Academy. 1/32 F-100D "On Commission".

Treehugger
Using metal foil on your project! Interesting 🙂

Bart Goesaert
Sure to get some sore fingers from this, but nice work so far...

Treehugger
Don't forget to fully remove the sanded plastic dust from the rivet holes and the panel lines.

Kerry COX
Hugger. I will be dropping all parts into a ultra sonic cleaner bath to remove all foreign partials, and then The foil will be applied. BTW. The foil that was on the wings in the images have been stripped and polished again. 🙂

Alexander Grivonev
This looks VERY interesting, following!

Katya Hodgson
How does the whole foil thing actually work? I'm used to aluminium/tin foil being this crinkly stuff used for baking and things, how does it go from that to this perfect shiny smooth surface on an aircraft?

Kerry COX
Thanks one and all for your interest. 🙂
Katya. The aluminium/tin foil is exactly what it is, but it comes to you, with all wrinkles removed, all ready glued on one side ready for you to cut to size the pieces you will need to obtain the metal surface of your desires. 😉
This will be my fourth aircraft done with the BMF, one of which I have posted here, being the P-51D Mustang.
scalemates.com/profi..bums&album=23548

Katya Hodgson
It sounds very tricky...

Kerry COX
Katya, click the link to the Yamiya P-51D I posted and see just how 'tricky' it is. 🙂 👍

Katya Hodgson
Eep.

Augie
Ooo watching!

Kerry COX
Augie. 🙂 🙂 🙂 ! G'Day buddy. 😉

Augie
G'day sport😉

Holger Kranich
Hi Kezza, I´m gonna watch this for sure! Love this foiled surfaces!

Kerry COX
Holger. G'day mate. 🙂
I am having no problems with the foil now I have polished all surfaces except the underside. As that will be buffed alloy underneath.
I will be polishing all the foil with Tamiya ;finish' compound to remove most of the fine scratches from the burnishing tool. It should come up well. 😉

Patrick Hagelstein
Shiny!!!

Patrick Hagelstein
I'm curious though, as I only see loose parts now. How are you going to attach everything together? Do you leave patches unfoiled to glue together and foil those areas later on?

Kerry COX
All will be revealed as the work progresses. 👍
I am covering what I can first, leaving bits for after gluing. 👍

Thomas Mayer
Superb polishing and foil job, Kezza! You see me here with the mouth wide open! 🙂
Some time ago I won a decal sheet for a F-100, but so far don´t have the kit. If I only knew where it is...

Kerry COX
Mr Mayer. ! 😉
What a pleasure you dropped in mate. 😉
What scale is your sheet of decals. ?
The rest of the foil will be done once I have built the cockpit from Aires and sealed up the join marks.
The marked difference I am encountering is the style of adhesive used on the foil. Smooth as a baby's bum and no orange peel effect like the type that spoiled so much of my earlier P-51 Mustang. !
I am tempted to buy a new 1/32 Tamiya P-51 and do an other BMF skin on it, as it would look so much better than the way it looks at the moment.
This "New and improved" Ultra chrome BMF is just so good and easy to use. 🙂

Peter Hardy
Looks fantastic Kez! I knew you had it inya!

Kerry COX
Peter. Cheers and thanks for your belief in me. 🙂
I am just a bit pissed that this 'New and improved' BMF was not on the market earlier. (grimace).
This batch is just so much easier to use and delivers great results. 👍
Stay tuned. ! 😉

Thomas Bischoff
Fantastic work - good to learn about the new BMF quality 👍

Kerry COX
Tom and Lode. I will be doing regular updates as to the quality of this new BMF. I was really pleasantly surprised when I did my first application, as I was expecting some of the old difficulties from that last two efforts. But this lot is thinner and more 'accommodating'.
Meaning it will give you a lot of 'give' when doing complex curves and bends without taring. 🙂
But I do stress. Gentle application of pressure when laying it into place, otherwise, there will be taring and wrinkles appear. I will actually take some images of what the 'tool' looks like and how I use it, just to clarify what I am babbling on about. 👍

