Alcad II - can it be brush painted?

Hi Guys (& Gals)

The title says it all. I have small areas on my focus which I want to use my Alcad II paint on but they're too small to warrant the bother of airbrushing.

I'm using Alcad II Chrome, I also have Alcad II Gloss Black cos I know this has to be the basecoat for the chrome to sit on. So, all pieces are primed, can I brush paint the gloss and then the chrome? Anyone done this before?

Cheers!

im sure on small parts it would come out decent.

No it cannot be brushed. It needs to be airbrushed.

Alcad II - can it be brush painted?

No.

Na, Alclad will not work very well brushpainted, it is too thin for starters. For brush painting there are better options like enamels.

Thanx guys!

I think I'm just gonna have to bite the bullet and get the airbrush out.

Seems a bit much for just a rear view & one wing mirror but hey, this hobby ain't sposed to be easy (or cheap!)

No. Alclad paint don't even work with brush. If you don't have an airbrush, ModelMaster Metallizer can be brushed (don't look as good, but it work)

Yes, it does. Have you guys even tried?

Yes, it does. Have you guys even tried?
I tried 2 times (again few days ago on my Shelby)

The paint is way too thinned. You CAN'T brush it. It’s impossible. All you will have is few flakes on your surface.
I'm lazy too. Sometime, when I have a small piece to paint, I don’t want to use my airbrush for that tiny piece. But it simply doesn’t work with Alclad Paint. (ModelMaster Metalizer CAN be brushed. Doen't look as good, but it work)

Have you guys even tried?

Yes.

It can be done, it doesn't look the same as airbrushed, and it may take a couple coats.
Dip your brush in a freshly shaken bottle, and wait a minute or two for some of the solvents to evaporate, that thickens it a little bit.
Only make one pass, maybe two and let dry, repeat if needed.
Again, it won't look the same as sprayed, but for small parts it can work... - Mark

Ok, seeing as there are varying views I think I will test it on some spare sprue parts. If the result isn't good enough I'll get the damned airbrush out!

Thanks again all for your help regarding this.

(I only hate getting the airbrush out because it takes me so long to set it up and then clean up - usually around 1 hour is spent between setting up and cleaning up. This is why I'm not keen taking it out for a job which'll take 5 minutes to spray!!!)

Yes you can use brush with it. Intake trumpets on this 250GTO engine were brushpainted.

http://files.automotiveforums.com/gallery/watermark.php?file=/502/93674moottori1-med.JPG

I painted those just as ScaleMaster described. Result is good on small surfaces, i think it won't work on larger than those trumpets.

-Niko

(I only hate getting the airbrush out because it takes me so long to set it up and then clean up - usually around 1 hour is spent between setting up and cleaning up. This is why I'm not keen taking it out for a job which'll take 5 minutes to spray!!!)

I used to be the same way, but the more I used my airbrush, the faster setup and cleanup became. Beleive it or not, but even that needs practice! It still takes a little bit, but I've gotten to where I can set up in less than five minutes and it takes probably ten to clean up. I'm not trying to show off how quick I am or anything, just saying that if you take all the opportunities you can for taking out your airbrush, it'll get better. Eventually, it will be easy and fast enough for it to be worth your while to use much more often. Another trick is to get to a point where you need to airbrush a lot of little parts, even if they are different colors, and do them all at once. This too will make the airbrush more worthwhile.

I have used Alclad with a brush with great success painting the spokes of resin cast wheels. It works just fine as long as you don't "brush" it on. Dip and dab with the brush. It will cover just fine in two coats or so and gives the look of polished aluminum... Try it.
Mark

(I only hate getting the airbrush out because it takes me so long to set it up and then clean up - usually around 1 hour is spent between setting up and cleaning up. This is why I'm not keen taking it out for a job which'll take 5 minutes to spray!!!)

One hour? This is a lot.
It take me about 10 minutes (as Will said, more you use, faster you clean :lol: )

About 2 minutes to spray a full 1/2oz of thinner (that clean most of the airbrush) then about 10 minutes to disassemble the needle, nozzle and clean with pipe cleaner. This is quite fast.

But yes, it's still a pain when you have only a small part to paint..

Okay so it looks like a lot of people do brushpaint with Alclad. However I still stick to my original claim that there are better paints out there for doing that. For example, Tamiya enamels or GSI Creos plate silver gundam marker pens. Alclad is best reserved for the correct spraybrishing technique (IMHO of course!).

i've used the alcad II on the headlights and strutbars on my itr . It came out shiny.

i've used the alcad II on the headlights and strutbars on my itr . It came out shiny.


Great! I'm delighted for you....really! BUT, did you brush it or spray it?

In regards to airbrush cleaning, I'm a lazy person and I airbrush all my parts but I use the spray airbrush cleaner to clean my brush, takes all of a few seconds.

Every night when I'm done airbrushing I then take it apart, use the same cleaner and spray all the parts, put it back together and I'm done. Takes like 5 mins.

I never clean the entire airbrush until I'm done for the day... Never had a problem..

Do have a problem with not thinning my paint enough.. I do that too often, and then the airbrush struggles to spray without spitting.. I'm bad for doing this.. Holds head in shame....!!

Great! I'm delighted for you....really! BUT, did you brush it or spray it?

brushed it :biggrin:

http://files.automotiveforums.com/gallery/watermark.php?file=/502/271377IM000624-med.JPG http://files.automotiveforums.com/gallery/watermark.php?file=/502/271377IM000629-med.JPG You might give Testor MM Aluminum buffing metalizer a try. You can use the ones in can and don't need to use your airbrush. No mess no clean. :icon16:

You might give Testor MM Aluminum buffing metalizer a try. You can use the ones in can and don't need to use your airbrush. No mess no clean. :icon16:


We would do if Testors paints weren't so hard to get in the UK.

Cheers

Farrokh