I’ve started on the first of the Natural Metal Thunderbirds. This is my first time foiling an entire plane. Kinda cutting in mid stream here. I’ve got a couple questions at the end for you guys that have done this before.
Well I finished the Corsair, took a business trip to Cocoa Beach and got a stomach bug. All that to say I finally got time to work on foiling again! Between rain and the bug i got stuck in the house for a few days. No energy required to apply foil. I have the fuselage done now. I just had to pose it with the wings for affect. It seems like it should be quicker but between smaller pieces and the routine rework it took 2 days.
i was able to use 1 piece of the bleached foil i had(the solution was too strong and it ate holes in the foil in 5 minutes lol). No holes show so it seems ok.
I’m working on the canopy now. Once i have this set up the painting can begin.
2?’s now
Knowing that I have to paint would i be best to clear coat the whole model now?
How do decals go onto foil? those usaf decals are huge. I’m wondering if they stick or if i have to put some clear on to use them? From what I’ve read i need to avoid putting tape on this thing so I’m thinking decals are best, rather than the masks i tend to use.
You know I did the F-84G because the straight wing would be easy to foil so I think that would be a good 1st one As well. Once I started thinning the glue with 91%iso and airbrushing the foil this really became easier.
ok, a little experimenting was in order, haha! If we jump to the end, well then I would have to say I’m on the right track but very wary of doing stars and bars and multiple colors that’s for sure. Painting aluminum foil has really slowed this project down!
I took a practice piece and laid down Citadel chaos black primer, Duplicolor acid etching primer(good for aluminum), MCA Primer (matches the paint I use), and just straight olive drab paint(bottom one in pic).
I sanded the aluminum foil with 400 grit paper. I did that based on directions for the acid etching primer. At this stage if 400 grit works I can experiment with the XX and XXX steel wool. Then on the left half of the test piece I burnished the aluminum down real well to see if smoothing out the foil affected the grip sanding offered the paint.
I left the top 2 alone and didn’t spray any color coat over them.
I sprayed my gloss black over the acid etching primer, the gray primer, and the chaos black primer (2nd from bottom).
As it turned out burnishing didn’t matter so at least I know I can do this before I spray the adhesive on (which is normal so I don’t have to change the process). I just need to figure out how to make sure the paint is going to stick?
Another side note, I’m using the dull side of the foil in all these trials.
A bit depressing for sure. Only the straight Citadel primer stuck. Scratching my head on this one. At the very least I can put the lettering and the USAF on the model. So here is how that turned out -
I ve had some big nights painting over the last few days. My wife has been working 2nd shift so once dinner for the kids is done it’s off to my model space! Considering my issues along the way it appears the hybrid of foil and paint i did has some benefits. And I don’t just say that to rationalize away my problems the paint layer turned out dead even with the foil thickness. Nearly impossible to tell they are different when running your finger across the surface. Now I did get brave and test out my paint on foil against tamiya tape…and the paint stayed on! I have to redo the bottom of one wing because the foil got messed up after so many painting attempts. When i do that I’ll try the XX and XXX steel wool and see if that fixes my problem. Here’s how it looks so far -
One of my larger tape sculptures
Stars and scallops done by scaling up Tamiya’s 1/48 decals and cutting on my Cameo3
WOW That’s a beautiful paint/NMF job. Let me get this straight, You taped OVER the foil to mask for the scallops ? I didn’t think that could be done…amazing
JayJay I’m using a combo of Tamiya yellow tape and Maketar paint mask to go against any edge and i burnish that down to make the seal. Then i use a 2” wide home depot yellow painters tape to prevent overspray from the rest of the model. This larger tape i try to stick just to the smaller tamiya tape or the mask to minimize how much i have to pull off the foil. You can see this in the picture where im painting the nose. For really big areas i pretty much do what we all do, tape heavy paper to the edge so you dont risk any overspray.
Here’s some details for anyone who might be thinking of trying it. Hopefully this saves some headaches. I only burnish the very edge with a toothpick plus i use the point to seal the panel lines. I’ve learned to pull the tape off in a specific direction. Always start from either the middle of a panel or from the widest part of the foil the tape is covering. The tape will pull the foil up if its covering a narrow piece of foil or foil that is completely covered by tape. I also pull the tape at 180 degrees to minimize pulling up on the foil and lifting it off the plane.
Edit- ooh,maybe one other factor that helps. I thin the foil glue 50/50 with 91% iso then airbrush it onto the foil. Turn upside down and tent it, let dry for w0 minutes and start foiling. I think when I changed from brush to airbrush the foil sticks much better.
The beauty of foil I’m discovering is how easy it is to fix things up. I repaired the wing areas and some spots along the fuselage today. Glued her together and thought I was done for the weekend since we’re traveling for a wedding…
…but I’m still waiting for my wife to get ready to leave so I figured there was enough time for one more small job…foil the canopy
Definitely done now as I don’t want to get called out for delaying us, thus transitioning the discussion with the in-laws to how I made us late brouhaha
She is as DONE as I can get her right now! Once I figure out how to print decals I will add the Thunderbird and Country logos for the final touch.
Built completely out of the box. Foiled using Microscale foil glue and kitchen foil of varying weights. The foil around the exhaust was treated with bleach, pennies, and fishing weights to develop the heat affected zone. All graphics are painted on using Maketar Kabuki paper and my Silhouette Cameo3. This plane represents the 1954 show season (albeit without the country and Thunderbird logos because I haven’t mastered making my own decals yet if you know what I mean )The only decals are in the cockpit and the no-step lettering on the wings. Paints are MCW(Model Car World) acrylic lacquer for the plane and Vallejo acrylics in the cockpit.
Kudos go to Out2gtcha and MikeA over on LargeScale Planes forum for all their help in learning to foil. Thanks Guys!
Now this one is somewhat controversial…I didn’t have an era appropriate pilot. He should have goggles on so I will have to make one up some day to add here.
I hope you all have enjoyed this build. I sure have! learned alot and will be using these skills on the next 3 Thunderbirds I have to do in completing the family.
and got a stomach bug. All that to say I finally got time to work on foiling again! Between rain and the bug i got stuck in the house for a few days. No energy required to apply foil. I have the fuselage done now. I just had to pose it with the wings for affect. It seems like it should be quicker but between smaller pieces and the routine rework it took 2 days.
the paint layer turned out dead even with the foil thickness. Nearly impossible to tell they are different when running your finger across the surface. Now I did get brave and test out my paint on foil against tamiya tape…and the paint stayed on! I have to redo the bottom of one wing because the foil got messed up after so many painting attempts. When i do that I’ll try the XX and XXX steel wool and see if that fixes my problem. Here’s how it looks so far -
)The only decals are in the cockpit and the no-step lettering on the wings. Paints are MCW(Model Car World) acrylic lacquer for the plane and Vallejo acrylics in the cockpit.
