**** DONE: 1/72 Sea Fury FB11 RAN 21 CAG - Your Favorite Aircraft of All Time GB

Looking very nice

Yep..

Guys

I am some days off applying decals, but I wanted your opinion on a product I have never used before. Its called "Mark Fit" by tamiya. Its basically a Decal softening agent, designed specifically for Decals applied to Acrylic paint surfaces (according to the model shop sales person, who is a modeller as well).

I found these instructions on the net,


"Mark Fit enables perfect decal applications. It softens decals so they can easily fit to uneven, rounded, and matt finish surfaces of plastic models while increasing adhesion. The bottle cap comes with a convenient brush. Contains 40ml.

TO USE:
1. Apply Mark Fit to the model where decal is applied.
2. Place decal on the model.
3. Position decal with a wet finger.
4. Press decal down gently with a soft cloth or cotton swab until excess water is gone.
5. Apply Mark Fit over the decal, then press down gently with a soft cloth or cotton swab.
6. Allow the decal to completely dry."

The surface i have to apply the decals to is basically a buff acrylic finish. Acrylics have a much more powdery finish compared to most enamels. Its one reason why I usually apply a semi gloss or gloss clear coat over the paint. You can reduce the poderising effect of the paint by adjustments to the way the airbrush is used, but in this case I wanted a podercoating effect. The main coats are now down, so will need at least 24-48 hours to harden up before I can touch the model again. Powdering is both a good thing and a bad thing.... Its one of the limitations of acrylic paints....easier to use,apply and clean up, but they have some poor aspects as well. powdery finishes are one of them (the powdery finish is very absorbant and makes decal application a bit harder).

The paint job I have applied is quite good, and is not a high sheen finish. this is consistent with the way RAN Furies actually looked. So, if i can, I would like to avoid shining the paint finish up. but its going to make finishing very difficult.....the paint job will be exposed to dirt and grime and will soak that up like a sponge. I am still unsure if I want to try this or not. Perhaps the best I can do is to use a semigloss sealant

In the past, applying the clear coat smooths the model surface, and assists in applying the decals. Even with the clear coat the super light after market decals i have are good quality, but extremely fragile and difficult to apply. they would definately not put up with putting my fingers on them, or using a sponge on them. To position these decals you have one choice...lots of water and use two brushes to move the decal on the model surface. even then its dead easy to tear these after market decals. And this model has decals that wrap around the entire wing and also around the entire rear fuselage. i have made copies of the decals suite, so i can have a few goes of this, still this is not going to be easy

Which gets me to the point of this post. Is this "Mark Fit" any good, and how is the best way to use it. Related to this, should I seal up the paint job, and have a slightly less accurate surface finish, or risk the paint job and try and finish the model with a buff (ie unprotected) finish?

Any advice you guys would like to give would be appreciated. I am close to geting there, but this is a big challenge in this project.

Can't comment on the Mark fit, but nice work so far mate!

Michael didn't you say you some spare wings? paint one up and try the softener with a spare decal or two to see how it reacts to your paint. if it doesnt work gloss the other side of the spare wing and try that too then you will see which will suit best.

Me, i would gloss the surface, decal, gloss again and then try to create the finish you desire for your bird.

Never used Mark Fit, sorry.

I agree with Wayne. The final clear coat, after decals and a clear gloss sealing coat, can be clear semi matt.

Thats what i finished up doing. In lay terms, ive minimise the gloss coat......but its now sealed from dust and grime and will be a little easier to apply the decals. im going to test run the new product on the scrap wings as suggested.

Here are the progress shots. am reasonably happy

Very sharp build Parsifal. Sorry I'm late.

A little local tip Michael, most of the guys talk of Future applied on the model before adding the decals. It's a liquid floor polishing solution that is usually added to the warm water and applied to the floor and when it dry's you get a hard gloss sheen. Applied neat or with a little water to a model by spray or brush it performs the same and hardens nice and glossy for decal application while also helping to protect the model paintwork. The local product is called 'One Go' which is in supermarkets like Coles and Wollies. I use it on all my models often giving a number of coats at each stage of the painting and decaling.

When all is finished, decals on last bits added except the canopy I apply a coat or two of one of the Modelscale product, either gloss, silk or flat depending on how I want the finish.

I don't put the canopy on until the very last as some of the products can leave a film on it that will dull it.

BTW what you've done looks good.

Thanks Vic, very sound advice as usual. I am going to test this tamiya product on spare parts i have and see if it works or improves the decal process. I have a great deal of difficulty with the "novascale" Decals, because they are printed on such fine material. They are much thinner than regulalr decal paper, which means they are good....if you can get them down in one piece....but if the process goes wrong 9and I have many of those episodes) its usually an unrecoverable train wreck for the decal.

On a side not, I will have to go back and reposition the spary line at the wing root. ive just noticed that compered to the images at ADF serials, my spray line is not far enough up the side of the fuselage. not a big problem, just another masking and spraying effort.......andother evening I suppose...

looks good

Looks prettygood so far Michael.

With Wayne.

Me too, nice work so far Michael. Don't forget the wheel bays once you've got the clear coats done - they were painted silver, a sort of sheen, not shiny chrome.

Looking very nice.

Very sharp Michael. Keep up the good work.

Im not sure about the wheel bay colours. The Kiwi A/C site shows the wheel wells finished in the same "sky" blue finish as the fuselage, without any gloss....sort of finished as an undertcoat.

RN versions that I have seen are finished in a sort of grey/silver finish, but the RAN versions seem to have a different detail.

Some photos to document the progress thjis weekend.


The model is about ready to have its decals applied and the canopy fitted......

I like the way the nav lights turned out. Small change for you guys, but Im chuffed at the way it workeed out. Used wurgers methed.....base coat of silver (actually "warhammer acrylic..."mythril silver"), then a semi transparent high gloss colour. a applied an ultra thick and high gloss acrylic varnish (again from my set of warhammer colours) with an eye dropper to get a glassy lense like effect

Very sharp job so far Michael, it's looking great sir!