Yes Andy. Make a mask, or masks, paint the code letters, then apply the serial decal over the relevant code letter. The area of serial number infringing into the code letter can then be painted over in the same colour as the code letter, if this makes sense?.
Meanwhile, plan B sounds good - how far away is the pub, anyway?!!
Thanks Terry. I've done more thinking about this than actual work and will be cutting the masks Friday. 4 day weekend coming up for me so Monday should see the codes done hopefully. Instead of applying the s/n over the B I'll just cut the decal at the right location. The s/n on the port side as already on the model and under a clear coat. The replacement one of the stbd side has a clear coat over it and should behave now.
Hmmm. Masked the B and it's tiny (11mm tall) and very tough to do. The results are so-so. First and second pics show the mask and the result after painting and peeling off the mask. The edges need work and I'm not sure this is going to be up to snuff. I'll let it set and see what I can do.
The last pic shows work on the canopy. Thanks to Peter's note in his build for Bluey Truscott, I checked and discovered that my Kittyhawk did not have this chamfered corner detail either so I added a piece with plastic card and blended it in.
Nice work Andy! Actually, that letter 'B' will look fine if you gently 'shave' the bottom edge with a new scalpel blade, then, if needed re-touch the cammo colour. Once it's all weathered a bit, it'll look the biz.
Not sure why you got the ragged bottom CR, did you pull the mask off wet or dry? If your getting "bleeding" then a first coat of clear might solve the problem, although I would avoid doing this by laying down a couple of 'mist' coats on the letter, let dry, and build from there. As Terry says, what you have is fixable without too much effort.
Thanks guys. It wasn't bleeding Peter. I pulled the mask off before the paint was dry but I think the glossy subsurface contributed to the effect. I've started work on it and it's already looking a bit better.
I put the FR350 decal back on, cutting it to fit around the 'B' and painted on the 'HS'
First, I drew the H and S on a piece of masking tape and cut them out.
Attached to the model with paper for overspray.
The finished code and s/n applied to the starboard side. What I found tricky about this was that it was very difficult to maintain a consistent letter thickness for the white codes. Because of the black pen marks on the tape, what may appear to be a cut line may in fact be an ink line. Consequently, some parts of the lettering turned out thinner than I wanted so I touched up some of the lines with more tape and hand painted these areas to fix them. These can be seen as raised paint lines. Once I get a clear coat on, I'll sand these down a bit with 2000 grit paper. The FR350 turned out pretty good I think.