Alclad II Klear Kote Finishes First-Look
By Michael Benolkin
| Date of First Look | March 2011 | Manufacturer | Alclad II |
|---|---|---|---|
| Subject | Klear Kote Finishes | Pros | Hard finish, can be painted over, masked, and handled w/o fingerprints! |
| Cons | Nothing noted | MSRP (USD) | TBA |
First Look
Last year, Alclad II released a new product called Klear Kote ( look here). This finish was glossy and it was easily applied with an airbrush with no tendency to pool and run (unless you get carried away). I found this finish to be outstanding as the intermediate coat that was applied over flat finishes prior to applying decals. Another coat over the top of the decals blend in the edges and you can either leave the finish glossy or apply your own solution for a matt or flat finish.
Alclad II has returned with several new clear finishes. The first is their Aqua Gloss which is a water-based clear coat alternative to Klear Kote Gloss and also used as the intermediate coat over flat finishes for decaling. The Aqua Gloss looks milky, but dries clear.
Once you have your decals down and another layer of gloss over the top, you now have bottled alternatives to your previous matt or flat finishes. Alclad II has provided four variations that you can use as an overall coat or use together on different sections of the model to create multiple hues out of the same color or metalizer shade. These are:
- Klear Kote Flat
- Klear Kote Matte
- Klear Kote Semi-Matte
- Klear Kote Light Sheen
This coating system provides you with a handy way of altering the reflectance of your model, dulling down the sheen, and should you need to touch up your model, you have an out-of-the bottle solution that will replicate the same sheen as you applied earlier.
You should be able to purchase Alclad II Klear Kote from any retailer that sells the rest of the Alclad II line.
My sincere thanks to Alclad II for this review sample.