Metal powder finish

Modeling Subjects Aircraft
1

Anyone familiar with SnJ metal powder from Hawkeye? Is it any good? I cant tell if it brushes on out of the bottle or sprays on when mixed with paint. Then it gets buffed?? I’m so confused. It’s either that or back to Bare Metal foils. Help!

2

I hope I’m not stepping on Hawkeye’s toes (or talons as it may be) here but after you spray the model with the metallic paint you’ll want to softly polish and buff the model to a shine using the powder on a soft cloth or a cotton swab.

http://www.hawkeyeshobbies.com/nmf-polishing-powders.htm

I’ve messed with them a little myself and had good luck though I’m far from an expert.

3

I have used the powders as well.I do not have an airbrush, so I don’t know if they can be sprayed on (I think the powder would clog the nozzle).I generally like the powders, although I found the ‘steel’ hard to work with.The best one I have used is the aluminum polishing powder.My best results involved brushing on a light Future coat on the areas a little at a time, then applying the powder with a Qtip.Then, after a few minutes, buffing gently with cotton balls.Works well. The ‘copper’ powder works very well on details, but needs a gentle touch in buffing.

A little goes a long way.And be careful to take out only a small amount at a time from the bottle-it can go all over the place.

I highly recommend this product (not paid for this endorsement-I really do like it)

4

I have used it several times. Personally, from using, I cant see how it would be possible to spray it and I think that would be a horrible idea and wouldnt want to clean that up.

The way I do it is to spray the model gloss white (or gloss black to make it more shiny). Let it dry for 20-30 mins. Apply powder with a Q-tip and buff it, repeat as necessary. Here’s how it look’s:

Finished results:

The powder can be pretty messy to work with and is easily blown around but I think the results are good enough to overlook the problems.

5

I’ve never used these powders, and have some questions as well.

  1. After applying the powder and buffing it to a polished finish, is it necessary to seal it with something?

  2. Can you apply washes over it?

  3. Do decals stick to it?

Thanks - I hope I’m not the only one wondering these things…

John

6

I have a question, too. How do you get the flakey-dust off the model without wiping off the polishing?

7

  1. Yes and no. I’ve 2 for 3 on not having to seal them. Two of the three I’ve done did not need to be sealed, dont what I did differant but the first two do not transfer powder. The 3rd one does for some reason, so I buffed it some more and sealed it with future.

  2. No. Not unless you seal it. I tried to do this and smeared the powder around. I recomend future to seal first.

  3. Yes, decals stick, at least mine are so far. Been 2 years since I built the first 2 kits like this.

DISCLAIMER: These answers are based from my experience with the application method described in my previous post. Results may vary for others builders.

8

Do you mean the excess powder? If so, simple answer, buff it off. The idea behind painting the model first is to give the powder something to stick to, hence forthe, the powder doesnt come off while being buffed.

Also, I’m seriously considering using this method of NMF for a 48th scale B-17. Still dont know if I have the nads to do it.