Official Natural Metal Finish Group Build

Thanks B17pilot -- that's a good idea! I've done a section on the windscreen with thinned filler and it's not as friendly as I would have hoped, it'll take another session to smooth it off properly. I'll use whiteglue on the gap under the canopy itself and hopefully have this puppy a bit closer the metallic phase!

Cheers, Mike/Tb379

Sorry, I should have been more specific- it is a 1/48 Tamiya P-51 D, to be built OOB.

Rob

Randy,

Thank you so much for your renewed welcoming. Will start on that P47 as soon as i can get my internet running again like it should. Been busy with a transfer to a new ISP service and have been having some difficulties getting online the past few days.

Good to hear you are back my friend. May the schwartz be with you

Richard

Thunderbolt379

But I must do something with that gap! I'm thinking maybe thinned putty, so I can keep it away from everywhere it's not supposed to be, then sand it back REAL carefully.

I use Elmer's white glue to fill gaps between the canopy and fuselodge.  It dries clear and you just have to have a damp paper towel to remove any extra on places you don't want it on.  Best of all, it will not fog the clear canopy!  For big gaps it might take two coats to close the gap.  Its not a strong bond, but we're only talking about the canopy anyway.

maxfax

Hey!

I hope I'm not too late to join?! I'd like to add a Tamiya 1/48 P-51 which I am going to finish in Alcald polished aluminum- just got it for Crhistmas. I should be starting it in a week or two, as soon as I clear up my desk from the M-26, and I'll post my progress soon.

Rob

Maxfax nope not too late at all to jump in here to the shiney side. Your build is in and thanks for joining us. Your build is a P-51D ?

Thunderbolt379 Those kind of canopy gaps drive me crazy and seem to be a serious downfall in my builds. I have tried thinned putty, Mr Surfacer, and extra thin CA glue, havent had much luck with any of them so will be watching how you do yours. BTW your Thunderjet is looking good other than that pesky gap. Wish my masking looked that neat.

SupressionFire I am liking your big 51 The IP looks really good and I really like the detail in the engine, cant wait to see more.

Well guys the move is over and the computer seems to be working again so its on to getting a bench all ready to go and back to the 104. It sooo close to being finished I have been having withdrawls LOL. Will be a few more days till I can work on it some more, but I will have a much nicer bench and work area. Cant wait !!

Hey!

I hope I'm not too late to join?! I'd like to add a Tamiya 1/48 P-51 which I am going to finish in Alcald polished aluminum- just got it for Crhistmas. I should be starting it in a week or two, as soon as I clear up my desk from the M-26, and I'll post my progress soon.

Rob

Kermit would I mind he seyz., hummmm, would I mind another kermified P-47D ??? But then again after this move I have no mind left to mind anything With that being said Richard, welcome back to the bright side and may the plastic be with you young skywatcher.

Been lurking in the shadows lately but have followed all the great work done for the group since my last build. Very impressive and carry on gents!

Randy, once you asre up and running again after the moving, would you mind if i jumped in again with a little 1:72 build? Being busy on all the big scale ships for the subgroup i wouldnt mind doing a shiny bird inbetween. I have the Revell of Germany P47D in my mind, the same one i did a few months ago but now with a customized scheme.

Richard

Lil bit of progress today, I masked the white ares of the canopy with tape. But for some liquid masking here and there and maybe a bit of corrective tape, it's ready for the metallics. But I must do something with that gap! I'm thinking maybe thinned putty, so I can keep it away from everywhere it's not supposed to be, then sand it back REAL carefully.

The canopy fit a lot better on the boxtop photos... Maybe it was me, but I sure couldn't get it to sit down properly.

Cheers, Mike/TB379

SF -- some nice looking assemblies there, this should be a very attractive finished product.

A progress note, I managed to finish cleaning away the overspray on the F-84. I finished off with a q-tip dipped in acrylic thinner, and succeeded in cleaning up to the very edge of the canopy. Now I can mask the white frame and decide how to handle to gap at the base.

