Decalling is my least favourite part of a build. With 1/32 aircraft a large scale means large
decals, large
decals, with complex shapes are more of a challenge to get into position, specially around and over detail. Far too many
decals tend to splinter and break apart, some are thick and difficult to conform to detail and can even be resistant to solutions, even the strongest.
With WW2 subjects you can usually get masks for the larger markings and as such minimise problems. When a decal does splinter then you can usually touch up with paint. Modern aircraft don’t usually suit masks due to the more complex nature of the markings. Being more detailed often you cannot simply touch them up with paint either. Quite frankly I am not having much luck with modern jets and
decals, this aircraft being no exception. Once again I am having to ’make it up’ rather than depict and actual aircraft from an actual unit.
In theory this was to be a ‘Pukin Dog’ but thanks to the
decals it’s going to be a Pukin Dog gone wrong.......
The large tail
decals have been a nightmare. I deliberate and carefully removed the tails as I could see the problems that would arise and decided it would be easier to work on them off the plane. Having use c.a. they came away quite easily and will go back easily as well.
First the grey on the
decals is almost identical to Dark Ghost Grey that they said the side of the aircraft and tails should be painted....
Then the decal application itself...
above shows how the decal broke up when first trying to get it onto the model. The complex shape makes it a nightmare to move around into position. At least it did only break down to two parts. But it just got worse from there...
you can see above that I ended up having to remove it from the model as I just could not get it into position and as I tried it had just got more and more in a mess. I decided to cut away the grey areas and only apply the black which was at least only in two parts. But I ended up with It in more parts and as a result decided to piece it together in a position clear of raised detail.
It really is a long way off the position it should be in but I did not really have any other choice. Hence, we can not really consider this F14 to be representative of that specific aircraft any more.
‘
I just cut away the grey from the decal for the other tail at the start and decided to simply apply it in a matching position. See below.
So there we have it..... Think of it as just a generic F14 somewhat resembling a Pukin Dog
Now, how will the rest of the
decals go on? We will see.
The problem with the wing tips gave me a clue that the above would be a challenge but other
decals also gave problems.
the top view
see the cracked 103, both wings!
What you cannot see is a grey decal that should be sitting across the aircraft between the wings.... it splintered I to many pieces so it was left off.
The above was at least an easy fix. A spot of black paint and a fine brush...
that is where we are at.
I have just two more modern jets to do then thankfully back to WW2... and masks....