I've seen in some builds here that people will paint the colors first, then mask and paint the silver last, rather than silver first, then whatever other colors are needed.
Do colors not stick well to metallic paint? What's the best way to get a good, smooth finish for the metallic paint?
Thank you!
A gloss basecoat is better for shiny metallic finishes. You get a different shade if you spray mist metallic coats on light or dark backgrounds.
Louis
One consideration may be the type of metallic paint used as in some cases the metallic particles are easily damaged. Rattle can and acrylic metallic paint is robust and can be applied as the base finish colour. From what I have read online, Alclad metallic paints seem to be very fragile and should be sprayed with a clear to protect the metallic particles from being damaged due to handling, etc. But this dulls down some of the shine. I haven't used Alclad as I don't like to airbrush lacquer based products.
As Lou recommended a gloss black base coat is best for spraying aluminum, chromes, etc. The black really causes the metallic colours to pop and exhibit a robust depth of colour. Whether I am spraying a finished colour base or finished colour camo, I always spray a gloss clear over top before masking for detail colours or applying decals. The clear gloss provides a forgiving coating if I need to sand off any over spray or bleed through with very fine wet sanding paper. For decals it provides the best surface for the decal to stick to.
Unless you are considering Alclad, I'd suggest primer, gloss black, metallic colour, clear gloss coat, detail colours / decals, clear gloss coat (for UV protection, etc) followed by different gloss if required (semi gloss, flat, etc.). This is my standard approach for finishing with the exception of omitting the gloss black for non metallic colours.
Great info, thank you!
I bought some Dupli-Color silver from an auto parts store to try on my Mustang. I've heard of the gloss black under coat on plastic, but I wasn't sure if the same applies for wood, so thank you for addressing that.
So, as long as I spray an overcoat on the silver, it should be fine for masking and painting the other details (anti-glare panel, stripes, etc)?
The substrate material doesn't matter with regards to the black undercoat. Think of it as just another layer which will influence the layer on top.
Another base coat to try for silver is pink. I have read that real airplanes with fabric coverings use a pink base under the silver dope. Today I found that is common for jewelry as well. I have used a pink base for acrylic silver and like it. Different shades of pink can be tried with your chosen silver to get many different effects.
Another consideration with silver is the actual use on the model subject. Fabric planes had silver dope with the pink base. Many US WWII planes had unfinished aluminum, but those planes weren't expected to last more than a year or two. They tried unpainted aluminum on early jets, which last longer, and the results were terrible. The aluminum corroded and the plane was compromised. They quickly learned to paint the "bare aluminum" planes with silver lacquer. Most of the US silver planes are painted silver or were soon painted after the picture was taken.
Painted finishes on airplanes is a fascinating topic. It constantly changed due to weathering, repair, and variations in paint batches. Pictures of painted airplanes are affected by weather, lighting, the film used in the camera, and the chemicals used to develop and print the photo. The photo ages and is digitized and compressed for use on the infoweb. All you can really do is replicate a photo because that plane did not always look exactly like that.
The Canadian F-101Bs in the early 70s went from dull aluminum(original batch), then to lacquer matte silver that turned greenish, to gloss aluminum that peeled, and finally to Voodoo grey. Research is key, and remember there are always exceptions to any paint scheme.
Louis