What would be the prefered methods and paints for creating a shiny, polished natural aluminum finish for an aircraft
The best paint for NMF is Alclad2 IMHO. Another method would be using Bare Metal Foil, but that’s way too much work for a lazy guy like me.
Regards, Rick
[#ditto]
From the least expensive to the most expensive;
Testors model masters metalizers (buffing)
SNJ system
Alclad
All can be polished into a NMF like polished aluminum. SNJ and Alclad give the most realistic finished look for polished aluminum without looking like chrome plated metal.
rangerj
I like Bare Metal Foil, especially since it comes in several shades now. Rick is correct though, it is a LOT of work to make it adhere properly. [alien]
Regarding the MM metalizers (buffing), what’s the buffing process? How long to wait after painting, and what’s the best buffing material to use?
Thx, John
Avoid MM if you can as they are very fragile ie: scratch easily and pull up after masking, even with low tack post-it notes. Go with SnJ or Alclad.
If you decide to use MM, you can buff it with a cotton shirt or cotton swabs. make sure you wear cotton gloves when handling your model. You can usually buff within a hour or so after a couple of thin coat applications, tho waiting 24 is best.
You could also use really cheap (not heavy duty) Aluminum foil and spray mount.
But like stated above, it’s alot of work - I’m just cheap and don’t mind it so much most of the time (approx imate cost alum. foil, 25yrds $1.25, can of spray mount
$13.00 = a good 30 - 40 models).
There’s yet another way to go a step further than the fine and sage advice you got from Wibhi and the others. Use the spray mount, and if you have a decently stocked craft store in that unsightly nearby strip mall, go the the aisle where they sell the sheets of gold leaf. They should have this incredibly thin foil in many shades of metal from gold to copper to silver to pewter, that immitate aircraft metals. Basically, it’s just Bare Metal foil without the stickum, but it’s so thin it will go around compound curves even better than Bare Metal. And as Bud said, a can spray mount will last forever for most people.
Still, I like Bare Metal Foil, have used it for 20 years, but it’s just too expensive to waste. And I’ve never gotten a realistic look trying to do an entire airplane in BMF. Some people are wizards with it. I’m not one of them.
And don’t even throw your money away on the Testor’s Model Master foil. Inch for inch it’s the most expensive, and it not only is lousy to work with, it comes wrinkled, cuts poorly and tears when you remove it from the backing.
BTW, do any modelers still use Rub N’ Buff? Before metalizer paints were common, and modelers were desperate for BM finishes, there was another item from the craft store. It’s a paste in a tube that you apply with a cloth, then rub it and buff it all over the panels. It’s quite cheap and comes in a variety of metal colors and shades and I keep a tube of the Silver around just out of habit, I suppose. Nowadays I only use it to color thin monofiliment for radio antennae and biplane rigging when it’s appropriate to use that color. You just put a dab on a paper towel and run the nylon thread of monofiliment fishing line through your fingers and, voila, instant wire. However, for covering an entire model, there are too many newer things that are more user friendly. Rub n’ Buff has a waxy base, does not handle decals well and I don’t think you can paint over it, but rather have to apply it over paint or on a perfectly polished surface (like Metalizer, no scratches allowed).
TOM
Rub & Buff was a craze in the distant history of modeling, but todays products such as Alclad2 makes it less than desirable.
regards, Rick