want to make a b-25 that ws hot up and crashed landed

From the inside out. Thin the plastic then poke a hole with a x-acto blade.

This. A thick, sharp needle might work even better for punching a round hole than an X-acto.

Just wondering why from the inside out when the bullet goes from the outside inward.

From the inside out, thin.

From the outside out, poke with an Xacto
Bullet holes made by another aircraft are rarely round, they looks more like bruises.

To replicate torn shot up metal you are best using metal...in this case foil or thin aluminum sheet.

Carve out the panel where you want the damage to be...glue and set in a piece of aluminum. Make sure it blends in as if it was part of the model.



I'll illustrate this on a separate piece of metal not installed so you understand the process of how to create the damage.
Use a knife to score the "tears" in the metal from the backside of the panel.

For entry points push the pin from outside to in. For exit push the pin from inside to out.

Use needle nose pliers or HD tweezers to pull the prescored "tears" to replicate the jagged torn metal

Here is a comparison between the old IMC battle damaged parts they offered in some of their kits.

Scratch build some of the interior components from styrene stock or the aluminum to represent the spars and stringers inside the area where the damage occurred. You can paint this before you inflict the damage...the will allow the bare metal edges of the damaged area to naturally appear after you tear into the metal to create the damage.

Thinning plastic is fine, but if it is handled too much it can become brittle and break...whereas using foil or aluminum provides a more realistic and durable option...IMO.

TIP: Anneal the foil or aluminum to make it easier to work with.




This process works for ships, cars and armor as well.

Thanks for the tutorial!

I never thought of using metal to duplicate that.

The first method was the one that Shep Paine taught all of us back in the 70's

I used to study those old diorama sheets and dream.


Glad I still have them

I dug the wing section I was using and quickly sprayed some paint on the thing. I didn't even give in more than a few minutes to dry nor did I finish blending in the aluminum panel I inserted...I just wanted to illustrate the effect one can get using the method I described above.



If you notice, you don't have to apply any paint to replicate the exposed metal edges that the damage would expose...its there already! Plus the added effect of the dents that the bullets impact create...in this case it is done with the pin used to puncture the metal.

One other point...I've seen too many guys use too large of pin to make the bullet and cannon holes in their aircraft. Remember scale effect...a 20mm, 50 cal or 7.62mm round is mighty small in 1:48 scale. Some of the bullet holes look like they were made with 6 inch rounds off a battleship. Flak holes will be jagged and irregular as they are created by pieces of the rounds casing slashing through the skin. This can range from small little holes to big tears.

Thank you Hawkeye for the tutorial. Good stuff!

well, Hawkeye, you just inspired me to try this technique.
my stash needs to be used as i need to build planes, not buy them in the current financial turmoil lol. i have a spare 1/48 Beaufighter that will be the basis of my work. plan on scratch building and using photo etch on the interior (will do a 'cut away' somehow so it can all be seen too i think)
on an engine, there will be your idea for battle damage. dont know if i will do fire damage though (havent mastered the airbrush enough to replicate the scorched white/grey effect of burnt paint/metal yet), so what i may do is just have a feathered prop, a shattered engine block, loads of oil staining, torn panels etc.

any more tips you can share? was curious, if i cant get my hands on a piece of aluminium (could try LHS but then, i wana save money, not spend it) could the aluminium foil from things like baking tins and cakes etc be used?

The sheets of aluminum I had and use are from the old days when they were used for printing. However you can find thin sheets of aluminum at craft and hobby shops. You can also use heavy duty (commercial grade) kitchen foil.

Here's a suggestion to make sizing your panel out of aluminum easier. First select the panel which you are going to replace with metal. Mark it.


Then overlay it with masking tape. Marking the panel first makes it easier to see through the tape. With a sharp blade cut the tape around the panel detail.


Carefully remove the tape from the panel...this is your cutting template for the aluminum. Stick it to the aluminum and cut around the edges of the template. I cut mine a little larger so I can trim it to fit as snugly as possible. That means less filling to blend the new fillet in.




