Super Detailing...FOILED

[pj1775]

Hello All:
For those of you that don't know me, Im a 31 YO live-long modeler. I read someplace that painted aluminum foil can yield great drapes that happen to be blowing through an open window.

Has any of you developed your own useful modeling techniques using aluminum foil?

Just wondering. After working with it, it just seems as though it should have much more application in the scratch or bash building realm. Am I a man without a country on this one? What are your thoughts?

[Walter Clot]

I used foil to line several gondolas. I then placed lots of "junk" items in it and glued them in. I pained all the visable junk and foil various rust colors. I can remove the "junk" (scrap) when I want and run an empty.

Walter

[Anonymous]

Tissues for cleaning glasses or camera lenses works even better for curtains blowing out of model windows. Nice and fine and see-through.

Bob Boudreau

[orsonroy]

I use foil tape (sold for fixing ductwork) for flashing, builder's plates, and anything else that needs a thin, flexible, but visible part that doesn't model well with .005" styrene or brass (the foil tape is about .003" thick).

[maandg]

pj1775,

I have used aluminum foil for a couple of applications on my layout. In this first photo, you can see how I created the blowing curtains you mentioned in the third story windows. I first spray paint the foil an appropriate color (in this case white) with a cheap can of flat spray paint. After shaping the foil to form creases and folds, I weather them with an India ink & alcohol mixture.



In this second photo, I made the tarp covering the back of the Shay using the same techniques, this time using a beige spray paint.



Aluminum foil is a really versatile modeling material. Has anyone else used it for other purposes?

[GAPPLEG]

I have molded foil over cars, burnished it down tight lifted it off and had car bodies and or fender etc. for my junk yard. No pictures, never thought about photo's of them.

[Anonymous]

I have not tried it, but I've seen an illistration on modeling moving water using foil in a scenery book. Foils strips mounted on an angle, under a plexiglass sheet for a water surface, are moved by a small fan and reflecting blue light, gives a shimmering effect to the water surface.

[nobullchitbids]

For those unfamiliar with them, Campbell kits long have used scribed foil to represent corrugated siding. It is very delicate and easily damaged but very effective.

[johncolley]

Crinkle it up, stretch it out, paint it flat or grimy black, makes a great rock textured tunnel liner! jc5729

[Anonymous]

I have used heavy-duty kitchen alumunum foil (Reynolds) for mountains on my HOn3 and N gauge layouts. I tacked strips of cardboard to the framework for support, then formed the foil (dull side out) over them and attached it with hotmelt glue. I then coated the foil with texture paint. The paint can be purchased in different colors like brown or green or you can add coloring to the paint. It held up well as long as you don't push in on it. You can put holes in it to add bushes and trees. It is also lightweight. Hope this is helpful to someone.

[perstuen]

It is also common to crinkle it, strech it and fold it to some sort of shallow bowl. Then pour plaster to make rock castings.

Bjarne, Norway

[mopacforever]

Awesome idea. I never thought of that.

QUOTE: Originally posted by GAPPLEG

I have molded foil over cars, burnished it down tight lifted it off and had car bodies and or fender etc. for my junk yard. No pictures, never thought about photo's of them.

[mopacforever]

FOIL:
I have also used the extra heavyweight baking foil to make corrugated aluminum (or steel) siding for buildings and roofs. I epoxied several pieces of straight wire to plywood. They are all lined up parallel to eachother. Then I use a burnishing tool to form the foil to the wires. It make a really good looking form and when it is weathered, looks good.

ALUMINUM DUCT TAPE:
I have used the Aluminum foil duct tape cut into .5mm strips to make metal banding for anything mounted to a pallet, and also to hold my cross tie bundles together. I even use small pieces to make the small clamps that hold the bending tight once it's stretched. I then take a black permanent marker and color them black. It is not as close to scale as I would like it, but it looks good, and from 3 feet away, convicing.

CANS:
I use old coke can aluminum to make stacks of flat metal or aluminum for palletized loads. It's light, its real metal, and once banded, looks good on a loading dock or flat car. I use a paper cutter to make the cuts really straight. But be very careful, its sharp and can cut you very easily until you smooth off the edges with light sandpaper.

[iamthebigski]

I have used it to make rock castings. Kind of crinkle it up, pour in the soupy plaster, let it partially set and then apply. Worked great. I use cooking spray as the release agent.

[labtexan]

I have used heavy duty foil to line river and lake beds before pouring the water. I don't try to crinkle it, but stuff happens and the crinkles add character to the bed. Of course I paint it the desired colors before pouring the water mixture. Be careful not to puncture the foil when puttung it in place.

[Anonymous]

A friend took the type of metallic duct tape (with the adhesive backing) and "crinkled" it by smooshing it in a vice between two pieces of hardwood. On the one piece he glued a piece of Evergreen styrene that had the right kind of "wrinkles. He would cut pieces of the metallic duct tape with an old paper cutter (got cleaner cuts that way), put the cut piece between the two blocks of wood, and then bear down on the two blocks in a vice. The result was a piece of now crinkled metallic foil with an adhesive backing which could be used for roofing, siding, or what have you. Couple of hints: 1. Be sure of the direction of the piece of styrene's "wrinkles" and the piece of metallic duct tape, and 2. Be sure you always put the same side of the wood blocks to the clamp so you don't put inadvertant clamp marks on both sides of the piece of wood the styrene piece is pushing into (you can guess how I learned that one).

[Anonymous]

I've used aluminum foil for over30 years, and on a half-dozen layouts, crinkled, spraypainted,
for background mountains, coverings of unsightly wall sockets, removeable sections for access to hard to reach spots,
as well as for casting plaster mountains.
Additionally, it can be "moulded" into corregated siding/roofing, and as others have said, sheet metal and "junk" for
scrap loads
Hobo Joe

[reklein]

I Buy a peice of styrene corrugated material and burni***he foil onto it with a paper towel. Then use a new #11 blade to cut it to the correct sizes. One pack of corrugated styrene may not be enough so I buy it more as a tool. I attach the foil with a white glue used by R/Cers called R/C 56 . Its used to glue canopies to balsa but it works really well for a lot of unlike materials and is water based. It also tacks up fairly quickly. "gets sticky fast". Using the styrene also allows me to change scales too. One can make a lot of syles of metal roofing using this method. Foil also seems to take paint fairly well. A recent thread stated that" several coats of DULLCOTE will kill the shine for a straight dull metal look.

[Anonymous]

cut 1 inch squares ,and roll around a small machine screw, then pres firmly until threads show in fiol, unscrew, glue and you've got corrigated pipe, glue it, crush one end paint brown and rust and it will make scrap load or put along ditch,or junk pile

[Bob grech]

I made my Drapes using bits of toilet paper and white glue. If you use a single ply type, your drapes will have that transparent look. However, they are a bit tricky to install. Once installed, they can be set in place using a mixture of water and white glue. One or two drops of water (with an eyedropper) is all you need.