Bare metal Foiling recommendations

[drodg]

So here in the next week or so I am going to start building my Jo Han 69 Roadrunner.  The emblems on the doors and the rear trunk need to be chromed either with Bare Metal Foil or a Molotov pen.  I have read an article on how builders will bare metal the emblems after priming but before painting and then rub the paint off the emblems after the paint sets up.  Have any of you builders tried this?  I have never done that before but because of the amount of emblems on the Roadrunner I want to try it if it works.     Thanks for tips or help.     

[GeeBee]

I've done it a few times, works very well,sometimes I use Tamiya's triangular cotton buds dampened with a little lacquer thinners. 

[drodg]

1 hour ago, GeeBee said:

I've done it a few times, works very well,sometimes I use Tamiya's triangular cotton buds dampened with a little lacquer thinners. 

Thanks!  That is a good idea.  So where the bare metal is around the letters the paint keeps the foil down?   

[GeeBee]

2 hours ago, drodg said:

Thanks!  That is a good idea.  So where the bare metal is around the letters the paint keeps the foil down?   

It does....

[StevenGuthmiller]

That's the way that I do nearly every model.

It is often referred to as the "foil under paint" or "foil before paint" technique.

As a matter of fact, I think this technique is about due for it's own "initialism".......FUP.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Steve

Edited December 12, 2019 by StevenGuthmiller

[R. Thorne]

Steve, every time I see that Ford, I think “that’s not a model, that’s a real car”.  Beautiful work.

[BubbaBrown]

Steve you build the Best.

[drodg]

I never heard of it until a few weeks ago. I will be trying it here soon as I finish up my current nightmare kit!   Thanks guys.

[crazyjim]

I BMF even before priming.

[StevenGuthmiller]

6 hours ago, crazyjim said:

I BMF even before priming.

That will work depending on how many coats of primer and paint you use.

I use as many as 5 primer, and 5 color coats.

That's way too much paint to remove in the end.

I wait until right before my last coat or 2 of color.

 

 

Steve

[drodg]

10 minutes ago, StevenGuthmiller said:

That will work depending on how many coats of primer and paint you use.

I use as many as 5 primer, and 5 color coats.

That's way too much paint to remove in the end.

I wait until right before my last coat or 2 of color.

 

 

Steve

Steve thanks for that.  So I am also doing a black out on the hood so I was assume I would bare metal after I paint the main color before I black out the hood?     If you look at this 1:1 picture of a 69 Roadrunner you will see the black out hood option offered on them.  

[Snake45]

7 hours ago, crazyjim said:

I BMF even before priming.

Me too. At polish time, I wet-sand down to the primer, and then while polishing, the primer comes off, too, leaving lovely BMF. 

[StevenGuthmiller]

47 minutes ago, drodg said:

Steve thanks for that.  So I am also doing a black out on the hood so I was assume I would bare metal after I paint the main color before I black out the hood?     If you look at this 1:1 picture of a 69 Roadrunner you will see the black out hood option offered on them. 

Absolutely!

My biggest piece of advise is that even though you are painting over the foil, it is still highly recommended that you cut your foil as close to the script or badge as possible. 

Edges of the foil can be visible under the paint if you leave it too far away from the script you are finishing, especially when it only has a coat or 2 of paint over it.

You might not need to worry about this as much if you apply the foil earlier in the paint process, but the less paint that you need to remove from the script, the better.

The paint can then be removed from the script with very minimal effort with just a dab of lacquer thinner on a conical swab, and possibly a sharpened tooth pick dipped in lacquer thinner for the finer points.

 

I have done it many different ways.

Before and after primer, polishing or cleaning the script with thinner, and in my experience, this is by far the easiest way.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Steve

Edited December 11, 2019 by StevenGuthmiller

[mopargreg]

How does the Lacquer thinner not affect the paint around the script? Some of the script is very small. 

[StevenGuthmiller]

33 minutes ago, mopargreg said:

How does the Lacquer thinner not affect the paint around the script? Some of the script is very small. 

Using a small conical swab, and/or tooth pick, you only wipe over the surface of the script itself, not the surrounding area.

Likewise, the amount of thinner you will be using is minuscule.

I dip the swab in thinner and then roll it over a cloth to absorb the excess.

