LSP_Kevin Posted March 16, 2014 Author Share Posted March 16, 2014 Thanks for checking in guys. To be fair, the cowl decals probably fit quite well if you could get them into position. After all, the rudder decals did. But dealing with the cowl decal is whole different kettle of fish. The main issue isn't the fit per se, but positioning them when you can't really slide them around. Anyway, I soaked the cowl in some Windex for 10 minutes, after which some scrubbing with a few cotton buds saw off the remainder of the decals. This is one of the reasons I laid down a coat or two of Future first! Boy, Kevin, if'n it was me, I'd paint the cowl white, mask and paint the red stripes. Someone should be able to make you masks for the stars. Apply the star masks to the cowl and then paint the blue. Remove the star masks and you're done. A final clear coat and a rubbing down with mirco-mesh polishing cloths if necessary will finish 'er off nicely. Thanks Wolf. I will indeed be painting the red and white stripes, but I'm not sure about the stars. If someone is willing or able to help me out with some masks, I'd be wiling to give it a go, but I don't want it to be a major hold-up for the project. Kev Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Out2gtcha Posted March 16, 2014 Share Posted March 16, 2014 Thanks for checking in guys. To be fair, the cowl decals probably fit quite well if you could get them into position. After all, the rudder decals did. But dealing with the cowl decal is whole different kettle of fish. The main issue isn't the fit per se, but positioning them when you can't really slide them around. Anyway, I soaked the cowl in some Windex for 10 minutes, after which some scrubbing with a few cotton buds saw off the remainder of the decals. This is one of the reasons I laid down a coat or two of Future first! Thanks Wolf. I will indeed be painting the red and white stripes, but I'm not sure about the stars. If someone is willing or able to help me out with some masks, I'd be wiling to give it a go, but I don't want it to be a major hold-up for the project. Kev Hey Kev......as was mentioned earlier, if you have a hobby/craft store around like we have here in the US (Hobby Lobby) the have all sizes of star "stickers" for kids that I'm sure would be an easy mask solution for the stars if you have such a place Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Peterpools Posted March 16, 2014 Share Posted March 16, 2014 Brian Terrific idea and should help Kev get through this excruciating part of the build. Peter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loic Posted March 16, 2014 Share Posted March 16, 2014 Kev, do not discourage yourself mate! This is fighting you, OK, but in the end, you will be so pride of it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LSP_Kevin Posted March 16, 2014 Author Share Posted March 16, 2014 Thanks again fellas. Cowling has been given 3 light coats of Tamiya Fine Surfacer White. It gives a great result, but seems to take forever to cure to a usable hardness. This is definitely one area where Mr Surfacer has an advantage, but I don't think their white Surfacer performs as well as the Tamiya one, or their own greys for that matter. Anyway, once I can't smell it any more, I'll start masking it up for the red stripes. Hey Kev......as was mentioned earlier, if you have a hobby/craft store around like we have here in the US (Hobby Lobby) the have all sizes of star "stickers" for kids that I'm sure would be an easy mask solution for the stars if you have such a place Thanks Brian. You'll have to believe me when I say I actually don't have the time or opportunity to get out and look! Besides, I'm pretty sure we don't have stores like that here. I had a quick look online for such a thing, but they were all too big. The stars on the decal sheet are around 2.5mm across the shoulder, so I'm not even sure if masks could be cut that small. Once I've got the stripes done, I intend to seal them with Alclad Gloss Kote, followed by a couple of coats of Future. This means that, should the application of the star decals go badly, I can soak them off with Windex without damaging the painted stripes (which the Windex would otherwise remove without the enamel clear coat for protection). If I were using masks, I'd leave the nose of the cowl white, but I suspect it might be prudent to paint it Insignia Blue when using the decals, just to help hide gaps and misalignments. I'm just a bit concerned that the blue would then noticeably darken the white stars. Anyway, this battle ain't over yet! Kev Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Peterpools Posted March 16, 2014 Share Posted March 16, 2014 Kev My money is on you to come out the winner! Peter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lee White Posted March 17, 2014 Share Posted March 17, 2014 Maybe paint the red, white, and blue, and carefully cut out the stars from one of the replacement sheets you are getting, and apply the individual stars to the cowl? Maybe double them up if opacity is an issue? HTH.