Official Natural Metal Finish Group Build

SC -- Ahhhhhh, now I understand!

It's not an Academy kit. It's a Hobbycraft kit reboxed in Korea. Every inexplicable fubar you describe is typical of Hobbycraft, their kits seem to be designed by a committee, one that can't agree on any details. I closed the box on their F4U-1D when I encountered this, "square-peg, round-hole syndrome" I called it, and I mean that absolutely literally. Is there any other company out there that would offer a peg on one part and no hole for it to go into on the other? Your work on this animal proves a good model can be built from their bits, but you must be prepared to sweat blood, and only a subject you can't find elsewhere, like this one, really justifies it.

You're a brave man, sir!

Cheers,

Mike

SC - Sweet looking build you got going there.  Dont let the poor design get you down, make that plastic do your bidding!!

Here is an update as of the day before yesterday - Horrible decals removed from the F-86 and a coat of Future applied.  Waiting on the new decals from squadron to arrive.

I'm not entirely satisfied with the way the foiling turned out, there is a ton of orange peel effect to it, from the backing I would think, and there are places where my technique left the finish lacking.  I think that I will go back and cover those tiny places with some aluminium paint or something that is a close match.  The foiling took over ten hours of work, and I used almost a whole sheet from Bare Metal Foils. (about $7)

Here is where the MiG-17 stood then, with foil over the framing of the cockpit glass and the surrounding panels.  I had intended to mask these areas and use MM Metalizers to complete the rest of the painting, however once I saw the huge contrast in tones I masked the actual panes of glass and re-shot the paint to cover the BMF areas.  Pics on that will be coming soon.

Anyway here is what the -17 looked like until yesterday morning -

And here is a "family" picture.  If both of the models dimentions are accurate, the MiG was very tiny compared to the Sabre!!

Thanks for looking!

Both the F-86 and the  Mig are looking good there Matt. Do'nt be to hard on yourself about the foil. Foiling a plan is not easy to do and every tiny imperfection shows through. My Ha-1112 is not perfect either but it still looks pretty cool to me. It was my first attempt so I am allowing myself some room for imperfection. We are always the most critical of our own work. You doing a great job so far. Every time I see your posts I want to run out and grab a F-86 and a Mig 15!

                                                                                                Soulcrusher

Soulcrusher Your HA-1112 looks great, and in my IMHO is well worth the effort you put into it, the finish is flawless, I gotta get me some of that Talon paint to try out.

Blkhwkmatt The F-86 looks great you should see the first foil finish I did, so dont knock your work. The MiG is looking like you are starting out very well. Did you go over the F-86 with 0000 steel wool ? And a huge to what soulcrusher said !

well i got this thing painted black next is the alclad.

Looking good Rob. I guess its time to "shine on"? Anybody anybody? Man tough crowd!

                                                                                      Soulcrusher

Well I finished up the Ha-1112 tonight. A very disapointing kit. Almost every part of the kit needed major work to make it look decent. This was my very first atempt at NMF and I learned alot. The next time I am going to see if there is some way to seal the finish once it is polished to keep its shine better. There are several spots that are discolored. I knew my first one would not be perfect but I didenjoy it. I think I am going to replace the canopy as the kit one is a real piece of crap and totally inaccurate. A great experience overall now I just have to pick a second subject after I finish my Fokker D VII. Here are some pics.

                                                                                    Soulcrusher 

Smokinguns Looking like a good base for that alclad so hurry up I wanna see the shiney stuff on that !

Soulcrusher Your build looks great to me I really like the finish. In fact looking at the pictures the discoloration makes it look like some of the skin is slightly oxidized as on a real plane. I wish my first attempt had looked as good. I would like to know what kind of clear coat would work, would be a disaster to see that finished scratched. Great build Soulcrusher.

Awesome job Soulcrusher.  I love it....

The Buchon looks sweet!!! Great Job!!  Is there a bonus for being the first to finish a build?

Matt

blkhwkmatt wrote:

Is there a bonus for being the first to finish a build?   Matt

Well he gets his build picture on the leading page first

Yeah baby I'm number 1!

                                                                                     Soulcrusher

What about my SU-15 I finished around page 10? did I get done first?

