Aluminum (Metallic) 17ml

Vallejo Aluminum (Metallic) 17 ml, a Model Air aluminum metallic

An acrylic metallic paint from the Spanish brand Vallejo out of the Model Air line, supplied in a dropper bottle holding 17 ml. Model Air is a water-thinnable acrylic formulated directly for airbrush spraying: it is thinner than brush paints and in most cases can be applied straight from the bottle, or thinned further with Vallejo airbrush thinner. It can be worked with a brush, but its thin consistency means counting on several thin coats. This is a modeling paint, not a kit.

Use

Of the four metallic shades Aluminum is the lightest and brightest: it has a pronounced, clearly silvery sheen of aluminum sheet. Reach for it wherever you want to capture a bare, unpainted duralumin surface.

• Bare metal surfaces of aircraft, the classic natural metal finish of postwar fighters and bombers.
• Individual panels and covers set apart from the rest of the airframe, leading edges, engine cowlings.
• Wheel hubs, rims, aluminum castings and tanks.
• Chipped paint revealing the aluminum sheet underneath, the wear around the cockpit, on walkways and at points of contact.

How to tell it from neighboring colors

If you need a cooler and darker metal for blades, tools, barrels and polished steel parts, use the shade Steel instead. For the darkest, blue-gray metal parts of armament reach for the shade Gunmetal. And if you are modeling an uncamouflaged or training machine of the Luftwaffe, the historically more accurate choice is the shade Silver RLM01, which has a specific period anchoring; against it Aluminum is a general, brighter aircraft aluminum.

Working with metallic paint

• The metallic pigment settles at the bottom, which cannot be seen in a dropper bottle, so shake the paint thoroughly before every use and let the mixing ball run properly through the whole volume. An unmixed metallic sprays half-transparent and without sheen.
• Metallics look best over a smooth, glossy base, so it pays to lay a smoothly sanded and polished gloss coat under them; on a flat and grainy surface the metal effect is lost.
• A metallic layer is harder to overspray and to mask (tape likes to pull it off and further paint holds on it less well), so apply it last in the painting sequence.

Who the paint is for

For aircraft modelers who build machines with a bare metal finish, and for everyone who needs a bright silvery metal for details on vehicles, figures or dioramas.

Ensure sufficient ventilation when airbrushing and protect your airways (a respirator). Keep out of the reach of children.