It will be the big test when I do the 'detail wash'.
I have developed a process of using graphite powder mixed with dish washing detergent, then thinned out with water.
Painting it on with a broad soft brush, (Augie will be pleased with that comment. 😉 ) and left to dry.
The detergent breaks down any surface 'resistance' letting the graphite partials flow into all the detail recesses and stay there.
Then, after it is all left to dry, I wipe away any excess from the surfaces with a soft and damp cloth, (a cotton glove is ideal) and what is left is all the rivets, panel recesses and all surface detail without having tons of gunk left behind.
It comes out looking like 'shadow' rater than dirt and grime. 😉

Patrick Hagelstein
So, this new batch of BMF, does it have a stronger or milder adhesive? I tried my luck of using BMF as a mask over a primed surface but spent more time getting rid of the glue residue with the risk of burnishing through my primer. I consider the experiment a failure but my steep learning curve a succes though! 😄

Konrad -
Yep Patrick naild it 😉!

Konrad -
Sorry wrong post!

Augie
LOL see brushes do have uses as well as paint😉

Treehugger
Q: How do you plan for any overlapping of the foil, or, does any overlap not show that well? I guess the foil might be so thin, that any overlap edge isn't noticeable.

Kerry COX
Hugger. Any 'overlap' is dealt with by removing that excess, having cut each piece I need to be just a tad oversize, but not that much that it creates a problem.

Kerry COX
Patric, I never use BMF over paint, as the adhesive, which there is very little of with this batch wouldn't hold. But this lot is very effective in it's holding power and has helped eliminate that old habit of the sprayed on adhesive they used before, from lifting, and the old type also left behind a terrible but faint 'orange peel' effect. Something you will see on my Tamiya 1/32 P-51D build I posted here some time back. Image 48 to be exact. 🙁
scalemates.com/profi..bums&album=23548

Kerry COX
Augie. I am still a big fan of the brush work. 🙂 As there are some things that an AB just can't do. 👍

Treehugger
Reason why I mentioned the overlap, is that, I can only imagine that metal plates on planes do overlap in places, so I imagined that could be something to try replicate, but I honestly don't know if that is difficult or not.

Kerry COX
On the 'new breed' of fighters that were all part of the 'Century series', the overlapping of pannels stopped.
Clean skins with all friction resistance was eliminated as a way of improving the maintainance and servicability, creating a more efficient air frame.
No overlap.

Patrick Hagelstein
I see what you mean Kerry. It sure has that orange peel effect. I learned the hard way that BMF is not my go to for masking over painted areas. 🙁

Kerry COX
Patrick. For the first time in a long time I am really enjoying this aspect of my modelling, happy to think that the person I am building this for will be just as excited as I am about the results. 🙂 👍

Kerry COX
I am in the processes of uploading a small video I did demonstrating how I apply BMF. I will post the link here. I hope you enjoy the vid. Kezza. 👍 😉

Kerry COX
Here is the link. 😉 Youtube Video

Bryn Crandell
Looking real good. Love the video. Very useful.

Kerry COX
Thank you Bryn. I must do a better one. Closer. 😉 👍

Peter Hardy
Like watching a magician explain his illusion.

Kerry COX
So many modellers 'try 'BMF, screw it up and never do it again. I just hope that the way I explained it, it shows just how simple it really is to get a good result. 👍

Bart Goesaert
Isn't that something true for most things? The way I see it, most people want to try a lot of things, but when it doesn't work out as planned or the first time, they tend to give up, not seeing it as a learning opportunity... or not willing to invest learning money....

But thx a lot for the How-to

Kerry COX
Bart, you always have some word of wisdom mate, and I love it. 🙂
The video is not as close or clear as I would have liked, but I don't have an assistant to make it better. 🙁

Treehugger
Do you still use a cotton bud for forcing the foil into the rivet holes? Or do you use some other tool?

