Bad bare metal foil?

[davezilla]

Anyone else has this problem? I'm getting cracks in a sheet of BMF, I can't peel it off without it falling into a hundred little pieces. Anyone know if this is a common thing or I just got a bad sheet?

Here are a couple pictures to show what I mean:

[Adam Baker]

I have heard that BMF does have a shelf life, and after awhile it does go bad. Ive heard of people having similar issues w/ older sheets cracking like that and basically being unuseable.

[Kurzheck]

This is pretty much an epidemic with BMF lately. I don't know what's changed but it seems to have gone to sh*t. However, they will replace it for free if you shoot them a note.

[Martin S]

I have the same problem with one of the older BMF sheets I have. Must be 4-5 yrs old at least.
It's only in one smaller part of the sheet, but still a bit annoying.
I also had problems with the BMF loosing some of it's adhesive properties over time.

[klutz_100]

same problem here

TBH this issue comes up with such frequency and since forever, I am surprised that:

a) BMF haven't fixed the problem (whatever it is); or
b) someone hasn't come onto the market with a good alternative product (or maybe there IS one that I am unaware of?)

[matador88]

its bad, they will replace. but my fresh replace lasted full ok 2 months or so. its usable few more months but its going worse and worse over that time.
i think its unstopable. its shame but if you need it you must buy it and be prepared it will happen

[Styxnpicks]

that sucks, I have 5 year old sheets that look good as new

[ZoomZoomMX-5]

BMF does have a shelf life, and often the stuff at the hobby shop is too old to use. If it has visible cracks or wrinkles, it's going or gone bad.

Best to order fresh BMF directly from them, and they claim that leaving it in the refrigerator will protect it from drying out. I hear they are trying to figure out why it's drying out/cracking so badly vs. previously where it just lost adhesive over time.

[hirofkd]

My 4-year-old BMF looks exactly like that. In fact, it began developing cracks after 2 years from purchase (though I don't know how long it had been in the shop). But my 8-year-old Meta-Look by Modelers is still clean and usable. Both are carefully stored in the same box, so I think this is just a unique problem of BMF.

[Aldo Carvalho]

I had this problem and also poor glue and asked for replace by mail (including the almost intact bad foil). The letter was sent last year and how about the reply??????

[agamo]

Well, in my experience, I had a sheet that I bought like 14 years ago, of which I still have some remains that work perfectly, and recently I bought a new sheet which I was unable to use because the adhesive was too bad, then I wrote a letter to Bare-metal and they sent a replacement free of charge, and it seems like it is Ok.

As was said before, the best way to go is buying them directly from the source.

[davezilla]

Well, I sent a message to their customer service last night. Let's see what they say.

[matador88]

i think they will have to to do "something" due to high replace requests. soon they will have back almost all they sell.

[phatmitsu]

Ask your dealer before you buy how often they restock. Alot of resellers have noticed this trend and are starting to stock very low amounts of bmf to try and fight this. I restock on BMF about once a month making sure to sell the oldest first. A few other vendors I have talked to about this are doing the same. So before ordering from someone just ask them about how long they have been sitting around.

[MPWR]

While some BMF sheets may deteriorate over time, not all will. It's not like milk, it does not have a best by date. Some sheets will be just as good after years as the day they were made, and some may be nearly useless after a few months. I've had multiple sheets of BMF for over 8 years now, and have never had adhesion deterioration or cracking. In all likelihood, these are batch problems and not age problems. So instead of getting a new sheet, you should really only need to get a good sheet.