Lockheed L188 Cockpit in 1:12

[smallcraftmaster]

Gil

That is very impressive, and and far beyond anything I could have imagined. I do want to thank you first for the glass and water technique of smoothing the foil, a problem I always had and tried to remedy with heavier paper and pressure. The other, equally important step of cleaning the foil was something else I missed, though delamination was not a problem unless I tried to punch out smaller shapes or folded it sharply. Your method yields a beautiful metal panel finish, something else I never did manage. I simply applied the toilet paper to both sides of the foil and used it to bolster the inside of my finishing card and get it to hold a shape. I had a chance to try it your way today and am delighted with the result. I think this, and your subsequent work as illustrated here are major contributions to the advancement of paper modeling, and I want to add my sincere thanks to the many you have already received for your efforts, Well done!

Dave

[Gil]

@ smallcraftmaster,

It's in the spirit of this site and thanks for your approval.

I've been looking into an effective way to print directly onto aluminum with an inkjet printer but haven't had enough "time off" since confirming that the idea is entirely feasible. Requires some anodic chemistry with pool chemicals. A similar method is used to professionally print sheet aluminum labels and signs.

BTW I like your tooling setups. I've adopted similar setups for building "aluminum" paper aircraft but use MDF instead - your setups appear to be geared more toward "mass" production jigs. You cannot avoid using forming "bucks" to obtain the form and fit for the finished product.

Best,

-Gil

[smallcraftmaster]

Thanks Gil, I love good ideas and curious minds like yours. I must confess to being a much better innovator than planner myself, and I tend to make do with what I have and work around what I don't. The toilet paper idea was overheard in a hobby shop long ago, for glueing canopies on RC airplanes. It worked on foil well enough so that got me started. The card I use is not that thick, but as you see in the pictures, the combination is crude but strong enough to support those unopened cans. My plank job is not something I would ever have shown without being confident of a presentable end result, but the next step will be the make or break. I will cut the laminate into panels about the same as on the real airplane, give them a slight compound curve and skin the whole thing with them. My plan is to fill the seams with a mixture of Weldbond and white acrylic paint, then glue on another white card layer of panels with laser printed rivets and panel lines copied from photos of the real airplane. With eighth inch acrylic windshield and windows cut oversize and framed inside and out, I hope to have a nice strong barrel to contain all the tiny bits I have no idea yet how to make. But I have no doubt I will figure it all out. Just got in the door here and already talking to experts.