opinions, advice?

what would be a better aluminum for the yb 35?

Have you ever tried "Rub N Buff"? It needs an *extremely* smooth (smoother than glass...lol) undersurface, but it polishes out very nicely. It comes in several silver-ish shades (though "Silver" is the only one that seems readily available in most stores). I have even successfully tinted it with blue, black, or brown paste type shoe polish. I tried a bazillion other things to tint it, but they all seemed to degrade (or cancel) the polishing qualities of the stuff.

to get a bucnh of panels? make more real looking? i read about that, is it hard?

no, never even seen it. but i'll look for it now. i've never used alcad either.

It looks like aluminium. Buffing doesn't seem to change it much. Polished Steel, OTOH, makes quite a statement. I also like the Gun Metal. I've used that for leaf springs on cars.

Bill Banaszak, MFE

Let's not leave out SNJ spray metal. Easy to spray, no base coat required, very sturdy coat resistant to masking and handling and with their polishing powder you can buff seperate panels to any desirable sheen.

The Keeper (of too much crap!)

The main defect of Rub 'n' Buff is that it takes months, if not years, to cure; any kind of handling is liable to remove a little bit of the silvering and redeposit it somewhere you don't want it.

I used SNJ on the S-43 flying boat. I was meticulous about polishing the model before metalizing. I used no primer. Except for one botch, (cleaned with Ronson lighter fluid and reshot to satisfaction) the model came out beautifully on the first try. The polishing powder went on the fabric surfaces, providing a subtly different tone that contrasted nicely to the aluminum. Alclad will probably suport some techniques that I haven't had cause to try with SNJ, but the ease of application and being able to avoid a primer coat makes the stuff my first choice for NMF, at least for now.

Mark Schynert

Were it me I'd be using a little of everything over a base silver coat.

Bill Banaszak, MFE

Definitely a shortfall...but I have found that by taking a hairdryer to the surface where the Rub N Buff is applied, that it tends to cure/harden it pretty well.

e a pensé très fort :

Well, I no more used it since I have Alclaad II. I really prefer Alclaad II cotes, really good.

that sounds like a winnah. thanks, keepah. (phone calls from eastern friends have the accent back.)

well, 2 reccomends for that means i'll try it. thanks guys.

i may have to try both products. i'm trying to make the yb 35 my first fanatically built kit.

e a couché sur son écran :

Advantage of the alclaad II in my mind: much finer pigments, surfaces finished very realistic, a very hard and insensible surface in fingerprints.

i will try both products on some throw away kits and let you know if it's what i need. thanks.

Not so hard but tedious. My best job of it was on a 1/64th Lindberg B-58. Wish I still had it.

Bill Banaszak, MFE

i've been looking to pick one up. the shape seems right and it would be east to detail nicely. did you sell yours, bill?

Here's a couple of box scale fossils you'll enjoy:

Cheers,

The Keeper (of too much crap!)

i may plonk in for number two. the comet isn't the same molds, is it?