I see no reason not to apply it over the foil, other than it will cover up the natural look of BMF I’ve just started using BMF, and I like it quite a bit.
Answering the digital camera question is more difficult! Canon, Nikon, Pentax, heck even Kodak make decent digital cameras these days. Get the largest megapixel camera you can afford and practice. Lighting is very important, just like any camera. National Geographic has a very nice book out on digital photography.
A lot of people put some kind of clear over BMF and the biggest advantage is that it won’t tear of at the edges as easy.
My main argument for a digital camera is that you should be able to use it with manual settings as well as automatic. This will give you better control over the pictures but it takes a bit more practice with the manual mode then just using it in automatic.
Future over BMF is fine - and you can still see differences in texture through it. This Hasegawa 1/48 F-86 (not a car, I know…) is covered with BMF, and then two layers of Future - one to provide a consistent layer of gloss, and one to seal in the decals:
Ralph,
There’s no reason in the world to avoid spraying Future over BMF. I’ve done it many times with great success - usually the BMF leading edges of airliners wings…I’ve never had a problem with it.
As for a camera, there are lots of makes that would do just fine…but I think the main things to look for are:
A macro function - allows close-ups.
Correction for lighting types - such as tungsten lighitng correction. Normal incandescent lighting is a yellow light - and if not corrected for, will give your models a washed out, sickly unrealistic hue that’s completely wrong.
A high pixel rate…minimum 6 Megapixels would be a good starting place.
There are a bunch of cameras around that will fill those requirements…have a look at the following thread of my Fw190-D9… http://www.finescale.com/FSM/CS/forums/675552/ShowPost.aspx
I used a Kodak Easyshare camera…fairly inexpensive, 6.3 Megapixels (I think!), used the tungsten lighing correction, macro function, lit the plane from 3 directions (should have used more lights to get rid of some of the shadows) and used a tripod - that’s really important, too.
Always use a tripod. No matter how steady you think you are, you’ll NEVER he able to hold a camera as still as a tripod can. You’ll get better pics.
For a camera that cost only a couple of hundred dollars, my Kodak works pertty well. You don’t need to go out and spend $1900 on a camera just to take pics you’ll be happy with - if you’re a professional photographer, then you’ll NEED that camera worth $2k…but I sure don’t.
