I was intrigued by this idea in Daryl Kruse' article. Has anyone else tried this?
I particularly wanted to know how they prepared the flashing for painting. In my
retail hardware paint education, I learned you need to clean the oil off the metal
before the paint would stick. 50/50 solution of vinegar and water should do this.
How would you apply this to wall paneling?
I am freelancing a bridge route between KCS (Gravette) and KATY(Pryor) in the
mid 1950's, the Gravette, Grand Lake, and Western.
I would stay away from the aluminum type flashing. I had a friend that used it (I helped him mount it). It is very flimsy and does not forgive any bend in it. Since my friend lives about 200 miles away, I haven't seen how it has turned out.
However, there is another rolled metal product that will work, and better. That is Coil Metal. It is also aluminum, but slightly thicker, and it comes with paint on it. Usually brown on one side and white on the other. This is the metal that is used by contractors and bent to put on the outside trim of a house when putting on vinyl siding. It doesn't crease easily. It comes 18 inches wide and 24 inches wide. I think the roll is 60 feet long. There is a hardware / building supply store near me that sells it either by the roll or by the foot. To cut it, use a utility knife and score it a couple of times, then bend and snap it. You can clean up the sharp edges with a file.
I have used it for forming curved corners around the outside of a door jam. I secured it to the drywall with screws and anchors, then used drywall mud to blend the two together. Paint was sky blue latex flat painted onto the metal with no prep other than to wipe it down with 90% isopropyl alcohol.
You mentioned applying it to paneling. If it was finished wall paneling that you don't want to mess up, I would build a lightweight framework, attach that to the wall, then attach the coil metal to the frame with drywall screws and fill using drywall mud.
Elmer.
The above is my opinion, from an active and experienced Model Railroader in N scale and HO since 1961.
(Modeling Freelance, Eastern US, HO scale, in 1962, with NCE DCC for locomotive control and a stand alone LocoNet for block detection and signals.) http://waynes-trains.com/ at home, and N scale at the Club.
Another seamless material that can be used are rolls of plastic. These are lighter than aluminum, more flexible and less prone to bending/denting, and can be glued to furring strips mounted on a wall. I have not used this stuff but have seen many examples of it and it looks like it works great for backdrops. Jamie
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