A bit of scrambling going on here yesterday, I got a little sloppy and had some touchy repair work to do! Before applying a coat of Future I thought I'd touch up the aileron hinge hard ware. That went well until I noticed a fairly big blob of grey-green enamel on the lower wing undersurface....... "strike one fat finger complex is alive and well here!
Without much thought I put a dab of enamel thinner on a cloth and wiped it away before it dried, taking most of the lozenge pattern with it! After a session of cursing and trembling I settled into repair mode and carefully replaced the lozenge panel, learning for the second time in a week that these transparent decals don't come off well over top of previous patterns or damage.........."strike two", memory typical of encroaching dementia and must be given careful consideration! Here's the "ugly" result.
Taking an hour to walk away from this disaster I came up with three options: mask and paint the white background base again, use a strip of white decal to get the same results without risking lifting the finish with tape removal, or just tie myself to a tree on my back 40 and let the wolves have their way with me. I chose the decal option..............
After letting it dry a strip of the Aviattic Lozenge went on very nicely and no harm done in the end.
I thought I'd share this should it save someone else a lot of heartache; I know I've cleaned up a similar problem or two over the years and a very light swipe of thinner hasn't damaged the decal; not so in this case. Not a failure of the product for sure, just one I didn't see coming.
The two coats of Future have since been applied and, once dried, it's markings time.
More to follow soon, I'm thinking of changing my moniker to Jackass but wouldn't be able to find my Threads here if I did.
The Golden Years aren't really all that golden for sure!
Cheers,
Lance
