Hey toe, can you tell me more about this stuff?? Where do you get it, how much, how difficult is it to use, etc.?? I bought a cheapy airbrush awhile back for applying colors beyond black and white (anybody notice that the rattlecans don't have much COLOR VARIETY anymore??) and since I have experience shooting paint on farm equipment and cars with a full size gun, an airbrush shouldn't be THAT hard to learn for me.

I take it though, being a lacquer, the Alclad would have to go over a lacquer primer as well... lacquers and enamels don't play well together...

Thanks for any information you can share! OL JR

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I buy alcladd II from my LHS, which stocks it at $8.95 for a small bottle, and also online from Squadron, which IIRC, is slightly less expensive. I apply over lacquer auto primer or over Alcald's own lacquer primer. The stuff is crazy durable, goes on very thin, and allows for some really neat effects.

For examples of pro finishes, check this: http://www.alclad2.com/

Another great reference site is http://www.swannysmodels.com/Alclad.html

I'm still experimenting with the stuff, and don't claim any great proficiency with it yet. My first model using it is my 1250 interceptor D.: http://forums.rocketshoppe.com/showthread.php?t=5483 The pictures of the nose show the panel effect pretty well. The rudder was painted on with the "engine exhaust" color.

I also used the Alclad II "engine ehaust" and the Alclad II green, red, and yellow transparent colors for the panel lines and other "weathering," as well as the running lights on my Estes Enterprise. http://forums.rocketshoppe.com/show...73388#post73388

Well, I just tried Colorplace clear over the little chromed piece of BT-50 that I swapped off the nosecone before painting it white. The clear turned it flat silvery-gray. Doesn't even look like the same color. It's drying outside now and we'll see what it looks like after it dries.

The second coat of flat white W/M paint went on the nosecone and it looks great. It's out drying in the wind and heat right now.

More later! OL JR

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Just finished looking at your threads there toe, those are AMAZING looking rockets!

This is DEFINITELY a better idea than the chrome spray paint.

One question-- did you use any clearcoats or Future over these?? Thanks! OL JR

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Thanks for the praise!

I clearcoated both before and after applying decals, using Future shot undiluted through an airbrush (Badger 155).

As an aside, the Interceptor's done in duraluminum and white aluminum. These colors aren't as shiny as the dramatic chrome-finished models that feature prominently in most of the web-literature on Alclad II. Maybe some other time.

Turning back to the Atlas model, I did my Zooch Atlas skirts using Model Master acrylic silver over semi-gloss white. I then added on the orange and black roll bars shown in one of the pictures that accompanied the model. The roll bars add a nice element of color. I'll post some pics when I have a chance, though the rocket's looking a bit beat up now after several flights.

I always thought that it'd be cool to do one with a natural metal finish a lÃ* John Glenn's ride, pre-fueling. http://exploration.grc.nasa.gov/edu...las/atlas1.html

Yep, that would be cool...

I don't know if this stuff would work for my current build, even if I took the mineral spirits to the rocket and cleaned all the chrome stuff off... It's already had a couple good coats of W/M red primer (hi-dep) and a finish sanding coat of W/M gray primer, all of which is enamels... putting lacquer over that could be, ummm... problematical.

Not sure what I'm gonna do yet...

Please post your pics here when you get a chance... always good to learn something new, and how to do it better next time!

Later! OL JR

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Yeah, that chrome paint takes forever to dry...and I wouldn't even bother wasting a good can of clear coat on the stuff. You might get by with Future but I've never tried. It would probably cause a mess just like anything else, but that's probably the only thing I would consider trying.

The bare metal foil could work, but might be too fragile for skinning a flying model. I still say monokote. You wouldn't need to cover the fairings or anything else below the Vernier jets. That portion gets a silver, aluminum, or steel colored paint(I'd reference ROTW for the "official" word). Only a very small portion of the rocket would actually need the chrome treating if you wanted the frosted "in flight" look. Here are some good reference pics....


http://mix.msfc.nasa.gov/IMAGES/HIGH/9141926.jpg
http://science.ksc.nasa.gov/mirrors...11/10074485.jpg
http://mix.msfc.nasa.gov/IMAGES/HIGH/9139569.jpg
Wiki Linky


Edit: Just checked out those links for the chrome lacquer stuff for the airbrush. That looks like the ticket and wouldn't have near the amount of drying time required as that Rustoleum mess.

