Dull Side of the Foil

I' ve read in several articles that adhesive should only be applied to the dull side of the foil. It gets a better grip. I just finished reading Marv Howell's article on foiling and in it he suggests laying down the glue on the shiny side to give an alternate contrast on the finish. Has any one done this? And does the adhesive hold well on the shiny side? I've always felt that the dull side comes closer to matching real aircraft aluminum than the bright side? Any info on different foiling techniques( especially ways to make foil over laps 'disappear) I still feather the edge with

800 grit finishing paper, but the over lap could be picked up by a judge's eye very quickly, will be welcome. Mike IPMS
Reply to
Mike Keown
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I have done it once. I used Microscale foil adhesive back then and found that it made no difference if I glued the shiny side or the dull side. It sticked equally well. To get the alternating sheen effect I rescribed the models' panellines first and foiled the panels in alternating order by one or a few panels at a time. Each applied panel was then trimmed carefully with razor blade. When done properly with a minuscule overlap between the panels within the grooves, it looked great. Quite delicate and tedious work it was. But worthwhile. However, like you I found that the shiny panels didn't look right to my taste and also that the contrast between panels was too much. I've read somewhere that a more subtle effect can be achieved by boiling the foil with eggs. Not tried this myself yet. hth.

"Mike Keown" schreef in bericht news:EgR_a.35$ snipped-for-privacy@news.uswest.net...

Reply to
Bassie Adriaensen

I remember reading some time ago an article on foiling, I don't remember where but I believe it was on the net somewhere.

The author

- glued the foil with shiny side up, i.e. glue on less shiny side.

- didn't really care about the foil being cut to panel size, instead he covered as large areas as possible, larger on flat surfaces like the wing upper and lower surfaces, smaller on leading edges etc.

- used steel wool to impart the correct look, panel by panel.

The end result was the most convincing aluminium look I have ever seen.

Anders "Mike Keown" skrev i meddelandet news:EgR_a.35$ snipped-for-privacy@news.uswest.net...

Reply to
Anders Svennevik

I always heard that burnishing the edges with something like the back of a teaspoon is a good way to get the seams to blend.

I knew a guy whom had made a tinfoil ball out of the foil from gum wrappers - it looked like a ball bearing, about two inches in diameter...he said he had used a spoon to smooth the layers of foil as he added them. I certainly couldn't see any seams or edges on it.

Reply to
Rufus

Definitely not answering the question...

...but doesn't the "subject" of this posting sound an awful lot like some '70's record album?

:o)

Reply to
Greg Heilers

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