Accurate exhaust pipe painting

[Vintage chromoly]

Hello, all.

i’m looking to step up my game on painting exhaust pipes and mufflers. 
 

what are you guys using as far as techniques and products to accurately paint exhaust components?

I’m trying to replicate musclecar exhaust systems with normal wear from driving. Not so much rust, but more of a burned in look, so to speak.

Any tips or help is welcome.

Thanks, fellas

 

Rob

[StevenGuthmiller]

Well, I guess my first question would be, what’s “accurate”?

There are many different metals and finishes for exhaust parts, and there are numerous directions that you can go for weathering as well.

Just the soil color alone in a particular region can make a big difference.

But that’s probably a little further into the weeds than you would prefer to go.

My process is to of course remove all mold lines, replace or modify whatever requires it, then prime and finally paint with Alclad paints.

As a rule, I’ll use an aluminum shade for the mufflers, and a darker steel shade for the remainder of the exhaust pipes.

Then my general practice is to decide on how much rust I want to portray.

My simple rust technique consists of spraying a very light mist of red oxide primer from a couple of feet away until the desired affect is reached.

I at some point will usually add a single light coat of clear to protect the Alclad from rubbing off in spots from too much handling, either before or after rust.

Finally, I just use a combination of washes and dry brushing of acrylic craft paint to achieve the desired weathering.

Here’s a couple of shots.

One very lightly weathered, and the other more heavily.

 

 

 

 

Steve

[Vintage chromoly]

Thank you, Steve.

I appreciate the reply.

I suppose “Accurate” would be what you showed in the 68 Coronet pic. 
 

I build 60’s musclecar models and like to build them to replicate a nice, clean, driven car. 
 

As of now, I’ve been using old Testors enamel “aluminum” on the mufflers and Testors enamel “steel” on my pipes. I have Alclad “chrome”, on hand. This is probably a dumb question, but does Alclad come in a variety of shades?

 

thanks for the help,

Rob 

[peteski]

Alclad II sells multiple ranges of paints.  See: https://alclad2.com/finishes/regular/  for a list of their metallic finishes.  While there, check out their other ranges of paint products. They are listed under the Finishes drop-down on https://alclad2.com/

[Vintage chromoly]

Thanks for the link. ?

[StevenGuthmiller]

4 minutes ago, Vintage chromoly said:

Thank you, Steve.

I appreciate the reply.

I suppose “Accurate” would be what you showed in the 68 Coronet pic. 
 

I build 60’s musclecar models and like to build them to replicate a nice, clean, driven car. 
 

As of now, I’ve been using old Testors enamel “aluminum” on the mufflers and Testors enamel “steel” on my pipes. I have Alclad “chrome”, on hand. This is probably a dumb question, but does Alclad come in a variety of shades?

 

thanks for the help,

Rob 

Absolutely!

They carry a pretty large array of not only metal finishes, but a number of candy colors, primers, etc.

Of course these are all air brush paints, pre-thinned and ready to apply.

I use a number of different Alclad metal finishes, including “white Aluminum”, “Polished Aluminum”, “Steel”, “Exhaust Manifold”, “Pale Gold”, and my favorite for carburetors, “Pale Burnt Metal”.

 

 

 

 

Steve

[Vintage chromoly]

Just now, StevenGuthmiller said:

Absolutely!

They carry a pretty large array of not only metal finishes, but a number of candy colors, primers, etc.

Of course these are all air brush paints, pre-thinned and ready to apply.

I use a number of different Alclad metal finishes, including “white Aluminum”, “Polished Aluminum”, “Steel”, “Exhaust Manifold”, “Pale Gold”, and my favorite for carburetors, “Pale Burnt Metal”.

 

 

 

 

Steve

Super!

Thanks again.

I have a Paasche H that I use for pretty much everything. 
 

I will check out the Alclad site. 
 

Thanks

Rob 

[Vintage chromoly]

OK, folks. 
 

Where is the best place to order Alclad stuff in the continental USA? I’m in Ohio, and I’m looking to mail order a bunch of stuff. So far, I’m finding some stuff, but lots of out of stock.

Is there a preferred vendor you guys like to use?

 

thanks

rob

 

[StevenGuthmiller]

1 hour ago, Vintage chromoly said:

OK, folks. 
 

Where is the best place to order Alclad stuff in the continental USA? I’m in Ohio, and I’m looking to mail order a bunch of stuff. So far, I’m finding some stuff, but lots of out of stock.

Is there a preferred vendor you guys like to use?

 

thanks

rob

 

Is there one in particular that you're looking for?

As a rule, I find everything I need on eBay.

Most of them come from various online hobby providers, so you're safe in ordering, and it's a "one stop shop" where I can find everything that I need.

 

 

 

Steve

[Vintage chromoly]

6 minutes ago, StevenGuthmiller said:

Is there one in particular that you're looking for?

