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 Rank: Pro Groups: Joined: 24/08/2009 Posts: 48,827 Points: -13,348
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Hello all,
Thought I’d just show what I’ve been doing today and get some of your opinions on how it looks?
Although there are some good metallic paints around nowadays, especially from people like Alclad, they are often expensive and require good surface preparation. Before companies like Alclad arrived on the scene, if you wanted to build an aircraft model with a ‘Natural Metal Finish' (NMF) you either had to settle for less than realistic silver paint in slightly varying shades or another way, but one which was very tricky to get right and very time consuming, was to glue aluminium kitchen foil onto the panels.
The use of aluminium foil was always something that I’d been meaning to try but never got around to trying, and I have been modelling for years, but today I finally tried it and I have to say it easier than expected and is awesome fun!! The best bit is because the surfaces of the aircraft model are rarely flat and usually curved, the various panels all catch the light differently and show slightly different shades when viewed from any angle, even the same panels change colour just by moving the model around, giving a VERY realistic appearance? If you wanted to achieve that with Alclad it would cost you a fortune in different shades!! When you think about it, if you are trying to portray a natural aluminium finish … what could be better than to actually use REAL aluminium?!
The model I have used is my next 1:72 ‘in between’ fun build and is the new tooling P-51 Mustang from Airfix, which I've had in my stash since it was first released.
The panels don’t look perfect and I’ve made some mistakes in my first attempts at this method, for instance, you can see the glue brush marks beneath the foil, but some of that is because this is heavily magnified through a macro lens and looks much better in reality being hardly noticeable? I’ve learnt a lot from it and my technique has improved steadily as the day went on, so hopefully it will just get keep improving. The trickiest bit was getting the foil to sit neatly around the three wing cannons, but I think I’ve done a reasonable job of it for a first attempt. I could have just painted this model but I have a 1:48 aircraft project lined up for next year which is all NMF so I decided to use this smaller model as a tester to see how it works in preparation for the biggie and I have to say I’m very pleased with the way it is going and I will most definitely be building more NMF model aircraft from now on!
What do you think? Would love to hear your opinions? Apologies for the poor lighting in the first few photos, not sure what happened there!
Thanks for looking and thanks in advance for your thoughts and opinions.
Kev  ModelMania attached the following image(s):
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 Rank: Super-Elite       Groups: Registered
Joined: 27/01/2014 Posts: 5,060 Points: 14,980
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It looks very effect in to my eye Kev, you've down a pretty tidy of of it too. Top job! 
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Now I have to say Kev that looks simply brill, a very realistic finish.  Regards Alan
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 Brilliant job Kev what did you use to glue the foil down Rgd Martyn Building ?
Completed. Soliei Royal . Sovereign of the Seas . Virginia . Scotland . San Felipe . Corel vasa , Santisima Trinadad X section , Vasa
Next Build ?
When sailors have good wine, They think themselves in heaven for the time. John Baltharpe
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That's a beautiful job Kev! Lovely finish with all the surface detail coming through great! (I was going to compliment you on getting the rivets to show through so well then I realised the kit panel didn't have them to begin with!  ) Pounce wheel? Fantastic work and well done! Robin First wooden ship: The Grimsby 12 Gun 'Frigate' by Constructo Second: Bounty DelPrado Part Works Third: HMS Victory DelPrado Part Works 1/100 scale Diorama of the Battle of the Brandywine from the American Revolutionary War Diorama of the Battle of New Falkland (unfinished sci-fi), Great War Centenary Diorama of the Messines Ridge Assault Index for the Victory diary is on page 1
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Rank: Pro Groups: Joined: 24/08/2009 Posts: 48,827 Points: -13,348
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Many thanks for your nice comments Dave, Alan, Martyn and Robin and thanks for the input, much appreciated!! 
@ Martyn - The glue is a product specifically designed for this technique, called 'Metal Foil Adhesive' by Micro-scale Industries. The cheapest I have found in the UK is here:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/it...afb9:g:2gkAAOSweW5VKThW
The foil is the Co-ops own 'Simply Value' Wrapping Foil (in the yellow packaging), which comes in a 300mm x 15m roll, so enough to last for many, many models!! It cost me just 65p so I bought two, enough to last a lifetime!! This foil is labelled as being unsuitable for roasting, probably because it is so thin, but that is exactly what you need for this method. Normal thickness kitchen foil just wouldn't work being too thick for the job, so 'El Cheapo' is the best thing to go for!!
