BMFing badging and emblems

[Nick Winter]

I'm getting the hang of everything else but this has me stumped.

[charlie8575]

Try foiling before painting. I'm giving it a shot on the '60 Chevy pickup I'm building, and it seems to be working.

Once painted, buff the paint off with polishing cloths or very fine polishing compound.

Charlie Larkin

[Harry P.]

Two ways to do it.

A. Cover the badge or emblem with a piece of foil just slightly bigger than the badge or emblem before you apply paint, and burnish it down thoroughly. Then after you finish painting, you can use polishing compound to remove the paint that's over the emblem, revealing the foil beneath.

B. Foil the scripts after painting. Cut out a piece of foil a bit bigger than the area you want to cover, apply the foil, burnish it lightly, remove the excess with a sharp X-acto blade and burnish with a Q-tip. You need a steady hand and a magnifier of some sort.

Neither way is particularly easy... it takes practice, patience and skill to do it either way. Sorry... no easy shortcuts or tricks.

[Nick Winter]

thanks guys, harry i figured there wasn't a easy way.

[Scale-Master]

If you opt to use the BMF “before†painting method, I have found removing each layer of paint (or primer) from the foil after each coat makes for a better outcome.

You can use a little thinner or compound, whichever is your preference, just be sure to get all the compound out of the crevices before applying your next coat of paint.

[Harry P.]

And of course there's always the PE option.

Model Car Garage and others sell photoetched detail sets for many specific existing kits (including scripts and emblems), and also generic detail sets. If the model you're building has a PE detail set available, you could sand all the scripts and emblems off the body and then apply the PE scripts and emblems after painting.

[Guest madazzskilzkustumz]

Make sure there is no wax or the BMF will slide around when U try 2 cut it. Thanks. JIMMY!

[Nick Winter]

If you opt to use the BMF “before†painting method, I have found removing each layer of paint (or primer) from the foil after each coat makes for a better outcome.

You can use a little thinner or compound, whichever is your preference, just be sure to get all the compound out of the crevices before applying your next coat of paint.

thanks Mark

And of course there's always the PE option.

Model Car Garage and others sell photoetched detail sets for many specific existing kits (including scripts and emblems), and also generic detail sets. If the model you're building has a PE detail set available, you could sand all the scripts and emblems off the body and then apply the PE scripts and emblems after painting.

for now I'll stick to BMF Harry maybe PE eventually.

[Chuck Most]

One other thing to consider... some scripts are much easier to do than others. It's much easier to detail the scripts and badges when they're well-engraved in the first place, than the ones which are so faint they vanish under the first 'mist' of primer!

[sak]

, and also generic detail sets.

Are you refering to this?

http://www.detailmaster.com/Merchant2/graphics/00000001/DM-2080%20LG.jpg

Why can't make one of these but with scripts from real cars like nova, chevelle, coupe deville etc? They do have a "super" script but no "sport" script. And buick made a car called a "special" but nobody made a kit for it.

Sorry to hijack the thread but I can't be the only one who just wants the scripts and not the whole detail set for a specific car.

But anyways if you decide to put the foil on after you can thin some paint, same color as the car and brush it over the script to fill in the holes in the letters. Oh and one more thing. If you put the foil on before the paint and polish it off, would not be a bad idea to put some masking tape around the borders if you used a light color. I noticed that polishing or rubbing the foil will muck up the paint around it.

Edited October 16, 2010 by sak

[Nick Winter]

, and also generic detail sets.

Are you refering to this?

http://www.detailmaster.com/Merchant2/graphics/00000001/DM-2080%20LG.jpg

Why can't make one of these but with scripts from real cars like nova, chevelle, coupe deville etc? They do have a "super" script but no "sport" script. And buick made a car called a "special" but nobody made a kit for it.

Sorry to hijack the thread but I can't be the only one who just wants the scripts and not the whole detail set for a specific car.

But anyways if you decide to put the foil on after you can thin some paint, same color as the car and brush it over the script to fill in the holes in the letters. Oh and one more thing. If you put the foil on before the paint and polish it off, would not be a bad idea to put some masking tape around the borders if you used a light color. I noticed that polishing or rubbing the foil will muck up the paint around it.

Thanks Jeff.

[Chuck Kourouklis]

Yup, everybody's covered the painting-over-foil method pretty thoroughly, and I'd just add that I have a personal preference for this method. The Trumpeter Monte Carlo had some faint scripts, but I got 'em looking sharp as photo etch using this method, if not more so - particularly with paint removal between each coat.

A true master of painted-foil scripts is Tom Miller, who goes by the handle "Bluemoose" on this and other forums. His work is so phenomenal, he sold me on this technique for good.

[Pete J.]

Here is a method that I have used before and it is a bit trickier, but it works well with a little care.

1) Cover the script or badges with BMF and burnish is down well.

2) Cover the BMF with a thick layer of white glue. I like to use micro scales Krystal Klear.

3) After the glue dries, coat it with putty so you can get a good grip on the whole blob of stuff.

4) Pull it off of the model. The adhesive on the BMF will let go pretty easily. If you leave an edge of BMF beyond the glue and putty, you can start by lifting that.

5) Fill the back side of the BMF with super glue and let it harden.

6) With a fine file or sanding stick, sand or file the back flat and sand away the BMF until all you have left is the script embedded in the white glue.

7) Soak the whole thing in warm to hot water to dissolve the white glue. Once that dissolves you will have a "chrome" BMF script which can then be reapplied after the model is built and painted. This also works well to move script or badges that are in the wrong position or that you need for another car.

Good luck!

[my66s55]

There is a guy on a web sight that shows how to use Alclad to paint scripts and interior chrome pieces with a brush. I have it saved in my favorites, but can't locate it right now. He applies it the same as using spray only with a brush. Brush on black enamel first, then multiple thin coats of Alclad. It looks really nice. I'm going to try it on a spare body and see how it works for me.

[Nick Winter]

thanks fella's.