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FLASH! A Heller 1/48 Republic RF-84F Thunderflash. No trench coats this time though. FINISHED!


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Not bad Rob., I like how the wee one turned out. I tried the Plumbers tape once(Not Duct Tape) but it didn't do what I wanted.Ours is thick, probably 300-400 micron thick. It didn't want to go around small compound curves to well. I went from that to store aluminum foil and latex glue.  But I ended up with brush marks showing through so I finally settled on BMF though Dennis( @Corsairfoxfouruncle) did give me some advice on applying the glue better so I may go back soon and give the old college try once more.

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5 hours ago, LorenSharp said:

Not bad Rob., I like how the wee one turned out. I tried the Plumbers tape once(Not Duct Tape) but it didn't do what I wanted.Ours is thick, probably 300-400 micron thick. It didn't want to go around small compound curves to well. I went from that to store aluminum foil and latex glue.  But I ended up with brush marks showing through so I finally settled on BMF though Dennis( @Corsairfoxfouruncle) did give me some advice on applying the glue better so I may go back soon and give the old college try once more.

I maybe using Foil soon on a build, If I do maybe I will try and do a step by step tutorial. 

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6 hours ago, LorenSharp said:

It didn't want to go around small compound curves to well.

Yes, this is the big one! I'm getting used to it's limits and ways to work around. 

It will take a fair bit of burnishing and working though, far more than flimsy kitchen foil.I must try and source some of this other Ali foil you mentioned. 

Speaking of thickness, I've concluded that most of the thickness is from the gummy glue. And it is always still there under the foil,  never hardens. 

Right O Dennis, when you're ready....!😎

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Yes and like Snidley Whiplash    Curses! Foiled Again!

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A little touch-up on the black walkways and the red on the intakes plus steel wool on the aluminum here and there to bring some variety to all this shiny stuff

Now to begin decaling Then start the final adding of the final bits and calling this project done.

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Decaling finally done. Touch and go for a bit. As a precaution I coated my after market decals with a couple of coats of clear lacquer. Wasn't quite enough. the tail markings started to shatter but I carefully applied those, stopped, and coated everything again with two much thicker coats of lacquer. That did the trick. Smooth sailing from there. 

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I'll let these dry overnight. Then tomorrow give everything a couple of very good coats of lacquer, again to seal everything up. Old decals don't always want to stay stuck to metal foil.

Then add the landing gear and all the rest of the little bits and this will be DONE!

 

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Thanks Rob.

 

OF course as I feared,Decals,especially old ones don't like sticking to the bare metal.As I was getting ready to give everything a good gloss coat. I put my big fingers whre they shouldn't have been. and as a result took out one of the stars and bars on the side with part of one of the buzz numbers. Luckily I had spares to fix everything up.

 Once those were dry I stared adding the last of the bits.

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Wing fences and pitot tube,

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Canopy,

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Speed Brakes,

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Landing gear

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And Drop Tanks.

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Once those all dried I did a final clear coat this time with a matte varnish for the anti glare panel and the wink wlk ways. The

 final result being...

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Thanks for following along on this meandering journey.All the comments were much appreciated. I'll have the finals up in the Gallery momentarily. Now to get The other Thunder Chicken and the ZELL done before this GB ends. 

Catch ya later!:pilot:

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  • LorenSharp changed the title to FLASH! A Heller 1/48 Republic RF-84F Thunderflash. No trench coats this time though. FINISHED!
24 minutes ago, LorenSharp said:

don't like sticking to the bare metal.

Hmmm I never had that problem with either bare metal foil the product or kitchen foil ? My decals always went on with standard Microsol/set product ? Of course I clear mine as soon as the foil is down so it doesn't start to oxidize. Maybe thats why decals stick better to mine ? 

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That could be. I think it might be the Surface is too smooth for lack of a better word. I've even had them curl up on the edges while drying. I used to use Micro set amd/or Micro Sol the snuggle everything dow, but i've also had chemical reactions,Tarnishing, using them with foil. I didn't use either of them this time. I may have to go the clear coat route before I apply. Something to try on the Thunderbird I'm getting ready to foil. These decals were very old too, so that might have had something to do with it also.

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2 hours ago, LorenSharp said:

think it might be the Surface is too smooth for lack of a better word.

And yet,  modellers of all types are always on about applying decals onto a gloss paint base. Even for a matt finish final look, they'll gloss for the decals and then matt clear over that. 

I've had the occasional refusal on Ali foil but I came to the conclusion that issues were mostly down to variations in decal quality (or type?). I've used decal-fix in the past when in doubt but there's sticky residue which can leave marks. 

 

We love a challenge 🤪 

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Gloss paint Ive found is never truly smooth and decals do go on better with out silvering. With foil I almost want to say it has an "oily surface" for lack of a better word. And even that's not the right description. Decals will adhere but not stick. if you know what I mean. at least until I can clear coat, or like Corsairfoxfouruncle, pre-clearcoat. But even with the clear coat bottom and top coats I have lost decals maybe 10% of the time. Sometimes it does feel like a crapshoot. But when It works the effect does dazzle the end result.

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52 minutes ago, LorenSharp said:

want to say it has an "oily surface" for lack of a better word.

Yea, there is something about aluminium, would be interesting to hear a metalurgist's take on it 🤔 It has tested the paint makers in the real world over the decades  

Have you tried the "boiling with eggshells" routine with any foils?? I was a bit sceptical at first try, but it works for a dark metal result. Can't be done with sticky back foil though for obvious reasons. 

I've used kitchen foil upside-down on occasions for the duller effect, on wing centre panels etc on an F86 for example. Just laid over the top of my main foil covering with PVA white glue, worked fine. 

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I ought to add, I've had occasion to do a makeover on a couple of metal clad planes where I'd used something like decalfix under the decals. It was a heck of a job removing those ready for the new decoration. So I found that reassuring in it's own way, although trying at the time 😃

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