We've all seen models done with metalizer paints. These paints are designed to be buffed to a high sheen in order to replicate real bare-metal finishes.

Yet there are problems with their use. In aircraft I've seen in real life, as well as in photos, there are very few aircafts with high gloss finishes on them. Time, weather, and other effects deteriorate the finish as well as oxideize bare metal. Additionally, models done in this high gloss finish dont look accurate at all since they make the model look more like a toy than anything else. Ultimately, there is a great deal of care in preparing, buffering and caring for these finishes after they are done.

Having been asked a lot lately about how to do natural metal finishes on aircraft, I turned to Dino Dykstra to see how to pull this off and still have the models look real and close to scale.

First, make sure the surface of your model is flawless. You cant permit any seams, flash, mold marks or scratches to remain before finishing. Any natural metal finishes simply show these off to their worse advantage. Gino uses nothing but Floquil Railroad paints for airbrushing and the reasons for this are:

However, he also notes certain problems with them, which are:

Gino recommends that if you elect to use them, you work in a very well-ventilated environment. Use plain old lacquer thinner to thin them, rather than the Dio-Sol recommended by the manufacturers and be ready to do a fair amount of adjusting on your airbrush as the paint clogs the nozzle.

For Bare-metal finishes Gino suggests you prime the model first with some other Floquil paint, as metallic paints dont adhere well to a surface and may lift during masking. He then uses Floquil Old Silver mixed with a little Rail Brown and applies this as his base coat. When the model is dry to the touch, use either Old Silver by itself or for a shinier finish, Model Master Chrome Silver. Spray this over in a cloud pattern, hitting the center of each panel. If you want to vary the tone of the panels, let this dry about 48-72 hours before masking and using other tones of silver.

For a final touch, an overall coat of glosscote will bring the shine to life.