StevenGuthmiller

Okay, now that one looks like it was made out of fruit loops boxes and Campbell's soup cans! Will it ever end? Steve

Thanks guys. I have to apologize. I had forgotten that I had posted a similar tutorial about foiling wheel well moldings sometime back! Well, you know what they say........the memory is the second thing to go! Steve

Thanks folks! At this point I'm calling the re-worked steering wheel finished. Into the interior it goes! Steve

I occasionally get asked about some of my foiling techniques, and as wheel arch moldings sometimes give me the most problems, I thought some of you might find this technique useful if you have not tried it. Of course, the first step is to cut and apply a large enough piece of foil to cover the wheel opening. As you would with any section of foil, press it down tight into the edges with a small conical swab, sharpened tooth pick, or whatever your tool of choice is, and lightly burnish the surface with a soft cloth. Then using a sharp #11 blade, cut the overhang of the foil within about a 1/8 to 1/4" around the inside of the wheel well for folding over into the inside of the body. Next, carefully burnish the foil over the edge of the fender lip with a swab all of the way into the inside of the fender until secure. (This does not have to be done perfectly as the majority of the over hang will be removed later.) Using a straight edge, cut very thin strips of blue painters tape to be used as a cutting guide. I generally cut these strips approximately 1mm wide. The thinner the strip, the easier it will be to "bend" around the radius of the wheel well. In this case, because the radius is so round, I found it easier to use 2 strips and bend each half way around the opening. I like blue painters tape for this operation for a couple of reasons. One, It has sufficient thickness to allow the blade to ride along it's edge as a cutting guide, and two, the blue color is a helpful contrast to the foil and the blade to aid in being able to see what you are doing as you cut. The taping operation can take some time under magnification with a fine tweezers to insure it is applied properly, but I feel that it's worth the time in the end. Once the tape is applied, using a sharp #11 blade, begin the cut on one end, working your way slowly and carefully around the opening, watching to be sure that your blade tip is riding up against the edge of the tape as you go. Being right handed, I find that this is the easiest if you start on the end with the blue tape on the left side of the tip of your blade. Once the cut has been finished, you can remove the tape, and then very slowly and carefully begin pulling up the excess foil. I take my time because on occasion, the blade can run up onto the tape for a very short distance and may not cut through the foil. In this circumstance, the foil can tear if you remove it too quickly, ruining the piece. If you come to a section that has not been cut through, (in most cases these are extremely short sections) you can stop and cut through the foil in that area as you go. Occasionally, starting and stopping your cut can cause this problem as well as lifting and resetting the blade may not result in the cut being perfectly continuous. Once the excess foil has been removed, you can begin the burnishing process. I start by using the tip of a conical swab and a sharpened tooth pick to be certain that the edge of the foil is set securely into the corners where the trim meets the body. Then, using a soft cotton rag, burnish the piece to a high luster. The final step is not absolutely necessary, but I like to remove the excess foil from the inside of the body as well by carefully free hand cutting along the center of the inside of the wheel opening. I use this exact same "blue tape" technique for virtually all of the foil on my models. It will help insure that all of your cuts are perfectly straight. I hope this tutorial will be useful to some of you. It has revolutionized my perspective on the foiling process. I find that using this technique, I get better results than I was ever able to get trying to follow the grooves or free handing trim as I did in the past. The results can be phenomenal! Good luck, and happy modeling!! Steve

It's almost like the designer of this car went over every square square inch of it asking himself, "how can I make this piece uglier"!! I can't find a single detail on this thing that's attractive, and I've looked it over pretty good! It has to be one of the worst designs that I've ever seen! Steve

Responded to. Steve

Oh no my friend! You're not getting off that easily! You are obligated to view the original vehicle posted by the OP just like the rest of us! And covering your eyes is not acceptable! Enjoy! Steve

I guess you weren't kidding when you said you were just getting started Joe!!! You're on a roll my friend! Steve

Many, many thanks guys! I appreciate it! I thank you Jarrod, but it's not really as grand or noble as that. Just a "kid" who still loves putting together little plastic cars EVEN MORE than he did 50 years ago. Steve

