bare metal foil

[mongoose]

hey everyone. im considering using bare metal foil to totally cover this old model spaceship i have. just wondering if there was anyway to tint different panels for a more varied appearance. i read about one guy who boiled tin foil with eggshells and his model really turned out great. very realistic but im thinking tin foil is too heavy for my aplication. maybe i will have to settle for bare metal foil and paint. i have lots of foil but no metalizer paints and the nearest hobbyshop is 5 hours away. any ideas? thanks

[Mr. Badwrench]

BMF has a slight grain to it. Try mixing the grain up on different panels, running the grain at right angles from one panel to the next. You can also scour the foil with steel wool to change its appearance. Try painting clear gloss and clear flat on different panels to further break things up.

[Romulan Spy]

Once you have the foil in place on the model, try rubbing it with very fine 4-0 steel wool. Rub a little for a satin finish, rub a lot for a duller finish. Also try pastel chalks. Scuffing the foil with steel wool should leave it rough enough for the chalks to stick. Use Post-It notes to mask off individual panels.

[mongoose]

thanks guys, i used to clean up my old bike parts with steel wool and in a million years i never would of thought of using it on the foil. super idea and i know already it will have just the effect i was looking for. also im gonna try the gloss and flats with the chalks, simply because it sounds like a lot of fun to experiment and this kit could provide some experience for other "natural" skinned models i want to tackle.
thanks again for the fast replies.

[Kekker]

Another thing you might try is metal polish. The stuff you use for polishing brass and so forth. You can get a really nice shine if you go at it long enough, or it can darken the metal if you use it just a little.

Kev

[scanam2005]

I have had good results airbrushing very light coats of different colors on Bare Metal Foil before applying it. I can darken it or change the shade by lightly misting coats. The foil then is applied as it usually is. On very complex curves, this process does not work as well.