Howdy! Just got Tamiya’s kit number 61044, F-51 Mustang Korean war kit in 1/48 scale.
OK, here’s the deal. I’m a poor guy. I spent my allowance on this kit and some basic essentials. I want to put a nice finish on it, but Alcald’s 4 oz. bottle of polished aluminum for $30 aint happening. Not at that price, just can’t do it.
The instructions in the kit suggest Tamiya’s AS-12 bare metal silver as the overall color. My question(s) is/are:
1: I have never used Tamiya spray can lacquer. Is Tamiya’s silver fairly durable to handling?
2: How does it do when decals are applied?
Can it be cleared without detracting from the finish, or completely ruining it?
Any and all economically sound answers will be greatly welcomed. Thanks a million!!!
I like Model Master Metallizer. It is a pain to work with, as is almost every other silver-ish color out there, and it is very delicate. All your surfaces have to be babybutt smooth, the slightest flaw WILL show through. Check out the “Natural Metal Finish”(NMF) group build for some more options, tips, advice.
This one was done with MM Metallizer “Polished Aluminum” (buffable) in a rattlecan.
Think you can use just about any silver/ aluminum paint like MM or revell or the likes. I even did my first NMF’s with a DIY market rattlecan[:)]. But yes, the shiny paints are delicate and you definately want to coat it with future or some varnish before you mask it. By trial and error i found out that the paint will lift with the tape 9 out of 10 times if you don’t. Also be sure to give your paints sufficient time to cure.
Hope that helps a bit. Do check out vettemans NMF gb’s. Some great knowledge inthere![y]
Darrin, you’re gonna like that kit - it’s one of the best Mustangs. I’ve also used MM Buffing Metalizer on a couple of models and like it quite well. As mentioned above, it is a bit delicate and needs to be coated before decaling or masking, etc. The one disappointment I have had was when I put Future over the MM. It tends to dull that nice shiny finish. I believe they make a clear coat specific to the Metalizer, but I haven’t used it.
Thanks folks, I’ve used MM Metalizer in the past, and it was a buffing type, but when I put MM metalizer sealer on it, it dulled it back down.
fermis that looks great but the key word is “delicate”.
One of my questions was has anyone used Tamiya AS-12 lacquer in their spray can? I wouldn’t be too worried except the handling while applying decals. I’m thinking it’s got to be better than Testors #1246 metallic silver, which looks great when applied carefully, but it goes to poop when cleared. It also doesn’t like decals too well.
kermit, I will check out vettemans NMF like you suggested. The more I learn the better.
A couple thoughts. For a “realistic” finish, a highly buffed shine is out for a Korean War Mustang:1) Those aircraft were kept under very harsh conditions and flown a LOT and the shinyness of the NMF was the last thing a ground crew would worry about. 2) The wings on a NMF/Silver Mustang were Aluminum Lacquer, not bare metal because the laminar flow wing needed the lacquer to smooth the finish for airflow.
I’m confused by this. The only 4 oz anything I’ve seen Alclad offer is primer, clear coats and the like. All of their metallics are 1 oz bottles. Sprue Bros. is charging $8 for them, which yeah, is pricey, but not $30 pricey.
Another possibility I haven’t seen mentioned here is Talon’s acrylic metallics. I’ve got a bottle of Talon Aluminum sitting on my shelf waiting for a NMF-off with Alclad on two early Wildcats. There’s some further experimentation with the stuff going on on the NMF group build. It’s about $6 a bottle.
I have to agree with Doogs here, I just bought some Alcad last night, locally at Hobbytown no less, for $8. I did my current F-86 with it tonight and I was surprised how easy it was to use, and as soon as it dried to the touch it was already pretty durable. I used about half of it on a 1/48 F-86 so I can do the next project (P-47) out of the same bottle too. Willing to pay that $4 a model for it, it looks absolutely fantastic.
Order from Sprue Brothers if you can, I think it’s worth it.
I almost picked up that Mustang over the F-86, but I wanted to do a jet. It looked like a really cool example though I’m really tempted to grab it next week.
That’s not a bad price, average per to the ounce. If you don’t want that much grab a 1 oz bottle. Like I said, I think you can get about 2 fighters per an ounce (give or take) so 4 oz should last a little while. I’d really look into if I was you. It’s also nice to be able to apply it with an airbrush.
I might order that 4 oz bottle, I can only find it by the ounce locally. You should be able to track down the smaller bottles online pretty easily.
