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Sgt.Squarehead · Posted: Thu 30 Jul 2009 19:17 pm Post subject:

'Egads, that's a lot of filler, but she's coming along very nicely!

All the best
Sgt.S
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stuzzar · Posted: Sun 09 Aug 2009 08:18 am Post subject:

stuzzar · Posted: Wed 12 Aug 2009 22:27 pm Post subject:

Here is a picture update on some earlier posts and of my decalling experiences

As mentioned earlier, I have been having trouble getting hold of the correct colours for this one, above is one of my attempts to match something from what I had to hand, a bit of a failure I will be the first to say.

This is what I have gone with, still not 100%

The underside, think I got this colour correct

A few little details added

And after a couple of coats of klear

Now the fun starts...not...I have read through some of the other chaps builds of this kit and one thing stands out...decal problems...and boy are they a problem

For some reason they do not really want to be removed from the backing sheet and when you finally coax them from the sheet they either fold in on themselves or stick to the kit and refuse to budge

Anyway here are the efforts so far...

I made a start with the large roundels, how difficult could it be

two hours later and after much cursing, plastering with decal fix and coats of Klear the four of them were on

Here is a shot of the underside roundel, this was the worst of the batch having to fit over those two little lumps (not sure what they are). I eventually got a sharp scalpel blade and made a few little holes in the decal around the lumps, a couple of coats of decal fix and left overnight they eventually settled down.

This was particularly annoying, got the blasted thing off of the backing paper onto the kit and started to position it but it decided to stick fast leaving the wonky looking digits, nothing would shift it not even soaking in water

With all of the main/big decals on I turned my attention to the collection of tiny stencils, I really had to push myself to have a go at these after the problems with the others but I persevered and actually managed to get some of the little blighters on there

although they had to go where they landed

Getting cocky I reached for the walkway demarcation line decals, these of course would be a doddle after the tiny stencils...nope, I went through a few sets of these, fortunately there are more than one set included on the sheet, before deciding to add the lines with a fine felt pen

So that is how it stands at the moment, I have to add some more small stencils around the walkway demarcation lines and to the underside. I will then add the small remaining fittings such as the cockpit top rearview mirror and give the whole thing a coat of matt varnish or two, decals allowing it may be done by the weekend.

Cheers

Stu

jhl1908 · Posted: Wed 12 Aug 2009 22:43 pm Post subject:

Looking good, Stuzzar.

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feanor · Posted: Thu 13 Aug 2009 06:59 am Post subject:

Ayup Bruv...

Looking good, and you still won over the Decals...

Can't you try another coat of Microset and/or microsol to try and get them to flatten down? or slit the creases in the numbers and use more Klear?
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Ratch · Posted: Thu 13 Aug 2009 19:21 pm Post subject:

Sounds like a nightmare

But looks like you cracked it

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stuzzar · Posted: Fri 14 Aug 2009 11:46 am Post subject:

stuzzar · Posted: Wed 19 Aug 2009 13:23 pm Post subject:

Gave up on the underside stencils, got a few on the others just did not want to play.

I have now given the aircraft a couple of coats of matt varnish and if time allows I will remove the masking tonight

Cheers

Stu

stuzzar · Posted: Thu 20 Aug 2009 20:41 pm Post subject:

Here is the finished (excluding several decals

) aircraft

The kit itself was not too bad a build although I did make a bit of a mess of trimming out the area to take the arrester hook, not sure if this was really down to me or some dodgy indicating lines on the kit

, lots of filler was required to repair this and I am not the best at sanding down lots of filler.

It was a great shame that this build was really spoilt for me by the absolutely diabolical decals (I believe that others also had this problem).

It must be understood that this kit was produced before the 'crash' and the quality of Airfix decals at this time was very often questioned by modellers. I had not encountered any problems until I tackled this kit and can only say that they are the very poorest examples that I have ever had the displeasure to use.

I understand that Airfix/Hornby are aware of these problems and are addressing this issue which can only be good news, my only worry is how many other 'pre-crash' kits do I have in the stash that are going to require after-market decals

Cheers

Stu

TimJ · Posted: Fri 21 Aug 2009 21:43 pm Post subject:

Great build Stu.

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Sgt.Squarehead · Posted: Sat 22 Aug 2009 00:07 am Post subject:

Great finish Stu.....Especially considering the decaling hell you just battled through!

All the best
Sgt.S
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