...I believe that Vman is considering his 1/48th 29 in foil, so I am even more interested now in his knowledge and skill in that build.

As I mentioned previously, I would like to try this foil medium and the readily available foil medium tip that Guild A provided may be a cost effective avenue to experiment on a smaller scale unit. I'll have to take notice next trip into the hardware store...what type of adhesion would one recommend? Does this medium already come with an adhesive backing?

...and I went back to review relayed experience on Theuns mirage alclad efforts. So, If I understand correctly,

Choice A...you guys use a gloss over the black base >apply alclad > no protective top coating at all after decaling?

Choice B...black gloss base>alclad> future coat > decal >no top coat?

Choice C...set me straight please (LOL)

Is the "silvering" in the decals I'm reading about a bleed from the Alclad into the decal itself? What does this look like?

Actually both methods are correct, paint and foil, some were painted with silver lacquer some with clear depending  the aircraft and where it  was. Some were even cleaned so much that they ended up having the paint and clad coating on the aluminum rubbed off creating a polished finish, leaving the skin even more prone to corrosion. So all these were considered NMF. I dont know much about British aircraft but most all aluminum sheet used to skin US aircraft was clad aluminum giving them a bit of a gray look. The huge issue was corrosion prevention, clad aluminum is very corrosion resistant unless it is exposed to salt water. Salt water eats clad aluminum like your kid eats fries. Hence the clear or silver lacquer coatings, or the forced highly polished planes. Clad aluminum polishes up really well BTW.

Z Square 8 I use household aluminum foil and Micro Scale Aluminum Foil Adhesive. Dont like the way BMF works and if you get some thats old it has a grainy look to it I think caused by the old adhesive backing.

Anyway the nice thing is if I dont like the way a bit of foil lays down I can run a bit of  alcohol under the foil and lift it off then wipe the adhesive off and lay another piece with no troubles. The trick is in keeping everything clean, if there is even a small piece of dust on the surface it will show up like a sore thumb under the foil. So careful surface prep is important.

With the B-29 as large as it is I think I am going to foil the wings off the plane leaving the area where they join the fuse unfoiled. I will also do most of my weathering and or polishing at this point then seal it with future. The fuse and tail parts will be done in the same manner. Then once I join them I will finish the foiling. I am thinking it will be much easier done this way. The only part bothering me now is how to do the deicing boots on leading edges.

But I would highly recommend as Kermit said earlier to make your first foiling build a simple airframe mostly because you can get a feel for bending the foil around leading edges wing tips and other compound curves. I dont really think its more difficult than painting just differant and more time consuming.

good info Vman...

here is a question that I'm mulling over...considering striping off the black gloss and starting over. Is there a solvent that you would recommend that is not so aggressive to destroy raised panel lines in the process?

Current blk gloss is thick and I believe I have lost some detail that I would like to show better...toss of a coin at this point and maybe I'm trying to be too perfect with the blk gloss base...

Rich: Frankly I go black gloss, Alclad, decals and that's it. You don't need to gloss at all since the NM finish is already smooth. I spray a little dull varnish over the decals and the decals ONLY if they're too shiny. Don't spray the whole plane or the NM will look really dull, which might work for a really weathered plane but I don't like it. I've used Testor's Metallizer Sealer over Alclad but I've gotten to I don't like the look and probably won't be using it anymore.

I'd think if you were looking for something without many complex curves to use foil on the B-29 would be ideal. After all it's pretty much a long tube with slab like wings and tail. The only complex curves would be getting the nose area right.

If you are looking for a method to strip paint of your model... I dont know what "works" here in the USA and what is commonly used but back home in holland we like to use the spray can oven cleaners for it.

Generously coat your subject, tie it in a plastic bag and then let stand overnight. The paint should come off easily using a gentle rub with an old toothbrush

Richard

Eatthis seems I missed your pictures of the Spitfire Mk4 are you calling it finished ?

Z Square 8 first off silvering under a decal is caused by very small air bubbles trapped under it. As you know flat paint has a rough surface where a gloss paint has a smooth surface. The rough surface of the flat paint will trap air under the decal causing a silvery white look to it especially under the clear areas of the decal. A gloss coat wont tend to trap air so silvering is kept to a minium.

As for stripping the paint on your build I would pose a couple of questions. From the pictures of your gloss black, the paint looks like it hasnt orange peeled or anything wierd like that. So why do you wish to strip it ? And What kind of paint did you use for the gloss black coat ?

