Lil help with bronze paint

[panzerjager2]

So, my question goes to the new paint effects. See I am a die hard Tamiya paint guy. Not gonna change, BUT I am open to some new ideas..... See I am building that Gatling gun circa the 1880's.... now for some dang blang reason the thing is all over bronze. Now my thought was... to get some rattle can of Bronze from the hardware store then buff it out...... See for all my travels, I have never had the occasion to use/need a bronzer.  Nor for that matter have I ever shot a metallic paint through my airbrush..... I guess to that end I am afraid of residual metallic flecks in my next project... learned that lesson 30 years ago with my paint rinse water, haven't done it since. LOL.

I guess my question is, is there a good bronze effect paint or series that I can use. My good friend in Deutschland  got me hooked up with Mr. Surfacer 500 for the surface effects, now I just need the paint..

Thanks in advance 
PJ2

[willc453]

Model Master & Pactra have bronze paint, but think they're water based now, something I haven't used. Also, you can still find Floquil's bronze which is lacquer based and have used to paint D&D figures along with airbrushing it on a F-100 aft engine area. Don't know if you're going to buff your gun barrels, but I have on the F-100 with SNJ polishing powder, Dremel (SLOW SPEED) w/cloth buffing wheel.

[TRM]

You could probably get away with the rattle can, decant and thin for the airbrush. I know your apprehension to having the little flecks kicking around in there...just give it a good field stripping after you paint. Lacquer thinner or denatured alcohol should do the trick quite nicely.

There are, as Will stated, a few other options around. Metallics have been a wildcard due to the fact the metal fleck needs to breakdown enough in the solvent and lay flat enough to give you a non-Barbi sparkle effect. AlcladII has a decent one. It is lacquer, and you need to apply a gloss black base prior to get the desired effect. Problem with Alclad is it does not respond to masking well....or some forms of weathering for that matter. Model Master might be your best bet since it can be buffed. But again....it does not like masking, so if you have to do that after the fact, you may want to plan accordingly.

A hot in the dark is Vallejo Metal Color, Gold. It is an acrylic. It does need to have a gloss black base in order to get the effects correct. Yes, Gold is not Bronze, however, if you "hyper-thin" the gold and dust it one, the effect is bronze-like. The spoon in the middle is Gold with 4 dusting applications thinned 90%, thinner to paint, and applied over a glass black. (see below).

[panzerjager2]

Gents, MANY MANY THANKS. I'm realistically aboooot a month or so from painting....so I have time for "prac-tising" 
PJ2

[moramarth]

Oddly enough, an episode of the US show "Pawn Stars" was shown (a repeat, I think) on UK TV which featured a complete 1880's Colt-manufactured Gatling similar that you are building.  It was shown originally on it's tripod, and later (being fired!) on the wheeled carriage.  The "bronze" was very much a yellow "brass" colour.

Hope that helps,

M

[panzerjager2]

I saw that episode sometime ago...... The two are similar and that's the color effect I am shooting for....no pun intended LOL 
PJ2

[jpc1968]

I used AK X-Treme Metal Brass on my Iron Man. Great stuff, I haven't used their Bronze but if it's anything like their Brass, it's good stuff.