Kerry COX
Treeman, I put on a cotton glove and press the foil into the rivet and panel lines, as that prevents any slipping of the cotton bud and any possible damage to the fragile edges. 😉

Treehugger
I don't understand how a cotton glove is used here.

Augie
I suspect it just protects the surface while kezza uses his fingers to press the foil in.

Treehugger
But he indicated that he uses a cotton bud for when pressing down at the foil for both the rivet holes and the panel lines. I found this confusing. I thought the rivet holes would be too small and I don't understand what a glove will help in that regard.

Btw, I am inspired to try this out on a B-29 kit in 1:72 scale. I already have the self-adhesive foil. 🙂

Peter Hardy
I just hope you had pants on when you made the vid Kez! You had told me how you did the BMF but I found it fascinating to watch the step by step. Hopefully, Mick Hickey will give a tutorial on his techniques for plane skins too. Thanks again Kerry, awesome tutorial!

Bart Goesaert
@treehugger: I suppose by pressing the foil down with gloves, the foil sets a bit better in the rivet-holes, while not leaving fingerprints etc... It can be usefull to enlarge the rivet-holes a bit for this effect. But as always, when in doubt, try it, even without glue, and a lot will become clear... It's a bit like the effect of copying a contour of something by using a sheet of paper over the object and making the contour visible by rubbing it with a pencil...

Thomas Mayer
Kerry, the decals should be in 1/32 scale. Only, I could not find them so far. Oh, the good feeling of a large stash... 🙁

Kerry COX
I do envy those who can build up a 'stash', Thomas 🙂 But I just cant help but build what ever I buy. :-/
I am looking around for some 1/32 decals that are striking in appearance, as I see that the bird was well decorated by the various Sqn's that had them. 🙂
I am becoming quite consumed by it as it grows with every piece of foil I add.👍
I just have to work out what colouring I am going to use for the various access panels.
Cheers mate. 😉

Augie
Ooo I like, try some wax or oil pastels on a scrap bit.. ?

Bart Goesaert
Try some alufoil heated in a flame?

Thomas Mayer
I will keep my eyes open for the decals, Kerry. When found I´ll send you a scan.

Kerry COX
Thomas. That would be wonderful mate. 🙂 👍
I am really going all out on this build.
Cockpit by Aires and Pilot standing next to the boarding ladder. 👍
Detailed Landing gear.
It should look OK if I concentrate. hehehehehehe 🙂

Thomas Mayer
I honestly have no doubt this will be another showstopper from you, my friend! 🙂

Clifford Keesler
I like!

Kerry COX
Pressure........................I love it. ! hehehehehe 👍 🙂

Konrad -
Thats really interesting Kerry! Following with interest!!

Kerry COX
I will take your advice Lode. 👍 :-0
And Konrad, it's good to know your there too mate. 🙂
It is a great time I am having. Going through a lot of foil, as it doesn't always do as you would like and some flaws have to be replaced. ;-/
But that is the nature of the foil beast. 👍

Donald Dickson II
Glad I noticed this! I have been curious about doing foil, but as you mention, that stuff aint cheap!

Clifford Keesler
I have been thinking of using it on my "HUNS" after seeing your last F-100.

Kerry COX
The absolute 'key' to having a smooth 'finish' is how it is removed from the carrier paper.
I have found that if you can get it to come off the carrier paper without too much destruction of the overall surface texture. The easier it will adhere to the surface of the model without too many wrinkles forming as you get it to 'lay down'.

Clifford Keesler
You should know you are the Zen Master, when it comes to BMF. LOL.

Kerry COX
I appreciate your faith in my abilities Clifford. 🙂 🙂 👍

Stephan Ryll
I'll take a seat😉

Kerry COX
Stephan, your more than welcome. 🙂 Any comments, good or bad, all welcome. 🙂 👍

Bart Goesaert
Nice cockpit and pilot... Let the sanding to make it fit begin...

