And yet another BMF ?

[Jon Haigwood]

First time using BMF. I am working on a door panel for a 64 Belvadere and I want to put BMF along a section. The problem I am having is that when trying to remove the foil from the area that I don't want it to be it sticks so well that it damages the paint.  The door panels were primed then painted with red. On my second attempt I put down a light coat of Future to give it a protective layer but that did not help. I thought about putting a light coat of wax along the outside edges so the foil would not stick but I plan putting a coat of semi-gloss clear to cut the shine put I am not sure how the clear would work on the waxed areas. If I put the semi-gloss down first I think the area I wax will then be to shiny for the look I want. I did try doing some touch up with a small brush but the paint did not work well with the Future.

Looking for helpful advice from experienced BMFers  

[Art Anderson]

That sounds quite odd, as I've been using BMF since it first came out back in 1970--never had it affect paint that was completely dry.  Are you sure your paint was thoroughly dry, as in "click hard" before foiling?

Art

[Jon Haigwood]

I think the problem was that I was damaging the paint trying to remove the foil more than the foil lifting the paint. The foil stuck so well  I have a hard time removing it.

[JollySipper]

Hey, Jon........ You could try laying some blue painters tape along where you are trying to foil, then apply the foil, trim, then just lift the tape....... it should remove the excess foil along with protecting the paint......

[Jon Haigwood]

Hey, Jon........ You could try laying some blue painters tape along where you are trying to foil, then apply the foil, trim, then just lift the tape....... it should remove the excess foil along with protecting the paint......

I was thinking I might try this. I have some narrow fine line tape that would work for that.

[Yenkocamaro]

Hey Jon, after you burnish it down, and cut it, try a toothpick to start pulling a corner up to remove the excess.

 

Cheers,

Lance 

[Jon Haigwood]

Hey Jon, after you burnish it down, and cut it, try a toothpick to start pulling a corner up to remove the excess.

 

Cheers,

Lance 

I tried that  the toothpick and even the edgeof my fingernail chipped the paint

[StevenGuthmiller]

A good rule of thumb is to leave a little extra hanging over in an area where you can get underneath the excess to pull it off.

Sometimes it can stick well enough where it's hard to get an edge "up" to remove it.

If you leave a little hanging out over the edge of the body, over a window opening, over a panel line, etc, you'll have something to get a hold of when it comes time to remove it.

Another trick is to fold a corner under itself before you burnish it down so you have a small corner that will not stick to grab on to.

 

Steve

Edited June 17, 2016 by StevenGuthmiller

[Jon Haigwood]

A good rule of thumb is to leave a little extra hanging over in an area where you can get underneath the excess to pull it off.

Sometimes it can stick well enough where it's hard to get an edge "up" to remove it.

If you leave a little hanging out over the edge of the body, over a window opening, over a panel line, etc, you'll have something to get a hold of when it comes time to remove it.

Another trick is to fold a corner under itself before you burnish it down so you have a small corner that will not stick to grab on to.

 

Steve

Yeah I tried that but the ripped and left no edge to pull on 

[dshue76]

What paint did you use, and did you wash the parts before paint?

[dshue76]

I've had this happen with Testors Acrylic paints. They are more like a latex paint and don't stick well at all.

[Jon Haigwood]

I've had this happen with Testors Acrylic paints. They are more like a latex paint and don't stick well at all.

This is Dupicolor acrylic lacquer. Decanted and applied with an airbrush seems to have a fast drying time.   

[dshue76]

How certain are you that the plastic was clean? I've never had a problem with Duplicolor lifting or being fragile. Is the primer lifting as well?

One tip is you must have a very sharp blade when you trim the applied BMF so that you do not cut through the paint, but you still seem to have a problem with paint adhesion. One option is to spray the entire panel with a gloss clear lacquer to try to consolidate the entire surface. You can always go back and add a flat or semigloss clear after the BMF.

Edited June 17, 2016 by dshue76

[Jon Haigwood]

I think my my problem is tat the paint is not as dried as I thought it was and the foil is sticking to well to it. The paint didn't lift it was damaged by me trying to remove the sticky foil. I have another set of panels and will start fro scratch .

[Cato]

I think my my problem is tat the paint is not as dried as I thought it was and the foil is sticking to well to it. The paint didn't lift it was damaged by me trying to remove the sticky foil. I have another set of panels and will start fro scratch .

I suggest Frisket Paper instead of BMF. Excellent tack, not too much or too little. On completely dry Dupli primer or color, it will not leave residue if removed in 12 hours or less. You get an excellent sharp line if you cut with new scalpel blade.

[espo]

Many many good ideas on the foil removal. Something that I don't think anyone mentioned is that you want to be very careful when burnishing the foil to use as little if any pressure beyond the trim you're foiling. I have also had some experience with the adhesive residue you mentioned, but my experience is that it has more to do with individual sheets than the product as a whole. What I did in that case was to use a hard pointed type of Q-tip that I think I got from Tamiya. I lightly dipped the tip in their X-20A Thinner to remove the residue from the painted area, then wiped it clean. These cotton tipped tools work well when burnishing the foil also.

[Jon Haigwood]

Many many good ideas on the foil removal. Something that I don't think anyone mentioned is that you want to be very careful when burnishing the foil to use as little if any pressure beyond the trim you're foiling. I have also had some experience with the adhesive residue you mentioned, but my experience is that it has more to do with individual sheets than the product as a whole. What I did in that case was to use a hard pointed type of Q-tip that I think I got from Tamiya. I lightly dipped the tip in their X-20A Thinner to remove the residue from the painted area, then wiped it clean. These cotton tipped tools work well when burnishing the foil also.

That could be a big part of it also. I used a regular fuzzy type Q tip that probably burnished outside of the area I wanted to foil.

[crazyjim]

Throw the Q-Tips in the garbage and replace with makeup applicators.  They have a pointy end and a flatter end.  Get them at Walgreens - not Wal-Mart or CVS.  The Walgreens units work the best.

[StevenGuthmiller]

Many many good ideas on the foil removal. Something that I don't think anyone mentioned is that you want to be very careful when burnishing the foil to use as little if any pressure beyond the trim you're foiling.

Very true.

I don't do much burnishing until after the trim is cut.

As far as the adhesive residue goes, as long as you don't intend to do any more painting on the body, a dab of WD-40 on a Q-tip will take it right off with zero effort.

 

Steve

[Jon Haigwood]

All good info Folks. I knew I asked at the right place Thanks 

[gtx6970]

When I do mine, I barely burnish it down much at all till AFTER its trimmed . Just enough to hold it in place is all you need.

Once trimmed away have at it with Q tips, Kleenix, mild / soft paper towels .

[MrObsessive]

I use a chamois cloth to burnish down the BMF and to shine things up. You can fold the cloth to get in those tight spaces and the cloth is akin to your own skin. I don't think you can get much softer than that.

[StevenGuthmiller]

Pieces of old cotton t-shirt material is what I use for.......well, pretty much everything! 

 

Steve

[Drake69]

I also suggest clear coating your paint prior to BMF. If it becomes too glossy you can go over it with Dullcoat to drop it back down again.

[Jon Haigwood]

Thanks for all the info and tips. I repainted then let it dry fully. I didn't burnish it until after I cut the edges and removed the excess. Then I burnished it down with this fine tipped painting pencil I found at Michels (pack of 5 for $5). I know it is not perfect but it's a lot better than my previous results. Now I have to dull coat it and figure out how to do the door and window handles.

Thanks Again You folks are the Greatest

Jon