Hi Fellow Modelers,
I recently finished a 1/48 B-29 in Bare Metal Foil:
So, I thought that it would be fun to build a Monogram 1/48 B-24J in Bare Metal Foil. In fact, I figured that I could have twice the fun if I built two airplanes in Bare Metal Foil. 
I will be building a Monogram 1/48 B-58 Hustler in Bare Metal Foil alongside the B-24J. Now, just to drive myself nuts, I will be keeping track of the hours that I will be spending on these builds. The B-29 took 8 months of part-time work to build. Unfortunetly, I did not keep track of the actual time spent. All I know, is that it took a long time to finish the B-29 in Bare Metal Foil. Now I will know the actual time spent on the B-24J and the B-58.
A couple of years age, I built a Revell B-24D. I tried to replicate a natural metal finish using Testots' Metallizer paints. I know, the B-24D did not have a NMF, but I tried anyway.
It just does not look like a real NMF. In fact, it looks like a painted finish. After I built the B-29, I thought that I would have another go at a B-24. This time I would finish it in Bare Metal Foil. IMHO, the B-24J was one of the strangest looking Americal bombers of WW II, especially when the nose turret was installed.
This kit was manufactured by Monogram in 1990. The word Revell is no where to be foung on either the box, instructions or decal sheet.
The box is typical for Monogram, very sturdy, heavy cardboard. It is too bad that the clear parts were not in a seperate bag. They are scratched.
The parts are silver colored plastic. The plastic it thick and pretty soft.
I did not like the Monogram decals (bottom), so I purchased a new decal sheet (top). I figured that the bright, colorful decals would look nice against the Bare Metal Foil.
This is a photo of a NMF B-24J. I will use this as a guide.
The Monogram parts have raised panel lines and no rivets. I do not mind the raised panel lines, but the lack of rivets bothers me. So, I will be adding rivets. The B-24 seemed to have thousands and thousands of rivets. I do not know if this was normal for WW II bombers, or if it was unique to the B-24. Maybe the rivets were more obvious because the B-24J was not typically painted. Notice how the metal skin on the actual airplanes was dented and not very flat. Very unlike modern aircraft.
I started with the flight deck. I painted the deck with Tamiya Cockpit Green. The seats were painted Testors' Leather and the seat belts were painted a tan color. The dashboard ??? was painted dark grey. I highlighted the guages using a silver pencil. The floor befing the flight deck was highlighted using a black wash. I felt that there was no need to superdetail the flight deck because it is not very visible once the modef is finished.