Jean B.

Hi there, seems I'm a little late for this discussion, but I've just found this conversation. The topic of "effect paintings for 1930s car models" is indeed my very special subject! As the former contributors already said, bright, light and cool-toned paintings on nitro base appeared already in the late 1920s, and some coachbuilders of the 1930s, leading Figoni and Erdmann & Rossi, were famous for using extravagant and bright paintings for their one-off luxury creations. Fish-silver was not so very long in use, it was already in the 1930s that aluminium-based paints got common - both (as already described) very sensitive against weathering. The problem was, that clear nitro-paints were very yellowish-brownish, so that the the "open" metallic-paint surfaces could not be covered without spoiling the basic colour. For my model-building purposes I usually use following method: Painting with a (mostly matte) colour of my choice (I prefer Humbrol enamel paints), then air-brushing a mixture of AlClad-II "light sheen" with some Iriodine pearlescent powder mixed into. This is the very finest pearlescent pigment available, it's almost colourless (tending to "white", not silver), and airbrushed thin over a basic colour, it gives a very smooth "icing" which comes very close to the classic "fish-silver" paintings. Either leaving this coating alone (it's "soft-glossy") or covering it with a glossy nitro-varnish, a very authentic finish can be achieved, especially for small scales like 1/43. A couple of years ago a (German) book was published, written by the worldwide expert for vintage car-paints, Mrs Gundula Tutt. The book is exquisitely written and layouted, and you can learn very, very much about the painting methods of classic cars. Title of the book is "Kutschenlack, Asphaltschwarz und Nitroglanz".