An alternative approach
There has been a lot of talk about copper tiles, when to apply and the cost.
I have been toying with an alternative to real copper tiles.
Here goes
My approach is to spray paint the copper onto a base material that has been cut and prepared, indented for each side then using Alclad copper paint(copper particules suspended in a clear coat, check out Alclad web site) onto a primer base, thin plastic sheet you can cut with a knife or sissors. You will need to cover once painted with a protective coat to stop finger marks. It will take practice to use this product but the finish is no difference from copper tiles but at a fraction of the price, only the time in applying is longer.
I will be making a jig that I saw on this web site to make the plastic tiles and indentations (indentations should be only just visible)a jig will cut down the time if you were using copper foil, Once prepared using double sided tape lay the tiles on the double sided tape to spray the tiles lift off the tape and apply to the hull using a suitable glue remember roughen up the glue side. The down side is if you do not have a modeling spray gun as these can be expensive and of course your time. Most of my painting is with a spray gun.
"I may be the only modeller (crazy) using this method".
Production is a long way off for me.

Bernie