The swab is just damp.

But with so little paint over the script, it's more than enough to remove the paint.

 

Here's another trick.

get the swab damp with thinner and lightly go over the script.

Then leave it alone for a few seconds.

The thinner will loosen the paint and make it extremely easy to remove.

Then I take my sharpened tooth pick, dip it in thinner and use it to carefully scrape and remove the paint.

 

Works like a charm.

You don't get much smaller script size than the "H" on the Chrysler 300 H above.

 

 

Steve

[mod3l Lover]

  Man-o-man!!  That`60 Mercury is sooo sweet!!

       David S.

[drodg]

4 hours ago, StevenGuthmiller said:

Using a small conical swab, and/or tooth pick, you only wipe over the surface of the script itself, not the surrounding area.

Likewise, the amount of thinner you will be using is minuscule.

I dip the swab in thinner and then roll it over a cloth to absorb the excess.

The swab is just damp.

But with so little paint over the script, it's more than enough to remove the paint.

 

Here's another trick.

get the swab damp with thinner and lightly go over the script.

Then leave it alone for a few seconds.

The thinner will loosen the paint and make it extremely easy to remove.

Then I take my sharpened tooth pick, dip it in thinner and use it to carefully scrape and remove the paint.

 

Works like a charm.

You don't get much smaller script size than the "H" on the Chrysler 300 H above.

 

 

Steve

Thanks Steve this is a huge help!   That Mercury and the Chrysler are beautiful.   

[peteski]

On 12/10/2019 at 10:38 PM, StevenGuthmiller said:

That's the way that I do nearly every model.

It is often referred to as the "foil under paint" or "foil before paint" technique.

As a matter of fact, I think this technique is about due for it's own "initialism".......FUB.

Foil Under "B"?!  "P" maybe?

[StevenGuthmiller]

51 minutes ago, peteski said:

Foil Under "B"?!  "P" maybe?

Oops.

I never claimed that I could spell!

 

Corrected!

 

 

Steve

Edited December 12, 2019 by StevenGuthmiller

[Bills72sj]

On 12/10/2019 at 8:39 AM, drodg said:

 I have read an article on how builders will bare metal the emblems after priming but before painting and then rub the paint off the emblems after the paint sets up.  Have any of you builders tried this? 

I have once on the individual block letters on my Grand Prix restoration.

 

[drodg]

12 hours ago, Bills72sj said:

I have once on the individual block letters on my Grand Prix restoration.

 

Great job.    

[Rocking Rodney Rat]

My only advise about BMF is: "Don't do it". I hate that stuff. I know you didn't ask, but there it is...and worth both pennies... -RRR

[Tom Geiger]

25 minutes ago, Rocking Rodney Rat said:

My only advise about BMF is: "Don't do it". I hate that stuff. I know you didn't ask, but there it is...and worth both pennies... -RRR

Bah! BMF is a learned skill, but skill worth learning.  Ask a few of us and you will hear different techniques for applying it, but there is nothing that will replicate chrome as well.  People laugh when I say that applying BMF is fun.  There is no one step in the build process where you accomplish so much improvement immediately!

 

[StevenGuthmiller]

5 hours ago, Tom Geiger said:

Bah! BMF is a learned skill, but skill worth learning.  Ask a few of us and you will hear different techniques for applying it, but there is nothing that will replicate chrome as well.  People laugh when I say that applying BMF is fun.  There is no one step in the build process where you accomplish so much improvement immediately!

 

Agree completely!!

I started using BMF probably 30 years ago and never looked back.

Sometimes I wonder why some people have so many issues with using it.

Even from the first time that I used it, I never really had any problems with applying it.

If I had to do without it now, I would probably give up car modeling and start building ships or something.

It is an absolutely invaluable tool in my opinion.

 

 

Steve

 

 

 

[Bills72sj]

8 hours ago, Tom Geiger said:

Bah! BMF is a learned skill, but skill worth learning.  Ask a few of us and you will hear different techniques for applying it, but there is nothing that will replicate chrome as well.  People laugh when I say that applying BMF is fun.  There is no one step in the build process where you accomplish so much improvement immediately!

 

I agree. The only thing that tops a perfect application of BMF is a perfect paint job. I consider BMF one of my FAVORITE tasks.