finish on silkspan

[phil]

i am building a 1001 kit of the p47 thunderbolt and i want a high gloss silver finish; i am covering in silkspan and not planking;
i am open to any suggestions?

[Mitch]

Welcome Aboard Phil,

I believe that Silkspan tissue is very good. I use Lite Silver Tissue on my P-51 and it is more difficult to work with, and still does not have a high gloss shine that we all want.

The Silkspan I find will go on very nicely and over corners well. You will still need to Dope it to seal the paper. The first coat of Dope will be soaked up by the paper quickly. After the second or third coat the model will start to get a nice shine. I believe the model will be ready for paint at that time.

I would spray paint it with your choice of Silver or Aluminum, then cover with Future Floor polish... I will let other paint experts reply in more detail to that process.

Mitch

[Pauli72]

Hello Phil,

Silkspan is a great covering material to work with. Mitch is correct that you will need to build up several layers of dope to seal the tissue. This will give you the foundation to start smoothing out the surface of the silkspan.

I would definately recommend giving a coat of light gray primer after your last coat of dope dries out. This will help you see flaws and imperfections before you start painting, as well as give you a more even surface to work on. It also serves to protect plastic parts from the effects of the metallic paint you'll use.

Just a heads up on using a enamel rattle spray can. (if you decide to go that route) They can give some awsome results, but the metallic colors seem to take a loooong time to dry. More so than regular colors for some reason. DO NOT go heavy on the paint. Use multiple light mist coats to "build up" the surface. This will give you a more glossy metallic finish, rather than 1 heavy coat.

http://www.testors.com/products/145625 I've used this in the 3oz spray and it works great.
Just like a road map, there are lots of different ways to get to your destination. This is just one, of many ways to get there.

Best of luck with the ol' T-Bolt.
Pauli