RE: Foil question
Sorry, I should have explained a little better.
I ordered my Comp ARF P-51 today and have been playing with foil on a plastic model to figure out a few things.
1. Which foil do I like the best? Aeroscale foil, Flite Metal, Foil from Solo Props or the foil tape I found at the local hobby store.
2. I wanted to practice a little bit before my plane arrives and I have to go LIVE!
3. Learn about the entire process from applying, sanding, buffing, polish, weathering, painting, etc.
Right now, I'm prefering the Flite metal, then solo's foil, third Aerofoil, and last the hardware foil. Flite metal seems to be the easiest to apply. it also seems to have more stretch to it. Both solo's foil and aerofoil benefit from a little windex on the surface of the model to aid in getting the foil down nicely. Solofoil seems to stretch a bit more than the aerofoil. the hardware foil doesn't like the windex treatment and it doesn't stretch at all that i can tell. it also seems to be thicker than any of them. I might use the thicker stuff where boo boo's are more likely to happen. I also tested some sanding on the various foils tonight and had very little success. Wet sanding with 320, 400, or 600 quickly sanded through the metal and into the plastic. I don't know if I was doing something wrong or what. I then switched to 3200, 4000, 6000, 8000, 10,000, and 12,000. 8000 and then 10,000 produced the best results and I didnt sand through the metal at all.
a. Do you just dip the sand paper into the water and sand with it?
b. Is there an agent like windex to put on the model prior to putting flite metal on?
c. Can someone take a picture of "orange peel" so i can see what it looks like? I think I'm seeing it, but I'm not entirely sure. Also, the surface of the plastic model may not produce the effect like a fiberglass model.
Everything I've found out have been over a 2 day period. It is by no means extensive, and it's more like my initial reactions. Keep in mind this is a 1:35 scale plastic model of a p-51. The rivets are absoluely tiny and the panel lines are exagerated and deep. I'm not sure how this will translate to the larger Comp-ARF P-51 that is about 1:4.5 scale. I covered different, similarly shaped and sized pieces tonight with the 4 various foils and will sand them tomorrow. Hopefully I'll have had some time to do some research on wet sanding, heh.