Bill;
I have Bare metal Foiled many a plane . I do the control surfaces , if indicated in Model Master Aluminum , thickened to reflect a hand painted surface . I apply the foil to a clean polished surface and then the decals . Cutting the carrier film as close to the decal as is possible .
I use many different sheets of many different colors of the stuff as I can . There is a Automobile striping tape I found that can be gotten in Flat or Semi - Gloss . this is what I use for De-Icer boots .
I do spray with Clear coat .The reason ? I always want them to look first day new !
Don, you bet. I’m going to start soon.
Because I am closing up the cabin windows, and closing the cargo doors, I have a complete C-54 interior if someone wants it. I’ll be happy to give it to you.
The cargo doors have a nice AT&SF logo across them that I want to display.
Tanks, there’s also a very nice Matson Lines aircraft decal set for the DC-4. They had two aircraft, The Sky Matsonia and the Sky Royal Hawaiian, that flew Honolulu/ West Coast around the same brief postwar period as Santa Fe Skyways.
https://americanshipper.com/main/news/airline-or-steamship-company-61519.aspx
Ahh, if only life provided the shelf space for multiple 1/72 Douglas aircraft… Like a Flying Tigers stretch DC-8.
Here’s a 1/144 -6B.
I’ve got photos of a -6B 1/72 Heller model in the next color scheme of light blue with the white tail. I’ll try to find them.
Hey !“G”;
Thank you for that hint . I have about six of these .I got them in a group of boxes full of models I bought at a yard sale . Only one ship though , Twenty five car kits . All the planes at the bottom .
No decals . All parts there . One plane all puttied up and looking terrible . Cleaned up okay though .
Hey , I wonder is they got the idea of the Movie with John Wayne from that ? You know the one where the Pilot is disrespected because of drinking problems and a crash is blamed on him ? You know "the High and the Mighty ". Then he brings this wreck in without loss except of an engine across the ocean , then walks away into the dark whistling that famous theme ?
Flying in those always gave me a thrill . Not as much as my first ride in a 707 though . Or that first time in a 727 ! MMMMM , single malt before and after !
I got a real thrill flying in the first big fan airliners. Wow, the climb angle of those things! Next big thrill was a ride in NASA’s hot rod DC-8, the one where they re-engined it with really big fans from a more recent plane (I think they were from a 757). While we were preparing to go aboard, a U-2 took off. I’ll bet that DC-8 has a comparible climb angle.
'Course, the most impressive climb angle I ever saw (though I was never able to hitch a ride) were the F-15s leaving STL, where they were made. 87 degree climb angle till they punched through the top of the TCA (to expedite getting them out of the area of heavy traffic quickly). I always assumed the 3 remaining degrees were to help keep the NAV system from scrambling the heading.
I knew there was a logical reason to the jocks standing fighter jets on their tails…
I really wish there was a better model of the Sud Caravelle. United bought 48 of them when the Electra crisis occurred. That was the first mid range commercial jet.
My father went over to Toulouse a number of times. I have a couple of kodachrome slides he took of the assembly line.
I have the Mach 2 model in the stash, and some AM decals, but frankly I’m afraid to even open the box.
Hi " G " ;
Yeah , I always wondered why more companies didn’t do the Caravelle . It was a great looking plane ! I still have a solid wood model of one from Comet I think. Decals are toast and the caseine glue has hardened up in it’s little envelope . I can’t even read the name on the box anymore .
Instructions , Can you say unreadable ? That’s okay though , Let’s see one wing thing here , Other wing thing there , OOPS ! Got the big wing things pointing the wrong way , darn it ! LOL.
I do coat many of my foiled models for the reason I stated . Now there are exceptions to everything and I have about half of mine un-coated and they have aged nicely and the decals have not darkened . Why ? Well , just a very Thin wash of Clear coat only on them , can’t see it either !
Plus cutting super close to the edges . T.B.
I know this is an old post but I just found something I thought I would share in this post. I just started using BMF and was thinking the same thing about a clear coat. However, I have used many silver/metal paints in the past and like everyone said, once you clear coat them it messes up the shine. I figured you would have simlar results with BMF. I tested most of the clear coats I use for modeling and got the expected foggy results.
Then I went a tried a clear coat that I usually use on wood projects. I used Varathane Ultimeate Polyurethane Oil Based Interior spray. To my huge surprise, the test BMF came out looking exactly as it did before I sprayed it! After a few more tests I went and applied this to a 1/32 F-86F that I had just done in BMF. I sprayed the left wing with this stuff and left the right wing bare with just BMF. When it was dry, again, I could not see a difference from the left and right wing. I was able to apply thick coats that completely seeled down the BMF and cured the edges that kept coming up when you handled the plane.
For me, it looks like this will be my go to for seeling BMF.
Promise Not to laugh? Back when I was more on the car scene I acquired 60 Bottles of Model Master Clear Glosscoat. Now surprisingly, this stuff was thinner than the regular clear AND it was clearer, both in the bottle and also on the model . I discovered, quite by accident, that there were actually three cleartone paints. The more common one was the color of weak tea in the jar. When you used this or the 'Middle Tone" your items acquired over time an “Oldish” look to them. This was fine in the construction of thre Wright Flyer frameworks, but too glossy for the fabric of the plane. On that I used M.M.clear flat from the 'Rattlecan" . Tamiya clear,. both gloss and clearcote work well. But, since I do more in Paper and Card stuff whlie being almost a shut - in. I have been using the typical Craft brand spray Clear Gloss you can get in Hobby Lobby. Now, Hobby Lobby carries I believe Art Tint colors. I use their clear Glosscoat with no problem as well. The only reason to not paint B.M.F . is the ability to shine it up after as well. With clear coat that’s an option you do away with!