>Hello all! OK, so this question might give away my lack of experience
with
>lozenge and defy my hopes of being a fully acceptable to my fellow
modelers
>;), BUT...
Hey, on this list, not _knowing_ is a pre-requisite ! Indeed anyone who
comes in here shouting he _knows_ anything is likely to get a polite post
telling him to ....
So lack of experience is no crime.
>1.) I just can't seem to get all of those air bubbles out from under my
>lozenge decals. I've tried many methods, and so far I've simply poked
and
>prodded with needles and Solvaset to get those bubbles out, but there's
>always one or two I have to shave off later, then having to mix and
match
>paint for touch up. Is there a secret I haven't been let in on?
Are you painting the surfaces first? And glosscoating them? I had a
similar problem on one occasion I thought to jump this step. I use a
colour as near as possible to the palest loz colour, then gloss it. That
way you reduce the amount of touch ups a little without darkening the
overall look of the loz.
I then always press it down with a soft cloth (old T-shirt, handkerchief,
whatever), ignoring the instructions of most decal softener
manufacturers. Scary procedure, since you need to take some care not to
deform the loz. Then (and only then) apply Micro-sol, solvaset or
whatever if needed.
I may be telling you nothing new, but I was caught this way !
>2.) How about those trailing edges? Is it as easy as cutting out a near
>perect match from the decal sheet? Shrinkage(?) has spoiled my efforts
along
>the TEs before, maybe there's another way?
Cut the decal and align along the leading edge. Make it slightly too wide
for the wing and allow it to trail over the trailing edge a few
millimetres (1/16ths to those non-metricated). When DRY, get some well
worn old 1200 grit and carefully sand across the trailing edge NOT along,
until the excess decal parts company. Use a very light touch and only
ever sand towards the plastic or you may lift and tear the trailing edge
of the decal. When done, run a brush lightly loaded with Future along the
edge to seal it. You MAY need to touch up, but if done lightly the work
will be absolutely minimal.
>3.) Recommended maufacturer? Americal seems to be the accepted choice
around
>here, I've used the hexes for an Aviatik. I've used the Aeromaster 5
color
>scheme, it looks fine to me, but a heated debate in AOL's model forum
left me
>unsatisfied. Eduard's out-of-the- box seem a bit hard to swallow. Any
>reccomendations?
Ignore AOL and get your advice from here. For what it's worth, my opinion
is that anyone arguing too loudly that any decal is perfect and another
"wrong" is just asking to be shot down in flames. The members of this
list will all have their own opinions, but you won't get them standing up
and beating you about the head if you disagree - mostly because we've all
discovered that nobody _KNOWS_ enough to absolutely prove anything in
our era.
My recommendation (and my _opinion_ only) is to use what you like. I like
Americal, but Aeromaster is easy to get here and Americal is difficult,
and I don't think Americal is far out - just that Americal is better.
>By the way, I'm a relatively new member to this mailing list, so forgive
my
>ignorance if this topic has been covered (pun! :)).
Forgiven.
>My name is Scott H. from Houston, Texas and I have always had an
interest in
>WWI aviation. Since being inspired by the owner of Lone Star Models and
his
>HUGE Felixstowe (he's in my IPMS Chapter) to build WWI aircraft (but not
his
>kits! Too rough for me still), I've looked for the elusive group of
>like-minded builders and I hope I've found gold! Thanks!
It must be something in the water. There are at least 2 other Texans on
this list.
Welcome, and nice to see you active
Shane