Maicon Werplotz
Excelent work so far.....watching

Kerry COX
Bart. I have avoided sanding the resin, choosing to gently saw off the carrier plugs and then shaving off the remainder. 😉
The resin dust I don't need. Poisonous muck that can kill you if the dust gets to your lungs. ;-/

Clifford Keesler
Very nice Kerry.

Kerry COX
Thank you Clifford. 🙂
All the carrier plugs have been removed and I have come up with a way of creating 'glass' that covers the instruments. Photo to follow. 🙂

Bart Goesaert
What I meant Kerry, is that to make it fit, you'll need to sand the cockpit walls pretty thin mostly to make these fit. And somethimes you can't avoid sanding the resin to do so...

Kerry COX
Bart. Thank you for your advice.

Peter Hardy
That's quite a difference in the cockpit tub detail levels Kez. Look forward to how you will present it all spruced up ready for the ball!

Kerry COX
I have all the little tin goodies, From then on, this one will be guess work. 😉

Kerry COX
Lode. Thank you for your compliment mate. It is a medium I am developing more skills with every time I peel some off a sheet. 😉 👍

Bart Goesaert
splendid work so far...

Bryn Crandell
WOW! the canopy frames look so real. The BMF work great. Haven't been able to talk muslef into trying it. Might have to after this.

Maciej Bellos
Fantastic job sir! Attention to every detail, from the smallest one to the biggest one (the hyper-polished plastic!!!).

Stephan Ryll
Very detailed work my friend - very impressive 👍

Kerry COX
I am so pleased that your liking my work gentlemen. 🙁
Given it's size, it was the leading edge slats that proved the most difficult to cover with the foil. !
This was because of the flexibility of the parts, and any 'bend' that happens turns up with a wrinkle. !!!
So far, I have gone through two sheets.
Replacing areas that had not gone as planned, as it is so easy to get wrinkles and air bubbles happening that detract from the over all finnish. !
I should have taken some images of the stuff up's just to show you it just doesn't always go to planned. 👍 🙂

Augie
Maybe tak em to a bit of wood? or spare sprue to keep em straight?

Kerry COX
Augie, you are reading my mail. ! 👍
What I did was blu tak the LES to a steel rod, preventing any 'flex', and allowing the foil to stay where it was applied, and the result, after a couple of noticeable wrinkles, was just what it should have been. 😉
Thanks for the tip though, as it was the only way in the end to prevent the loss of so much intense work.
🙂 🙂 🙂 👍

Augie
welcomes!

Patrick Hagelstein
Amazing....

Holger Kranich
What an amazing cockpit! A heaven for modelers!

Bart Goesaert
splendid progress...

Kerry COX
Lode and Holger. 🙂 . I am grateful for you thoughts, appreciation and encouraging comments. 🙂
This has actually been a commission build for my good friend David Dalton, the Aussie ship building champion who said to me when he gave me the kit, "I was a bit of Kerry Cox in my display case." ! 🙂
And as it is now happening, I am putting more into this build than I would normally do. 👍
David started a modelling club called, "A BOMB" Meaning, 'A Bunch Of Modelling Blokes'. 🙂 🙂 🙂
All of us are over 50 and meet at each others places every couple of week and slap each other on the back and talk about how bloody good we are. hahahahaha 🙂
The 1/32 Trumpeter kit has got a bad wrap over time, and there have been some 'fit' issues, but all that aside, a beautifully detailed kit in it's own right, and with some care and attention, it is turning out to be a real joy to get my hands on, 🙂 🙂
David wants me to enter this model in the Australian Nationals next year, as he will be going down to Melbourne to enter his ships and cars, and I will be going along with quite a few of my models too. 👍
I will be reskinning the upper wings on my Tamiya 1/32 P-51D 'Goldie' with this new BMF that has the adhesive that eliminates the orange peel effect, and it will no doubt improve the appearance a 1000%. Entering that too.
Again, I thank you all most sincerely for your support. 👍 👍
Kezza Roo. 😉 👍