I don't have any problem at all with people who love the Molotow ink and use it liberally, but in my personal experience, The Molotow is way too fragile for external parts. Even after more than a week of curing time, I've had small parts done with the ink dull almost instantly upon touching. Yeah, I know, this will prompt a dozen posts from folks stating that they have never had this issue, but I have, and I certainly don't want to spend eternity handling a particular model with kid gloves just in case I might leave a smudge on a bumper. My philosophy is, if I'm going to pour my time and creativity into a model, I'm not going to take short cuts, and I'm going to use the best materials possible. Especially in lieu of the fact that I choose to spend my time building vintage plastic, they will get re-chromed parts on every occasion, and will as long as it's possible to do so. I wouldn't be opposed to using Alclad or Molotow for large external parts if a viable, tough, clear coat was available that would not dull the chrome effect of the finish and was tough enough to protect the finish and be able to be polished perfectly smooth like any other paint. I would be chroming all of my own bumpers if this were the case. That level of durability would be the only way that I would ever entertain using one of these products on something as exposed and vulnerable as a bumper. But hey.......that's just me. Edit: Here are a pair of "Fireball Modelworks" GM door handles for my '68 442 project that were shot with Alclad chrome. Steve

Just little stuff today. got the battery detailed and installed along with the intake scoops. I also got the thin trim around the tail light lenses foiled. Steve

I appreciate all of your encouraging comments fellas! I hadn't really thought about it Kevin, but I am not above helping out a fellow modeler on occasion. I'm not really sure of how a guy would go about charging a reasonable fee for such a job. I spent a good portion of an afternoon foiling half of this Olds. If I had to guess, I would say that I probably spent at least a good 4 hours continuously at the bench doing what I've done so far. If that's any indication of the total time required, we're probably talking at least 8 hours of actual work time, depending on the model. What is my time worth? Good question! But even on the low side, I would expect that very few people would value themselves at less than $12.00 per hour. So, even at that rate, we're talking nearly $100.00 just for a foil job, and that doesn't include materials. Materials are not particularly expensive, (foil, tape, swabs, toothpicks) but still, we are probably talking about $120.00 minimum. If I recall correctly, the '59 El Camino is not particularly labor intensive as far as foil work goes, except for around the glass areas, but my guess is that we would still be talking about somewhere in that 8 hour time frame. Anyway Kevin, all that said, if you would like to talk about anything related to this subject, shoot me a PM. I'm certainly willing to talk to you about it. Steve

Great work!! Steve

Okay guys, here is a quick "sneak peek" as I fumble around with some test fitting to insure that everything will go together okay. So far I believe that I'm on the right track. Steve

Thanks folks! I appreciate your kind comments. Really pretty simple Dave. The valve stems are just short pieces of stretched black sprue that were inserted from the back side through holes drilled in the wheel. The wheel weights are also short pieces of stretched sprue that I bent to put a slight curve in them and then glued to the wheel rim and painted aluminum. I added a couple of thin lines of aluminum paint from the weight, around the edge of the rim to simulate the weight clamps. No more complicated than that. Steve

I guess this thing does what it is supposed to do.........get attention. Steve

I use a method utilizing tape to help guide the blade. It greatly reduces the risk of slipping, and helps considerably to maintain a perfectly straight cut. I never would have gotten the fender well trim so perfectly round without running a thin strip of blue painters tape around the outside edge before cutting. Steve

As I said, everyone has his own sense of what looks good. Steve

Very cool! I can't say that I like the wheels, but to each his own. To me those large diameter wheels make a car, whether a model or a 1:1, look like a toy. Maybe that's the intention. Steve

Got a fairly good jump on foiling the body today. keeping the fender well moldings perfectly round is a bit of a pisser!! Steve

I suppose I could understand increased road contact for racing, but something makes me think that this behemoth is not really going to ever be pressed hard in the corners. As far as I'm concerned, it's an utterly useless idea on a street car, and not particularly aesthetically pleasing either. Seems like an added tire expense with no benefit whatsoever. Steve

Beautiful!! That is if you can call a '62 Plymouth "beautiful". Steve

Someone needs to explain to me what the deal is with the four front wheels on all of these "renditions". What is the point? I have to say, it seems to me to be one of the most useless and ridiculous looking things ever. Steve

Thanks so much guys!! I believe I am at least getting close to the final stages. Finishing foiling the body will likely be the last time consuming task remaining, although there are plenty of little things to do yet. That sounds like work! Especially for a tech illiterate such as myself! Steve

Looks like something that Cruella Deville or Gru from "Despicable Me" would drive. In other words, it's closer to a "cartoon" than a "car". Steve