Novus before alclad

You're supposed to put down a coat of acrylic paint (gloss black, white, or gray) under the Alcad - I'd worry about that.

This was my concern, although you can put it on any smooth surface. Of course, the surface has to be perfect, hence the gloss coat prior, so I was thinking of polishing with Novus first, then prime, gloss, and then finally Alclad. However, was also interested in trying Alclad directly onto the polished plastic.

I'm pretty sure you'll be ok with Novus - I use Metalizer, which is also a lacquer, over bare plastic but what I like to do is to spray a couple coats of it onto the bare plastic without prep and then polish it with light Scotchbrite.

What happens is that the lacquer bites into the surface and you end up polishing both the surface and the paint at the same time and both end up dead-level. Then I finish by hand buffing with a hunk of flannel. The more paint you shoot, the more bite you get, so you have to be careful not to shoot so much that you craze the surface - you want something just shy of that. A light coat followed by a slightly heavier one.

The result can look like the back of a teaspoon if you get your touch right...it even tarnishes like metal. I don't think I'd do this on a kit with raised panel lines, though - only engraved ones. You also need to clamp the kit to eliminate seams and try to minimize use of putty if you aren't going to use an undercoat...a Flexi-File is your friend!

I discovered this technique by accident when I tried to remove some Metalizer from a part with Scotchbrite once upon a time. It works well with Metalizer, I've never tried it with Alclad. But as they are both lacquers, I don't see why it shouldn't work.

My impression is that the particles in Alclad are finer than metalizer. Regardless, I do not want a highly polished surface anyway, and am trying to replicate the look of a well worn WWII bare metal plane. So, smooth with fine grain, but not polished. Probably will try this on the Hasegawa P-47D.

Yeah - and my technique still works, because it tarnishes and ends up looking very/even more natural over time...it just takes time to tarnish. I'm not sure if there's a way to accelerate the tarnishing...never tried that.

But using differing shades on different panels is also still the way to go to get a "worn" look.

Thanks for the advice. Actually, was just thinking that it might be best to try the Novus on a piece of sheet plastic or a scrap model FIRST, rather than commit.

Yup - that's what I'd do. Or a smaller simpler model that you're not particularly worried about sacrificing. Or even a part/assembly from your scarp box - like a wing.

If you want to use Novus then go ahead and use it but then after the part is polished clean it with either alcohol or wash it using dishwashing detergent. Basically do the same thing that you would do to a bare-plastic part to prepare it for painting. That will assure that the surface to be painted is clean.

I would try this on a scrap part first as IMO Alclad is pretty "hot" and it migh slightly craze certain trpes of styrene if applied to it directly (without a gloss paint undercoat).

Peteski

Viperdoc: Novus polish, if used correctly, will nearly certainly cause any subsequent coat of paint to beadup on you, so take Peter W.s advice and once done, wash the model in warm soapy water, rinse and let dry. Thent here should be no issues. BTW, Novus is brilliant for getting a high gloss finish on enamels, esp on cars and commercial aircraft models. Ciao