1/48 Monogram B-24J Bare Metal Foil WIP

I did not need to seal the decals. They stick to the foil without a problem. I did use MicroSet when needed.

And to seal in the decals? What then?

Nice work!  That must use a ton of BMF!!  I guess that's a great way to keep it from getting too old.  I have that B-29, and two B-58's in my stash.  I was planning on using Alclad on them, testing on the Lindberg B-58 first.  Not sure I have the patience, or steady hand for that much BMF.  

Gene Beaird,
Pearland, Texas

B-17 Guy,

Thanks for the kind words. 

I've had problems in the past regarding carrier film being seen on BMF. On the B-29 I cut out each letter individually. That solved the problem. Decals stick really good to BMF. I add a couple of drops of dishwashing detergent into the water that I soak the decals in. The decals slide on the BMF real easy when they are wet.

Damn fine work on the foil and riveting work as usual. 

Im curious about decaling on the foil, I can’t see the clear carrier film on any of the markings on the B-29, how was that done? The markings almost look painted on, im guessing no clear coat, any Problems with adhesion?

Mike,

I only use Matte Aluminum and Improved Chrome Bare Metal Foil. IMHO, Bright Chrome is way to shiny.

The majority of the wing is finished in Matte Aluminum (light colored areas). A limited number of panels are finished in Chrome. It is also possible to make a subtle change in the color of the BMF by changing the direction of the grain. The majority of the grain runs in one direction.  The grain runs in the opposite direction in a few panels. I have found that if the direction of the grain is changed on too many panels the wing starts looking like a checker board (not good). 

I love the look you're able to create using BMF and your adept modeling skills.

I have several packets of Bare-Metal's Ultra Bright Chrome, "New Improved Chrome", and Matte Aluminum. It seems as if there is lots of differentiation among the panels you've covered with the stuff - almost like more than 3 kinds of BMF. I guess that's due to the lighting though. In any case it's very impressive work.

This is a  slow process, especislly because I am working on two planes at the same time. Anyway, one of the main wings is finally finished.

The two different shades of foil add visual interest to the wing. A single shade of foil would have been boring. The rivets took a while to do, but also add visual interest.

The piping of the engines is not 100% correct, but it I think it looks okay.

That is some amazing work.  Absolutely gorgeous.

Your friend, Toshi

For some reason the gunner's floor tub is too wide. That makes it impossible to close the fuselage. I cut off the corner of the floor and now I can glue the fuselage together.

Glued and clamped together.

This is the 5th 1/48 Monogram/Revell bomber that I have built, and fixing that seam at the engine nacelles is a real pain.

First coat of Bondo Glazing and Spot Putty.

Time to do the nose weights.

I temporarly assembled the kit with blue tape. It is a real tail sitter.

I kept adding lead balls into a small plastic baggie until the nose dropped down.

I placed the weight bag in the space under the flight deck. I also added some weights in the bombardier's area. Once the fuselage is assembled, these weights will not be visible. I taled the bombardier weights in place with aluminum foil duct tape, not the fabric duck tape. The adhesive on the aluminum foil tape does not dry out like the adhesive on the fabric tape. Since I added a lot of weight to the nose of the plane, I added reinforcement to the landing gear joint. The reinforcement is the green rod that extends from the landing gear joint into the underside of the flight deck floor.

Now it's time to deal with another issue, the gunner tub.

I built a B-24 D a few years ago and the gunner tub was a real treat. It just never fit right which caused problems when assembling the fuselage. This time I am going to clamp the tub into place as the glue cures. I hope that this works.

Finally I am getting somewhere. The underside of the first main wing is finished, rivets and all. It has taken way longer to get to this point than usual since I am working on two kits at the same time. 

Looks good!  I always, and I mean always forget to add weight to the nose.  I'm usually stuck either prying fuselage halves back apart, or figuring out some other means to make sure it isn't a tail sitter. 

I have been making some good progress:

I am about half way through foiling the underside of the main wing. I also added rivets to the foiled panels. There are a lot of individual panels, so this is a slow go.

The second main wing has been glued together. I'm waiting for the glue to cure.

The interior of the fuselage is painted and the bulkheads and windows have been installed. I need to install the nose weights before I glue the two sides together. I included a note regarding the weights. Last year I built an airplane and forgot to include the nose weights. I don't want that to happen again!

These are pictures of my B-29. The best way to accentuate the round shape of a fuselage is to apply the foil so that the grain runs vertically.

So Johnny, what IS the best way to "run the grain" of the BMF? I have a few packs of chrome and matte aluminum BMF waiting for their owner to develop the courage to give them a try .

My Tamiya 1/48 P-47M would be first on my list. Next would be my Tamiya P-51D, and then my Monogram B-24J.

