I have a few NMF aircraft in the stash, and I was wondering what the best base/primer is for the Alclad laquers. Swanny’s article talks about using Krylon gloss black, but I was just wondering what is the best in your opinions.
Ben:
If Swanny says krylon, then krylon it is. The Alclad web site and the instructions say gloss black, so whats the best? I whish they sold krylon to put in an air brush…I use it as much as Rustoleum.
http://www.alclad2.com/alclad-home.html
Mattc
Indeed. If Matt says it then it is good enough.
Gloss paints are the standard undercoat for Alclads, in general.
I, too, have a NMF plane all ready for painting. I was thinking of handbrushing Testors Model Master Gloss Black on it as the base coat. Will that work out as a good bae coat of Alclad?
Also, I just so happened to read an article on line last night about using Krylon for the base coat. They said to take a soda straw and use that to decant the paint from the rattle can into a jar. Since it’s already thinned, you can then pour that into your airbrush. That way you’ll have better control using your airbrush rather than blasting it directly out of the Krylon rattle can.
Eric
Well then, Krylon it is! Yea, I always decant the spray paint and put it in the airbrush. That way you get a much smoother finish.
It baffles me how so many people truncate this information.
Use a gloss black undercoat for the High Shine finishes only: Chrome, Polished Aluminum, Stainless Steel and Airframe Aluminum.
For all other shades use a good primer or undercoat: Mr Surfacer 1000 or 1200, Mr. Base White, Krylon, Tamiya primer, etc. Remember that Alcald II is a fairly hot lacquer, and prime accordingly. Note the difference on this test shot between the gloss black undercoat on the right and the Mr Surfacer undercoat on the left:
Most importantly, make sure the undercoated surface is absolutely flawless. Metallic paints will highlight any blemishes in the surface.
Regards,
Bruce
Well, I feel duly chastised for being a sodding truncator! So I get that you need TWO sorts of undercoats, then.
Nice little comparison you’ve dome up there. I reckon you are the Alclad King - at tleast you have all the different ones. Neat-o…
I seem to have this invisibility gene…my posts tend to go unseen. Sorry, I get a little frustrated at my failure to get the word out effectively.
For some reason the difference in undercoats stuck with me from the first time I read about it, yet it seems more often than not people miss that little detail—and may be put off about having to shoot a gloss black coat for any Alclad metallic finish.
I’m hardly the king, but I’ve worked and experimented with it some. Typically I primer with Mr Surfacer 1200, and if necessary, shoot the gloss black on top of that. My favorite so far is the ModelMaster automotive black lacquer, though I’ve used Scalecoat II, Alclad Gloss Black Base, and even ModelMaster gloss black enamel. As long as they’re cured, they all seem to work fine.
The last time I did a high shine finish I used Tamiya polishing compound to rub out the MM Lacquer gloss black base before shooting Alclad Polished Aluminum. I thought it was worth the extra work:
Here’s a demo shot of four successive coats of chrome (right to left) over polished gloss black. With the final coat I applied a bit too much and went past the peak reflectivity produced by the black underneath.
I also did a test shot over several undercoat colors to see if there was much difference. The idea was to get variantions in adjacent aircraft panels to look more realistic. The differences between colors was rather subtle, which is good, and varied with the metallic on top. I haven’t decided yet if it’s worth all that masking.
Regards,
Bruce
Well, it is a shame no one pays more attention to you. As the Brits say, your work is the dogs danglies! A couple of things are apparent:
A. You have about every color of metallic paint on earth.
B. You have plenty of time on your hands.
I am more than impressed. Thanks VERY much for the superb efforts.
Incredible work there Bruce! Thanks for sharing that info and the accompanying photos, well worth their weight in gold. [tup]
Bruce, I read your writeup on the Alclad when it first came out. It was and still is the most comprehensive info on Alclad that I’ve seen
I can’t argue with Bruce, especialy when you see the results on his aircraft…so won’t.
Another alternative I can add, though, is a few thin coats of Future over your choice of dark base (I used Tamiya Gloss Black acrylic). Allowed to cure for 48-72 hours, the Future base has given me my best personal results so far.
Mucker
i fear you may experience what I have.
I also used Gloss black Tamiya acrylic and in some cases overshot with Future.
This looked FAN-TASTIC when first applied. Now, several months later, each piece has horribly fractured to the point that total repaint is needed. Luckily for me these are on parts that will be easy enough to strip and repaint with a proper undercoat. At a local contest this weekend I judged a number of planes in NMF finish and one had the same cracking paint that mine had. Tere was no word on paint applied but I would bet it was over a Tamiya or Future basecoat.
David
Oooh…I hope not! THe picture posted was finished in November 2007…I’ll take a look at it tonight to see if there is any cracking
I DID have that problem when I tried the Alclad directly on top of the Tamiya gloss base coat (with no Future). A Mustang I built looks like it’s made of window and someone shot a BB through it.
So far (knocks on wood) what has worked was lettig the Future completely cure, which supposedly happens within 48-72 hours; obviously waiting longer is no problem. What I like about Future is its leveling properties that help correct some minor flaws which would definately show up on a NMF.
Out of curiosity…how long did you let the Future cure?
Through trial and error (and advice from these fourms) I have been happy with Future over Tamiya Gloss Black (both cured for 2-3 days each).
…but I must say I’m bervous to check on the F-84 tonight![;)]
Cheers,
Charles
I just contacted Alclad via Email and got a note back from Tony Hipp there. He says the problems he has seen regarding cracking like mine comes from either a too thick (thinner is better for the undercoat) or improperly cured undercoating. Both are most likely the case for me.
So, a thin, evenly applied and fully cured acrylic undercoat is what we are after. Looks like in my rush to get ready for the Nats last year I overlooked the basics!
David