Cheers, Mike/TB379

WIP's!  'Ferocious Frankie' in flight shown. I know its not accurate but the white on the dash looks cool. Natural wood finish floor boards as well, wait... It is wood! Added alunimum tubes for .50 cal. openings and plan on having the axcess panels removed. Need to get a new camera so next WIP's should be better quality. Panel lines are scribed deep to trim the alunimum foil after its in place. Did the same on a 1/48 scale Oscar and it turned out ok, Trumpiter kit has exagerated rivet detail which will help maintain detail through the foil.

SupressionFire welcome to the shiny group Glad you are motivaited to build again and I am looking forward to seeing your large build. Your build is listed on the front page.

Cool, thanks vetteman42! Like mencioned above ill get some WIP's up soon. Now that the badge thingy is on my comments it will be destony to finish before the deadline and share some of my kung-foo along the way

B17Pilot Thanks for the info I will have to remember the masking thing as I have been thinking of trying paint for a future NMF build.

SupressionFire welcome to the shiny group Glad you are motivaited to build again and I am looking forward to seeing your large build. Your build is listed on the front page.

Thunderbolt379 Glad to see you back in our lil corner of the modeling world. Sorry to read about your mishap with the canopy, you wouldnt think a Tamiya kit would have fit issues like the one you are having. I also have nothing but trouble painting white or yellow with my airbrush, those colors seem to do some strange things for some reason. I am sure you will force that paint and plastic into submission and have a fine build to show us, looking forward to seeing your Thunderjet.

To let you all know I wont have internet access between Sunday and Tuesday, so be good kids and dont run amuck on me

vetteman42

B17Pilot Thanks for sharing the P-51 pictures also you do very nice work, wish they had been in the group. I always welcome shared pictures of NMF builds. Did you use alclad paint on those also ?

I use MM Alunimum Non-buffing on all my NMFs.  I've had no problems with it, except for that it has to go on last (doesn't like tape), so on the ones with a painted tail/nose, like the B-17, the red and OD Panels had to painted first and masked.

Excellent work everyone! Sign me up please. 

Started a Trumpiter P-51 D mustang in 1/32 scale last fall. A recent relocation has me without a hobby space to build, guess its time to suck it up and 'git r done' Undetered ill get some WIP's soon, besides one can only lurk online so long here before the urge to build strikes!

My origional plan fits into this group build well. Out of the two options I chose 'Ferocious Frankie' with mostly alunimum foil covering the plane. The box art isn't very accurate and seeing a complete one here in 1/48 scale helps. Now if only I can skip to page 25 instead of clicking two pages at a time...

Hi guys,

While I've not posted progress here for a long time, I've followed everyone's builds with the greatest interest, there's some wonderful work being done here.

I'd like to say that I've actually done some work on my Tamiya 1:72 F-84. What blocked me ages age was the canopy. I applied the Eduard mask set and sprayed both the interior gray and the white which outlines the struts, and there was a bit of a mishap at that point. It must have been the heat and dryness of the air because the acrylic gloss white dried way too fast and went on as a rough overspray all over the model. sanding it away has not been quite a sstraightforward as I had hoped as the paint settled into all that gorgeous recessed detail and needs to be cleared out carefully.

I've finally got back to this job after completing three other build recently, and am hoping to get the Thunderjet done as part of my January batch. When I'm satisfied with the cleaning of the hull I'll need to do something about tthe canopy fit also: I was forced to attach it with CA, as Clear Parts Cement was never going to hold it in place, and, uncharacteristically for Tamiya (though comparable to the clear parts of their Me 262s) the canopy fit is awful, with a major gap along the starboard side. I'm thinking of maybe filling this with clear cement before getting on with the paintjob.

Cheers, Mike/TB379

B17Pilot Thanks for sharing the P-51 pictures also you do very nice work, wish they had been in the group. I always welcome shared pictures of NMF builds. Did you use alclad paint on those also ?

