Nicely done so far George!
<> **** DONE: 1/48 F4U-7 (BuNo. 33710) - WW1 / WW2 over Water.
- Thread starter fubar57
- Start date
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turbo
Staff Sergeant
Good solution Geo.
- Thread starter
- #283
fubar57
General
Thanks guys. Our story thus far........
...almost there. Doing some fiddly work. Added an anchor to the mast, once set I'll give it a few more twists to tighten it up
Crimea_River
Marshal
Neat. Hope it holds for you.
Nice !
Robert Porter
Senior Master Sergeant
Looking great! Guessing not far now!
Airframes
Benevolens Magister
Just catching up with this one Geo, and it's looking good.
That 'mottle' pattern on the decal sheet looks like the effect of either a tissue cover sheet, or perhaps a cellophane or poly bag, being in close contact with the surface, It's a fairly common effect, even with the often used tissue sheets used as protection, when the latter sometimes lightly adheres to the surface, and 'sweats' slightly, causing a minor reaction with the sealing varnish.
I've even seen it where the tissue has actually stuck to the surface of the decal sheet, mainly on old decals, and left behind small patches of tissue or fibers when peeled off. But in the majority of these extreme cases, the decals themselves have not been affected, as the tissue dissolves and floats off the surface when the decal is immersed in water.
The mottle is normally nothing to worry about, and is just a non-permanent, patchy dulling of the gloss finish coat. However, for future reference, if in doubt, inspect the decals closely for visible damage, such as abrasion or cracking, and give them a coat of clear acrylic varnish (NOT 'Future', as this will dissolve when immersed !). This is something I do with all older decals I may need to use, and any I may have doubts about - particularly 'Microscale / Superscale' decals, the majority of which could date back to the 1970's or 1980's, even if purchased as new recently. Some of these, especially the smaller items and stencils, have an annoying habit of breaking up, deforming, and even dissolving when immersed !
That 'mottle' pattern on the decal sheet looks like the effect of either a tissue cover sheet, or perhaps a cellophane or poly bag, being in close contact with the surface, It's a fairly common effect, even with the often used tissue sheets used as protection, when the latter sometimes lightly adheres to the surface, and 'sweats' slightly, causing a minor reaction with the sealing varnish.
I've even seen it where the tissue has actually stuck to the surface of the decal sheet, mainly on old decals, and left behind small patches of tissue or fibers when peeled off. But in the majority of these extreme cases, the decals themselves have not been affected, as the tissue dissolves and floats off the surface when the decal is immersed in water.
The mottle is normally nothing to worry about, and is just a non-permanent, patchy dulling of the gloss finish coat. However, for future reference, if in doubt, inspect the decals closely for visible damage, such as abrasion or cracking, and give them a coat of clear acrylic varnish (NOT 'Future', as this will dissolve when immersed !). This is something I do with all older decals I may need to use, and any I may have doubts about - particularly 'Microscale / Superscale' decals, the majority of which could date back to the 1970's or 1980's, even if purchased as new recently. Some of these, especially the smaller items and stencils, have an annoying habit of breaking up, deforming, and even dissolving when immersed !
- Thread starter
- #289
fubar57
General
Thanks Terry et al. One side done, minus the serials. Hope to have this wrapped up before camp.
Looks good so far George!
Robert Porter
Senior Master Sergeant
Really looks great!
Crimea_River
Marshal
Very sharp.
- Thread starter
- #295
fubar57
General
Thanks gents and welcome to the forum SapperSix, you're about to see me cry. I've been trying to figure out the best way to deal with the decal tear over the trim tab actuator. Throughout this build I've noticed this aircraft isn't photographed from the left very much and if so, not very clearly photographed. I've been relying on line drawings from every source and book I could find. So off to the books and interwebs I just went; looking for the best shot of the left tail surface I could find. What I'm hoping to find is that they never painted around the moving parts and I could gently remove the offending decal pieces. But first here are some of the line drawings I was using...
....the F4U-1a and -1c on the left and the later F2G-1. Au-1 and -7 on the right; all showing actuators....do you see where this is going? I finally found the best shot of the left side on one of the pics Wojtek posted a while ago....no more freakin actuator on the -7
But wait there's more. Way back in Post #201 I was making a comparison between the -4 and -7, noting that there were no longer actuators on the -7 and made the corrections on the model. Had my eyes moved up ever so slightly I would have noticed the difference on the rudder trim as well and saved all this coming grief....
](/forum/images/smilies/eusa_wall.gif "Brick wall ](*,)")
Thoughts?????
- Thread starter
- #297
fubar57
General
Yep. So on to the offending appendage. First up; I lightly scored around the actuator with a blade so that whatever route I chose to remove the actuator didn't do further damage to the decal...
...I swear to God, I never noticed those 2 bubbles until now. They will be dealt with. Now....how to best remove the actuator...ponder, ponder, ponder...whilst pondering I got my sprue cutters and whacked it off.
Now I will seriously sit back to try and decide how to remove the remainder without further damage
Airframes
Benevolens Magister
Two options - remove the actuator and re-touch the paintwork to match the decal, or leave it as is, re-touching if possible, and live with it.
If choosing option 1, then a new actuator could be carefully added to the base of the starboard side of the tab.
Note in the second from last pic in Post # 295, there is an actuator, at the top of the tab, but this isn't present on the French -7 pics posted by Wojtek.
EDIT:- I was typing as you posted. Ensure the decal are fully set, and well sealed, and totally dry. Mask each side of the actuator, with the tape lightly in place, and then shave-off the actuator using either a chisel blade in the scalpel, a modeling chisel, or a new scalpel blade. Re-touch as needed.
If choosing option 1, then a new actuator could be carefully added to the base of the starboard side of the tab.
Note in the second from last pic in Post # 295, there is an actuator, at the top of the tab, but this isn't present on the French -7 pics posted by Wojtek.
EDIT:- I was typing as you posted. Ensure the decal are fully set, and well sealed, and totally dry. Mask each side of the actuator, with the tape lightly in place, and then shave-off the actuator using either a chisel blade in the scalpel, a modeling chisel, or a new scalpel blade. Re-touch as needed.
I would say a razor balde would be helpful. For protecting of the rest decal make one or two paper "chutes/cots" and pull them over the fin/rudder. One below the removed actuator and one above that. To stop their moving you may fix them with a piece of the masking tape sticking to the painted areas of the both rudder sides. Also an additional piece of a paper would be fine for masking the area between these cots in front of the actuator location. In the way you can hold the tail with fingers of left hand and cut the actuator remains with the right one keeping the razor blade flat..
- Thread starter
- #300
fubar57
General
I like it. First up, as Terry said, I'll seal what decals I've done.
