Alcad II - can it be brush painted?

[Sticky Fingers]

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!

[pre98zetec]

im sure on small parts it would come out decent.

[mike@af]

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

[willimo]

Originally Posted by Sticky Fingers

Alcad II - can it be brush painted?

No.

[RallyRaider]

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

[Sticky Fingers]

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!)

[Vric]

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)

[hirofkd]

Yes, it does. Have you guys even tried?

[Vric]

Originally Posted by hirofkd

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)

[willimo]

Originally Posted by hirofkd

Have you guys even tried?

Yes.

[Scale-Master]

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

[Sticky Fingers]

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!!!)

[nniemi]

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



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

[willimo]

Originally Posted by Sticky Fingers

(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.

[astroracer]

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