEAN SURFACE! Even the slightest spec of belly button lint will show on your finished product. Spray in a dust free environment. We have all learned from situations just like you’re in now, so be bold and creative and try to save it, who knows, you may suprise yourself!
i agree with steve you’vr already spent the 30 bucks so you really have nothing to lose soritp of that brush coat and start again i’m not sure about the gloss black tho good luck post some pics when your done i’m sure you can salvage it [:)]
You are getting good advice from the other two already, whatever you do, do not try to put Alclad over top that other paint - it will not be a pleasant experience.
Well thanks for the advice but its not so much the brushed on paint job (it actually went on well with no brush marks) its the blandness and the fact it tends to pick out each little imperfection, will Alclad do something about this? This will be my first time using it, I don’t mind striping the paint (how exactly does one do that anyway) if the Alclad will deal with this. I think part of te problem is the lack of detailing, maybe I need to scribe in some panel lines too? It doesn’t have half the surface detail on that P-47.
Its hard to bring out detail with paint if it isn’t there to start with, I think that is my problem right now. I’m just kind of lost, I did a decent job cleaning up the gaps, reshaping parts to fit etc but it just doesn’t look done. Guess I’ll fool around with some ideas then strip it and start over if I cant get a look I like.