Oh you can use the center piece of the tape mask, I chose to use the outside for better visibility of the piece I was removing. You can score with a knife to cut out the metal but I prefer using Xuron's PET Shear.

sorry about the bad picture, but this was done quick and nasty style earlier to test an idea i had.

i drilled a hole maybe 50mm diameter, and used CA glue to fix a small piece of regular kitchen foil over the hole. stuck well, and with better sanding it would blend perfect. the 'frag' holes were the tip of a blade just being jabbed through the foil.

what i plan on doing is something a little more refined. will drill holes maybe 10mm diameter or less across the engine cowling and wing area where i want to simulate the effect from a shrapnel burst etc. will smooth edges, then glue a patch of foil to the whole panel area, making sure to smooth it completely etc. will spray and decal as normal, then, just before weathering i will tear at the foil over the drill holes to simulate the damage.

in theory i think it will work just fine. may see if i have a dead kit with recessed panel lines i can experiment on to make sure...

You can make cowling sections quite easily. Just cut the appropriate size piece of metal...and bend it over the cowl. To tighten up the radius so it will better hold its shape bend it around something small diameter. Then you can remove part of the cowl and insert it into place.





If you want to do a complete cowl, make yourself a wooden buck that you can hammer and shape the metal over to get the right shape. You could use the plastic cowl, just be careful. Again you can cut out sections and replace with metal to facilitate damage. Anneal your aluminum to give it greater flexibility for shaping. Keep your metal outline to the shape of the panel for more convincing appearance. A round or oval patch will look out of place where the panels are all squared.

Also remember the ballistics...cycle rate of fire at a moving aircraft won't necessarily have holes that are close together and in a straight line. Study pictures such as this to see what patterns to copy. Note that not every piece punctured the surface...only chipped away the paint and made shallow dents.



Different materials react and show damage in differing ways...metal, fabric and composites all required different techniques and materials to replicate damage.

I used a similair technique to replicate the flak damage on my P-47. See the 6 June ARC. I used aluminum foil to replicate the damage.

gonna have to agree with you T-bone, foil does appear to give 'in-scale' damage.
here are some pics of a quick and nasty experiment i did earlier.

drilled some holes of varying sizes, and then tried to carefully (am working on it....) glueing foil over the entire panel that is damaged



did a quick spray of a mix of grey and black to give better relief foe the silver foil edges



i dont think it turned out badly. when i use this technique on my next project, i think i will use pva glue (is this even possible?) to stick the foil down so it will settle smoother.

as an after thought too, i realised that as the foil is so delicate, if i wanted to simulate oil leaking from the damaged area of the bullet hole, then (obv after full painting decaling etc) i should prick/rip the foil starting at the front of the aircraft, and work backwards, doing the oil streaks as i go, one bullet hole at a time..........

the other way i may try, is to literally 'patch' over some drilled holes, use CA as a sanding agent to blend the patch in, then rip the foil.

I think this may be a candidate for a sticky post!

Also, don't forget, those cowlings had many dents in them, just check out some of the WWII pics, I saw the Enola Gay had a huge dent on one of its cowlings after the Hiroshima run

tried what i was thinking, and it worked well. may be old knews to some, but i will describe it and get pictures done when i find the camera (that carpet monster is getting worse i tell you...)

you need : kitchen foil (keep it very smooth and mark free....) very sharp scissors and low tack tape, then the usual stuff like blade and glue (used PVA/woodglue)

cut a flat edge on the foil, lined it up to the edge of the panel i had drilled sink holes into. tacked the flat edge of the foil to the edge of the panel at the panel edge. used pva glue (smoothed over the panel) applied with small brush. flattened the foil (from the taped edge down) using a cotton bud/q-tip. waited a couple of hours, then used the blade to very gently (hardly any pressure needed to cut the foil) cut the remaining edges of the 'foil panel' which had become visible when the cotton bud pressed over them earlier. sprayed base coat/colour (in my case black as wanted to use up the last of a pot). applied Klear as per normal painting process.

the panel looks like its never been touched, aside from the shiny metallic bullet hits. i recommend a needle or pin be used to 'pick' at the foil (i was able to see little dent over the drill holes) to imitate the torn effect you get.

the kit i was practicing for, the beaufighter, had a bit of an accident............the pot of black i mentioned? was an almost full pot to begin with. combine that with me being a goof and getting a little rushed, i now have a kit in a semi assembled state complete with a flat black wash effect. the kit has been put away, until i can look at it without wanting to launch it again......