@ Robin - Hello my friend and many thanks for your comment, much appreciated!! You should have complimented me on getting the foil to sit tight over the rivets as you were originally going to do as that's exactly what I did!! The rivets are moulded on the plastic underwings, unfortunately they don't really show in the photos on the uncovered port wing but you can JUST about see them in photo #11 if you look hard enough? No pounce wheel used I'm afraid!! 
Kev
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Rank: Super-Elite   Groups: Registered
Joined: 30/01/2013 Posts: 4,604 Points: 13,607 Location: Monmouthshire UK
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Fantastic effect, I did try this once with mixed results - prob because I wasnt using a glue made for foil. Love to see a quick tutorial on this if you get the time Cheers Steve Agree with you Steve, a tutorial would be great and Kev, you could earn yourself a turquoise medal too if you post in the Know How section..... Regards Alan
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Rank: Pro Groups: Joined: 24/08/2009 Posts: 48,827 Points: -13,348
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stevie_o wrote:Fantastic effect, I did try this once with mixed results - prob because I wasnt using a glue made for foil. Love to see a quick tutorial on this if you get the time Cheers Steve Thanks for looking in Steve and for the nice comment always appreciated.
Funnily enough I was just thinking today once I'd gotten the hang of it, that I might do a tutorial for this, which I definitely will as it's a bit of a forgotten method, but it may have to wait until the new year unfortunately as I'm really short of time for a few weeks? I would like to get this model completely covered and also try to refine the technique more if I may, then yes, I will certainly show how I've done it, if that's what people want?
Plus I desperately want to get more done to my Tamiya 1:32 Spitfire Mk.IXc build!!
@ Alan - Hi Alan. Yes, earning a Turquoise Medal would be cool, though I was thinking I might have a go at earning myself a £100 towards the new Tamiya 1:32 Mosquito by doing an 'in-depth' tutorial and submitting it as a full article - which is why I want to get more practice at it first, just to get a full understanding of the technique?
Kev
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Eer! You're right - I checked that photo again and there they are! In that case even more congratulations on the technique to bring them out. I really must respond to my second reminder from Boots Opticians for my over due eye test! Robin First wooden ship: The Grimsby 12 Gun 'Frigate' by Constructo Second: Bounty DelPrado Part Works Third: HMS Victory DelPrado Part Works 1/100 scale Diorama of the Battle of the Brandywine from the American Revolutionary War Diorama of the Battle of New Falkland (unfinished sci-fi), Great War Centenary Diorama of the Messines Ridge Assault Index for the Victory diary is on page 1
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Rank: Pro Groups: Joined: 24/08/2009 Posts: 48,827 Points: -13,348
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well its been a few years since I have seen this method, and I have to say you have done a great job of it. I tried doing this on a Spit many years ago and totally fluffed it. what tool did you use to push the foil into the reassess? I seem to recall when I tried it I had difficulty with glue moving under the foil and with the foil tearing. did use the purpose glue you suggest however. I seem to recall somebody using a hair dryer to push the stretched out foil into place, but i might have imagined it it was a very long time ago. Jase “Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it is time to pause and reflect.”
-Mark Twain
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Rank: Pro Groups: Joined: 24/08/2009 Posts: 48,827 Points: -13,348
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jase wrote:well its been a few years since I have seen this method, and I have to say you have done a great job of it. I tried doing this on a Spit many years ago and totally fluffed it. what tool did you use to push the foil into the reassess? I seem to recall when I tried it I had difficulty with glue moving under the foil and with the foil tearing. did use the purpose glue you suggest however.
I seem to recall somebody using a hair dryer to push the stretched out foil into place, but i might have imagined it it was a very long time ago.
Jase Thanks for looking and the nice comment Jase very much appreciated.
I made my own tools out of spare lengths of sprue. Just cut to a comfortable length, then sanded to a point with a rounded tip and polished up using Micro-mesh just to stop it from catching on the foil when burnishing the foil down onto the glue - works very well. I made several with different size points for different situations, but the finer the point the harder the plastic is needed otherwise it can just bend out if the plastic is soft. A smoothly sanded tip on a cocktail stick works well for the panel lines as well.
Hope that helps mate?
Kev
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Thanks for that may have to revisit it J “Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it is time to pause and reflect.”
