Decal disaster

[Neil]

I made a mess of some decals on my 1/48 Tamiya Spitfire, now some I can sort of live with, but the roundels on the side and one of the AGM (which Barry kindly sent me and then I messed up) are just horribly positioned. They look very bad.

I was thinking I can either get an after market set, take the existing ones off and just replace the ones I need to, get rid of the whole paint scheme and redo it (least attractive option), or just live with it and move on.

What do you folks do with disaster builds? Assuming you have made any of course.

Neil

[Adrian "Marvel" Reynolds]

Are you able to post a picture of the effected decals? We might have someone on here that could suggest something to correct them?

If you need to move them, firstly have you varnished over them already or not? If not you may be able to use Micro Sol to very gentle lift them and reposition them?

Adrian

[Neil]

can post photos tomorrow. I haven't varnished over them luckily. I have no microsol but I can order some.

[Adrian "Marvel" Reynolds]

Micro Sol, does make them very very fragile though but if there in a state already it may be worth a shot

Adrian

[Guest]

Just remove the decals Neil and gets some replacements.

Interested to find how you go about placing the decals. Did you gloss varnish the aircraft before placing the decals ?

Also it is worth, if the model has been varnished, to soak the offending decal and then attempt to move it.

Did you use some solution when applying the decals ?

I use only water as the surface tension floats the decal which makes positioning the decal easy. I very rarely use any of the micro products as they are for me a one step with no retreat.

Laurie

[Guest]

At least with a 1/48 Spit there should be lots of aftermarket sets to choose from - the only problem might be the cost. I sympathise, though - I find the final stages of a model a bit stressful, as there's potential for spoiling a lot of work you've already done. I just have to remember that I do it for fun, learn any lessons and move on (after I've done a bit of swearing).

Laurie - that was a useful point about surface tension and (lack of) decal solutions. I'll give that a try!

[Neil]

OK, here is the problem.

I did "gloss" varnish - that is, it would have been gloss had I put my glasses on and not picked up the matt instead (Tamiya flat clear). To compound the error, I then did try to use decalfix which is when I realised I had put the flat clear on because decalfix and acrylic don't mix. I wanted to try decal fix to make them sit into the model. I was also a little too hasty, the roundels are these that have a white decal you put on first, then put the other one on top and I didn't wait long to put the second ones on.

Photos here but I think I will leave it for now, as you can see, the finish is not great and it may be time to move on and improve with the next (airfix 1/72 B24). It's still a few steps up from the Mosquito I made first, so at least I am getting better and not worse

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[BarryW]

One of the real challenges of a Spit I find are the underwing decals where they have to confirm over lumps and bumps. I will usually have to touch-up the roundels where the decal has broken or torn for which getting the right shade of paint is always the trick.

I can't help with the colour of the AGM Neil but if the issue of the roundle is to do with breaking or tearing and a touch up might do the following colours can solve that:

All Vallejo MA

Blue: 71.091 (Signal Red)

Red: 71.085 (Ferrari Red)

For Yellow I found that Ochre 71.033 worked well but is not as exact.

Sorry - my post crossed with your photos. Some touch-up might work where the discolouration is though.

[Guest]

OK, here is the problem.I did "gloss" varnish - that is, it would have been gloss had I put my glasses on and not picked up the matt instead (Tamiya flat clear). To compound the error, I then did try to use decalfix which is when I realised I had put the flat clear on because decalfix and acrylic don't mix. I wanted to try decal fix to make them sit into the model. I was also a little too hasty, the roundels are these that have a white decal you put on first, then put the other one on top and I didn't wait long to put the second ones on.]

Well Neil I know I should not but I just burst out laughing. The sort of mess I can get into but in my case cooking.

Think you are right Neil put it down to experience and look back on it in time. No point in trying to alter and getting into more of a mess. It lools as though the finish is at the moment gloss. if it was me I would spray matt varnish and I think you will find a great improvement as a finish.

Laurie

[Neil]

Definitely XF-86, Tamiya flat clear.

I only recently started wearing glasses for reading only so while I wear them for working at my laptop, I don't always use them elsewhere - which when doing any modelling would seem a good place to use them...

Thanks for checking anyway, I think you are right, it is time to call this a "completed model" as the only way to correct this would be to take all the paint and decals off. One day I'll do another 1/48 Spitfire and in the meantime this will go on the shelf as a reminder of mistakes along the way. I'm not so sure I'll be taking more and putting it it on the completed models page however.

Neil

[Guest]

Yes Neil I find specs are a nuisance.

I have two pairs for model work. One pair which I call my computer pair a bit longer distance than reading specs which I find are good for model making. I also had a pair made up for about a distance of 9 inches which are great for close up work where yo do not want to be hindered with magnifiers.

I would put your model on the completed models. I was a bit hesitant to begin with. Just note it my first model or something of that nature.

Laurie