Alclad paints and metal finishes

[Nigel Jackson]

Hello All.

I'm looking to produce the more realistic metallic finishes that I have heretofore managed and wanted to try out the Alclad range of paints. At my local model shop in Limoges, I was told that because of their toxicity they cannot be sold in France. This seemed surprising given the large number of highly toxic solvents already on sale. So I have a question.

What range of metallic paints do forum friends use, especially in terms of sprayable alumnium and gunmetal finishes?

Thank you in advance for any advice you may be able to offer.

Best wishes
Nigel

[drdave]

there are now acrylic varieties of Alclad. I use the lacquers and have no concerns though. its all I use. The chrome is terrific for polished cowlings

[uncletony]

Yeah I'm no help either as I'm completely sold on Alclad lacquer as well. Their primers are great too.

[ondra]

One option could be the polishable metallic powder by Uschi van der Rosten. You simply spray the surface with basically any acrylic metallizer and afterwards you apply the polishable powder, the result is very nice.

Btw. are Gunze C paints permitted for sale in your country? AFAIK they are very similar to Alclad as to lacquer base and thus toxicity too.

[Russell]

These are in effect an enamel version of Alclad. They are supposed to be more durable as regards masking as well.

 http://ak-interactive.com/v2/?product_cat=xtreme-metal

Regards
Russell

[hiddeous1973]

I use the Mr. metal colours a lot. They are great with spraying and with brush painting.
I do like the fact that you can polish them, but they need a clear cote to protect them.
For this a use the Alclad Klear Kote, works just fine.
The Mr. metal colours can even be mixed with each other for all different kinds of shades.

[Nigel Jackson]

Hello All

Thank you so much for the advice and ideas so far; I really appreciate this.  I'd just assumed that the Alclad lacquers would be available.  I'll get back to the model shop next week to ask about the availability of products such as those from Gunze, and  Uschi, as well non-lacquer Alclads.

In the meantime, I did find some Mr Metal Colors tucked deep in a cupboard. A friend gave me them a couple of years ago. I tried one at the time and my airbrush seized up within micro-seconds, requiring extensive cleaning. Presumably, I'll have used the wrong solvent and cast them from my mind.

So my next questions would be what solvent should one use to airbrush Mr Metal  Colors and in what proportions?

Best wishes
Nigel

[ondra]

Hi Nigel,

the Mr. Metal Colors are lacquer based meaning they should be solved with Mr. Collor Thinner (from what I heard from my friends, Levelling thinner - the yellow one - should deliver the best results).

Cheers

Ondra