The Little World

We have a problem, Kimo-sabe. Which silver?

There are more choices in my paint rack than I care to admit. I see several super-lacquer from GSI Creos that claim to replicate stainless steel, iron, super silver, and titanium. The regular line has fine silver, silver, and shine silver. I have mixed a custom silver-grey.

Some planes call for a flat and dull aluminium finish while others need shine and gloss in patches. I hesitate whenever I see the complex patterns that other people seem to be able to spray – I try to be one and done in many cases.

In the case of the Caudron I selected 1200-grade undercoat – the pink horror from Mr Surfacer – to preserve what little surface detail was evident. It is immaterial under a gloss silver anyway. It’s actually a very good undercoat and can be sprayed on with confidence as long as you are diligent later to cover every last trace of it. And for the car builders, it’s actually pretty authentic as an undercoat anyway – I’ve seen plenty of half-finished cars circling the streets with pink fenders and bonnets.

The final choice turned out to be stainless steel. This is merely a naming convention for the paint makers to sell something that is a darker silver finish. The fine silver is lighter and the iron and steel are darker, but I’ll bet the metallic fragments are just the same in each mix.

It’ll all come down a notch with a satin Micro-Coat near the end.