Finished 1/48 Hasegawa F-86 Saber Jet

[Johnny_K]

Well, it took a while, but I finally finished my Saber Jet. I always liked the way the F-86 looked, especially when it has a natural metal finish. I tried to duplicate the following real 1:1 fully restored Saber Jet. I got this photo from Airfighters.com.

 

I knew that paint would not be a substitute for the natural metal finish, so I finished my model in Bare Metal Foil. In the past I have tried to use paint to duplicate a NMF. I was never able to make it look correct. IMHO, only Bare Metal Foil can duplicate the look of real metal. This is my 5th plane finished in BMF. I don't know if any members of this forum have tried to finish a plane in BMF. It is not a difficult technique once you learn the tricks; however, it is very time consuming and it requires a lot of patience. The center of the main wings on the 1:1 were painted, so I painted the center section of the main wings with Testors Metalizer Aluminum straight from a rattle can. I used Photoshop to duplicate the plane in flight. You can follow along how I built this model at :

http://cs.finescale.com/fsm/modeling_subjects/f/2/t/173828.aspx

 

Following are some more pictures of the finished model. The Hasegawa decals were really thick and had a matt carrier film which would look terrible against the painted wing. I cut apart the letters "USAF" so there would be no carrier film. The carrier film is not too noticeable against the metal foil.  As you can see, I incorrectly located the letters "USAF". They are too close to the fuselage. Oh well, better luck next time.

The model is placed on a foam board. I removed the paper from the board and painted the foam black. This describes how it is done: http://model-railroad-hobbyist.com/node/17438

 

 

 

 

 

 

These last two pictures are via Photoshop. I picked up photos of runway aprons from the internet and pasted photos of my model on top of the pictures of the aprons. I really like the results.

 

[AngstROM]

WOW! That is a seriously impressive finish...

[Johnny_K]

Thanks. It takes a long time to do BMF. A glass of good Kentucky Bourbon on ice helps.

[Niles]

That's a very impressive piece of work.  I like it.  Like you I've come to the opinion that the most realistic way to do bare metal is with metal and I'm always interested in seeing someone else's foil work.  Recently I did a limited run resin kit of the Lockheed XF-90 and finished it in foil.   http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/235013765-penetration-fighter-lockheed-xf-90-148/ I tend to prefer using generic products and skinned it with kitchen grade foil and MicroScale adhesive rather than Bare Metal Foil.  I learned the tricks of boiling sheets of foil in water with eggshells added to darken the foil on this forum.  The protein in the eggshells contains sulfur which colors the foil.  Then working the darkened foil in straight strokes with 4/0 steel wool adjusts the color and adds the grainy look you often see on natural aluminum aircraft.  I've found that by working the darkened foil with the steel wool I can get many different shades and subtle differences both between and within panels depending on how much I work the foil.  You might experiment with that.  As I write this post, I'm boiling pieces of foil for my next project.

 

[Johnny_K]

Niles,

That is a GREAT looking airplane. I love the different shades of aluminum. You did a really nice job. Yes, it takes a long time to finish an airplane in foil, but IMHO, the results are worth it. Only metal looks like metal. I have tried using paint to replicate a natural metal finish, but I never liked the look.

 

I have tried using aluminum foil with MicroScale adhesive without much luck. I just can't seem to apply the adhesive smooth enough. I like BMF because I find it to be less of a hassle. I use 0000 steel wool to make the foil look like it has the grain of extruded aluminum sheets. Just rub the foil with the steel wool once. Following is my F-104. You can see the grain behind the stripes.

 

I also use a riveting tool to add rivets to my models. Following is a P-47.

 

I use JAX Aluminum Blackener to darken the foil. You can see the results on the following P-51 in the area above and below the national insignia. It is applied with a cotton Q-tip.

 

 

 

[Niles]

JAX Aluminum Blackener is something new to me.  I just did a google search on it and I think I'll have to get a bottle and try it out.  The P-51 that you used it on looks super.  Are you applying the riveting after the foil is applied to the airplane?

[Johnny_K]

This is a link to JAX: http://www.jaxchemical.com/ I have not tried it on kitchen foil. I recommend that you try it on some scrap first. I rub the BMF with JAX on a Q-tip. Sometimes it takes a while for the foil to darken. Wash the foil with water on a paper towel or cotton ball once the foil has darkened to your satisfaction or else the JAX will continue to darken the foil.