Looks great Soulcrusher, how do you like the Talon Paints? How Do they compair to Alclad 2?

I shot the TU-128 with polished aluminun, boy did it bring out the bad spots, I have to do some more patch work. too ashamed to even post pictures, The Bounder is in the landing gear building phase, then engines next. I have to go out of town on monday so no more work until next thur.

Sorry Sherm. You finished so long ago we all forgot about that one.

I found the Talon paints very easy to use but in my inexperience with NMF I beleive I made alot of mistakes and the finish could have been better. I did learn alot so in the end I am happy with my first attempt. I need to do some more research to see if there is a way to seal the paint after it has been polished to keep from marring the finish like I did. I am going to find somthing else to build and try to do a better job the second time around afetr I finish a couple of other GB's.

                                                                                               Soulcrusher

Aggieman wrote:

Foiling an aircraft .... I feel like I'm banging my head against a wall while trying to run in quicksand.  I've made progress but still can't see the light at the end of the tunnel.   I think the most frustrating thing is that I'm using regular house hold foil rather than BMF, so I have to apply the cement and then sit doing other things while the cement dries to a clear glaze.  Takes about an hour or so.  I've read that BMF comes ready to apply and is actually stronger than regular house hold foil.

It's probably a little late, but I have been doing some experimenting with the adhesive size, rather than waiting an hour for it to dry (to a clear glaze), I found that by applying heat to the back of the foil with a hairdryer will dry the stuff in about 3 minutes. I figure it is better to heat the back of the foil so I am not blowing any dust etc into the adhesive. Just have to be careful not to crease the foil with it getting blown around a bit.

No Sherm I have'nt My experience with airbrushing is it tends to pool on me. I usally brush it on which is fine if you are going to spray a coat of dull over it afterwards but not smooth enough to leave that way in my opinion. I am going to go over to Hawkeye's web sight to see if he has any info there about clearcoating over the Talon paints. I know he has alot of usefull articles on his website. I really want to do another NMF build but I want to find out about sealing the paint first.

                                                                                                  Soulcrusher

Sherman1111 wrote:

What about my SU-15 I finished around page 10? did I get done first?

My apologies, you finished that one so fast that I forgot about it.  Guess that is what I get for not reviewing the entire thread before posting! 

Sherman1111 Did you get the PM I sent you ?

 Sorry for not having any progress pics, my summer building time is limited. So, I spent it building. Now it is done!!! This is ProMods. F-86D Sabre Dog, O-O-B, with Model Masters Metallizer-non-buff steel. I masked and painted a few panels with buffable stainless steel(but did not buff, then oversprayed with the steel. Those panels don't really show in the pics, pretty subtle. I finished it up with some pastel chalk.

 Here she is!!!

I think I will be doing a couple more for this GB. Not sure what will be next?

 comments, critiques, questions welcome!!!

                 FERMIS

Outstanding Fermis......How did you build this soooo bloody fast?  She looks stunning.  You must be building 24-7.

Nice job my friend

Vetteman47

sorry No I was back east the lats 2 days just got back. will look for it

Latest update from me.  The 1/48 B-58 has a lot of surface area to cover.  Household foil is working great.  The bottom is covered but needs a lot of TLC before I call it done.

I wish I could build as fast as Fermis.......

Cheers

Fermis love the Dog Sabre. I can see how it got its name. The big black nose remindes me of a dogs nose on the end of his snout!

Rob looking good. What kind of TLC are you planning? A steel wool treatment to bend the seams?

                                                                                         Soulcrusher 

soulcrusher wrote:

Rob looking good. What kind of TLC are you planning? A steel wool treatment to bend the seams?                                                                                          Soulcrusher

Maybe a little steel wool, a little polishing, pastels, oils, I'm shooting from the hip here....

Here is my latest updates

Here is my bounder , and messy work bench. the main  landing gears are complete. the two openings in the front were for the ejection system and they could lower the pilots seats to get into the aircraft.

just made corrections  on the TU-128 and reprimered, ready for another coat of Aluminun

Might do this Flying wing, not sure yet 9.99 on Ebay, good deal

more later