Peterpools

Carl Looking good. Keep 'em comin Peter

Thanks Rob, much appreciated. I could pass off the blue decals chipping and cracking from even how I decal but the yellow bands, cracked as soon as they went in the soak wet water and when the Micro Set was applied, they shattered. Just not sure what or whys but I'm close to finishing the decaling and then working on the last assemblies - the engines and gear. Completely agree matching the UIA blue isn't going to be easy, but I'll take my best shot at it. I never would have guessed you dislike decaling so much, for me it's the stage in the build where everything starts to come together and the model seems to come to life. Looking at my list of favorite and dislike parts of a build; scribing is is my most disliked part of any build by a mile.so low on the list. Keep 'em comin Peter

DECALING WHAT A NIGHTMARE With nearly all the paint work finished it was time to move onto decaling and what normally is my favorite portion of any build, almost turned into a nightmare and disaster. I’ve always been a military aircraft modeler and you learn to do things in a certain way and sequence, that is repeatable from build to build and one of those disciplines is decaling. As I’ve discovered ‘that ain’t the case’ when it comes to auto and airline modeling. With military aircraft modeling for the most part you are working with flat paints and it is imperative to first apply a smooth clear gloss finish so that the decals will conform, lay down properly and help eliminate the dreaded silvering in the clear carrier film In both airline modeling and auto modeling, the paint work color coats are applied as smoothly and glossy as possible, requiring a good deal of time and effort. Since the painted surface is so glossy smooth there is no need for the customary clear gloss at this point at all. So, it’s straight onto decaling. I purchased a set of AM decals from Airline Supply by BOA and was very happy how the decals looked on the sheets and instructions are well done and printed in a color to boot; BOA is located in the Czech Republic. Along with the BOA decals I would need to use quite a few of the Revell decals as well, mainly for the wings, engines and a other fuselage details. The BOA decals were just for the airline markings and not for the aircraft detail markings and stencils. Never having worked with BOA Decals or an airliner either, I started with the right side front windows. I just followed the instructions and spent many hours over two full sessions just doing the right side fuselage decals and the front windshield, as all the glass was a double decal with the silver frames being a separate decals. All was going well and I reached the empennage area of the Embraer and here the first of the troubles showed their ugly face. The blue decals for the tail end are two large pieces for each side, initially not too difficult to place and as I worked them into place, decals began to cracks and some small chips appeared. As I applied Micro Sol gently onto the decals the chipping and cracking continued nor could I coaxed them to wrap around the leading edge of the vertical stabilizer and the top. I let them to dry and thought I would just carefully trim and brush paint the thin edges that needed clean up. Nope, the decal kept on cracking and chipping. Some nice chunks flaked off the bottom as well when I touched them. The instructions called out FS15052 as the correct decal blue and here in the states, only Life Color had the color in its line. I bought a bottle and when it arrived, OMG, it was way too dark and I’m guessing it’s the wrong FS number. I had no choice now but to attempt to mix my own and when all the decaling is done, I’ll go back and try and paint out the chips and cracks after all the decaling has been completed. The yellow stripe is a separate decal and a big deal. As soon as I put the yellow stripe decal in warm wet soak water, it broke apart into three distinct pieces and didn’t seem like a big deal as I would just place each piece on the fuselage in its correct location and move on. No way buckey, the second I brushed on some Micro Set, the decal shattered into a zillion pieces – totally unusable. So now what? A new plan: I needed to mask out the yellow stripe, a tough act as the masking tape, no matter how thin I cut it would be so very close to the blue decals, which mine had marginal sticking power. Yup, by accident, in a few spots, the de-tacked Tamiya tape touched the blue decal and of course, a small chunk of decal pulled right off. At this point, I needed a break and turned my attention to the wings, using the Revell decals which were just fine. I followed both the Revell and BOA instructions and the Revell decals went on perfectly with no issues. Getting such thin and small black lines straight took a bit of time, but all worked out very well. To be fair, as a newbie to airline modeling and this was my first-time using BOA decals, I could have been part of the problems. The blue and yellow decals cracking on the model are normally an age issue, I bought them new from Airline Supply less then a month or so ago – I just don’t know. Decaling still needs to be finished and all the blue decal chipping and cracking still needs to be repaired. Next Up: engines, pylons and the gear. Thanks for checking in Peter

Rob Thanks for the heads up - will keep an eye open for it's release. Keep 'em comin Peter

Rob So glad you Renault arrived already. My on line vendor has not received their shipment yet and I'm on the list for one. Looking forward to you starting one of your Tamiya 1/12 scale kits. I still have my Ferrari 312T to finish yet. Keep 'em comin Peter

Gus The Comet looks mighty good and my money is riding on you that the figures will be so well done. Keep 'em comin Peter

Mark Absolutely agree. Keep 'em comin Peter

So well done and she sure is small. Keep 'em comin Peter

Sasha Right with martin and will be following Keep em comin Peter

Very nicely done and one BIG kit. Keep 'em comin Peter

Right with the guys ... very well done and looking mighty good. Keep 'em comin Peter

Kai Fantastic progress ... wheel wells look awesome, as the detailing and detail painting is off the chart Keep 'em comin Peter

Mark Perfect, absolutely the right course for sure. Keep 'em comin Peter

Carl Nice progress on the masking and primer - looking so good. Keep 'em comin Peter

Rob Nice start on the Cutter ... surely is going to be a wonderful addition to the DoK Keep 'em comin Peter

Carl Looking mighty good and one nice build. Agreed your version surely looks as if it can clobber anything. Keep 'em comin Peter

Bill Right with Martin and your efforts will come shining through with a beautiful, perfect finish. Keep 'em comin Peter

Carl great to the Big Liberator back, front and center on the bench and underway again. Seats and canopy look good. Keep 'em comin Peter

mark No doubt in my mind at all - you just needed a refill of modelling juices and mojo builder. Cammo work is looking brilliant. Keep 'em comin Peter

John Amazing progress. looking so good Keep 'em comin Peter

BW I learned my lesson with the Tamiya 1/12 F1 Ferrari 312T kit. I wanted to start and work on it as time allowed and didn't do my homework. I wound up buying an original kit form 1975 and I mean everything was from back then - old decals and no PE. I paid as much for the original kit as I would have for the re-release on ebay - shame on me. And of course, the best way is to keep an eye out and buy the kit when Tamiya releases any of the F1 1/12 scale kits you're interested in. I'm on the "notification list" so I won't miss it Keep 'em comin Peter

Rob Seeing how quickly you have gotten your sealegs with wood ship modeling, I have no doubts the rigging will be perfect. Looking forward to following the 18ft cutter build. I’m guessing the planks are going to be a lot smaller then those used on the DoK. Keep ‘em comin Peter

John Absolutely and I’m planning on building a few more 32nd scale kits this year. Keep ‘em comin Peter

Rob The Renault has been on my radar since Tamiya announced the re-release and I’ll certainly be buying one. I have the Brabham in the stash and don’t want to miss the reissue so I don’t have to walk away from the insane eBay prices when the kit is no longer available. Keep ‘em com Peter

John Perfect paint work as always. Looking so good. Keep ‘em comin Peter