How does one paint/highlight badge scripts?

[Snake45]

BEFORE you lay paint over that:

Is this a name-brand foil such as Reynolds or Alcoa? It might be too thick. Get a cheap generic brand, or the Walmart house stuff. It's very thin--not as thin as BMF but pretty thin. If you used the thick stuff, peel it off, wash the area with rubbing alcohol, and apply the cheap stuff. 

To get it to nestle into the letters, use the tip of a wooden toothpick, and/or a hard rubber pencil eraser. I use both methods and both work. 

Good luck and keep us posted! 

[StevenGuthmiller]

28 minutes ago, doorsovdoon said:

ok, decided on my next project to try this on, the '64 Belvedere. The script badges are incredibly small so I had to use regular kitchen foil which is much thinner than the chrome ducting tape I usually use for trim. Even this doesn't really settle into the raised writing that well. I think after a few coats of paint it's just going to look like a raised lump of silver!

My advice would be to use BMF.

And in any case, it will be much easier to apply the foil right before your final color coat.

It’s a lot easier to remove one coat of paint from the foiled script than multiple coats.

 

 

Steve

[doorsovdoon]

ah, ok, cheers guys. I put the primer on first thinking it would be easier to remove the paint from the foil. Laying the foil on just before the last coat of paint sounds better, thanks Steven. The foil I used is just regular kitchen foil, very thin. It's not bacofoil, that stuff is much thicker. To give an idea, the kitchen foil is thinner than bacofoil, and bacofoil is thinner than the chrome ducting tape I use for trim. I see no difference between branded BMF and regular kitchen foil apart from having to add the adhesive yourself. I'll clean off the area and place the foil on just before the last coat of paint.

[Snake45]

28 minutes ago, doorsovdoon said:

I'll clean off the area and place the foil on just before the last coat of paint.

If you're worried about losing detail, you'll lose more of it if you do that. 

I'd have put the foil on before the primer, and let the final polish-out remove the paint from the foil. That works for me. 

[doorsovdoon]

2 minutes ago, Snake45 said:

If you're worried about losing detail, you'll lose more of it if you do that. 

I'd have put the foil on before the primer, and let the final polish-out remove the paint from the foil. That works for me. 

Seems to be a million ways of doing this! Lol. Well, I haven't painted the car yet, so there's still time to figure out the best way to go about this. So far, I found the primer under the foil has definitely filled in some detail of the script but not much, but, it's extremely tiny so yes, the less paint in there the better.

[StevenGuthmiller]

35 minutes ago, Snake45 said:

If you're worried about losing detail, you'll lose more of it if you do that. 

That’s only true if you’re using thick paint and laying it on heavy.

I use automotive lacquers  and will consistently have 5 coats of primer and as many as 5 coats of color before any foil goes over the script whatsoever.

If you take a look at my most recent ‘64 Pontiac Grand Prix build, you won’t find a finer script anywhere than the “Grand Prix” scripts on the front quarter panels, yet they were done exactly as I described.

I have to say that problems with detail hide can be avoided completely with good paint products and application techniques.

 

 

Steve

[doorsovdoon]

True, the paint I use is rattle cans from the motor factors, it can be quite thick, especially if I need to put some lacquer on top. I'll clean up around the script and apply the foil to the bare plastic then clean off the primer and start applying the paint.

[StevenGuthmiller]

20 minutes ago, doorsovdoon said:

True, the paint I use is rattle cans from the motor factors, it can be quite thick, especially if I need to put some lacquer on top. I'll clean up around the script and apply the foil to the bare plastic then clean off the primer and start applying the paint.

Yup. Sometimes you need to work out the best practice for yourself depending on the products that you’re using.

All that we can do is offer you our tried and true methods that have been formulated by us over many years and through many trials.

 

 

Steve

[doorsovdoon]

46 minutes ago, StevenGuthmiller said:

Yup. Sometimes you need to work out the best practice for yourself depending on the products that you’re using.

All that we can do is offer you our tried and true methods that have been formulated by us over many years and through many trials.

 

 

Steve

It's all very much appreciated. I chose this kit cos it has decals for the badging, so not too worrying if it fails. The decals are grey not chrome so wont look as nice.

[FLHCAHZ]

This is a great thread.  Lots to learn here for sure.  For you guys that use aluminum foil instead of BMF,  what kind of glue do you use and how do you apply it?

[doorsovdoon]

53 minutes ago, FLHCAHZ said:

This is a great thread.  Lots to learn here for sure.  For you guys that use aluminum foil instead of BMF,  what kind of glue do you use and how do you apply it?

I use Pritt Stick to glue the foil, I used it on the textured gold chocolate foil for my '57 Ford Fairlane and '57 Del Rio.

[doorsovdoon]

Cleaned the primer off around the script, laid new foil over it and then primered. The primer flaked off the foil very easily, so, foil before primer is the way to go... well, for the type of paints I'm using anyway as aerosols are quite thick, the less paint over the scripts the better.

Edited April 7, 2021 by doorsovdoon

[MrObsessive]

Gareth, just a thought but your kitchen foil might be a bit too thick for something such as faint scripts. BMF is thinner and will conform better to those dips and dives that are in cursive script.

I guess it depends on the foil, but I've not seen even cheap kitchen foil as thin as BMF.

EDIT: Oops! I see that someone made that point.......I needed to read further! 😁

Edited April 7, 2021 by MrObsessive

[peteski]

4 hours ago, doorsovdoon said:

I see no difference between branded BMF and regular kitchen foil apart from having to add the adhesive yourself. I'll clean off the area and place the foil on just before the last coat of paint.

