Some years ago, I know I am dating myself, IMC released a series of 1:72 aircraft kits that included “Battle Damaged” parts. I remember an A-4 Skyhawk, F-100 Super Sabre and F-4 Phantom. You were given the choice of building a war ravaged veteran or a clean undamaged jet.
Over on the FineScale Modeler Forum a question was posed asking “How do I?” This got me to thinking about one of the ways I like to accomplish the task, which is one of many of the techniques out there. For me I like working with metal for skin panels, because of the realism you can achieve. Plastic for all of its merits, does have limitations when it comes to creating ripped and torn metal. Plastic can become brittle and break before it takes on the form you desire.
For simplicity I am going to break this technique down into several stages. First is the rudimentary part…the very basic concept. So, starting with a piece of thin aluminum, cut to the rough shape of a panel or surface that you are going to give battle damage to, anneal the metal over a flame to soften it. I use a candle, a hot sooty flame is best. Don’t worry about the black carbon build up, it wipes off.
Once you have the piece annealed you can select the weapon that imposed the destruction. A large caliber machine gun or large bore cannon can be replicated by selecting the appropriate sized straight or hat pin to poke a hole into and through the metal. For irregular shapes such as that from flak damage, I usually use a screw driver tip or other feasible tool that will punch through the metal without too much effort. Here I use a T-Pin to poke my holes.
Some modelers use a red hot pin to melt their way through the plastic, unfortunately that doesn’t work as realistically in larger scales. In larger scales there is a greater need for 3D realism. Rounds or flak not only poke a hole, but they dent and bent the metal skin they’ve pierced.
To get the jagged tearing associated with rounds and flak ripping through the metal, I use a sharp #11 blade to create a “star” around the hole. 
Symmetric cuts are not necessary, bullets aren’t fashion conscious. Once you have the star lines cut, you can bend the fingers/arms of the star out and twist them into nasty jagged edges. Flak holes are particularly jagged and nasty, often ripping far away from the impact point because of the violence of the impact and the effects of the slipstream. Remember that rounds or flak entering push the metal inward, whereas the metal is pushed outwards on exiting points. “Little hole in, big hole out,” is something to remember. As a bullet, cannon round or flak punctures the skin, it strikes items and structures under the skin, tearing them loose and forcing them or fragments there of, out through an exit point should sufficient force be exerted.
Remember this is the rudimentary basics of the technique. One can add in more detail to the panel such as rivets, latches, internal structures and other details. 
A diorama can be created showing an aircraft for example being repaired. Various damaged components could be laying on the ground around the aircraft, with new ones already been replaced or repaired. The new panels could be in various stages of repainting, which allows one to create the perception of the work having been completed, yet you never have to “damage” a model in the process. Just create an illusion with some spare parts and surfaces from the spares box.
So, are you ready to give this a try? You can use sheet aluminum, soda cans, heavy kitchen foil or even foil tape.
I’ve got some other projects on the burner, but I will be continuing this article shortly. This is so much fun!
Hint: When you poke your initial holes, do it on a soft surface…I used a foam pad, it allows the hole to mushroom as the pin/tool pokes through the softened aluminum. When you do your star cuts, do that on a cutting mat, keeping the mushroom point up towards you to keep it intact.
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