WARNING! Not all 1/25 scale is equal.

[mcs1056]

Awful lot of body shaming going on here. I thought that was "cringe."

[Wickersham Humble]

Here's my 'Sling Shot' and comparison to very old Model A tub rod.  Tub BMF-aluninum was old, I guess, wrinkled badly after a few months!  Turquoise candy is Testors or Pactra done in 1962 or so, rest of the kit is Mono parts box and etc. Blower is from AMT 1/25 kit; all sizes over the years!!

If these don't load, don't be surprised...  Wick

[peteski]

I have never (until now) heard or seen BMF wrinkle after application. Was the part in question resin case (as opposed to kit's polystyrene part)?  If yes, maybe the resin shrunk causing the foil to wrinkle?

[Wickersham Humble]

Nope; the interior of the kit body suffered the same result, and it was vintage painted styrene; the hinged cover was just Evergreen flat stock!  I'm trying to get up ambition (to divert time from current in-progress builds) to strip the foil and attempt a re-do.  I hadn't realized how old the BMF was, I guess; it was the natural aluminum finish and because I had almost a full sheet, I suppose it seemed 'fresh'.  Definitely gave the wrong look -- fooey!

I did a rebuild of an ancient 'Double Dragster' frame and 'body' using model rail-road rivets under the BMF (same sheet) that turned out barely acceptable.  It was the base Dragmaster chassis and two-piece enclosure from the 1962 (?) AMT kit -- which we kids welcomed with open arms; so many options (like the Sizzler kit).  I put a blown flathead in it, whitewalls, etc. to resemble a late-'fifties rail, featuring of course the bare-aluminum look panels with rivet lines.

It's expensive, but from that experience, I've kept BMF on hand that is dated/fresh; just in case age was the factor.  I can always use out-of-date foil, I guess, for fancy masking.  A couple of early 'sixties annuals on which I had to rebuild the roofs (damaged when I packed my collection in a big carton when I got my draft notice in 1967 (after becoming 1-A upon getting my B.A.!) and someone set a heavy object on it in our attic.  Covering the cabin glass on the hardtops with BMF protected the elderly clear styrene from damage while I reconstructed the 'bubble-top' roof pillars with brass, epoxy and Bondo!  I peeled it off successfully and believe I used isopropryl alcohol to polish any residual adhesive away, then Meguiar's plastic polish.  (I think old fashioned finishing compound is just as good, however) and it seemed to work okay.  I still have a backlog (at almost eighty) of ancient kits to build, and only have ventured a few resin repros.  Thanks for the suggestion, though; 'and, it's a mystery. Think about it.'

Back in the day, I knew the noticeable difference between 1/25 and 1/24, but never really noted the out-of-scale stuff as much as sixty-five years later.  Things have improved so much in that time!!  I usually don't put any figurines in my kits, but the driver figure in the re-pop "Slingshot" kit looked pretty natural for that era.  I did a lot of massaging of the body parts to get a different look (a short-wheelbase digger has a 'different look' built in -- especially when the hemi is stacked with a 6-71 blower, U-fab multicarb manifold, etc.!) especially the driver's compartment coaming at the rear.  I regret not being able to create my own decals (yet) and using a ultra-fine-point Sharpie pen to attempt the graphics.  I do think that there was an important digger named 'Top Banana' back when.

Thanks for the informed comments, Peteski!  Wick

[peteski]

That BMF problem still seems odd to me. I have used 20+ years old BMF (the original Chrome) on models without having problems with either the adhesive or wrinkling.  BMF as you know if a real metal foil.  To me it seems that to develop wrinkles after application the metal would actually have to expand somehow (with the extra material having to go somewhere, creasting wrinkles), or the surface it was applied to would have to shrink, with the same results. Not sure what the age of the metal foil would have to do with this.  But I do see that the foil on your model is wrinkled. I guess the cause will remain a mystery (and contributing it to the material's age is as explanation as any).

[Wickersham Humble]

Pete; yeah, and there is very little cure to that tonneau cover thing; I couldn't get much with styrene sheet, not using heat, etc.  Sure was a disappointment when it occurred; took it to show anyway just as historical curiousity.  I have a stash shoe-box of my old, old Mono rods kit bits, and along with some Evergreen rectangular tube frame, it is just an almalgam of those parts.  Like I say, the Torq-Thrusts from the Sizzler kit were not introduced, they say, until 1963, so would be a bit newish for that style roadster comp car; crazy straight exhaust stacks, etc.  Oh well... Wick

[Deathgoblin]

  On 2/18/2025 at 1:16 AM, Ace-Garageguy said:

Or no math at all, AKA the Palmer method.

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It looks like it needs bigger wheels and would make a neat CARtoons kinda car.