BMF = Gum Wrapper??

I'm a relatively inexperienced modeler compared to most of you guys, and I'm looking to go to the next level of detailing my kits with photo-etched parts, carbonfiber decals and bare metal foil. I've never used BMF before, but from what I've read in here, it seems like it's the same kind of stuff used for gum wrappers. I remember i used to peel that stuff off and stick it all over my desk in class. :p So have any of you guys tried this? How was the results?

There are good quality self adhesive foils, and there are not so good. The not so good stuff is crap- it will drive you crazy and simply isn't worth messing with. BMF is consistently very good- it does what you want it to (with some practice).

Haven't ever tried gum wrappers, but I'm given to think it's not worth bothering with to save a couple of bones over buying a sheet of BMF. Try it, it's worth it. And it's cheap- by surface area, it's less expensive than paint.

I'll think you'll find the foil found in gum wrappers will be too think, give BMF a try, once you've got the nack of using it, you won't go back to silver paint.


Geoff

For metal foil BMF all the way. Cigarette foil is a viable alternative for reproducing heat shielding because of the texture (Gauloise/Gitanes recommended)

And it's [BMF?] cheap- by surface area, it's less expensive than paint.
OK, I'll bite :) How did you come to that calculation? I would have though that a jar of paint was cheaper than a sheet of BMF and covers a much larger surface area but I am open.

OK, I'll bite :) How did you come to that calculation? I would have though that a jar of paint was cheaper than a sheet of BMF and covers a much larger surface area but I am open.
I recently 'painted' a Lotus 7 with BMF. Got excellent coverage with only one coat, and used less than a quarter of a sheet. :grinyes: Someone else I know painted her 7 with a half a bottle of CobraColors. The sheet of BMF was cheaper then the $7 bottle of CC (when it was availible :crying:).

I second the bit about Gitanes foil- great looking stuff, if a bit hard to come by in the States. :rolleyes:

I recently 'painted' a Lotus 7 with BMF. Got excellent coverage with only one coat, and used less than a quarter of a sheet. :grinyes: Someone else I know painted her 7 with a half a bottle of CobraColors. The sheet of BMF was cheaper then the $7 bottle of CC (when it was availible :crying:).

I second the bit about Gitanes foil- great looking stuff, if a bit hard to come by in the States. :rolleyes:Where do you get your BMF? My hobby store charges $10 for a single sheet. Bare-metal.com has it for $5.50, but they charge $8 for shipping. Maybe I should stock up and buy like a dozen sheets. What's the best color to get? I'm mainly going to be using it for heat sinks and other stuff for mainly F1 and touring car models.

I recently 'painted' a Lotus 7 with BMF. Got excellent coverage with only one coat, and used less than a quarter of a sheet. :grinyes: Someone else I know painted her 7 with a half a bottle of CobraColors. The sheet of BMF was cheaper then the $7 bottle of CC (when it was availible :crying:).
You make a tortuous case based on dubious comparisons (you ignore completely the multiples of cobra colors coats for instance) - but I'll go for it ;) :lol:

look at previous articles - mbf has a shelf life, do not stock up yourself - it will go bad. and be carefull what are you buying. i will buy only directly from bmf, ive got no one else can make you sure its ok when buin online and you dont see it.

Guys, there's an excellent way around using BMF. Microscale makes an excellent foil adhesive, you apply it to Reynolds Wrap kitchen foil with a cotton swab. While kitchen foil isn't as thin as BMF, it's more robust, and you can and will get excellent results with it. A lot of people gave up on BMF because of the shelf life issues, it cracks over time and you need a fresh sheet for cutting larger pieces. For quality and economy, you cannot beat having the foil adhesive and a roll of kitchen foil. Some guy claims he gets his at a dollar store, that the Reynolds Wrap they have is as thin as you can get, and doesn't tear as easily as cheaper foils. You can buff out foil after it's applied w/compound to make it amazingly chrome-like; your buffing rag will turn black from the oxidized aluminum. As for gum wrappers, can't hurt to try, but they're so small and usually paper-backed, that I think they'd be more trouble than they're worth. A better idea is cigarette box foil for simulating heat shielding. I don't condone using the contents, but the foil is great :wink:

I don't condone using the contents, but the foil is great :wink:
Well, I suppose I could make a sacrifice on behalf of the AF community and agree to take the contents of everyones' hands :evillol:

Well, I suppose I could make a sacrifice on behalf of the AF community and agree to take the contents of everyones' hands :evillol:

Right, but if you go and die from burning your lungs to a crisp, who's gonna send me the foil from your empty packs of smokes? :uhoh:

Right, but if you go and die from burning your lungs to a crisp, who's gonna send me the foil from your empty packs of smokes? :uhoh:
Jean-Paul? :D (if you remember who/what he is :lol:)

Jean-Paul? :D (if you remember who/what he is :lol:)

Haven't heard of/from JP in a loooong time. :disappoin

i've used cigarette foil with good results and can vouch for the foil in American Spirit cigarettes. i've also used ordinary aluminum foil and held it down with Elmer's white glue; i used it on a 1/43 Shelby Cobra to simulate the aluminum wheel wells and was pretty happy with the results.

i hadn't heard about BMF jumping the shark over time... does that apply only to stuff that hasn't been applied, or will it go south even after it's on a model?

Well, I suppose I could make a sacrifice on behalf of the AF community and agree to take the contents of everyones' hands :evillol:
May I help your health condition by taking half? :lol: A tad OT, but just think of the modeling stuff we could buy if we quit... just wish it was that easy..


i hadn't heard about BMF jumping the shark over time... does that apply only to stuff that hasn't been applied, or will it go south even after it's on a model?
I haven't yet seen it go bad on a model. I have a few with bmf on that are two or three years old..:rolleyes:

i hadn't heard about BMF jumping the shark over time... does that apply only to stuff that hasn't been applied, or will it go south even after it's on a model?


BMF certainly does not always go bad. Some sheets go bad- or maybe they just start off bad. I certainly have not found it to be the case that it has a 'shelf life', and that it deteriorates with age. I recently finished two sheets of BMF, one each of chrome and matte aluminum. Both had been purchased in the previous century, and more than six years later both were as good as they were the day I bought them. No, I didn't do anything special to store them.

Zoom mentions kitchen foil and foil adhesive- terrific stuff. But it does also have its limitations. I had planned to go this route for foiling my S7- but I found there was no way that I could apply the foil glue without leaving brushstrokes. When the foil was burnished down, the brushstrokes were visible no matter what I did- so back to the old BMF, which worked beautifully. (On small pieces, brushstrokes are a non-issue.) Also the cheap genereic aluminum foil I bought (I got the cheap stuff because it was thinnest) had a significant grain to it- which didn't look great in scale. Your milage with foil will likely vary, and I expect if I looked more I could probably have found something better looking- but there were still the brushstrokes.

Another option for the textured foil (as found in cigarette packs) intended to replicate racecar heat shield foil is cake-plate foil. Go to the cake-decorating section of your hobby shop and check it out. It's like $8 for a roll that will last you FOREVER. A 12 in x 15 ft roll is almost 2 million sq inches in 1/24 scale.

I ran out of BMF one day and my hobby shop was closed and the only thing I could get was Detail masters foil.....it was crap! i'll never make that mistake again! BMF works the best for me!