wonwinglo

The first time that I saw this material used was on a scale model of the Douglas Dauntless,the model builder had literally covered the entire model in litho plate to represent the alloy finish of the original,it looked most impressive and needless to say I had a word with the builder to see how he had skillfully executed the finish,after experimenting myself on an old airframe I was amazed how effective it was to use,these are some of my notes-
Firstly decide on a plan of action as to what is going to be covered on your model,I have a personal policy of only representing metal with metal and fabric with cloth etc,so for example a metal leading edge on something like the Chipmunk with its easy taper from the root to the tip,make a card template first of the shape so that you can fold the material around the leading edge and make any necessary adjustments before you cut the litho plate,normally I sheet any areas that are to be so treated as litho despite its strength can crinkle and buckle if mis-handled so we are going to clad the sheeted areas in this case.
After experimenting with various adhesives the best one that I have found was Thixofix,this is a gell type contact adhesive which has the added quality of being able to slide a little before final rub down with a small printers roller ( rubber faced,obtainable from art suppliers) position the front of the plate where it needs to be fixed from a pencil mark on the airframe,carefully roll it on straight over the leading edge and this will stop air bubbles being trapped as you go,the two surfaces will have been 'thinly' coated beforehand,allowed to tack off as per the adhesive manufacturers instructions and tjhen the process carried out.
If the plate has been used the grey coating impregnated pattern will need first to have been removed with thinners and a cloth,it should come off fairly easy.
There are other ways of simulating panels of metal as per full size practise but you will need to practise and try out a few ideas,I have also seen the use of a clock wheel which embosses the rear of the plate and when turned over represents the rivets.
For the intricate shapes try the heating idea mentioned elsewhere and rub the metal on the back with a domestic spoon held over a thick bundle of carpet underlay which works like a miniature sand bag,keep working the material until the desired shape evolves,it is a case of work into shape and try for fit,tedious but well worth the effort with the end result.
If you have any more ideas on the subject would love you to share them with us here,this whole process is a real learning curve especially with such interesting materials as litho.

__________________
'And there I was oil on my goggles from a broken pipe,then I looked at the altimeter,all I could see was the makers name !'
www.wonwinglo.scale-models.net/