I’m starting a P-51D Mustang from the Pacific that I’ll be painting in Alclads. I’m very particular with how I treat my surface while painting…whether it’s the order I do things or extra steps to layer the color on the plane. The thing I’m always most cautious of is ruining what I just did with some goof like not cleaning my brush well enough or placing some substance that’s too hot for whatever is underneath.
My question is: Does anyone happen to know how best to weather decals and seal all your other weathering without losing the characteristics of the Alclad???
I imagine I can just tape off the cowl for the anti-glare OD Green and put a coat of flat on it, but I’m afraid to lose shine and reflective qualities of the Alclad on the places I’ll definitely want it.
I’ve used Alclad a bit and can say masking will not be a problem. I’ve just done some masking on Alclad with Tamiya tape after about 3 hours and it came away clean with no effect on the paint below, but I did use their primer which may help. If you have any worries you can use Alclads Klear Kotes as they set very hard
The masking part doesn’t worry me so much. I’ve also found Alclads are quite durable. I’m concerned with losing any shine with some kind of clear coat. On their site they have a Klear Kote light sheen, but I’m skeptical about trying it here. I know I don’t want a gloss finish either. I know not to use decal setting solutions on the high shine stuff, but I won’t be painting with that here.
I’m mostly curious how best to weather my aircraft with Alclad paints.
One thing that IS hard on Alclad is CA accelerator. I have had it dicolor my finish where I applied it to last minute gluing. I have since always refrained from using accelerator once the plane is Alclad finished.
Wow. Yeah, thanks Don. I often do a lot of last minute careful glueing of the delicate parts right as I’m finishing. I’d have certainly learned this the hard way. =]
Just recently I was having to work with PE on a ship model and remembered reading that CA cures via humidity and to speed it up, use water. What I did was put some water in a small spray bottle, the ones that eyeglass cleaning fluid comes in, and mist it on the CA joined area, and viola, it cured up instantly. Worked like a charm. Of course, your mileage may vary.
Maybe I am miss-reading your post about “weathering”. Most bare metal planes will not “weather” or really dirty-up as with painted planes as the metal is quite smooth and does not hold onto dirt to well, they also clean up more easly.
You will however have exhaust/gun stains and oil or hydrolic leaks. As for anti glare pannels I usually just use a matt color straight from the bottle.
Aluminum will weather. A fresh or newly polished surface is quite shiny. Polished it is mirror-like. Aluminum oxidizes quickly in air but aluminum oxide is transparent. So as the layer builds up, it is at first almost un-noticeable. But as it builds up more, it becomes duller. So Alclad “white aluminum” for instance, depicts a well weathered skin, just-plain aluminum is a normal, not heavily weathered skin, and “polished aluminum” is the squadron commander’s plane that is polished, and frequently, so that the oxide layer is thin enough not to disperse the specular reflection.
Well that’s really precisely what I’m asking about. To do those kinds of staining with either acrylics or oils they need to be sealed some kind of way right? I’ve considered doing it with the Alclad Jet Exhaust and just side step the issue all together.