Help! I had my P-38 buffed and polished with Testor's Aluminum Metalizer and it looked fine. I just coated it with Testor's Metalizer Sealer and now the entire model looks frosted and spotty. Has anyone seen this before? Is there a way to fix it?

TIA...Kevin

Kevin,

I haven't seen this before when using the sealer, although I never use it to seal the metalizer since it alters the look and reduces the effect.

My advice at this point is to put the kit away for a few days and let it completely dry. Is there any possibility that you got some impurities in the spray? Moisture? That is what it sounds like to me.

As to how to fix it, I am not sure. Like I said, let it dry completely and then see how it looks. In the future, I would recommend trying SNJ - it is much more robust, easier to use, and dries very quickly. It also needs no protective sealant. Metallizer is nice because of the variety of colors, but it is very fragile.

Hope it all turns out ok. Bare metal finishes are the single hardest thing to paint on model aircraft. I avoid them whenever I can.

Best of luck,

Scott

I think the problem is that the sealer revealed some of the rough spots under the Metalizer. For instance, in places where acrylic paint overspray hot gotten or tape had previously been, etc. I also suspect that there was too much moisture in the airbrush. Being my impatient self I coated it heavily with Future's too see if that would help. It did to some degree, but I added too many coats too quickly and now I have "unlevel" layers of Future's. I don't know if I can proceed with washes, decals, and a final coat of flat. I've been reading all of the forum entries for paint removal, but I'm not looking forward to that. I'd prefer to use something non-toxic like rubbing alcohol, but I don't know if that'll remove that Metalizer.

Thanks...Kevin

I believe that the Metalizer sealer is lacquer based, so if you shot future over it or under it this might be part of the problem, as Future is acrylic.

I sure hope it works out. Maybe at this point you let it dry, then dull coat it and weather heavily????

Best of luck.

Scott

Kevin,
Sorry but I can't help with your query, but what Scott says make alot of sense. He usually does seem to make alot of sense, apart from this time, when he talks about avoiding bare metal finishes. I don't believe it, especially when he talks about SNJ
Scott I love Bare Metal Finishes, I was going to suggest that as a theme for the next campaign :-) but two ideas have been suggested, so another time :-)
Mal

Holdfast, do you also prefer SNJ? I thought Testors would be easier - apparently not. I always get scared off from SNJ when I start to hear about the dozens of primers one must decide on before applying SNJ. Also, can one use acrylics over SNJ or SNJ over acrylics?

Thanks...Kevin

Mac, Mal,

SNJ is paint but it also comes in the form of a powder. You can paint your plane any color you want, gloss paints work best. Lets say you have a P-51D that has a black anti-glare panel on it. Here's what you can do:

A.) Paint it all over black, then mask the anti-glare panel and then rub the SNJ powder into the paint. (you can do this literally within 5 - 10 minutes of airbrushing. The finish is rock hard and can be polished and buffed as needed. Or,

B.) You can paint the anti glare panel black, mask, then paint the SNJ paint everywhere else. Once you are finished, you can use metalizer on specific panels, mask it, whatever, it will hold up...

They sell a starter kit with both paint and powder for about $15 USD. Try it, see what you think on a lil 1/72 shiny plane.

As to bare-metal paint jobs, they are difficult!!!! Every scratch, pit, blemish MUST be polished out, decals must be applied with no protective coating, etc...

They sure look good when done well, though...

Take care guys,

Scott

My P-38 has officially been shelved in the closet for now. It has too many problems to attempt to fix right now. I didn't realize just how "perfect" the plastic had to be. I don't know how people do it. It's a learning experience, right.

Well, I just pulled my Revellogram Bf-110 off the shelf. Nice gray on gray!

Thanks!
...Kevin

My P-38 has officially been shelved in the closet for now. It has too many problems to attempt to fix right now. I didn't realize just how "perfect" the plastic had to be. I don't know how people do it. It's a learning experience, right.

Well, I just pulled my Revellogram Bf-110 off the shelf. Nice gray on gray!

Thanks!
...Kevin

My P-38 has officially been shelved in the closet for now. It has too many problems to attempt to fix right now. I didn't realize just how "perfect" the plastic had to be. I don't know how people do it. It's a learning experience, right.

Well, I just pulled my Revellogram Bf-110 off the shelf. Nice gray on gray!

Thanks!
...Kevin

:-)

I think you are thinking about Allclad II which requires a primer. SNJ is applied to bare plastic. The polishing powder that Scott refers to is designed to polish the SNJ. I have achieved a mirror finish with it. Do I prefer SNJ? IMHO I think, in many ways it is superior to Allclad II (I wouldn't expect anyone to agree with me) I have used both and examples are in the gallery. At the moment I am in the process of trying out kitchen foil for bare metal finishes, the results so far are encouraging. I hope to write an article on the subject, soon.
You can mask and apply both acrylics and enamals over SNJ :-) If you would like any more info, post again, we will see what we can do :-)
Mal

You're right, I am thinking of Alcad II. On my next attempt I'll try SNJ but that probably won't be for a while. Apparently I need to practice building "clean" with crisply rescribed panel lines. These metalizers just don't hide my flaws well enough. :-) I'd love to see that article on kitchen foil though I can't imagine attempting that technique. I'm not even too crazy about using Bare Metal Foil for masking my cockpits! The most unfortunate aspect of this learning experience is that I used to think my Tamiya Flat Aluminum paint jobs looked pretty good - there's no going back now!

