1/32 Italeri Sabre: USAF, Korean War

[ALF18]

10 hours ago, Geoff M said:

Thanks for the lesson in foiling.  Looking good.  

 

Geoff M

Thanks, Geoff. I am not an expert, but I've learned a few things from previous mistakes. I'm starting with this big Sabre, because I want to apply further lessons learned to the next big Sabre, which will be a tribute to a fallen relative of a good friend: AX_365.

ALF

[Geoff M]

I like foiling, it is kind of relaxing.  I just recently started making my own foil.  Now I have an unlimited supply.

 

Geoff M

[ALF18]

Now for the challenge of the nose section. I cut a piece a bit too large, and roughly tacked it in place with my fingers and fingernails. My main goal at first is to expose the panel lines, so I know where to burnish it down, and what to trim off.

 

If you look carefully here, you'll see I've cut some small slits in the foil that projects beyond the intake lip. One is at the top left (by the panel line for the black area on top of the nose), and the other slit is to the right of it. The idea is that these slits allow me to bend the foil down into the intake. Any splay of the foil is far less evident inside, and it will not affect the shape on the outside of the intake.

 

I start to fold the foil into the intake.

 

I trim carefully along the panel lines surrounding the black, and here's what it ends up looking like.

 

Underneath, I covered the whole panel with the two lights, then cut around the edges of the transparencies and removed the foil.

 

Another view of the nose.

 

A couple mistakes show here. First, above the gun panel, there is a small fold visible going up to the left. That was a crinkle in the foil. I thought it would burnish out, but no amount of pressure and rubbing will fix it (that's what SHE said...). Sorry. The Michael line from The Office just leapt out at me.

Another mistake, easily corrected, is the scraping off of the paint on the panel. I had a hard time removing that foil, because I had mistakenly burnished it down at first, making it super sticky. I can easily repaint that panel.

If I really cared about the finish, I would simply remove the crinkled panel and replace it with a new piece.

 

Again, using a generous amount of foil, I have tacked down a piece using my fingers. Better to use too much, than to have the foil end just short of a panel line (like you can see at the top right of the photo, just below the windscreen).

 

Some chopping and burnishing, and voila. The small grain you can see in this high-resolution photo is the glue. If it is not perfectly uniform, it leaves small surface anomalies like this. At even 1 foot, it doesn't show much.

 

Since the shape of the rudder had actually struck me as odd, I took Mike's advice and chopped it a bit, using an Exacto blade. I don't have a proper file, so I just did some sculpting with the blade. It may not be perfect, but it's a bit thinner and more like a real Sabre rudder.

 

I may further refine the shape, but it's better than before.

 

ALF

[AX 365]

Stupid wrinkles!  Making good progress my friend.

[Neo]

Great start on the foil. For some wrincles you can actually sand them down using a nail file. Also nail polishing sticks are super usefully when foiling. 

 

 

Here is a great article

 

 

[ALF18]

On 2/22/2021 at 11:24 AM, AX 365 said:

Stupid wrinkles!  Making good progress my friend.

Thanks, Mike. Trying to build up motivation to redo that one panel, or at least try Neo's tip.

19 hours ago, Neo said:

Great start on the foil. For some wrincles you can actually sand them down using a nail file. Also nail polishing sticks are super usefully when foiling. 

 

 

Here is a great article

 

 

That's a great article. That guy certainly knows what he's doing. Makes me feel like the amateur I am! 🙂

ALF

[phantom]

That is coming along nice!