Hi Alan,
Thanks, it's only first coat, it'll get another decent coat, then a good sanding- probably back to undercoat in a couple of places, then a final 2 coats.
The aluminium primer is one of the most useful things ever invented in my opinion- it sticks to everything (don't go anywhere near your wife/best shoes/china/bedding/car etc. if you value your life!) It is a suspension of extremely fine pulverised aluminium powder in an oil-based liquid. You must stir it for a good 5 minutes before using to make sure as much aluminuim is free as possible. A 2.5L tin goes quite a long way- it would do 10 of your models no problem. It seals all porous materials, such as wood, perfectly as the aluminium penetrates and the base liquid protects- but it works equally well on keyed non-porous surfaces too- such as epoxy resin, GRP and metal- I've never tried it on hard plastics such as ABS. It's used a lot in boatbuilding to seal end-grain on butt joints and the like in conjunction with copious Cuprinol...!
I've just used a brush on mine- as long as you are using a decent (bristles stay in) soft bristle brush- Wickes and B&Q's own brushes are generally very good, and good value for money. However, the finish is determined more by preperation and paint qaulity- preperation for mine was fill using Ronseal 2-pack wood filler, sand and fair the hull, fill any little places I missed the first time, sand again. I then mixed up some SP106 (now replaced with SP360 in the shops) epoxy resin, brushed it on thickly with a fast hardener. I let this dry for a few days then sanded this. When I had a decent smooth finish I put the two coats of aluminium primer on, when they were dry I lightly keyed the hull and put the undercoat on- just a decent Crown exterior undercoat. The undercoat was sanded and then the first coat of paint was administered- and now it's as in the pictures.
All being well it will get a wet and dry tonight, and a second coat put on.
You'll have to post some pics of your model on here, we haven't seen any for a while...
Greg