1/32 Spitfire Mk.Vb - Defence of Britain/Atlantic.

Well, I have had mixed results so far Andy.
On some, the foil came away cleanly and without problems, although it took a few minutes to wet and remove it.
On others, the image started to lift as well, so I left the foil in place and lightly burnished it down again. With yet more decals, the foil came away, but 'weakened' the image, breaking, or thinning, parts of some letters and leaving the remainder. This actually looks like worn or weathered lettering, or stencils that have been lightly sprayed, and is quite a nice effect.
Not having used this brand before, I don't know if I've left the foil in place for too long, not long enough, or if it's just the quality. However, close inspection after between four and five hours shows that the foil is now virtually invisible, and wetting the area makes it totally disappear, so those decals which were 'at risk' will be left as is, and have a sealing coat of clear gloss applied, just a if they were standard 'water-slide' decals.
I'll continue with the stencils tomorrow and, if the same issues crop up, I'll just treat them as normal decals.
The pics below show :-
PIC 1. The 'WT Ballast' decal on the hatch was the first to be applied, and the first where an attempt was made to remove the foil. The lettering started to lift, so I left it for a while. The problem might have been due to it being partly laid over an existing 'water-slide' decal, as it was at this edge of the 'HGW' decal where the removal was first tried. However, after another hour or two, as can be seen in the photo, the foil had become invisible, so this will be sealed with clear gloss.
PIC 2. A successful removal of the foil on the 'Fuel' stencil and the small 'Hydraulic' stencil (top right, vertical), but with degradation of some of the letters - acceptable as worn, faded, or thinly sprayed lettering.
PIC 3. Completely successful removal of the foil on the rudder 'W/T' stencil, without damage to the lettering. The stencil on the 'Sky' band has not been treated yet.

So, mixed results, but all acceptable. I hadn't actually realised that these decals were the 'Wet Transfer' type until I came to use them, so no harm or loss, given that the clear coat works without damaging the decals, and I can't see any reason why it should do any damage.
I'll post a further up-date sometime tomorrow - messing about for so long has resulted in me being up very late !

Looks great so far Terry!

Agreed. Glad the stencils behaved, more or less.

Thanks chaps !
I think I've got the hang of the stencils now. If they're pressed down firmly, and every trace of water removed, then left much longer than the suggested 3 - 4 hours, they 'stick' much better, and the foil comes off much more cleanly. It's a touch more work in removing the foil, as it has dried out, but it ensures the lettering has 'bedded in' properly.
Where the foil can't be lifted (I wet the area thoroughly, then use the tip of a scalpel blade to lift an edge of the foil, peeling it back with tweezers), then it can be left, as it can't be seen, and is as good as, if not better, than a well placed and settled water-slide decal.
I left the model from Monday night until around 22.00 hrs on Tuesday night, before starting to remove the foil on those decals where I could :- a) see the foil, and b) lift an edge.
The pics show the foil being lifted on one of the upper wing decals, a typical result after removing the foil (the broken letter is a result of accidentally scratching it with the scalpel), and how the under-side looks, with all stencils in place.
I just need to apply the serial number decals, when they arrive from Hannant's, and source a 'Battery' stencil from the spare decals files, before cleaning the model, and preparing for the first clear matt coat.
With luck, I might get this done tomorrow (Wednesday), so more pics then.

They look alright Terry

Doing great there Terry and nowt wrong with the stencils.

Lookin' real good Terry.

Very nice and more knowledge stored away for future references.




Geo

Thanks very much chaps !
The 'Ventura' serial numbers decals have arrived, but they were left at the shop next door, as I was out at the time. Sod's law, the shop closed early due to staff shortages, so I can't collect them until tomorrow !
I can't go much further on the model until the serial numbers have been applied, so meanwhile, I'll start masking, painting and detailing the windscreen and canopy, and the resin cockpit door.
Pics possibly later, or tomorrow at latest.

Very sharp looking Terry

Thanks Glenn.

