Metal Finish:

I skipped laying down a gray base primer on most of the pieces. I was concerned I might cover up some of the fine detail with another coat of paint. Instead, I washed the pieces with Bon Ami Cleaning Powder and a toothbrush. Don't over do it. Rinsed and dried with a lint free cloth. This gives the piece enough "tooth" for the paint.

If you are using Alclad II paints for the first time, please read application instruction at www.alclad2.com. Use gloss black as your base primer for the metal parts. The glossier the finish the more chrome like the finish. The more matt your finish the more diffused the finish. I’ve used the following methods with varying success:

Enamel base black paint thinned with gum turpentine. I used Model Masters Gloss Black enamel with Huston Artist Gum Turpentine. This combination produces a milky texture gloss black that sprays beautifully. Be sure to strain the paint mixture before spraying. After spraying, wait 12 hours before doing anything to the model; this gives time for the turpentine to evaporate or cure. [ I've tried this both way - leaving the gloss black finish alone or spaying a gloss finish over it, such as Future floor wax or Microscale Micro Gloss Finish, and let this sit for 24 hours. Both ways work just fine. ]

Acrylic base black paint thinned with Future Floor Wax. I used Windsor & Newton Acrylic black (40%) with Future floor wax (60%) mix. And sprayed the pieces at a low PSI setting, about 15 to 10 PSI. This was the like doing two steps at once. The finish was nice and glossy; however the “depth” of the black was not as rich as the first step.

Use urethane black paint found in automotive part stores, the kind in touch-up bottles. Usually the black paint is a very high gloss black, however, the paint is somewhat thick or has a high viscous quality. The paint needs to be cut with a "reducer" not a thinner. A reducer usually will be formulated for the type of paint you are using. I found an urethane paint reduce and an enamel paint reduce at my local auto paint supplier. Both reducers contain an "enchant" that helps the paint to adhere to the surface you are painting. I have found that properly reduced black gloss urethane paint comes out the smoothest and the glossiest than an enamel or acrylic. 

Do a good job with the gloss black primer. Make sure the gloss black paint is perfectly smooth and contain no marks, dust, or lint fibers. In both cases, be aware of build up, as it might impair the detail. It’s important to spray in a dust free area and use strained paints – I noticed several times that dust and impurities ended up on the blade and it was a neon sign highlighting a mistake. To correct: use 2000 to 3500 grit sand paper to remove the error, then re-spray the black gloss finish. This helped remove the errors.

Next spray Alclad II Chrome over the piece following the directions on the Alclad bottle. Spray at low PSI.

SS Dagger:

Before painting - drill shallow mounting holes in your piece. This will save you from damaging your piece later.

The upper and lower cross guards and the badges were primed with a dark gray primer, glossed, then sprayed with Alclad II Chrome. This gave the cross guards a weathered and over buffed look. Immediately after finishing the cross guards pieces were painted a little Alclad II Pale Gold was added to the spray cup and the pieces were held about 5” to 10” away from the spray gun and a fine mist of gold was allow to fall onto the cross guards. This gave the appearance of the chrome plating being rubbed off and the brass color showing though.

The handle was sprayed with the same thinned down gloss black that was used above. The inlayed eagle and rune button was rough masked with frisket and then detailed masked with liquid masked. After the liquid mask was dry the areas were painted with Alclad II Chrome. This was set aside for 24 hours. Afterwards, the mask was removed and a coat of Microscale Satin Finish was spray over only the handle. After the handle was dry, Future Floor Wax was place on the rune button and the decal was "floated" on using Future Floor Wax. Future Floor Wax was also placed on the inlayed eagle to make it stand out against the satin finished handle.

Navy Dagger:

The eagle, cross-guard, and blade received a coat of gloss black. The blade was sprayed with Alclad Chrome and a gentle mist of Alclad Aluminum. The eagle and cross-guard was painted with Alclad Gold. The handle was liquid masked, and the gold braid was painted with Alclad Gold (no black was used as a base coat). The braid was then weathered with a burnt umber oil paint thinned with gum turpentine and allowed to "wick" around the braid. After that was dried, green water color paint was watered down and allowed to "wick" around the braid this simulated the tiny bit of oxidation that is on the gold braid.

The cross-guard and the eagle both were brushed with black shoe polish paste and rubbed gently with a soft cloth. This helped give the piece a weathered look. The four piece were assembled using CA glue and then mounting holes were drilled in the wood plaque.

Badges:

There are many ways to paint the badges. Different colors (i.e. Gold, Bronze, Silver) depicted the level of achievement. Do some research on the badges. I have found these links to be very helpful:

Also View ALCLAD II Lacquer Color Sample Swatches Here!

To weather them use a mixture of Black Oil Paint and Mineral Sprits, or black shoe polish.