-Mark Twain
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Rank: Pro Groups: Joined: 24/08/2009 Posts: 48,827 Points: -13,348
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Rank: Pro Groups: Joined: 24/08/2009 Posts: 48,827 Points: -13,348
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Hello all,
As promised, here are a few more photos (well, quite a lot actually!) of my first attempt at using the old technique of ‘foiling’. The foiling is now complete on this model and the next step is to mask and paint the few areas that are painted on the real aircraft – they are the areas left showing the plastic on the nose, wingtips and tail of the model? I was undecided whether to just foil the whole airframe and then mask and spray the coloured areas or whether to just foil the bare metal parts, since it is known that paint doesn’t adhere very well to bare metal and I don’t want to ‘etch’ the surface if I can help it? Apparently paint will stick better if the foil has a coat of ‘Johnsons(now ‘Pledge) Klear’ on it first to act as a key, which I have now done, so we’ll see how that works shortly? The top of the nose should also be left un-foiled as that will be painted matt ‘Olive Drab’ later but I wanted to try foiling it anyway purely as an exercise for me in foiling around ‘compound’ curves, which is the most tricky part of this technique. I will remove that part of the foil before I sray the ‘Olive Drab’ anti-glare panel.
The hardest parts to do on this model were the wing fillets, particularly around the leading and trailing edges of the wings. The underside of the nose was also tricky because of the sharp curves and had to be done in three strips with the seams then being burnished out. The panels around the exhausts are made of a different metal on the real aircraft because of the heat factor and often look darker and quite burnt, so I replicated that by brushing some oil onto a piece of foil and then burning it until it stained the foil? I think it looks ok as a base and will add some more colour to it when I paint the model.
Such a small scale as 1:72 isn’t easy to foil due to the fact that some of the curves are much tighter than they would be on say a 1:48 or 1:32 scale model of the same aircraft and I think in hindsight that I probably made it harder for myself by using this scale as my first attempt? Also the fact that the P-51 Mustang has quite a lot of curves on it, particularly on the fuselage was another hurdle to overcome and left me with quite a steep learning curve, so I kind of threw myself “in at the deep end” as they say but I’m glad that I chose this model in the end as I think that I’ve learnt more in a shorter time because of that and I have to say it is really quite good fun once you learn how to do it?!
In the following photos, the cockpit glazing and propeller spinner are only dry fitted for now, which is why you may see a gap around the bottom of the windshield? The radio mast on top of the fuselage was extremely fragile as a plastic kit piece and broke when trying to remove it from the sprue even though I was extremely careful in doing that, so I have made a new one from a scrap of brass PE frame which was sanded to shape and it is now much stronger and unlikely to get accidentally knocked off in the process of finishing or handling the model. Some parts of the foiling look a little rough but that is because I am learning as I go and also because the 'Macro' lens highlights every little detail (often too much!), but it isn't that bad to the naked eye and actually looks and feels very smooth, though I may just do one or two small panels again before I do the painting?
Sorry about the number of photos but I think the model looks very cool in ‘real’ NMF and I wanted to show as many shots as I can of something that I am actually quite proud of?!
The next time you see this model will be in the ‘Finished Build Gallery’.
Thanks for looking and please feel free to leave me some feedback?
Kev ModelMania attached the following image(s):
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 Rank: Elite  Groups: Registered
Joined: 14/10/2014 Posts: 1,715 Points: 5,087 Location: Leicester england uk
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Hi Kev.you should be proud looks stunning to me a job very well done just love it.have ago meself one day.but ill wait to see your how to do it tips first.cheers mick. Builds hms victory, suzuki gsx 1300 R hayabusa, honda C B 750, lamborghini countach L P 500 S, tamiya 1/16 rc full option tiger 1 tank,
built, Mclaren M P 4 - 23. Occre london tram,
Stash.airfix 1/24 mosquito. Diag Virginia schooner, tamiya 1/6 honda 750, tamiya 1/35 famo, tamiya 1/35 flak 88.
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 Rank: Vice-Master  Groups: Registered
Joined: 09/12/2013 Posts: 577 Points: 1,748 Location: smethwick england
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What a superbly executed technique, I would not have believed it would work if I hadn't seen it with my own eyes  Man he took his time in the sun Had a dream to understand A single grain of sand He gave birth to poetry But one day will cease to be Greet the last light of the library...We were here!
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Rank: Pro Groups: Joined: 24/08/2009 Posts: 48,827 Points: -13,348
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Rank: Pro Groups: Joined: 24/08/2009 Posts: 48,827 Points: -13,348
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Thanks Daran, rather pleased with myself for a first attempt at this technique - but there's still plenty of room for improvement in the next NMF build I think?!
Kev
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