Vallejo Air Metallics

Elm City Hobbies

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Hey there guys and gals,

While working on my Zero, I had primed it black and was setting out to prepare to paint some areas with aluminum, with the intentions of then using the hairspray chip method to show some of the bare aluminum showing through the top green coat.

So, while I was in the process of doing that, I thought, why not pull out all the metallics, and show what the Vallejo Air Metallics look like when sprayed on.

From what I understand, the Vallejo Air Metallics have some aluminum powder mixed in to give them that metallic luster. This is the first time I have sprayed these, I have been using them to brush paint small items on another kit I have been working on, and they have worked very well right out of the bottle for brush painting, despite them being from the Vallejo Air line, and are supposed to be thinned for airbrushing.

Using them in my airbrush, they were sprayed over Vallejo Black Primer, and I just used Post it notes to mask off the panels, spraying a different color as I went.

Now...since these are of the Vallejo Air line, they are pre-thinned for airbrushing, and although I didn't thin them out any more than they were, they might benefit by thinning them again very slightly (I am thinking maybe 1 drop of thinner to 3-4 drops of paint), however having said that, they did spray very nicely from the Infinity airbrush with the .15mm needle.

OK...on to the photo.

IMG_4124.jpg


The photo really doesn't do the colors justice....I tried photographing them under different sorts of light, and this was about the best of the bunch.

If you click on this link...it should show you the picture in full size, which seems to make the colors look a little better: (also brings out the flaws in my painting! LOL)

http://images53.fotki.com/v138/fileR0tm/73d4f/4/326584/8556284/IMG_4124.jpg

Please pay no attention to the pebbly finish, I believe the surface wasn't completely clean, as well my airbrush probably wasn't as clean as it needed to be, these paints go on very thin, and unfortunately will show up every flaw because of that.

OK....my opinions.....

Chrome: Not really a substitute for the Alclad Chrome. I will admit though that Alclad chrome is supposed to go over a gloss black, and not a flat black primer like I have done here. It is possible to get a little more shine and luster if this was put over a gloss black, however I am not so sure it will yield the same results as the Alclad. It is still a nice shade of metal however, different from the other similar colors.

Metallic Black: Nice color, maybe a bit too much metal flake for my liking, but I think most metallic blacks are this way. Would look awesome on a sports car of some sort however, and I am sure it has it's uses elsewhere.

Copper: Looks much better in person than in the photo, little too much on the pink side? Could pass as a metallic pink in some respects. To me this is what copper is supposed to look like:

IMG_3619-vi.jpg

This is Vallejo Model Color Copper over a black primer base......

Silver: Looks like Silver, is slightly a different shade than the other silver like colors.

Bright Brass: Like the Copper, I find this color slightly off, not really bright in my book, Light Brass maybe.

Steel: Nice color, the darkest of the silver like colors, I would prefer it to be slightly darker, but that is just me. Maybe more like the Natural Steel in the Model Color line, but it will have its uses.

Gold: Can't really say anything about it, it is a nice light shade of gold, a little lighter than the Gold in the Model Color line, and sprays very well.

Gunmetal: A lighter greyer version of the Metallic Black, again, possible a little too much metallic flake in it, but does look very good, and again, would look awesome on a sports car of some sort.

Aluminum: IMO, probably the best color of the bunch, I can see myself using alot of this color personally, as the Model Color line doesn't really have a good Aluminum color in it.

The biggest thing about these colors, if you don't like the shade of one, you can always mix a couple together to create your own colors, add a little Gunmetal or Met. Black to the Aluminum to create differing shades of Aluminum, that along with the Steel, Chrome and Silver, these paints would be idea for recreating the bare metal finishes on aircraft, and for those with an affinity to the lacquer Alclad paints, these are a good substitute, give a very nice finish, and have no smell, and easy clean up with just water or acrylic airbrush cleaner.

I have wanted to give these a try in the airbrush just to see how they would work, and I finally have, and am very pleased with the results.

You can find all of the colors on my website: Elm City Hobbies
 
Great review. I was spraying the chrome the other day and now that I know it should be thinned a bit I'll try it again.

Great work on this report!
 
Cool, I may have to investigate that option if and when I do my Hasegawa Streak Eagle.

aquilamaxima.jpg

Today I painted the engine nacelle areas of my Lancaster with Tamiya Chrome Silver, at first I thought the pigment was too coarse for the scale til I discovered however that this can be buffed, didnt know that til then. Sadly though, its too close a match for the alclad Aluminium basecoat Im afraid there isnt enough contrast between the 2. The SAR lancs had the nacelles and adjacent areas on the wings painted in silver lacquer as a form of corrosion control. So, gonna buff them out some more and paybe paint some Tamiya titanium silver over the chrome silver to see how that looks. I still plan on using tamiya flat alum on the cloth covered control surfaces.
 

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