Airframe Aluminium

The color

Airframe Aluminium is a shade imitating the aluminum skin of an aircraft. It aims at machines that were not painted and flew with a bare metal surface, as was usual on airliners and military aircraft in the middle of the last century. Aluminum on a real aircraft never reads as one uniform area: the individual panels differ in shade depending on how they were rolled and how they have aged, and it is exactly that difference that makes a model look alive.

How to work with the paint

Shake the bottle thoroughly before use, so that the settled pigment is spread through the whole volume. Choose the thinner and the thinning ratio according to the instructions the manufacturer gives on the packaging, that is the thinner meant for this range. With metallic tones the surface underneath is half the job: every scratch, fingerprint and coarse sanding mark stays visible under the paint, so smooth and degrease the surface first. Lay the paint on in thin coats and let each one dry. The finished coat takes handling worse than an ordinary covering paint, so wear gloves when handling the model afterwards, and protect it with varnish only if the manufacturer allows such a step for this range.

Who it is for

It will be valued by builders of aircraft with an unpainted surface who work with differentiating individual panels and with masking. It also comes in useful on exhausts, landing gear bays and other places where a metal tone should appear.

Terms of supply

The paint alone is supplied. Thinner, brushes, masking material and varnish are not part of the delivery, unless stated otherwise.