**** DONE: 1/72 Fairey Firefly AS5 - Your Favourite Aircraft of All Time GB

[Wayne Little]

The white paint for me with black decal details, doing a great job Michael.

 

[rochie]

looks great, well done

 

[parsifal]

Guys dont think the worse of me . Generally I follow the advice given, and there is certainly a lot of merit to using a painted background to a transfer. But there are also advantages to using an all transfer finish...mostly to do with a consistent finish and more even surface.

ive gone for the decalled white background on this occasion. I figured that if it didnt go well I could easily remove the decal from the model and fall back to the painting option.

The white background is down and Im reasonably happy with it at this moment. Currently still wet so no pictures tonite. There are/were one ortwo areas of the application that will need tidying up, but I am generally happy. Wrinkling may also occur as the transfer dries as well, but i will just have to wait and see on that score.

Ive applied the white band in two stages. The main stage was applied last night. Ive made some corrections tonite which are still drying

The main area of failure was around the tail fin. the decal was fractionally too large and scrunched up a little around that part. I also had a crease down one the rear edges underneath the fin. The "leading edge" (ie at the front) of the banding was out of square. Tonite i cut out and replaced the area of the creasing (under the fin), and did a similar thing for the leading edge alignment. i used decal 'patches" to undertake these repairs, with the seam lines of the patches positioned so that they wil be underneath the black bands for the most part. I think it will work but we wil see. I havent yet tackled the scrunching around the tail fin, as the existing repairs need to dry first.

I do have a question however, and hopefully you guys are still willing to give advice despite my obvious reccalcitrance. Once I get the white background to a state that I am happy with (I still have to fix the scrunching around the tail fin) should I apply decal sealant to that banding, so as to protect it whilst i apply the top decals (the letters and the black striping).

 

[Airframes]

Sounds good Michael. Not sure about sealing the decals without actually seeing them 'in the flesh' as it were. I tend to just apply the next decal, then seal. However, there is no harm in sealing first, as long as the sealer is allowed to fully harden before applying the next decal, probably around 24 hours or more, to help prevent any reaction from any decal solution, or even water.
This is one of the reasons why, in this instance, being white, a painted background would cause less complications, and preferably using gloss paint, which, of course, can have the required clear coat (i.e., matt, satin etc) applied later.
To help for future projects involving similar markings, it's sometimes a good idea to plan the painting sequence, as it may help to paint the white areas first (or any similar light tone), then mask this and paint the remainder as required.
This is often easier and more convenient than trying to mask for the white, where awkward angles or protrusions can make things difficult. Once at the decal stage, then the masking can be removed, revealing a clean, blemish-free area for the decals.

 

[Crimea_River]

Glad the decal worked out Michael. I agree with Terry. Really no reason I see to seal the white before you put the black on, except that if you think you might mess up the black, it could be a bit easier getting it off with less risk of damage to the white if there's a sealer on the white.

 

[Wayne Little]

Advice is just that Michael...take or leave it, at the end of the day it is your model and your choice just how you do it, all suggestions simply provide different ways to achieve a good outcome.....good luck with your choices whatever they may be....

 

[parsifal]

here are two shots of the completed fuselage stripes. generally I am happy, though quite a few slight imperfections remain. it was a lot of work to get to that point. from here there may be a short delay aaaaas Andy has sent me some decals that i think may prove very useful, and i want to see them before moving to the wing bands

Anyway, here are the shots

 

[Airframes]

The rear white band may be a touch narrow, but it looks good - nice work.

 

[meatloaf109]

Those darn stripes have driven many of us to despair!
You seem to have gotten them down.

 

[parsifal]

The rear white band may be a touch narrow, but it looks good - nice work.

I Agree. I think i can overlay a new white strip for the rear band that can address that but will test the theory first this time on scrap

 

[brucejscott]

Looks great Michael.

 

[vikingBerserker]

I agree!

 

[Wayne Little]

I like it too!

 

[rochie]

looks great

 

[Crimea_River]

Count me in.

 

[T Bolt]

Looks great Michael. The fuselage bands are always a pain. The wings should be a breeze after that.

 

[A4K]

With all, great job Mike!

Not an expert like the guys here, but I would've sprayed the white background myself too. Glad your idea worked out though, always good to learn new ideas!

 

[Vic Balshaw]

Very nicely done Michael, I think most of us fine the stripes a pain in to old proverbial.

 

[Wurger]

With all above.

 

[parsifal]

thanks guys, much appreciated. Have made some minor cleaning up, but further progress will have to wait until the decals andy sent me arrives. Will wait until the end of the week, hopefully they will arrive within that time window