This may have been covered on a previous thread, however, was told that etch primer was the stuff to use on bare aluminium. Any help on the best way to give aluminium a strong long lasting finish will be greatly appreciated, cheers, Tony
I have never painted aluminium but have always used
They do a black and a blue depending on what finish you want. Just add some wait a few mins. Wash off and repeat until you happy with the finish. Afterwards adding gun oil to the finished parts will also change the appearance slightly so just bare that in mind. If you do go down the painting route let me know what you use. 
If you are going to paint it you should really always use etching primer on any bare metal, most people don't but when I was a painter in the motor trade 25 years ago, that was always regarded as the correct way. It helps the paint bond better to the metal..(have you noticed how the clear laquer on polished alloy car wheels tends to lift and get white worm lines very quickly. Paint needs something to make it stick to metal).It only needs to be a very light coat , barely more than a mist coat, before you use regular primer over the top.. Maybe these days the new style etch primers are two in one,I'm not sure, just ask any local paint store.. At the end of the day what hasn't changed over the years is that a good and durable paint finish always boils down to good prep..
Hope this helps.
'Non adepto demens. Adepto etiam'
War does not show who is right, only who is left..
Cheers for the info gents, I will have to go down the etch primer route as there is metal and aluminium parts to my custom MG34 project