BMF feels quite a bit thinner than any kitchen aluminum foil. At least in my part of the world.  BMF is also not aluminum, and it is much more stretchy than kitchen foil.  Makes a world of difference.

[StevenGuthmiller]

27 minutes ago, MrObsessive said:

Gareth, just a thought but your kitchen foil might be a bit too thick for something such as faint scripts. BMF is thinner and will conform better to those dips and dives that are in cursive script.

I guess it depends on the foil, but I've not seen even cheap kitchen foil as thin as BMF.

I agree.

From the photo I'm seeing above, I think that your fear of ending up with a silver patch instead of a crisp script are more likely than not.

Here is a photo of the same model that I painted some years ago using my version of this technique.

 

 

 

 

One misconception that people sometimes have is that every technique works the same with other techniques regardless of the materials used, but that is absolutely not the case.

Often a particular trick will not work well, if at all, depending on the materials or application of the technique.

I don't want to tell you it won't work, and it may work well enough for you, but sometimes adjustments have to be made to get the best results that you possibly can.

In this case, I think your foil is too thick and not adhering to the script as closely as it should, and depending on the paint that you are using, there's a fair possibility that you're not going to be happy with the end result.

 

Another warning is that when sanding and polishing the paint from the script rather than using a solvent, you need to be extremely careful not to go too far.

It's relatively easy to sand through the foil back down to the plastic.

 

By the way, this technique is perfectly applicable to aerosol paints.

This '60 Mercury was done exactly as I described using Duplicolor paints right out of the spray can.

 

 

 

Steve

Edited April 7, 2021 by StevenGuthmiller

[bisc63]

Foil is very malleable, so maybe spend a little extra time rubbing the foil down with a toothpick, dampened to soften the wood fibers. I find that rubbing along the contours of the letters will stretch the metal foil enough to allow it to settle more deeply and fully.

[doorsovdoon]

I wouldn't know what the BMF you get in the States is like, the one with the blue '57 Chevy on the pack, can't get that in the UK. The foil I had was ancient from my artwork days. I cant remember the brand name it just said modelling foil or artists foil? might have been for clay modelling. I have looked online but cant find any proper BMF. I do have sheets of silver leaf, again very old and haven't used it in years and might be a bit too thin for highlighting badge scripts.

[StevenGuthmiller]

11 minutes ago, doorsovdoon said:

I wouldn't know what the BMF you get in the States is like, the one with the blue '57 Chevy on the pack, can't get that in the UK. The foil I had was ancient from my artwork days. I cant remember the brand name it just said modelling foil or artists foil? might have been for clay modelling. I have looked online but cant find any proper BMF. I do have sheets of silver leaf, again very old and haven't used it in years and might be a bit too thin for highlighting badge scripts.

You might want to talk to Geoff Brown (GeeBee)

Apparently he's able to get BMF and he's in England.

 

 

 

 

 

Steve

[stitchdup]

39 minutes ago, doorsovdoon said:

I wouldn't know what the BMF you get in the States is like, the one with the blue '57 Chevy on the pack, can't get that in the UK. The foil I had was ancient from my artwork days. I cant remember the brand name it just said modelling foil or artists foil? might have been for clay modelling. I have looked online but cant find any proper BMF. I do have sheets of silver leaf, again very old and haven't used it in years and might be a bit too thin for highlighting badge scripts.

try fred aldous, thats where i get my bmf

[peteski]

8 hours ago, StevenGuthmiller said:

You might want to talk to Geoff Brown (GeeBee)

Apparently he's able to get BMF and he's in England.

Steve

Hey Steve, that looks like a bigger brother to my '57  Chevy.

"The" BMF car.

Speaking of methods for chrome emblems, there is another method:  foil-casting.  That's how I did those 3 "checks" on the front fender and the Chevrolet script on the hood.  This method has been described elsewhere on the forum

Edited April 7, 2021 by peteski

[doorsovdoon]

12 minutes ago, peteski said:

..for chrome emblems, there is another method:  foil-casting.  That's how I did those 3 "checks" on the front fender and the Chevrolet script on the hood.  This method has been described elsewhere on the forum

That's where you press the foil over the script and fill with resin, right? 

[doorsovdoon]

8 hours ago, stitchdup said:

try fred aldous, thats where i get my bmf

Will do, thanks mate.

[StevenGuthmiller]

29 minutes ago, peteski said:

Hey Steve, that looks like a bigger brother to my '57  Chevy.

"The" BMF car.

Speaking of methods for chrome emblems, there is another method:  foil-casting.  That's how I did those 3 "checks" on the front fender and the Chevrolet script on the hood.  This method has been described elsewhere on the forum

Yes, I believe your ‘57 was mentioned in Geoff’s build thread.

 

 

Steve

[peteski]

28 minutes ago, doorsovdoon said:

That's where you press the foil over the script and fill with resin, right? 

That's correct. Then you trim or sand the foil away until all that is left is the emblem.  I usually use CA glue for the filler.

[charlie8575]

On 4/6/2021 at 2:07 PM, doorsovdoon said:

ok, decided on my next project to try this on, the '64 Belvedere. The script badges are incredibly small so I had to use regular kitchen foil which is much thinner than the chrome ducting tape I usually use for trim. Even this doesn't really settle into the raised writing that well. I think after a few coats of paint it's just going to look like a raised lump of silver!

The trick is to burnish the foil with a Q-Tip rather thoroughly. That foil should settle into the recesses with very little trouble. Once done, sanding with fairly fine sandpaper should reveal the foil...and do a nice job polishing it up. Be sure to wet-sand.

As to technique, I've used FUP, I've dry-brushed, and I've tried Molotow. I find it depends on the quality of the engraving that controls my choice, and, to a degree, the amount my foil is (not) cooperating.

Charlie Larkin