The reason I ask these questions are if you look at a real B-29 its oil canned big time in some places and single panels can 3 and 4 tonal variations in them. With that said unless your base coat is orange peeled or some such thing like that, the imperfections may very well work in your favor. Another thing to consider is if you get any of the stripping fluid inside the model............... BURRRRR I dont even want to think about that.

it has some orange peel in the gloss and over all it just appears thick...I'll try to get a good detail shot in the AM and post.

yeah the monster spit is finished :)

i might go for nmf with the triboom spit too

ok all, this post has good and bad...the tale of the tape below:

The Good- had a pretty fair base coat on already and decided to paint the rudder, stabilizers and wing sections as a breather before final gloss coat.

Also did the cowlings in Silver Plate-Buffing Metalizer.

and a cowling close up...

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The bad...back to that fair coat of base. I let the silver plate dry for 48 hrs, removed the masking and plastic and tamiya taped it off in preparation for a final gloss coat of black with Testors. Below were the results to my chagrin. It should be noted that my previous posts did not indicate that this issue of "to strip or not" is contained to only the top side of the right wing (approx 3" x 6" of surface area). I could opt for sand and repolish...just considering the best option with your input.

I'll go a bit larger for the next images

the rest of the final coat went pretty well...it was just this section of the top right wing. This is certainly fixable and just a small "bump in the road" (or should I say wing?) 

I'll defer to the quote in kermit's signature...and proceed with the usual bulldog mentality 

"Success is the ability to go from one failure to another with no loss of enthusiasm." - Sir Winston Churchill

I'll have to post a before and after once repairs have been completed. LOL

...or there is always the option to morph this build into a "crash and burn" complete with diorama. I could snap off the tail section, heat  and de-shape. WAIT...not a good option as the diorama would be the size of a pool table! 

I'm leaning toward a sand and polish and then using a thinner to clean out the edge details...

Hi.....this is the time for tiny squares.....2,5 X 2,5 mm .....The hard work is also ended.....only same retouch and a gloss cote.......ciao from Italy!!

Z Square 8 looks like the alclad behaved for ya As far as the base coat on the wing panel goes I am not sure how I would handle that. Maybe try sanding it first and use stripping as a last resort ??  I am assuming thats a lacquer based paint and admit I dont use it much.

Italian Starfighter those checkers are top notch man, but gotta tell ya looking at them and knowing their size is makin my eyes cross.

Eatthis will get the front page updated shortly and have your badge ready. I bet that Mk4 was a hand full to fly huh.

Enrico: Those squares look great! Now I want to do an aircraft with a checkerboard pattern!

Rich: Maybe you could  lay some wet paper towels or rags over most of the model to protect it and spray oven cleaner on the wing that needs to be striped? Not sure how well it would work.

Thanks Gamera,Vman and others for the input. I broke out the sanding screen last night and went to work. I analyzed the impact and decided that I would sand and polish the wing smooth since so much of the impact area was so close to the lines and even on them. I will then address the loss of the panel lines. I have an idea for the repair of them in lieu of sprue stretching (I tested my skill with that and found I could not meet my own expectations), I will test this avenue after I see the true impact to to the panel lines after I re-prime the area this afternoon.

Enrico - That is some might fine detail work with the checks! Marvelous work sir! 

Cool, good luck with her!

thats flawless!!

Still lookin for finished pictures of a finished Jug . Course if there were two of em lookin that good I might be gettin me in trouble

Eatthis The front page is updated with your build annnnnnddd your badge of honor is ready

Sorry Randy, I did take 'Gladys' out yesterday to try to get the photos taken. Nice sunny day but the wind was blowing hard. I had to hold on to the model to keep her from blowing off with every gust. I'm getting a little grouchy here, if I can't get anything this weekend I'll just take the photos inside.

iv just discovered the wonders of chrome alclad!!

Gamera- wind?...nothing that a 5/8" drill bit > lag bolt > and 1/4" guy wire won't hold down...   LOL...just use that bit at different places so you can call them anti-aircraft gun holes. Hang in there brother...you'll get the pic you want!  

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The wing repair is progressing...not finished yet by no means:

Did some decal scaling work with older renditions and tested...

Yeah, maybe I should nail 'er down at that!

Nice work on the decals and looks like you've got the wing fixed.

i have a dim and distant memory of entering this in this gb am i right or not?

iv discovered the wonders of alclad chrome

Glad to see this GB still rolling, some great stuff on here now!!

wheres the spitfire wings Eatthis??

?? iv only ever built 2 spitfires lol

ive knocked this up tonight

shiney

Sweet & clean...looking good!

Getting the 1:24 scale P-51 together, heading for masking and paint.

Capt. John is getting anzzie.

oob build not alot to say really apart from where has alclad chrome been all my life  :D