Yep, its official! Mac has officially been diagnosed with AMS, or Advanced Modelers Syndrome. Sadly, there is no cure for this ailment, and try as you might, there will always be this insane desire to take a kit that is supposed to be "easy" and "fun" and turn it into a super-duper-scratchbuilt-resin-photo-etch-aftermarket-"Correct shade"-perfect replica of the real item in 1/XX scale.

Welcome to the club!!! Please send my condolences to your friends and family...

Scott

ahh bare metal finish, just the thought of it sends shivers up my spine, although not sure if its fear or anticipation, I have a P-38 just waiting for my skills to catch up to that finish. There is an article on the "Fine Scale Modeler" web page about using kitchen foil for aircraft finishes, well worth a look, as the modeller gets some fantastic results from this. Go to [url=http://www.finescale.com[/url]
then browse by subject to aircraft, fighters, P-38 and the article is called "simulate bare metal finishes" its a down load article, and well worth a read thru.
Im gonna have to look into this SNJ stuff, as this foil and glue method seems very labor intensive but his results are amazing.
thanks for the info guys

Bender

Bender,

If you have a P-38 waiting in the wings, maybe this will help.

1) Get an SNJ starting kit.
2) Practice on one kit you don't really care about.
3) Paint ONLY the wings. When they look perfect to you, KEEP SANDING. Sand all seams and joints until they gleam. Use at least 2000 grit sandpaper, higher if you can get it. Make sure all panel lines are rescribed as good as you can get them. Then polish them with plastic polish or toothpaste and a soft cotton cloth. Wash with soap and water. Do it again.
4) Paint the SNJ. Polish it with the powder.
5) How does it look?

How does this look?

Scott

:-) Yep Bender,
The article in FSM got me interested in using Kitchen foil. It's a difficult technique done very well. I've done a few experiments on getting different panel shading, the results are encouraging. I am currently building a P-51to try out the technique.
One pointer about SNJ to achieve different panel shades. After spraying, lightly polish the whole model, mask of a few relevant panels and polish these again. Mask off a few other panels, polish these a second time as well, then polish them again. You can vary the amount of time/effort you spend, each time. It is easy to achieve a mirror finish. This method is easier and quicker and cheaper in SNJ than tinting the SNJ withe enamal paint and spraying panels. To add more veriation use other metalisers
I must be odd, cos I just love Bare Metal Finishes, however I don't seem to go to extreems to achieve it. I make sure that seams are illiminated and I clean the plastic, but I don't polish it. When I have done a BMF I have expended no more effort than on a conventional paint job. A BMF done with SNJ would, for me, be less time consuming than, say, a tri-colour camo scheme. What has stopped me doing more is the search for a better effect because no matter how good a painted BMF is, it's still painted :-)
Mal

hey thanks for the info guys, I do love those bare metal finishes, but I also (after about 6 months of fear and frustration) am starting to get the hang of my airbrush, just had my first successful paint job with it too. so Im thinkin that a few more camo jobs are in my future, gotta get my skills up for perfect seams and such, before I jump into a BMF job.
thanks again guys

Bender

Im about to to a F82 twin mustang..MM metalizer and blue MM enamel on cowls, Can I paint over the metalizer with enamel paint?

NO!!! You CANNOT, I repeat CANNOT mask and paint over Metallizer. Believe me, I have found this out the hard way. Don't get me wrong, I really like Metallizer, and I have bottles of many of the colors. But I do not use them for this, I use them for detail painting engines, exhausts, etc...

If you want to do this, you really have three choices.

1) Use something other than metallizer to do the natural metal. I highly recommend SNJ if you need to mask a panel off.

2) Paint the blue first and then paint the Metallizer over it. However, you will need to mask both before and after you paint the blue panel, as any overspray will show up under the Metallizer. (In other words, you can't just spray the whole nose blue, then mask off just the nose section.

3.) Paint with Metallizer, then coat the whole model with a protective sealer, such as Future or Metallizer sealer. The problem with this is, then it no longer looks like metal and looks like silver paint. This is your best and most practical solution, though, so you could try it on a piece of scrap or another model to see how it looks.

Good luck....

Hope I helped prevent a disaster...

Scott

NO!!! You CANNOT, I repeat CANNOT mask and paint over Metallizer. Believe me, I have found this out the hard way. Don't get me wrong, I really like Metallizer, and I have bottles of many of the colors. But I do not use them for this, I use them for detail painting engines, exhausts, etc...

If you want to do this, you really have three choices.

1) Use something other than metallizer to do the natural metal. I highly recommend SNJ if you need to mask a panel off.

2) Paint the blue first and then paint the Metallizer over it. However, you will need to mask both before and after you paint the blue panel, as any overspray will show up under the Metallizer. (In other words, you can't just spray the whole nose blue, then mask off just the nose section.

3.) Paint with Metallizer, then coat the whole model with a protective sealer, such as Future or Metallizer sealer. The problem with this is, then it no longer looks like metal and looks like silver paint. This is your best and most practical solution, though, so you could try it on a piece of scrap or another model to see how it looks.

Good luck....

Hope I helped prevent a disaster...

Scott