As a rule, I find everything I need on eBay.

Most of them come from various online hobby providers, so you're safe in ordering, and it's a "one stop shop" where I can find everything that I need.

 

 

 

Steve

Thanks, Steve.

I was hoping to find an outlet that I could order:

black base

clear

aluminum

steel

exhaust manifold

 

i found it all on eBay, but I’d like to not have it coming from several vendors with shipping fees that nearly double the cost.

[Hi-Po]

Rob,

You might try going to the Alclad website (Alclad2.com) and on the Home page you will see a Buy icon.  Click on that icon and then select USA. It will bring up a list of retailers by state.  Find your state and it will have a link(s) to the local retailers website(s) in that state.

This way you should be able to buy from one outlet and save on the shipping costs.

Terry Davis

[StevenGuthmiller]

1 hour ago, Vintage chromoly said:

Thanks, Steve.

I was hoping to find an outlet that I could order:

black base

clear

aluminum

steel

exhaust manifold

 

i found it all on eBay, but I’d like to not have it coming from several vendors with shipping fees that nearly double the cost.

Chances are good that if you find one of the colors that you want on eBay, if you click on the seller's link, they'll carry other colors as well.

As an example, there is one that I just checked out by the name of "Mark Twain Hobby Center" that appears to have all of the colors that you requested above, as well as many more.

You should be able to order them all at the same time and combine shipping.

 

By the way, the gloss black base is really only necessary if you want a highly reflective finish, such as their chrome, or polished aluminum, and even then, any gloss base will do just as well. (I use black primer and Testors clear enamel)

For most other metal finishes, a base of primer will work fine.

Likewise, the clear is not really necessary, and though I've not used this particular clear, it's advisable to avoid clear coating the reflective coatings such as chrome anyway as it will cause it to dull.

 

For the other finishes, you can get by with another clear. (I use Testors clear lacquer)

 

Anyway, just food for thought, and I won't try to deter you from using the black base or clear, but I find it easier to use a spray can for those operations.

 

 

Oh, by the way, pick up a bottle of the "Pale Burnt Metal", if for nothing else, just carburetors.

It's the perfect shade for carbs!

 

 

 

Steve

Edited November 30, 2023 by StevenGuthmiller

[Vintage chromoly]

Thanks, Steve.

I just shot some Testors gloss black as a base for some Alclad “chrome”.It came out pretty good. I was just curious if I was missing something by not using the Alclad black base.
 

I’ll try the eBay “sellers other items” avenue.

Thanks

Rob

 

[StevenGuthmiller]

8 minutes ago, Vintage chromoly said:

Thanks, Steve.

I was just curious if I was missing something by not using the Alclad black base.

No.

Any high gloss base will work just fine.

As a matter of fact, it doesn't even need to be black.

 

Many use gloss blue as a base to give it a little different hue.

 

 

 

 

Steve

[Rodent]

I have bought from Mark Twain Hobby on e-Pay and will also vouch for them. That is the way I found Burbank's House of Hobbies as well. They both have websites and would probably appreciate not having to pay fees to eBay.

https://www.hobby1.com/

https://houseofhobbies.com/

 

[StevenGuthmiller]

45 minutes ago, Rodent said:

I have bought from Mark Twain Hobby on e-Pay and will also vouch for them. That is the way I found Burbank's House of Hobbies as well. They both have websites and would probably appreciate not having to pay fees to eBay.

https://www.hobby1.com/

https://houseofhobbies.com/

 

Sure.

Whatever works.

I just use eBay because I can shop according to who has what at want at the best price so I don’t have to search through a dozen different sites.

Just easier for me.

 

 

 

Steve

Edited November 30, 2023 by StevenGuthmiller

[stinkybritches]

Scale Hobbyist always has a good amount in stock

https://www.scalehobbyist.com/catagories/Paint_and_Construction/browse.php?s=3&t=1&u=1&pg=1&ppp=48&sb=stocknumber_a&so=d&man=ALC

 

[Vintage chromoly]

Thanks for the help, fellas.

I placed an order with MarkTwainhobby on eBay.

combined shipping for 5 bottles was just under 6 bucks. 
 

I ordered an assortment of colors. 
 

I’ll show my results, here, once I get to experimenting.

thanks 

rob

 

[vairnut]

I was also going to suggest Scale Hobbyist. 

[slusher]

Looks like excellent advice.  I live in a hobby shop poor area except what little Hobby Lobby has so for me I get lots of paint from eBay..  RC shop closed up also..

[Vintage chromoly]

I Shot some Alclad this evening.

this is an exhaust I made for my Silver Bullet GTX folly. 
 

the pipes are “magnesium” and the mufflers are “aluminum”.

I washed it with a little black panel line .

I’m fairly happy with it, but I’m sure I’ll get better results as I work with the product more.