Peterpools

Thanks Mark and it sure is, as finally it seems as if the build is coming together and heading towards the finish line.

Gus & Rob I'm in the same boat and have gone through more Tamiya masking tape on the Tomcat then almost any other build, especially with the late painting addons after decaling was done. Sure wish Tamiya would sell stock in their Kabuki Tape Div.

IT’S DECALING TIME HALF WAY HOME Finally, it’s time to start my favorite part of any build; decaling, as it where the model takes on its own personality, the bland, empty canvas gains its markings and colors. Since the last short update, I finished painting the wing swing boots, landing gear doors and then glossed the Big Cat with numerous thin coats of Tamiya X22. It required days and days to add only half the decals, as the right side, top and bottom of the fuselage still need to be done. I've used a combination of the Furball and Tamiya decals, but the majority are Furball by far. A few hiccups popped up: I assumed the antiglare nose panel on the Tamiya’s decal sheet was correct for VF 114, isn’t close and not included with the Furball decals and discovered this after doing a lot of the nose decals. Some mighty fancy masking was needed and then the antiglare panel was air brushed with MRP Black primer – perfect color. I completely forgot to paint the rudders gloss white. More careful masking and the gloss white went on with no issues. Just seems I’ll never be done with the masking and air brush work. Fortunately, Lady Luck was my co-pilot and all went well. Another issue encountered in locating the decals was matching the Furball instructions panels lines to the kit panel lines which was off in a number of places. I took my best shot and moved on. My normal practice is to start decaling with the wings and it became very quickly apparent that the kit decals and Furball decals, yes, printed by Cartograf, were close in size and color but there were differences. One good example was the number of ‘NO STEP” decals and their location, especially on the stabilators; Furballs were completely different: NO STEP/LIFT, as Tamiya was just NO STEP. In the end I just stayed with the Furball instructions for most of the locations as I was doing a Tomcat that they had researched, Tamiya’s was for different Tomcats and their locations and specific stencils most likely were different. Tamiya’s decal instructions and color plates were clearer, easier to understand and much cleaner in presentation. I just think Furball had way too many aircraft crammed on to a page, so the drawings were small and hard for me to read. One other BIG difference is the Tamiya decals while very much improved, slip and slide when placing them on a very smooth model surface even using Micro Set right from the outset and it takes a while for them to bite and stay in place. The Furball decals, were placed on the model first with water, as they bite almost immediately, allowing adjustments for only a few seconds and then Set and Sol was used. What a difference. In application for sure. Just few photographs as to my progress. B&W striped arrestor hook is on the top of the white foam. 91 decals used so far ...

John, right with you.

John Got ya. Same here as we're the same age and we both have the same frustrating and always getting worse modeling old age issues.

Carl Perfect choice and looking mighty good.

Scott Right with the guys - looking mighty good and I'm sure you're looking forward to adding all the placards and no step decals. I've been doing that for a few days now myself on the Tomcat - oh what fun.

John Holy smokes what a bummer. Good idea of taken a break from the kit and working on something else. My money is riding on you that when you pick up the Corsair again, you'll have it figured out - has to be a piece of cake compared to the warped T-28 you conquered and built.

Gus A professional masking job for sure and besides from doing the job, looks so neat and clean 🏆

Martin Absolutely perfect for getting decals on in a straight line and I'm sure there are loads of modeling uses as well. Perfect and thanks for posting.

Chris If it was my choice, I would decal as I haven't much history with paint masks and decaling seems to always go pretty fast and is easy to correct if needed.

Ernie Nice work on cutting out the canopy window - delicate for sure.

Chris Got ya. Been decaling the Tomcat and between the two sets: Tamiya and Furball, I have pages of stencil data decals. Absolutely am not going to even attempt to use more then half of them. The mask set sounds like a great time saver - looking forward to how it turns out.

Paul I stand corrected. Thank for posting the photograph. It just so massive. 😉

Chris There is Tamiya customer service and then everyone else - they are amazing and saved me a good number of times as I've lost parts and in every case they were replaced at no chanrge. Nice progress on the loadouts and even in 48th scale, the missiles, especially the Sparrows are a lot of parts - that goodness the fit is good. I'm sure being Tamiya, the number of decals for them is going to be close to mine.

Thanks Rob I've already bought four tubes of oils and am planning on buying a small set and giving then a good try.

John So the plan is to go with some decals from the stash or just use the kit's stats & bars?

Mike Good plan and all should work out well.

Rob Amazing progress and the "teeth' look perfect in place. Thanks for the tip on using oils for leather and I'm going to give it a try at the next opportunity.

Dave Awesome build ... looking so good. 🏆

Gus, looking mighty good and I wish I could get my MRP to cover as well without using a lot of coats.

Oliver Nice work on laying lot the components. The gate and wall are shaping up quite nicely. So glad you decided on the large base as more real estate the better - also, a lot more work.

John Some mighty nice research on the Corsair. Colors and markings are always a bit suspect and nice to know you have it solved and well under control.

Mark Always new challenges and rewards. I'm sure you will make the right choice when the time comes.

Rob I'll be following everyone, no matter which comes first. I'm just a Cobra fan since the very early days.