Alclad

There doesn't seem to be a batch number on the bottles, so I can't tell whether mine was from a recent batch or not. However I bought it about a month ago. I haven't had any problems whatsoever and in fact have been very pleased with the results.

Alclad is mostly solvent so if you spray a number of very thin coats and leave the model in a well ventilated area (always a good idea whatever you spray), I can't see how it could do anything *but* dry.

Should try SNJ if you need something that workd great and is alot easier to use. You can get this by going to Hawkeye Hobbies. Great and fast service.

Guess I'll piack up a smaller amount than I had originally planned and test it before getting the rest... Anyone agree???

There have been some reports of Alclad taking a few days to dry when sprayed over their gloss black base. I'm airbrushing it now over bare plastic, the result is the same and it dries within five minutes.

I used alclad on bare plastic and had it come off when handled. I was told that you have to have a primer on the kit like when you paint vinyl kits. If you don't prime them the acrylic paint that is used rubs off with handling.

Dan

I have used ordinary cellulose car primer with Alclad and had good results. However, as the primer has a very rough surface, it seems to take a number of coats before I get a reasonable gloss finish from the Alclad. For my next attempt I'm going to try the car prmer with an overspray of a gloss grey acrylic (such as Xtracrylix). I'm hoping that will provide a decent gloss finish with fewer coats.

Alclad is a cellulose lacquer, not an acrylic. My experience is limited to airplane or armor kits made from polystyrene or polyurethane and Alclad II definitely does not come off these.

Easier to use if you don't mind having to polish it, and don't mind the powder getting everywhere. I'm not saying that SNJ's not a good product but I'd rather deal with polishing the primer coat for Alclad.

I _do_ like unpolished SNJ as a representation of aluminum lacquer though.

in article Zh92h.19690$ snipped-for-privacy@southeast.rr.com, Hub & Diane Plott at snipped-for-privacy@mindspring.com wrote on 11/1/06 5:34 PM:

Is the reported problem confined to any particular shades, or is it across the board?

Also, FWIW, I routinely apply Alclad to bare plastic with no ill effects. You just have to be careful to dust on the first coat so it won't craze the plastic.

Pip Moss

I just posted this on HS.

Are you undercoating with Alclad Gloss black lacquer primer? if so how old is the bottle.

I have purchased two bottles of this crap and it never dries. Both my old one that is about 2 years old and my latest on that is les than 6 months old. That said is the reason I only prime with surfacer 1000/1200.

I suspect that if you are using their gloss black under coat that that is the culprit and not the Alclad II metal paints. if you are spraying on bare plastic and it still won't dry then disregard this rant!

So far, I have used their grey primer, and have never had a problem. I have heard that there is a problem with the black not drying, so I plan to test it. I was just a little concerned with all the problems I have been hearing about with the recent batches. I have ordered some and will post what I run into. Hope it works!!! Thanks for all the responses :-)

Bob

You don't have to use the Polishing Powders, that is the modelers option. It makes a perfect one shot primer for the other products and you can easily tint the basic color with enamels to create different shades of aluminum. To steal a line from a popular commercial...Even a caveman could do it.

Hawkeye

The catch is that SNJ looks like aluminum lacquer until it's polished. As I mentioned before, this is actually a Good Thing.

All true; SNJ is a great product and I'm glad that it's still available.

No doubt. ;-p