Do you really need to purchase the thinner and sealer for Model Master Metalizer paints? Would regular Testor thinner work and Future act as a sealer. Marcus
Model Master Metalizer paints are strictly for airbrush use and yes, I do believe you do need to use their brand of Metalizer sealer. I never used them nor had experience with them. I’d rather use Alclad Metallic over Model Master Metalizer paints.
You need the thinner to clean up your tools. The sealer keeps the finish from coming off on your hands; the finish is very fragile. It will airbrush without thinning.
Thank you for the feedback. Looks like I will be ordering the sealer.
If I use a brush to do small areas,I find the best brush cleaner is ISO Alcohol,go figure.
Tojo72, Thank you for the reply.
I find that thinner costs, even for paint brand thinners, is a minor cost compared to price of kits. No need to use it for cleaning, hardware store stuff is adequate for that. I think it is false economy to scrimp on actual paint thinner. I have used generic stuff when LHS out of Testors thinner, but I do prefer the Testors stuff.
Good evening, I hane not had to order any new modelmaster laca metalizer in quite a while. well here we go, cant get it any more, my brand for many years, what is the best substute out there? Thank you for input. little of topic, but what is up with these Biden, Trump ads all over FSM home page
Alclad would probably be the closest. There are others too, I’ll let someone else comment on those. Nothing is quite like Testors MM was. Alclad will get you there but it’s more fragile a finish.
The ads you see may have more to do with your browser and browsing history than FSM. I don’t see them but then my computer has an ad blocker I installed, the name of which slips my mind off hand.
Alclad is a bit finicky to apply, generally needing a good smooth gloss basecoat. Cant apply it too thick. But once it is down and well hardened I’ve found Alclad to be solid, takes masking well, and am able to paint on top with acrylics or enamels. MM. metals not so much
i recently purchased some AK Interactive aluminum paints. They claim to be an enamel. They spray well with good coverage. surface prep is needed, but not like Alclad. They take some handling abuse. I like them
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I’ve been having really good results with Alclad and haven’t had issues with it being fragile. It does take a little bit of practice to get the optimum amount of coverage though. As was already said, you don’t want to put it on too thick…but you also don’t want to put it on too thin. I put mine on just to the point where no more black shows. Having black showing through alters the color to the point where its not representative of what’s in the bottle. Any modulation or shading I need to do with it gets done with random mist coats of other Alclad colors on top of the base metal color. One problem I have noticed with masking on Alclad is that certain types of masking tape (Tamiya vinyl masking tape being one of them) can leave a mark where the edges of the tape were. I recently started using Tamiya’s rice paper masking sheets, and those don’t leave any marks behind…along with being seemingly infinitely repositionable.
This 1/32 F110-GE-100 engine was done with the Alclad base color/shading technique.
Eaglecash, that is beautiful. Was that from an aircraft kit, or is it a standalone kit?
I recently finished the big Allison Turboprop (1:10 scale) Largeness of kit certainly makes using Alclad easier, but also used that Tamiya tape.
Thanks Don! Its from the 1/32 Tamiya F-16CJ kit. Came with an engine dolly as well, but I ended up screwing that up so badly that the engine is currently hidden in the F-16. The whole assembly slides out pretty easily though if I ever decide to get a replacement dolly. Probably should do that, since Tamiya makes getting replacement parts so easy.
I used the Tamiya vinyl tape on that engine as well without issues, but I think that’s just because of the irregular surface. I did run into the marking issue recently with the stabilator on the F-4B I’m building at the moment, so that’s a fairly large, flat, featureless surface. The mark was very faint and barely noticeable, but definitely there.