Ok I'm gonna try a few pics to see if what I'm talking about can be shown... given the subtleties and the limitations of cameras (either film or digital) I'm not sure if this is gonna show up right or not. But, here goes...

First pic is the "bubble" that came up while drying in the truck. I carefully pierced it with the tip of the hobby knife, and pressed it back down with the knife side.

Second pic and espeically the third pic show the difference in patina since I had to polish out the fingerprints and stuff... it's slightly darker than it was before. The third pic really shows this, as there is a slight "camera artifact" on the fairing and stuff that looks somewhat gray-- this is a little closer to the actual color than the bright chrome finish visible in the light-- not that it's that pronounced, as the eye sees things with much better clarity than a digital camera, but you get the overall effect. I polished the whole rocket down so the patina would match pretty much all over...

The fourth pic and fifth pics are the 2 inch BT-50 tube section painted with the rocket, which has been clearcoated with W/M Colorplace clearcoat. It went on a bit milky but dried clear, but the Chrome underneath has turned a VERY dull gray metallic color... My guess is is has something to do with the light-scattering properties of the chrome paint, and the clearcoat affects this like water in a glass refracting light to make a straight straw look bent.

The last is a pic of the finished Agena and nosecone. The nosecone turned out fine with the W/M flat white paint, and I hand painted the nosecap black with Testor's flat black, which wasn't even dry yet. I put the nosecone on the Agena and she's set aside to dry.



OL JR

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Yeah, I think you have a point there, foose... everything below the verniers is plain silver, not chrome, so plain silver paint would look fine. That would mean that for a "frosted" Atlas you'd only need basically a 'belly band' of trim monokote fitted around the tips of the fairings, not over the entire bottom part of the rocket with it's corrugations and compound curves of the fairings and their intersections with the main body tube. That greatly simplifies things.

Still debating what to do... don't want to be hasty...

Do you happen to know how long I can expect that Chrome paint to take to dry?? It would seem like 99 degree heat, even with the humidity, and considering the strong wind, even with moving it into the air conditioned but low humidity house would have gotten it firmed up more than it has... just wondering.

I'm really curious about the Alclad, because I used some of that red body filler dent/ding stuff to fill the tube spirals and also over the joints between the paper fairings and the balsa upper fairings... those got a little 'dinged' from the glue softening the paper as I worked on a couple different ideas for how to 'clamp them up' for the glue to dry. The paper had dented a bit and looked shoddy, so after I had primed it and sanded it I still wasn't happy so I broke out the red spot putty and filled them, allowed to dry an hour or so, and sanded them out. I had filled the body tube spirals with regular thinned wood filler, but it always seems to leave behind SOME kind of spiral when it's sanded off, and I end up having to go over it with spot putty to completely fill the spiral and get it sanded down smooth.

Now, what makes me curious is, the spot putty is supposed to be lacquer based! This would seem to make sense, as it's pretty stinky and my tube has partially seperated the solids from the solvents, because when I bought my tube I had two choices-- a tiny little tube about the size of a JB weld tube for like $3.49, or a gigantic tube about a foot long and 2 1/2 inches in diameter for like $3.99, so obviously I have a lifetime supply! When I mashed the tube a little to get some on my fingertip for filling spirals, a spurt of seperated liquid shot out and ran down the tube. I wiped it up with my finger and applied it to the rocket, but later I noticed it had crazed and melted the paint on the tube where the instructions were printed. I used this stuff directly over the cheap walmart enamel primers already on the fairings and they came through fine. I already mentioned how the chrome paint just wiped off the walmart primer after drying 24 hours just as clean as if it had just been sprayed, just using plain mineral spirits...

So, now I wonder... WOULD Alclad go over walmart primer without any problems or not?? I'd have to do a test obviously....

I'd appreciate any tips or ideas or experience anyone has on any of these topics-- the chrome paint, alclad, whatever... OL JR

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The X-87B Cruise Basselope-- THE Ultimate Weapon in the arsenal of Homeland Security and only $52 million per round!

Now you can see why I just sprayed the silver lacquer and called it done! Besides, I didn't want to experiment on the beta kit since Wes was counting on me to get er done. What you've got so far still looks pretty good. I wouldn't sweat it too much... I sure didn't. I'm waiting on a second chance with this , but with the Mercury version! That's the one I really want to get right. I really hope he decides to kit that one at some point.