I think Harry DOES read all the posts. When he's not at the computer, he has those strobing LED readouts, ala "Times Square" all over the house.
He is the ALL SEEING, ALL KNOWING Harry!
When I read the title, I knew I have heard his name before. I don't know if it is from the msg boards. Perhaps it's the builds that Drew shared. No matter, it is a sad loss for our hobby.
No. The foil is smooth, and soft. Never had a problem. Use a new piece of foil... nothing there to harm anything.
I will also use foil to cover (part of) an engine assembly so the paint won't rub through.
This.... is one of THE most stunning contemporary customs that I have ever seen! Everything about it is so right. The satin gray finish, accented by the red, the speedster windscreen, the stance, everything!
A possible alternative, is to wrap a piece of aluminum foil around the model. Just leave the area you are working on exposed. You can move the foil around depending what part of the model you're working on.
Mike, are you really throwing away bodies that you had problems with? Why not just strip the paint off, and start over? You are not alone, plenty of us have to repaint.
Also wondering if you use a dehydrator between paints? At least you would know the substrate was 100% cured before topcoating.