Recently I came across the new Alclad 2 Smoke tint. I decided to give a try so I brought home a bottle. Many model kit builders prefer pastels for post shading, but for *my* taste, I rather airbrush the shading with my AZTEK A470 and the Tan fine detail nozzle. I’ve been doing this for years with Tamiya’s X-19 Smoke. Problem is, that the finish of the X-19 Smoke is glossy and I usually airbrush the tint over decals and other weathering. This obviously requires another final coat of Flat Acrylic Clear. I was looking forward to omit this step with Alclad’s 2 Smoke. Being a Lacquer based tint, not only it dries fast, it also dries flat.
I did put to the Alclad 2 Smoke tint on the recent Moebius Colonial Viper II. Unfortunately it did not meet my expectations. Although the label states Heat Stains & LEXAN Tint, the overall finish is far from a smoke finish. As soon as I started airbrushing it on my Colonial Viper, I did noticed a bluish finish. This is in no way a smoke tint and OK, you can create heat stains on that Trumpeter F-100D. But didn’t Alclad already had a Hot Metal Blue ALC-413? I have almost any shade of Alclad II lacquers on my paint shelf and the ALC-413 is already good for Heat Stains as it is.
Here is a good example of post shading free hand with Tamiya X-19 ‘Smoke’. For the moment I will leave the Alclad II Smoke on the shelf; having available the Hot Metal Blue ALC-413 which unless you spill the bottle could be a lifetime supply, the Smoke ALC-405 will end up in the oblivion. Unless you don’t have in your paint stash ALC-413, you might be served well by the new Smoke . I will leave it to RC folks.
Not what it should have been 🙁
When using Tamiya’s Smoke, you could add some drops of X-21 Flat Base.
Thanks a lot for the tip Sergius. Never thought of that one. I will have it in mind next time I post shade. Thanks again!
Thanks for the tip on this, George. I was looking at that stuff, so I think I’ll pass and keep the X-19.
Hutch