Kerry COX
Thanks James.😉
I just got sick and tired of seeing the oxidation ruin all my good work. And now I have this clear paper glue it's brilliant in the applications it has.
It is exactly the same stuff as (Humbrol 'Clear Fix'.)
All good. 🙂

Holger Kranich
A good hint! I ruined the HUD in my Alpha Jet with ca glue. but i had no Option. The clear part had to be glued to a pe part... I wanted to vomit...

Kerry COX
Hans. You are obviously happy with not using CA glue, and I also agree with using alternatives, just as long as the bond is good and the dry time is not too long, for sure. 👍 🙂

Dave Flitton
Some really good tips you have provided on this most excellent build!

Kerry COX
David. Thank you my friend. 😉
I do my best to pass on things that happen. Good or bad. hehehehe 🙂
Cheers. 👍

Kerry COX
James. I was thinking it may look a little 'dramatic' with all the colour against all the chrome of the BMF, but hopefully, as all the other detail is added it won't look so obvious.
Thank you for your reassuring words mate. 👍 🙂

Augie
maybe a little bit of bluing to set it off?

Donald Dickson II
What Augie said. Though it looks great as is.

Kerry COX
I originally went with the bluing, but as the image I worked from had more purple, I went with that.

Es-haq Khosravi
Awesome!

Augie
fair enough buddy 🙂

Clifford Keesler
Very nice Kerry.

Kerry COX
I have posted an image of the F-100 I used as a guide for the colours, and I am happy to keep what I have done.
I am not being cocky here, but after all the corrections I have made, this is way better than most attempts I have seen.
Cheers folks. 👍 😉

Stephan Ryll
Looking good Kerry 👍

Kerry COX
Stephan, Thank you my friend. 🙂

Holger Kranich
The burnt tail looks astonishing! I personally had added more blue but the reference shows that you did it right!

Kerry COX
Holger, your words are a comfort to me mate. Having had some doubts after the second attempt at getting something I was content with.😉
That is the beauty of acrylics. Being able to remove the paint with a wipe of a spirits ladened cloth and try again.
It was a process of building up layer on layer at a low air pressure setting and really diluted paint that was able to dry almost instantaneously and no 'pooling'.
With the AB tip no more that a couple of MM away from the surface.
So much fun and satisfaction when things 'go right'. hehehehehe
Kez

Kerry COX
James and Lode. Thank you both for your comments and compliments, I am grateful indeed.
This will be being entered this year in the QMHE in August.
Foil has the ability to show every scratch and mark and is hard to keep at it's premium, but 'future' does wonders in hiding quite a lot of these blemishes. 😉

Slavo Hazucha
Wohoo, I somehow missed until now this got finished... 😮

If I may say, I think this is one of your finest ever - the roast metal around the engine would be cool enough, but the foil job, combined with the flawless vivid decals is just legend 👍 👍 👍 - I am happy to see this done, master-class in composite material modeling... the foil on the canopy + how it all blends together, especially in the last shots... my hat is off & not coming back for some time... 😉

Kerry COX
You silver tongued devil. 🙂 🙂 🙂
Your words leave me speechless Slavo. 🙂
I have come to like doing the bare metal foil application, cutting my teeth with it on two P-51D Mustangs some time back, when the foil was like sheet lead, heavy and unforgiving. 🙁
The clear Tamiya paints and 'heat stress' effect was honed on the exhaust pipes of the 1/12 racing bikes I built, especially the Marc Marquez 93 racing Honda. 😉
I am humbled by what you say, but most grateful for the sincerity of your words. 👍
Thank you my friend. You make an old man very happy. 🙂 🙂 🙂

Clifford Keesler
I don't know what else to add to everyone else's words. Just outstanding. I stand in awe of your talent.

