Bringing the kit into the natural metal finish present challenge and a problem for a many of modelers. Reasons for that are several, poor preparation of kit surface, poor adhesion of the paint (in some cases), not good look of the finish, handling and sensitivity problems. I also face some of this problems and most prominent problem is the top coat sensitivity. Airplane consist of many plates of the metal skin and not all of them are in same shade. Difference in shade could be reason of different subcontractors for the material and some little difference in production cause this different look. Also not all plates have same purposes, some are assess doors and they are made of different alloy and this mean different color, some are heat resistant, some have other properties and all of this simply mean difference in shades. Result of that is demand to do all this shades on kit and making of this mean a lot of masking. Problem is not the same problem of masking, it is just time consuming, but the fact that removing of mask film or tape leave visible trace on the surface paint. To avoid that you need to spray some kind of medium over it, it could be varnish or sealant. Problem is that any additional coat fill up panels and rivets and you loose details. What to do? Any solution?
In August issue of Flieger Revie you have a chance to see excellent work properties of AK metal wax and what we will show you right now is their Xtreme Metal paint. They come in glass bottles, 30ml each, what mean enough material for painting. Shades we show you here are:
• AK 479 Aluminium
• AK 480 Dark Aluminium
• AK 481 Polished Aluminium
Paint are ready to use, no thinner required, just shake well and drop in your airbrush as much as you like. But before the start…
Preparation
Must note that preparation is mother of everything in modeling (as well for many other things in your life). Good preparation mean that your kit will be excellent base for application of any paint and in case of metal paint, it is absolute must. Metal pain, like no other, clearly show any surface problem, finger prints, bad joint, cement traces and so on. So when you start build model and you know it will be metal finish, you need to do some things. First at all- use liquid cement. Cement in tube are fine but if there is any leak (and there is always leaks), it could leave trace which will be less visible until we paint metal. Liquid does not have that problem, you simply join the parts and pour cement into join line and capillary action do the rest. No leaks and no way you can touch it and damage surface of kit. Other important thing- use best of your sanding and polishing material to achieve absolute smooth surface. Start with 800 grit for rough surface (or places where you need to apply filler) and end with 8000 grit. Take attention on join lines. When all of this is complete, spray coat of surface, it will be great base to adhere paint and for metal paints black are recommended. If you did all of this, you can continue on painting.
Xtreme in action
To perform test I have prepared one Eduard MiG-21 PF kit and for testing I use airbrush with 0,3 mm nozzle. I shake bottle and with pipette add small amount of paint. If you do kit which is entirely metal finished, first coat to do have to be AK 479 Aluminium. Spray over surfaces goes excellent, AK have develop excellent formula and this paint cover perfectly in thin coat. Do not apply tick coat at once but slide over surface and apply few thin coat to get good coverage and uniform look. Best at all- it almost instantly dry and after I have complete it, I flush some of Xtreme Cleaner (AK470), to clean up airbrush. This cleaner is formulated to clean airbrush after use of Xtreme metal paint and it have acetone similar odor. Next step is protect with masking tape some panels in order to paint in different color. I use Revell masking tape. When masking was completed, I spray darker area at the exhaust panels and some polished at the spin of kit. As well it already have coat of paint, I use even thinner coat of next paint. Result was perfect! Best satisfaction come when I have removed tape and absolute no trace that there was anything used!!! I never experienced this in my life!!!
Conclusion
AK did what all of us desired- product which is easy to use, have excellent metal shades, excellent resistance and great coverage. My personal wish is that they will expand their range of paints and add more shades such as Burnt metal, magnesium, steel, titanium and so on and make it most perfect to use and reduce need to search for other colors. I give my top recommendation to this product!