I collected the 'Ventura' serial number decals today, and got straight down to work applying them.
Just beautiful !
They're possibly the best decals of this type that I've ever worked with, in over 50 years of modelling. The carrier film either follows the shape of the character, or is very close to the edge, so there's no 'line' of the edge of the decal film when applied, and they go on quickly and smoothly, settling down very easily without the need for decal solutions.
Other work done today included masking and re-painting the red area of the tail fin, and filling in the missing leading edge portion, using a mix of red and Dark Earth to cover the bright red, and more closely match the Dull Red of the Xtradecal roundels. The upper wing roundels also had the red centers re-painted, and the under wing roundels had the chipped areas around the empty case ejector ports re-touched, using the same colour, and the blue re-touched and the 'circle' completed.

PIC 1 The fin flash masked and being painted, with the serial number decals also visible in this shot.
PIC 2. The masking removed to show the newly painted area, after a gloss clear coat, which is still wet in this photo. A tiny amount of re-touching is still to be done at the base of the fin flash.
PIC 3. All of the foil was successfully removed from the stencil decals, leaving a neat 'painted on' look, as can be seen in the 'bonding' stencil above the serial number. The 'Battery' decal was sourced from the spare decal files and, being around 30 years old, it was given a gloss clear coat before use, to prevent it breaking-up or dissolving on contact with water.
PIC 4. The re-painted red centers of the upper wing roundels, still drying.
PIC 5. The repaired and re-touched under-wing roundels, with the stencils, now sealed with a gloss clear coat, clearly visible.

Next step is to clean the model, then drill the jacking point under the tail, add the various pipes and tubes, and then spray the first clear matt coat.
However, there is a problem - a big problem.
The code letters are too big !!
I'd studied the photo of Stan's aircraft carefully, and although I had a sneaking feeling about the codes, I used the available '24 inch' items from Xtradecal, which, in theory, are the correct 'regulation' size for a fighter aircraft of this time period. Referring to the photo, I aligned the letters using the bottom of the canopy track as a datum, but once applied, something didn't look right. Even allowing for the (very) slightly under-size fuselage roundel (bigger than the kit decal examples), the letters still looked too tall.
Unfortunately, panel line detail in the photo of the aircraft is not that clear, but, following a search through many references, I noticed that the base of the letters on some (but not all) other unit's Spitfires was, indeed, slightly higher than the decals on the model, and I concluded that, in these instances, 21 inch letters must have been used !
I don't have any 1/32nd scale code letters in a scale 21 inch, and I don't know if they're available, but I do have some 1/48th scale codes which, although not exactly the required size, would have passed for 21 inch, and would have looked more like the codes in the photo of Stan's aircraft.
As all of the decals have been sealed under a coat of Humbrol 'Clear', there's not a lot I can do about this now, so I'll have to live with it. But I suppose that, unless the model is directly compared to the photo, the discrepancy will not be noticeable, as the codes are the 'regulation' size - but it's bl**dy annoying, none the less !
I hope to get the small additions done, and the first matt clear coat applied some time tomorrow, so i'll post more up-date photos then.

All looks good. The code issue will live in your head but to most they look just fine.

Yep, every time I look at the model in the future, I'll know those bl**dy codes are wrong !!
But maybe if I drink enough 'Speckled Hen', I might forget ..... and probably forget anything and everything, too !

Great work so far Terry!

Thanks Hugh.
The various pipes and tubes have been added to the underside, replicating the fuel and pressure connections for the 'slipper tank', as well as some 'breather and overflow pipes. A slot has been drilled and cut under the tail, which will be painted to represent the jacking point.
PIC 1. Preparing to cut the thin alloy tube, using a tube cutting jig.
PIC 2. The various pipes in place, and awaiting painting.
PIC 3. The tail jacking point. This should really be a circular hole, giving access to a 'spigot' hard-point, but try as I might, I couldn't get the drill bit to 'bite' centrally. The 'slot will have the outer edges filled, and then painted to represent the hard-point inside.

I had hoped to get the first clear matt coat sprayed tonight, but after cleaning the model with a solution of warm water and detergent (washing-up liquid), a number of small areas started to 'bloom', exhibiting cloudy grey patches, in the areas which had been gloss clear coated to seal the decals, yesterday. This was particularly noticeable in the blue of the starboard fuselage roundel, and along the rear fuselage spine. The only way to eliminate this was to re-touch the affected areas, so I now have to wait until this fresh paint is totally dry and hard before spraying the clear coat.
With luck, I should be able to get this done tomorrow, before moving on to some further surface detail, and fitting the gun sight and windscreen.
Thanks again for the continued interest, and more pics will be posted over the weekend.

Surely that looks good.