**** DONE: 1/48 P-51D - Pacific Theatre of Operations II

[vikingBerserker]

That is a pretty good tip, well done Terry.

 

[Crimea_River]

I stole one of these pens Sakura Pigma Micron Pen - BLICK art materials from the wife. The narrowest one equates to 0.2mm and is great for doing the kind of stuff mentioned above.

 

[Catch22]

Looking good Geo!

 

[Wayne Little]

 

[Airframes]

I used to use one of those Blick pens, and they're great for fine line work, especially the thin outline around Luftwaffe numbers, wing-walk lines etc. Unfortunately, the local shop that used to stock them has closed down. I have a Rotring 0.25mm drafting pen I keep meaning to try, but don't know if thinned paint will work in it smoothly.

 

[mikewint]

0.5 pencils are quite common here and I have several but 0.2!! You're going to have to have a very delicate touch. I constantly break the 0.5

 

[T Bolt]

Fantastic work in the decals George. For next time you might want to bring out the big guns and try Walthers Solvaset for the very stubborn decals, but be very careful with it and keep an eye on the decal ready to use some tissue to wick it away if it starts affecting the decal too much.

 

[Vic Balshaw]

Sounds like that stuff could give you a 'Cat 3' (third line repair) model.

 

[Crimea_River]

I use that stuff and have destroyed one or two decals with it. I still use it but I do not let it sit for more than 15 or 20 seconds before wicking off the excess.

 

[Wayne Little]

It's good stuff.....as Andy says get it on and off quick, apply it several times if you have to...

 

[T Bolt]

Absolutely! Keep you're eye on it. I don't use it until after Micro Solv has failed. Some times it even doesn't hardly work such as on Academy decals. I had to use multiple applications of it on the few kit supplied decals I used on that AVG bird I just finished, and even then it just softened then enough to sink into the panel lines. It has been on a compound area I don't think even Solveset would have worked

 

[fubar57]

Thanks for the tips there gentlemen, scary stuff that. Adding Future to the model to seal the decals and weathering. Once the weathering is done, I'll use flat clear on the wings and semi-gloss for the rest of the aircraft but a quick question. What sort of finish was on the star and bars?

Geo

 

[Airframes]

Sounds good Geo. Personally, I'd seal only the decals on the fuselage and fin, leaving the paint un-coated, and apply a semi-gloss clear to the wings, with the exception of the flaps, ailerons and wing tips. On bare metal finished aircraft, the national markings appear to be heading towrdrs a semi matt, almost semi-gloss, so seal these with a mix of Future and a drop or two of Tamiya Flat Base, stirred in well - but test it first!
Remember the sudden problems I had on my P-47 with this mix? That said, I'd done the same for years, with excellent results, so this might just be the bottle of 'new' Future I have, which I've had for probably two years now, causing the problem, or something completely un-related, such as the possibility of unseen 'finger grease' or similar on the model at the time.
Alternatively, of course, a semi matt clear varnish of your choice will do the job just as well.

 

[fubar57]

Thanks Terry. Nothing to show, doing touch-ups fiddly bits and trying to figure out what to do about this......

At my wits end now, here is what I have tried. Small decal stripe: successful but the test fit had only two stripes showing, .02 pen: same result, smaller decal stripe: disintegrated, cut some black decal film into slivers: made some really tiny black balls. Going to add future to the fuselage, do some more fiddly bits and ponder what to do with the flap. The last option(which I really don't want to do) is to cut the mounting lugs off and mount the flaps in the up position but as Terry said, the vast majority of photos show the flaps down and it just looks better.

Geo

 

[Totalize]

Geo,

Very nice build thus far. She's really coming together.

for that detail on the flap have you thought about creating a decal for it using say testors decal creator set. Maybe you could create the likeness in word then make the decal with your printer. I used the Testors set before and its not bad. Printers these days can't print white but maybe first paint the area white then create the black parts with the decal set?
May take some trial and error to get the black information the right size but it might work.

 

[fubar57]

Much obliged Dave and thank you. I was thinking of going that route when I found this....

...a warbird, yes, but I can do that.

Geo

 

[Totalize]

Geo,

Great pic. This shows to good effect what you need to do. Should be quite do-able in word and some clear decal paper.

I was able to print the following image off from a jpeg file using word and the decal paper. Its the badge of the 1st Canadian Armoured Division and it turned out quite well. Mind you this was in 1/35 scale.

- Ayrton Senna da Silva. Gone but never forgotten. RIP.

 

[mikewint]

One thought. If you can paint the white, a ultra fine tip black permanent marker could do the black stripes

 

[Airframes]

The problem with any decal for this is the tiny size and the curve it has to go on. Getting a home made decal to hold the fine line, density and resolution, and settle down on the flap hinge line will be tricky - I know, as I've tried!
Another way is to paint a gloss white rectangle and let it thoroughly dry. Then a paint matt black rectangle over the top. When this is almost dry, but not fully hardened, scratch through the black, using a pin head or the tip of a scalpel blade, to reveal the lines of white beneath.

 

[fubar57]

Thank you for the input gents and I think I'll give that paint scratching a go Terry. It works for me with I.P.s so it should work here. Tried my hand at that staining coming from the hole beneath the starboard exhaust. When I took the photo, I thought I had over done it but the photo shows that perhaps I need to add a bit more.

Geo