BTW, you're doing a great job on the Liberator so far. I'm hooked on dropping in to see your progress. A pleasure to watch.

Mopar Madness

That B-29 is gorgeous!

 

That B-29 is gorgeous!

Keyda,

I think it's great that you are going to finish a model in BMF. Following is a photo of my Bare Metal Foil air force. 

I would suggest that you try a smaller model before you attempt the B-17 in BMF. I fear that you will get really frustrated if you attempt a model as large as a B-17. My first BMF build was the P-47 with the yellow tail. It is a small plane and has simple shapes. Nothing too complicated. The F-86 also has simple shapes, just remember to paint the center portion of the main wing prior to putting on the foil. Putting masking tape on foil does not work. The Mustang has some trickey shapes around the belly scoop and the F-104 gets complicated around the jet intakes. I would suggest that you try a F-86 or a P-47 as your first BMF build. I think that you would enjoy those builds.

GAF

JohnnyK,

Nice project!  I took some pictures a couple of years ago just in case I wanted to try a B-24 of the Collins Foundation "Witchcraft".  Not bare-metal, but maybe these will be of interest.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/25728384@N00/sets/72157694471026215

Gary

 

Those are great photos, especially the close up photos. The landing gear photos are really nice.

John

You are seriously making me consider trying my hand at BMF.  I have a 1/48 B-17G that will need to be done with a bare metal finish.  I know paint works, but it just doesn't look the part.  I'm not sure I could pull it off though.  Awesome work!

JohnnyK,

Nice project!  I took some pictures a couple of years ago just in case I wanted to try a B-24 of the Collins Foundation "Witchcraft".  Not bare-metal, but maybe these will be of interest.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/25728384@N00/sets/72157694471026215

Gary

Nice work so far.  I really need to do another foiled bird.  Time consuming but what a look.

Joe

Now that the joint have been sanded smooth, it's time to add the metal foil. 

I painted the deicing boots flat black and the aileron Testors' Metallizer Aluminum. I started the foiling procedd with the nacelles. Thses were a real pain because there are so many individual sections. 

The bad joint at the nacelles is filled and ready to be foiled.

I first filled the joint with Bondo Glazing and Spot Putty. This works great. After I sanded the Bondo I put on a coat of Mr. Hobby's Mr. Dissolved Putty. After a final sanding the joint is gone.

I finished the tail wing:

The vertical wings were a real pain to finish with Bare Metal Foil. The curved edges had to be finished with small wedges of foil. Tedious to say the least.

The vertical wings did not fit very well with the horizontal wing, so out came the big clamp.

The tail wing is finally finished. As usual I used two different colors of Bare Metal Foil. Rivets were added by using a rivet wheel. The movable surfaces of the wing were painted fabric on the real airplane. I simulated this by painting those surfaces with Testors' Metalizer Aluminum which was sealed with Testors' Dull Coat. The deicing boots were painted flat black. The tail wing took 12 hours to complete.

Hi JohnnyK,

Your B-29 is beautiful, very well done.  I have a couple of these kits in my stash.  I'm looking forward to your progress on the B-24. 

Johnny - The others are right, your B-29 looks perfectly well done, very nice job. The engines for the B-24 look great, (all of that fine detail, you're a brave man.)

The engine nacelles for the bigger Monogram bombers do have a very disagreeable join line, a suggestion that works well for me is plastic strip stock, either round or flat. If flat fits the open area well, that's a good fix. Otherwise I use round stock that's a little too big to fit all of it in the space, glue it liberally in place, when dry file or sand it flush. 

My reason is to avoid putty shrinking or cracking over time, plus the plastic stock offers a really durable and strong joint.

I'm settled in to watch this build come together, your B-29 tells me this B-24 will be a dandy. Thanks for the post and photos.

Patrick

Time to start on the rear wing by clamping and gluing.

I also painted the inside of the fuselage Cockpit Green.

I finished adding piping to two engines so it's time to build one of the main winmgs.

The main wing is warped, just like the main wing on the B-29. 

The onlu solution is to use clamps an rubber bands. The real key is that a rigid straight edge is required to keep the wing flat. My retired architects scale is perfect for this. The scale is absolutly straight and will not bend.

After the glue dried the wing is nice and flat and straight.

This is a typical problem with Monogram/Revell bombers. There is a really nasty, ugly joint at the engine nacelles. The only solution is a lot of sanding and a lot of putty.

While the putty cures it is on to the B-58.

While the glue cures on the wings, I painted the bombs.

First I painted the bombs a light tan. AFter that dried I painted the bombs Olive Drab using a rattle can. I held the can about two feet from the bombs and lightly pressed down the nozzel until the paint started to "spit" out of the can. When the paint dried it had a rough finish.