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LSP_Kevin Posted March 17, 2014 Author Share Posted March 17, 2014 Thanks for your thoughts Lee. I counted that there are 54 stars on the cowl decal, and I don't fancy having to cut them all out and apply them like you suggest! If the Vallejo Insignia Blue was an exact match for the decals, I'd just cut them into little strips or even squares, and apply them over the blue paint. That way I wouldn't have to be careful about cutting them out. But while the Vallejo colour is very close indeed (so much so that I was able to use it to patch the rudder and you can hardly tell), I'm not convinced I'd get away with that. I guess I could try it with a couple and see what it looks like... Kev Lee White 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LSP_Kevin Posted March 17, 2014 Author Share Posted March 17, 2014 Oh, I forgot to mention that the spare decals from Saul arrived today. Thanks Saul! Hopefully I'm adequately covered for spares now, unless I screw up the cowling for a third time! Kev Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hubert Boillot Posted March 17, 2014 Share Posted March 17, 2014 Oh, I forgot to mention that the spare decals from Saul arrived today. Thanks Saul! Hopefully I'm adequately covered for spares now, unless I screw up the cowling for a third time! Kev If you do, you can always get mine ! Hubert Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sharkmouth Posted March 17, 2014 Share Posted March 17, 2014 I'd just cut them into little strips or even squares, and apply them over the blue paint. Kev, please consider leaving that area white, apply decals and fill with pain. This would eliminate any opacity issues with the decals. Glad to know they arrived! Regards, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LSP_Kevin Posted March 19, 2014 Author Share Posted March 19, 2014 If you do, you can always get mine ! Hubert Thanks Hubert! Hopefully it won't come to that. I keep thinking how much further advanced I'd be in this build if I hadn't chosen these scheme. Ah well, such is modelling. I took out one of my paint mules yesterday and sprayed one wing surface with Vallejo Insignia Blue, followed an hour or so later with some Alclad Klear Kote gloss. I'll use this to test out the star decals over the blue and see how it looks. Kev Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LSP_Kevin Posted March 19, 2014 Author Share Posted March 19, 2014 Well, here's the result of my experiment with the kit's star decals over Model Air Insignia Blue: Er, no. The camera has certainly increased the contrast between the two blues markedly, but the difference is still pretty dramatic to the naked eye. I think this is partly my own doing however, as I laid the Vallejo Insignia Blue down over some already-dark paint, and probably used too many coats. As you can see in the photo, it's actually not far off black. Still, I'm thinking now that Royal Blue, like I used on the Speed Spitfire, might be a closer match. I might take the other wing of the paint mule, lay down some white primer first, and then spray two bands of blue colour - one repeating with the Vallejo colour to see if the white base makes any difference, and one with some Royal Blue. Even if I end up keeping the white as a base on the cowl, rather than going with blue, I still need to find a decent paint match for touch ups. I'll report back when the testing is done! Kev Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Out2gtcha Posted March 19, 2014 Share Posted March 19, 2014 Im not sure if you have or can get any "Frisket film" used for air-brush masking Kev, but i have had good luck using it to cut my own "masks" from Tamiya tape. In this instance it might not be perfect, but i have cut similar stars out using this method, as the frisket film is very flexible, and is 100% clear, so its fairly easy to lay the film over something, then trace it/cut it out with a sharp blade and either use the film itself as a mask or transfer the image to Tamiya tape. I used this method on repairing the stars on my SU-30....................they were substantially larger but these seem like they might be less complex, and might be small enough to not have to be "perfect". Either way, your slogging your way through the trials and tribs on this one so the rest of us know what to expect! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bdthoresen Posted March 19, 2014 Share Posted March 19, 2014 (edited) Kevin-I have heard of these decal problems before. One thing you might try is to use warm water to soak the decals in, and try adding 2-3 drops of dish soap to the water- if you stir it up slowly to avoid making a "sudsy" mess, this might help in allowing the decals to be adjusted on the surface when you apply them. It has helped me in the past with some super sticky Techmod decals. Perhaps give it a try with a couple of spare decals off the sheet before committing to your cowling.Try it on a paint mule..HTH-THOR Edited March 19, 2014 by bdthoresen Out2gtcha 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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