# The Metalcast thread..... Please read first post B4 posting comments!



## slotcarman12078

*You know, there's been a number of super builds lately, and one of the determining factors with the "cool-o-meter" have come from the paint choice of the modeler. The paint I'm referring to is the Duplicolor Metalcast series paints. These paints have been gracing stuff from my bench for a while now, and others have tried it too because of the results. These paints come in a good sized can, and can last for a lot of builds. They seem to hold up pretty good too from a slow usage perspective too. I have cans that have been on my shelf for a couple years now, and they still work okay. They shoot pretty good out of the can, but for the best results, I would suggest use with an air brush!

Availability... I originally ran into these paints at Napa, Autozone and Advance Auto. Since I started buying them, the selection at these stores has gone from all the good colors to red, blue, and maybe purple, and the base coat. The whole assortment is available from Jegs... http://www.jegs.com/webapp/wcs/stor...e=1+2+3+13+1147708&searchTerm=metalcast+paint

These are a candy paint. They need a silver base coat of some type, as they are semi transparent. What I am suggesting with this thread is folks post up pictures of their builds, and give a good description of what paints ( primer/ base/ color/clear ) and methods were used to achieve the finish they obtained. Copying and pasting from your personal thread to make the posting process easier is recommended if you spelled out the recipe there. This thread's intent is to consolidate all the "recipes" in one handy place.

PLEASE NOTE!!!! 

The purpose of this thread is more of a paint recipe book, to aid modelers in achieving the results seen in the pix!!! Questions and answers pertaining to a specific model's process are encouraged, BUT, this is not designed to be an "oooh, ahhhh, that's beautiful!!!" type of thread!!! The modelers personal thread and the "Show us your customs" thread is for that purpose! Please try to avoid leaving comments!!! *


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## slotcarman12078

I'll start off the pix with a Bad Dawg Nova..



















Duplicolor Grey Primer, Duplicolor BFM0383 Silver metallic base coat, Metalcast red, Future Clear. All paints shot from the can, about 3 coats of Future brush applied.


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## slotcarman12078

Dash Lead Sled.





































Dulpicolor grey primer, Duplicolor BMF0383 Silver Metallic base coat, fade coats of Metalcast yellow, orange and then red at the tail. 2-3 coats of Future for the clear coat. These were shot all from the can. Shooting from an airbrush would have given more control, but considering they were shot from the bomb, they came out pretty darn good.


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## slotcarman12078

JL cobra...



















This was done a while ago, so I can't recall all the details. Duplicolor silver base coat, Metalcast yellow, I believe I shot Rustoleum black lacquer for the top coat. Future clear coat X 2.


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## TBI

Great thread idea Joe! :thumbsup:

I have also found a good selection of Metalcast at *some* of the Wally Worlds for about half the price it is at Autoscone.


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## slotcarman12078

Dash Cobra...




























This one was a experiment, with awesome results!! Base coat of Rustoleum black lacquer, silver coat is Alclad. Metalcast blue color coat. NOTE!! Alclad requires an airbrush for good results, and any coats sprayed over it also usually requires an airbrush too!!! Too heavy of a color coat over Alclad changes the way it works. An example will follow!!! Clear coats were brushed on Future.


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## slotcarman12078

I've never seen them at my WM, but maybe the Super WM have them? Great tip TBI!!


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## slotcarman12078

Bad Dawg Willys pick up...



























Duplicolor silver base coat, and Metalcast yellow coat on entire body. The flame masks were supplied by.:hat: Flamemasks.. http://www.flamemasks.com/zshop/ Make sure you order the 1/64th sizes or they'll be HUGE!! Follow up coats of green Metalcast. Clear coats of Future. Sadly, I can't recall how many coats it took. A lot of it varies on the depth of the color you want. The more coats of Metalcast you use, as with all candies, the deeper the shade you achieve.


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## slotcarman12078

I want to make a note here.. There are a TON of Duplicolor silver shades!! Cap color is usually close. The brighter the color silver, the brighter the color coat will appear. I had the BoMb Duplicolor silver for use under these paints, and like an idiot, I finished the can and tossed it without making a note of the part number.. DOH! I did share the number with Hilltop, but I seriously doubt he remembers what it was... 

