Looking good Richard! Kinda reminds me of a Boeing P-26 in a way. Has to be that Hump behind the cockpit.

This would look awesome next to a build of Finemold's KI-10 Perry biplane fighter, I think.

Richard,
You're really making excellent progress. Looking forward to seeing KA 14 with it's full paint and markings.

Joel

Just a brief update - work is progressing nicely but I regret I have no photos at the moment. Some updates were installed in our desktop computer yesterday and now Photoshop doesn't stay up long enough to copy and paste photos - the page loads and then goes blank after a few seconds. Tried refreshing with the same result - this one might need a pro.
Painting is done and I have begun the hybrid paint/Bare Metal Foil NMF but I'm sure everyone would rather see pics than read about it so I'll post the pics just as soon as I am able - my apologies to those who have been following .
Thanks for your patience - Richard

Hi Richard,
Just noticed this thread. Nice work so far! Can't wait to see more!

Gaz

This is just too cool!

Gaz - Thanks for looking and very timely as I am wrestling with a foil job- please channel some of your talent my way- I going to need it ! - Richard

Hi Richard,
I don't have much talent, but I'll keep you in my thoughts. My inbox is always open if I can help with something specific. You got a build blog for that foiling job you can link?

Gaz

Gaz - Thanks - this build is the foiling job - try to get past some photo loading issues at the moment. - Richard

[quote]Looking good Richard! Kinda reminds me of a Boeing P-26 in a way. Has to be that Hump behind the cockpit.

This would look awesome next to a build of Finemold's KI-10 Perry biplane fighter, I think.[/quote
Brian - I agree on both counts-

The tail has been painted red and wingtips black- navigation lights red and blue-green over silver base.
The undercarriage pants and fairings proved too difficult to foil so they were shot with Vallejo gloss black surface primer and Vallejo MetalColor
Duraluminum.

I've begun the foiling on the underside with BareMetal Foil Matte Aluminium.
Thanks for looking - Cheers ! Richard

Thank you Frederick ! Glad you like it - Richard

Richard,
A very interesting concept of foil and NF Metalizer paints. I'm quite interested in seeing the results. So far the bottom strut fairings look right at home with the Bare Metal Foil sections right next to them.
Joel

Man what a beauty this is turning out to be!

Joel - this is my first experience with the Vallejo MetalColor line and I am very happy with it . Watched a couple of demos at their booth at the Nats in August and was very impressed so I thought I'd try it. The hardest thing for me to get my head around was using it straight from the bottle without thinning but indeed it shoots better that way - old habits/ideas die hard , especially for this Luddite. I think the straight Aluminum color may match slightly better- the Duralumin color is a little darker than the foil. The next thing I am wrestling with is whether to clear coat over the foil. The foil looks great alone and I would hate to spoil it but I fear the clear coat may be necessary to seal the edges as the want to lift every time you handle it.
Brian - As always a pleasure to hear from you.
Thanks for following along Gents ! Richard

Richard,
I haven't used BMF in several years since my 1/20 scale McLaren MP4/4. I did find the foil to be rather durable as long as you don't rub an edge. I do seal all my Metalizer paints with Testors Metalizer Sealer, which isn't a gloss nor a matt finish. For those I do use Alcads Clears.
Joel

The foiling has progressed to the upper fuselage/inboard wings-


If I were to do this again I would paint the wing root fillets as well. These were very difficult to get the foil to conform to, especially at the leading edges. I wound up having to torture several small pieces to get the foil to take the shape. More to come and thanks for looking.

Richard

Richard,
The foiling looks mighty impressive. You've certainly joined that exclusive club with Gary.
Joel

Richard,
She's looking quite nice! Wing roots are always the hardest area on a plane, so I always do those first and work my way outward.

Gaz

Joel - flattery will get you everywhere! If I have joined Gary's club I am very much a probationary candidate -
Thanks - Richard

Gary - Thanks for the compliments and the pointers. Aside from the root areas the next problem for me is the trailing edges and the fragility of the foil here - even with the most careful handling I inevitably brush the trailing edge and lift/tear the foil ap tiny bit . With the benefit of hind site perhaps I should have lapped the upper surface foil down and around the traililing edges in a " hem" fashion. I assume a clear coat will help this situation but I am reluctant to do so because the bare aluminum looks so good . Any suggestions ? Thanks - Richard

Richard,
Clear coating your trailing edge won't stop it from being curled if you brush against it. I have two rules about edges, both trailing and leading. 1. Do them last. 2. Always wrap around the edge if you can.

Foil has some stretch that you can exploit with patient burnishing. Here is a mini-tutorial I've done in my N1K1 thread: foiling a curved wingtip ...nearer the bottom of the page.

I've only used a little BMF. I think the sheet I have looks a little pebbly when I burnish it down...plus, it's expensive! I don't mind wasting a ton of kitchen foil. For only 2-bucks a roll, you get a lot of coverage.

If you can find some good close-ups of your wing areas for that bird (I know...finding useful images of Japanese warplanes is hard!) you can use panel lines that the manufacturer may not have included.

Best Wishes,

Gaz

Hi Richard

The foiling looks excellent! It's a technique I've always promised myself I must master one day, but I've only ever tackled a few panels here and there, so I really respect Gary and the rest of you who achieve such fantastic results.

All the best

Rowan

I have to second the opinions already expressed multiple times: really excellent job on the foiling!

Btw, how are the Vallejo MetalColor paints? The finish they make seems pretty marvelous! Do they adhere well? How well do they withstand handling? Also, can they be clear coated without marring the metal sheen too much?

Just asking becaus the finish looks excellent, but I have some negative memories of Vallejo's old metallics from the Model Air paint range. While those make a pretty good looking finish (though nowhere near as good as the new MetalColor), they didn't adhere that well and didn't withstand any kind of moisture, reliquifying very quickly, making it necessary to apply a cloar coat over them if any kind of subsequent treatment like washes were to be applied over them.

Do I need to add that you're a fantastic modeler? The two pieces you've show us - the truck starter and this - are just incredible. No false modesty here: I wish I had your talent.

Eetu - Thanks for looking . This is my first use of the MetalColor line and so far I like them very much. It may be too early to tell about long term adhesion but I believe they will adhere very well indeed because of what I witnessed at the Vallejo tutorial/demo at the IPMS Nats . Both the gloss black surface primer and the finished MetalColor need to be lightly dusted on at first then built up a few minuits later after the first coat has tacked off. At the demo they masked with tape after a few minuits time and pulled the tape of with no paint coming off- while I don't advocate this it was very impressive and leads me to believe that adherence will not be an issue . I have only tried their clear coat - Metal Varnish is their name for it-
on a small test sample . It lays on beautifully but I think the finish looks better without it. It may be unavoidable if you are decaling . Hope this is of some help.

Cheers! Richard

Brian - Thank you - I am very flattered by praise coming from you as it's obvious you're no slouch either when it comes to this hobby of ours. I fear the Ka 14 may look better in photos than in reality as the glitches in my foil job don't show . Gaz has nicely given me some pointers so I hope to be able to correct some of them to some extent.
Thanks for looking - Richard