I want to use Alclad to do a set of valve covers.  I'm painting the "Pontiac" covers from the Revell '55 Pro Sportsman Chevy.  I'd like to do the "Pontiac" in Purple to match body color.  If the covers wwere cactory chromed, I could just fill the letters and wipe off the excess.  How can I do this with Alclad?  How durable is it?

Frank

You shouldn't have any problem doing that over Alclad chrome as long as you aren't using lacquer or any kind of solvent to wipe off the paint. That is, if you are using enamel or acrylic and planning to wipe it off while wet, then you should be fine. I find Alclad to be very, very durable. The only time I've had a problem was when using the wrong kind of base coat. Over black enamel or Alclad's own base coat that stuff stays on for good!

Thanks for the input.  Is Testors enamel better than Tamiya black?

Frank

12SCNDZ:

 Is Testors enamel better than Tamiya black?

It is not so much a matter of being better but better for alclad. Alclad will not produce as good results over an acrylic base. There is a chemical reaction between the base and alclad. Sure it will look metallic but if you want to achieve the chrome look opt for the enamel base otherwise it will look more like flat aluminum or just silver.

Hot Wheels is correct. A black enamel base is better for Alclad chrome. Alclad recommends Tamiya's lacquer black as a base for polished aluminum. However, I just recently got ahold of Alclad's own black base and it worked better than anything else I've tried. I used it under polished aluminum; I've yet to try it with chrome.

I agree with Hot Wheels and Chillyb1....alclad is very resilient if a good bond was established during application, and theoretically, any waterbase paint will never harm the alclad.  I cant tell you much about tamiya or testors because I personally use automotive urethane products from HOK, PPG, and DuPont...however, I have used alclad on my works since 2001 and what I can say is that if the base paint your applying the alclad (chrome) over has cured too long, there is a chance of the alclad bond being inadequate and it rubs off with the slightest touch.

When I noticed this, I was using PPG Urethane (gloss black w/activator) and the overall cure time was very quick compared to what I would expect tamiya and certainly testors enamels to be.  I found that there was about a 36 hour limit from the time I shot the black in which I had to apply the alclad...otherwise, the chrome easily rubbed off. 

Just food for thought