Another note: I prefer the use of lacquers due to the quick dry time. Unfortunately, A lot of the stores who carry spray bomb paints are replacing their lacquer paints with enamels, or going from spray bombs to little brush on type paints. I fear in time, finding them in sprays will be next to impossible... The larger Duplicolor "Truck Paint" is the best value, especially if you do candies a lot. Finding them has proved challenging lately too..


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## slotcarman12078

Model Motoring 55 Chevy..





































Duplicolor silver ( the "magic" one.. ) Metalcast Blue, Future clear coat.


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## slotcarman12078

I had to dig to find these...

Greg Gipe aka taillights_fade on the bay 40 Ford...





































Okay, here's what happens when a plan takes an unexpected turn!!! 

Rustoleum black lacquer base coat, Alclad silver coat ( airbrushed), Metalcast red from the can. This sort of shows the difference between a light, airbrush applied color coat vs. straight from the can. With an air brush, you can lay down a nice light color coat over the Alclad. Straight from the can, the paint goes on much heavier. The heavier initial color coat does strange things to the Alclad, taking it from a bright chrome to a darker shade of gray. While the results weren't what I was shooting for, they were appealing just the same. This came out kind of like the results Bill Hall obtained on his purple Tudor, though his was a well thought out, experienced, conscious decision, while mine was due to an "accident" ( aka me being too lazy to fire up the air brush). :lol:


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## slotcarman12078

Ok.. last one for me for now...

Dash VW bus.



















That "magic" Duplicolor silver base coat applied to the bottom, followed by Metalcast green. 

The top was shot with Duplicolor bright white, and then stripe masks were applied. Then a coat of that same silver was applied, and finally a coat of Metalcast red. Then I carefully removed the masking stripes. ( except for one of the skinny stripes that I missed until after the car was sent off for the Xmas exchange.. :freak: Future clear coated by brush. The stripe masks were obtained at Flamemasks.. See link 4 posts up...


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## tjd241

I find adding a pinch of nutmeg really yields a nice finished product.


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## Bill Hall

*AKA...candy apple...and peak-a-boos*

I'm thinking we should explain that the Duplicolor Metalcast series is actually a 2 bomb can kit comprising a medium chunk silver metallic base in one can, and a can of the transparent candy top coat in the color of your choice; which allows you to create metallic candy finishes ala' bomb can. Either one can be sprayed singley or used together in the traditional candy apple technique.

It's important to note that any metallic can be a base OR a top coat; and any transparent can be a top coat so long as they are chemically compatible. Both silver and gold are the traditional bases for the old school candy apple paint job. This is not to say that you cant spray transparents and candies over monochrome colors or colored metallics as well. 

The size of the metallic and how it is applied has everything to do with how it will reflect light back through the transparent and clear top coats. The bigger the chunk and the less unifom it lays; the more active the paint job appears. The transparent top coat will darken with each successive coat until it becomes too dark and looses the ability to take light in let alone allow the metallic to reflect it back. 

There are many trix to create different effects not the least of which is using a complemetary sub-base color prior to any metallic base; and how much is allowed to peak through, if any. The intermediate metallic base is faded over the colored sub-base in any manner....top to bottom....front to back...whatever. Then the transparent is sprayed over the top.

It is important to remember that darker goes lower in the order of layering AND each successive layer must be more transparent then the previous one...other wise the effect is ruined. I try to think of each layer as a lens within a kaleidescope. This why test shot's are imperative to establish that what you think will look good actually does! :freak:


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## slotcarman12078

Well said Bill!! I have yet to find a suitable gold for the flake coat. My search continues. 

My apologies ( in advance ) for my initial post limiting this thread to Metalcast. After thinking about it this afternoon, all paint tricks would be welcome. Also, I may or may not have actual credit for the "discovery" of this paint. When I joined HT, I did do a bit of digging into the library so I could take in as much as I possibly could absorb. I didn't recall seeing this brand of paint mentioned. I have no affiliation with Duplicolor, or any auto parts stores. The main reason I was and still am excited about this paint is, I live in a hobby shop desert. There is no place within a 35 mile radius to scope out model paints. There are auto parts stores though. Given the reasonable price for a can of this stuff, and the fact that decent results can be had from the can, and I can buy it ( at least a couple of the colors still ) locally, I couldn't help but be excited. Seeing Bill Hall's stellar Tudor, and KiwiDave's hot rod just poured a little gasoline on my Metalcast fire. I in no way meant to grandstand this thread with past builds, I simply wanted to get it off to a good start. I know some of my paint jobs lack in the skills department compared to others here. Post 'em up guys!!