Kerry COX
Clifford. All of my mates are so kind with their praise and I am always humbled by what is said. 👍
For that, I am most grateful and obliged to you all for having my work liked by all of you. 🙂
Thank you lads, one and all, as I am in the company of the very best model builders in the world and I am lucky to be a member of that brotherhood. 🙂 🙂 👍

Stephan Ryll
Very nice final result Kerry 🙂 outstanding colours 👍 great craftsmanship

Kerry COX
Thank you Stephan. 🙂 It's not the easiest medium to work with. But when it comes out right, there are smiles all round. 👍

Slavo Hazucha
Kerry I consider a well done foil-surface one of the real "crown" techniques in this hobby... I've never done one, my (very) long term plan is to approach this slowly on some trial builds over time & when it works maybe do a 1:32 F-104 at some point 🙂 In the meantime, I enjoy following your ever growing digital encyclopedia of modeling techniques over here😉 👍

Kerry COX
Slavo, you have all my attention with the BMF aspect of this hobby, and an F-104 1/32 is my dream. 👍
Many hard curves to contend with, and I am part way through one at the moment, and a project I have dabbled in for over two years now, but with the new type of foil that BMF are producing, it is getting easier to do.
There have been many things I have seen here on SM that have been a great help to me, and as it happens, I have been able to pass on some tips and trick from my end too.
The biggest thrill I ever got as a modeller was doing the 1/32 Zoukei Mura Ho-229 with the Uschi wood grain decals that was posted by the President on his blog, that started a craze where every modeller just had to replicate what I had done. 🙂
And it also set new sales records for them and got me the opportunity to be one of their many 'Test shot' builders, which got me many new kits that had not been released to the world yet. 🙂
zoukeimura.co.jp/en/..t/oyajiblog_062.html

Kerry COX
Lode. Your observations are quite to the point, and I will add here that I didn't post the link to big note myself, but rather to say that we are all capable of producing wonderful works of art from time to time and it's a big deal when we are recognised for doing it. The recognition by the company was for me, the greatest achievement I could possibly hope for. And the kind words from all my mates I have here. 👍 🙂

Maciej Bellos
Kerry your craftmanship is unique! Fantastic result! Hats off sir!

Kerry COX
Muchas Gracias my friend, 🙂 👍

Slavo Hazucha
Kerry you really stole the show with the wooden finish Ho-229 😄 No wonder it got you a lifetime supply of goodness 🙂 About Uschi - I want to try their metal dust products on some future engine nozzle works - any experience/intel on that?

Kerry COX
Slavo. I am anxiously waiting for the 'set' of the Uschi powders, having been given some 'chrome' by my club mate on an experimental basis and, I am finding it is like using 'alclad', in that you need a gloss black base to start with for the powder to do it's job. 👍
I will be putting together a little blurb here on how I find it's applicable and how to get some good/or bad results, but at the moment I have no images of the stuff I have done, as these examples are all packed in boxes ready for the QMHE 2019 event on August in Brisbane/Ipswich.
As for the wood grain decals and how that build happened, it was from hearing the stories of how Germany had started to run out of the metals needed for aircraft production and the fact that there were more furniture makers than metal workers in Germany at that time and how the Horten brothers had been glider builders before the war.
I tried to imagine what the Ho-229 would have looked like before it was passed through the paint shop as
I was just not happy with all the paint schemes I was seeing of the Ho-229, as there was NO information about what it looked like except from what the one that was 'captured' looked like after the yanks had painted it before shipping it back to the USA for the reverse engineering by Northrop happened.
I did the same thing with the V-22 'Osprey'. Having seen some images of it in it's Bell-Boeing paint scheme when it was going through it's prototype configuration and the paint scheme it had before main production started after the project got the approval of congress. Much better than that drab gray scheme and the yawn factor that went with it. Italari's V-22 "Osprey" in prototype colours from 1994. | Album by RedRoo