Triumph bumpers

[john i am]

View attachment 62027 Help please lads having found an airbrush that finally works after a few cheap ones I purchased that were very frustrating . I am very worried about spraying alclad chrome through it as at the moment I"m very happy how my present airbrush works with my vajello paints and I don"t want to ruin this for a few bumpers maybe planes later. I could use silver but not such a nice result. Should I buy a very cheap airbrush just for this purpose . If you guys would give me some advice and guidance on this then I would be very grateful thank you everyone for your help

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[GeeBee]

For alclad you really need to use an airbrush with a 0.3mm needle, no need for a double action or anything fancy, I've done it using a cheap chinese made double action brush, but usually use my Paasche F1.

The way I do alclad, and I'm pretty pleased with the results, is to use a good plastic primer, sand smooth then go over with a black enamel thinned out using lacquer thinners, let air dry for a few hours, then go over with the alclad, use a low P.s.i on the compressor, I usually use around 12 p.s.i, and almost dust the alclad on to start with, but don't spray direct, you need to angle your airbrush slightly so the alclad hit the surface at an angle, keep spraying on the alclad until you get a nice shine, and then stop, anymore and the surface will start to go dull.

If you were any closer, I would have done them for you, all the chrome on my '32 Chrysler was done using Alclad

 

[john i am]

Thanks geebee for your very valuable advice I will get myself an old airbrush from the web and practice on some scrap plastics . It's early days of airbrush use for myself and it took me an age and a lot of money to finally find one that I am happy with . Your car is amazing looks like you could get in it and drive it away. For now cause its only 1/32 I went with this View attachment 62039 not ideal needs smoothing down some more . Anyways big thanks for your help and I will try the alclad after I get a cheap airbrush

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[GeeBee]

I bought a roll of that aluminium tape, I find it o.k for trim that has no or little curve to it, for smaller stuff you may want to give Bare Metal foil a go, Mr Models in Bearwood sell it, I bought a few sheets off him last year at the IPMS show in Telford, I think they were £5.95 a sheet, and thanks for the comments on the Chrysler, here's a close up of the radiator shell after putting on the Alclad

 

[GeeBee]

You say you have an airbrush already, but are worried about the Alclad ruining it, trust me, it won't, I use Tamiya acrylcis, humbrol and testors enamel and automotive acrylics and even cellulose paints through all my airbrushes and never have a problem, as long as you clean it out using the correct thinners you'll be fine.

 

[john i am]

I will get some off the foil you talk about and alclad to as I I am a regular customer of theirs only 10 mins away in the car it's worth a visit if you have not been yourself just to see the chaos in the shop although they have got some kind of organisation going on in there now. You can now walk around the shop used to have dig through it which was fun finished the rear bumper just now . Not ideal in a static display but will do for a drive by will try the alclad on a later car

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[john i am]

Windscreen done View attachment 62049

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[Richy C]

Word of caution, spraying alclad through a cheap airbrush is not a problem but you have to use a cellulose thinner/cleaner to clean the ab and over time the cellulose cleaner will eat the rubber o rings in the ab , I know this because its happened to me , I now use iwata ab`s and the o rings are made of a different material I`m always putting cellulose cleaner through them and after 4 yrs they still work like new, it really does pay to try and get the best you can afford , sorry to put a spanner in the works . Richy

 

[Andy2035]

Hi John,

The bumpers are looking good, have you checked John's shop, he has the BMF tape stuff also ( Metal Foil - Build Materials - Accessories Scale Model Shop ), I've never used it myself, do you know how easy/hard it is to use...

 

[Ian M]

Hi John.

Cheap airbrushes normally have cheap O rings. The "hot" lacquers, that's cellulose lacquers, will attack the O rings, as Richard pointed out. Do yourself a favour and stop buying loads of cheap air brushes. OK buy one to start with and start saving for a good quality one. The brand is unimportant, the important thing is that they have 'Teflon' O rings. They dont have to be the super duper £150+ jobs. I have a cheapish SparMax and It works fine and has Teflon washers.

By the time you have "wasted" your money on three or four cheapo airbrushes, you could of bought a decent one.

Ian M

 

[john i am]

Thanks everyone for your help and yes Ian you are right about cheap airbrushes I got through about 4 budget ones £30 / £50 each until I bit the bullet and paid £180 for an Iwata tr2 with trigger which actually does spray paint unlike the cheaper versions and now my frustrating days seem to be over for now that's why I was worried about using alclad and have decided not to spray it through my Iwata . I think I will go and find a sparax thank you all I am very grateful for all of your comments and advice

 

[john i am]

Hi Andy the foil I'm using is on a roll and is adhesive backed it was only a £1 for the roll . It's the 1st time I have used it and as pointed out by geebee it's ok for flat surfaces not ideal for curves but it will do for now until I get an airbrush for the alclad

 

[john i am]

Just done the windscreen frame View attachment 62059

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[Stevekir]

I like your '32 Chrysler. If you look at the chrome (Alcad) on your model closeup, is it really hard shiny without any orange peel effect? Did you polish it after to get a good metallic shine? If so, what with?

Thanks.

 

[GeeBee]

I like your '32 Chrysler. If you look at the chrome (Alcad) on your model closeup, is it really hard shiny without any orange peel effect? Did you polish it after to get a good metallic shine? If so, what with?

Thanks for your comments, and no, I didn't polish the Alclad, that's how it came out the airbrush, the secret is to get the primer and basecoat as smooth as you can, once the Alclad goes on, and done properly, sprayed around 12p.s.i, that's what it should end up looking like.

 

[GeeBee]

have you checked John's shop, he has the BMF tape stuff also ( Metal Foil - Build Materials - Accessories Scale Model Shop ), I've never used it myself, do you know how easy/hard it is to use...

Thanks for the link, it's always good to know where I can buy my supplies, a lot of stores don't carry the BMF, and I seem to use quite a lot of the stuff, and no, once you have a few goes of using it, it's not at all hard to use, here's a Revell Mini Cooper I've not long finished, apart from the wheels, which were done in Alclad, all the other chrome trim is done using BMF, this photo was taken just before the wipers were put on ....

 

[Waffen Bucks]

That Mini is gorgeous!!!! Stunning alclad and BMF work. 5*****

 

[Andy2035]

Hi Geoff,

Wow, your cars look amazing, I love the finish...

 

[yambam26]

Hi Geoff

what lacquer did you use on the mini?

Looks spot on ive got another 3 of the variants in my stash

 

[GeeBee]

Hi Geoffwhat lacquer did you use on the mini?

Cellulose lacquer, matched to the BMC shade of Fiesta Yellow, wet sanded and polished out, I have another 2 of the Revell MIni's and 7 of the Tamiya Mini's, the next one will be done in Smoke Grey, I really should put this in another thread, as I seem to be hi-jacking the original post