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## kiwidave

I like Duplicolor Metalcast. I paint with spray cans and haven't tried airbrushing yet. I first tried this paint on a donor body and just plastered the thing in paint. Too my surprise it can out pretty decent considering it was nearly dripping off the sides. This gave me an idea of the amount of coverage I needed for the coats.
This little Hot Rod got a coat of Gold over white primer. The gold was quite flat and looked more like an antique gold. Would like to get a real metallic gold too try now. A light coat of color followed by 2 slightly heavier coats was enough to get the shade I liked. Another coat may have darkened the red too much as Bill mentioned.


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## Dslot

slotcarman12078 said:


> I know some of my paint jobs lack in the skills department compared to others here.


Yeah, right. 

:wave: -- D


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## tjd241

Bill Hall said:


> I'm thinking we should explain ....snip


So skip the Nutmeg?


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## Bill Hall

tjd241 said:


> So skip the Nutmeg?


Personally, I prefer a hint of sage, but still use the Lithuanian pointing trowel whenever possible.


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## TBI

Another thing to keep in mind.... Most major automotive paint manufactures have their own line of candy style paints now. Find a jobber with a mixing system and most will pour you a "touch up" bottle full for a few bucks. This will greatly expand your color options - You will need to get some reducer to go with it, but a pint or quart will last forever. 

I am a career custom painter forced into retirement by a bad ticker. I just recently got back into slots, all the cars I've done so far have been rattle canned, but I'm getting close to being set up to start gunnin' these little suckers and can't wait! 


Also for you airbrush guys, if you base the candy jobs with bright white pearl instead of silver, the colors will be much more vibrant, but won't have quite as much depth. 

An example: here's two helmets I painted for K&N - basically the same design, but one over silver and one over white pearl

The first is for driver Tyler Clem - this is over a silver base 










This one was for World of Outlaws driver Jonathan Allard - it is over a white pearl base










The helmet done over white pearl doesn't require being in as bright of light to really "pop" like the helmet done over silver

I think I have step by step pics of one or the other of these being painted, if any one is interested I'll dig through some files and find them. :wave:




Here's a couple "action" shots


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## Bill Hall

TBI said:


> ...snip*..... I'm getting close to being set up to start gunnin' these little suckers and can't wait....
> 
> 
> 
> Neither can we...what the heck is taking so long? I need to steal some ideas right away!
> 
> Seriously though, I'm looking forward to your insights.


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## TBI

Bill Hall said:


> Neither can we...what the heck is taking so long? I need to steal some ideas right away!
> 
> Seriously though, I'm looking forward to your insights.


I'm thinkin I could learn more from you, than you ever could from me.....


.....just sayin


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## Bill Hall

Nawwwwww...no way! We need all the help we can get.

Sharing fresh ideas and different perspectives brings innovation(s). It's what makes HT such a great place to be. As painter of 1:1's, all you need to do is adjust the size of your thinking.

A chunk of pink eraser becomes your hard block...

A chunk of closed cell foam becomes your soft block...

A narrow flat file wrapped in sand paper becomes a long board...

The return spring of your tweezers is a porta power...

Nothing has changed....you already know how...they just call it something else and you have to guess what it is.


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## TBI

Bill Hall said:


> Nawwwwww...no way! We need all the help we can get.
> 
> Sharing fresh ideas and different perspectives brings innovation(s). It's what makes HT such a great place to be. As painter of 1:1's, all you need to do is adjust the size of your thinking.
> 
> A chunk of pink eraser becomes your hard block...
> 
> A chunk of closed cell foam becomes your soft block...
> 
> A narrow flat file wrapped in sand paper becomes a long board...
> 
> The return spring of your tweezers is a porta power...
> 
> Nothing has changed....you already know how...they just call it something else and you have to guess what it is.


Thanks Bill, I love this place and have learned a lot in the short time I've been a member. 
HT has a great sense of camaraderie and a willingness to share that is quite refreshing to be a part of in this day and age :thumbsup: 


The thing I'm looking forward to the most is using catalyzed primer and topcoats on these little fellers, the spraybomb stuff is way too unstable for multi stage finishes and/or complicated designs.

~Jeff


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