Satch ip Sorry to hear about your friends passing. A while back someone had told me I should hunt up his article, but being a relitive newbee here only 2 1/2 years with FSM collected I couldnt find any of them. I would like to read that one you mention. Too bad FSM doesnt offer articales that are out of print in a downloadable format for a nominal fee, a buck or so would be great. There was another I was looking for about how model kits are made, couldnt find that one either. Would be a great tool for us beginners ya know.

Well guys I am in the middle of a move and having DT's from the lack of handeling plastic pieces parts, especially with the F-104 so very close to being finished. Just have to finish foiling the nose then its on to the really fun part  I should be able to get back to it by the end of next week I hope.

Hi Satch,

I'm so sorry to hear Les Sundt has passed on, I remember enjoying his builds many years ago in the pages of FSM as well. I almost certainly have that very issue less than three feet from me right now. NMF is an art and it takes a long time to learn how to do it just right.

Cheers, Mike/TB379

Hey NMF guys, I've lurked on this thread for a while now and marvel at the talent exhibited.  It got me to thinking of a friend, now sadly passed, that built the most beautiful natural metal aircraft I've ever seen.  He made plastic look like polished aluminum because that is what it was.  He used SnJ metal powders and polished them to a high gloss.

I dug through my FSM and found the issue with his article, one of many, on how he did his finishes.  It is the March 1996 issue.  I don't know if it is available from the company.  His name was Les Sundt from St Louis, MO.  RIP 

Satch

Well I'm kinda stuck at the moment till the weather gets back above 50 to paint the remaining parts for the B-17 NMF, so I finally got the mustang pictures I've mentioned earlier, downloaded from my camera

Here's the P-51C (AM)

The P-51D (Tamiya)

And the F-6D converted from a Hasegawa D

Dragonfly -- that finish is truly remarkable! I envy your airbrush control!

Mike/TB379

Thanks Vetteman!  Yes...it is the Tamiya kit. I used Alclad airframe aluminum over MM gloss black. Wanna do a Starfighter some day with the same treatment. Here's another Mustang I did.

Jerry

Dragonfly do I, errr we mind ???? I should say not, thats a really sweet build, thank you for sharing the pictures with us. Only complaint I have is you just cant leave us hangin ya know ? What kit is that, looks like a Tamiya. What did you use to achieve that finish ? Come on man we need the skinny on this one.

I just spent the last hour reading the entire GB from the start. There are some truly outstanding finishes there!! Nice work guys!! I've built several natural metal models in the past and have tried just about all the techniques; foil, Alclad,  metalizers and it was great fun. I guess foil took the longest. Anyway, not to be a buttinsky, I hope you guys don't mind me posting a pic of one of them. I saw this Mustang at the Fantasy of Flight Museum in Fla. and just had try to see just how shiney I could go with Alclad. This finish was not meant to be a WWII subject but a museum piece.

Sorry...I couldn't resist...hope you don't mind.

Jerry

Fermis Thank you I just hope it comes out the way I have it pictured in my head. Kinda silly doing all this work on a Testers kit though LOL. Thanks for the moving tip, I will only be moving a couple of miles down the road though. So was thinking of that foam that looks like an upside down egg carton, dont know whats its called, in the back seat with the models upside down on them. I will even have a garage so I can set up a proper work shop and retire my TV tray

 Can't wait to see the rest of it done, Randy. I really like the effect.

Here's a tip for the move!!!

http://www.swannysmodels.com/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1262664231/0#2   

B17Pilot Thanks I hope my little stainless trick works out. You should try the foil out, to me it is worth the extra time and effort it takes.

The F-104 is almost covered in foil, just need to do the wing tanks and the nose yet. I hope to have some more pictures in a day or 2. Then building will be going on hold for a few weeks as I will be moving, hope none of my precious models get harmed.

Looks great!

Makes me want to try the alunimum foil method.