Official Natural Metal Finish Group Build

Sherman1111 Did you get the PM I sent you ?

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! 

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

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.

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

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.

Yeah baby I'm number 1!

                                                                                     Soulcrusher

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

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

Matt

Awesome job Soulcrusher.  I love it....

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.

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 

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

                                                                                      Soulcrusher

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

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 !

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

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!

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

A couple of work in progress pics. This kit is proving to be a real PIA. Not one piece fits on the airframe without major sanding. The gun tubes do not fit on the wing leading edges the wing fences do'nt fit the contour of the wing properly the wheels fit so sloppy on the legs I will probally have to superglue them to keep them from sagging. The hole in the propeller backing plate is way smaller than the spinning peg provided in the kit and the prop doesn't fit on it either. All these things are making this model take forever to finish. Very poorly done kit. No wonder you do'nt see to many build.

                                                                                 Soulcrusher 

Fermis Glad to see you are back and building ! Hope you have picx of the Saber soon.

Blkhwkmatt Whew !!! Glad to see a happy ending with you little set back. I was to be honest worried that the lacquer thinner would do bad things to the foil adhesive, so I tried it here and worked out fine didnt hurt anything.

Sherman1111 Lookin good there Matt. Glad you were able to save your slight miss hap, I would have been cussin for a week over that I tell ya. That thing is a monster and will look awesome in NMF.

So all is well in the NMF group build again

Havent had a chance to do any work on the 38 today, I hope to add lead to the nose and do some filling tonight.

Made a little progress today, finished primer on the TU-128 and started the M-50A Bounder.

Neat kit, Fiberglass, resin and plastic, and not a bad fit for an Amodel kit

Big sucker, wont fit in my cabnet. going to shoot the TU-128 with Alclad next, think I will use polished aluminum.

Glad it worked out Matt so you did not have to ruin the foil. Looking foward to seeing the Mig.

                                                                                       Soulcrusher

soulcrusher wrote:

[ Matt yes Academy decals suck and are extremly thick and I have not found any setting solution yet that will soften them. I have read somewhere that someone does make a decal removal solution that might pull them up without damaging the foil. Good luck.                                                                                               Soulcrusher

Success!!!  I found that the decals could mostly be peeled off of the foil with little to no effort.  The few that managed to stick were promptly removed with Tamiya Lacquer thinner!  So now I am back to where I should have been a few days ago and will apply a good solid coating of future and let that cure while I wait for the decals that I ordered to arrive.  In the mean time I intend to use MM Metalizer paints and get a good foundation on the MiG-17.  I have foiled the Canopy(way easier than trying to paint it) and a few panels for some contrast.  We shall see how it turns out.

Thanks for all the hints and suggestions concerning the decal problems. If I wasnt trying to rush myself I would have never learned!

Matt

 BLKHKMAT, try a bit of masking tape, it'll lift that decal right up. It even works if you've clear coated over the decal, I found that out the hard way! I don't believe it'll cause any problems with your foil.

 I'm back to the F-86d, completely O-O-B, except for a bulkhead in front of the pit to hide the weights. She'll be ready for paint and some pics tomorrow!!!

                         FERMIS

Hi Guys

I may have a solution to your decal problem

(I have never tried this method over foil, but it should work)

wet the decal down with a mild solution of water and detergent, cover it with cling film, and let it sit overnight.
the cling film will keep the moisture in the decal and (hopefully) soften the glue.

the decal should just peel/ rinse off.

Good Luck

blkhwkmatt wrote:

Lancair IV - Looking good so far!!  Everyone's builds are looking to be moving along well. I have completed the foiling on my sabre, and was completely sure that I read that you could decal right over the foil without the need for a gloss coat, so that is what I did.  Either Academy's decals are the thickest that I have ever seen or something else is wrong.  On one of the wing decals it simply will not comform to the leading edge, I have tried everything, future, solvaset good ol' pressure and still i have a good 1/4 inch that will not sit down.  All in all none of the decals that I have applied have reacted at all to the solvaset, which normally has the tendency to destroy decals if used too much, and I have used 4 or more applications on each decal.  So my next question is this, how does one remove decals without destroying the model.  I thought of sanding them off (would work well with paint) but am not sure what that would do to the foil.  I have already ordered new decals from Greatmodels and am searching fo some help in getting rid of the old decals. Matt

Matt yes Academy decals suck and are extremly thick and I have not found any setting solution yet that will soften them. I have read somewhere that someone does make a decal removal solution that might pull them up without damaging the foil. Good luck.

                                                                                              Soulcrusher

AHH disaster today, painting primer on my TU-128 and I dropped it on the garage floor. broke the front landing gear and nose cone off. nice setback... but a  little CA and back to work.

Builds looking Great!

Lancair IV Lookin good man ! That plane.......... err jet is gonna look awesome when finished.

Soulcrusher Come on man now you are just teasing us sheesh. Wanna see those finished Pictures

Blkhwkmatt Sorry to hear that Matt. I always clear coat with future right after I burnish the foil with steel wool because any finger prints will turn black on bear aluminum, also decals wont stick to the foil very well. Only thing I can think of if the solvent wont work is maybe lacquer thinner but I dont have any idea what that would do to the foil. Sanding would work and if you damage the foil you could just lay another piece over the damaged spot. Thats all I can think of hopefully someone here will have a better idea.

Got a bit more work done on my build today, the booms are glued on, now I have to add the weights so it wont sit on its tail and do the filling and sanding around the wing roots. Actually I wont have to do as much filling as I thought I would. thats a good thing

Lancair IV - Looking good so far!!  Everyone's builds are looking to be moving along well.

I have completed the foiling on my sabre, and was completely sure that I read that you could decal right over the foil without the need for a gloss coat, so that is what I did.  Either Academy's decals are the thickest that I have ever seen or something else is wrong.  On one of the wing decals it simply will not comform to the leading edge, I have tried everything, future, solvaset good ol' pressure and still i have a good 1/4 inch that will not sit down.  All in all none of the decals that I have applied have reacted at all to the solvaset, which normally has the tendency to destroy decals if used too much, and I have used 4 or more applications on each decal.

 So my next question is this, how does one remove decals without destroying the model.  I thought of sanding them off (would work well with paint) but am not sure what that would do to the foil.  I have already ordered new decals from Greatmodels and am searching fo some help in getting rid of the old decals.

Matt