1/32 Wingnut Wings AEG IV Early 1125/16 British Markings

[fredjocko]

Hi:

I think my modeling mojo is back so I'm jumping in while I'm still interested. Started building Wingnut Wings' early AEG IV in British markings. Not happy with the lozenge it bubbled, wrinkled, or fuzzied in places; but the lozenge is covered in a grey/green splotchy camo so hopefully it'll hide it. Hopefully, I can finish this one before I see a squirrel...

Thanx,
Carl

 

[rhwinter]

I love it, Carl!

[lcarroll]

Great scheme Carl. I'll be following your progress as I'm immersed in the late version presently and any/all ideas are welcome!
Cheers,
Lance

[RAGIII]

Looking great Carl. Good to have you posting a build again!
RAGIII

[Juan]

Interesting to see this kit being done in captured markings.  All the best in your quest, looking forward to your progress.

[fredjocko]

Good morning.

Thank you everyone for the kind words. I need some suggestions. I was going to make masks and paint the roundels over the lozenge; but with the decals I don't know if that is such a good idea. I have some questions though...How many coats of gloss should I put over the decals before I don't have to worry about the decals pulling up? Also, would the roundels have the white outer band because they are on a dark surface? From the below picture it looks like there is not the white ring, so would the top be the same or would the ring still be provided. And lastly, would the roundels be painted over the Balkenkreuz or would they remove them or would the roundel cover them up so you wouldn't see them anyway? Enquiring minds want to know or just me. As always thank you so much.

Carl

[krow113]

It wont matter how many coats you put on TOP.
I don't think there is a decal made that can be applied and then masked over without the decal coming off when the mask is removed.
Really not worth trying.
Masking techniques can be adjusted, just cutting a thin outline mask of the roundel, in conjunction with a paper mask , will work. You only need the precise edge of the mask to seal for the amount of time you need to paint. sealing that edge immediately with clear will give some time relief but the work needs to be done expeditiously to get the mask off the decal as soon as possible. There are ways to de-stickify the mask as well.
 Cutting the roundels out of paper , wetting the paper and getting it to lay down on the model may work as well.
Mask , clear sealer shot , white application , mask , blue application , mask , red application , touch up white edges if need be , clear seal all colors would be my procedure.
It worked a treat on the Biff:


 Or save alla that and just use some extra roundel decals. I still have mine from the Biff , or WNW has great decal sheet selections.

Good luck!

[fredjocko]

Thank you for the suggestions Steve. I thought about using decals; unfortunately, I need roundels that are almost three inches in diameter or 76mm. I have tried blowing up some 1/32 roundels to print decals or I guess I could paint the decal film and then cut it out.

[Borsos]

I wouldn't be as pessimistic as Steve here. I masked over Aviattic decals and it worked quite fine. I used japanese Kabuki tape (like Tamiya tape) and reduced its stickyness by putting it on my arms several times before. You only have to be careful when removing it. it is available via e. g. ebay in DIN-A 4 sheets (at least here in Europe).
Best wishes
Andreas

[rayb24]

I use parafilm it’s about as low stick as it comes. It used to be available in hobby stores. But pricey.


If you have a science supply store though they sell it for sealing Petrie dishes and it’s cheaper. It’s not got glue on it, it’s more a plastic film you stretch and it sticks by pressing down rather like cling film but much much better...


It can be cut to shape too, very fragile but that’s also it’s benefit as it can’t lift the decals as long as you carefully peel it away.
Hth’s Ray

[Wodehouse]

I'll take the middle ground here on decals and masking and say that it's a crapshoot.  It can be done though, definitely, but it depends I think in great part on the decal's own adhesive strength.  Destickying the tape a bit can help, as Borsos says.  Alex Glass (Uschi van der Rosten) had a little tutorial on his site with his recommendations.  It's the second tutorial down in the following link, titled Creating Dark Types of Wood / Using Paint Masks on Decals:

https://www.uschivdr.com/tutorials/

As an aside:

I bought a Shadow Hobby Thinnerline circle cutter after seeing it posted here in the 'Whats New' subforum by Bo and then researching it a bit elsewhere on the internet.  Would highly recommend trying it out for cutting perfect roundel masks, but it's a bit pricey - especially the replacement blades.  I'd like to convert the blade holder to fit a regular Xacto pen-knife blade, in which case it would be fine since those are comparatively cheap.

http://shadowhobby.com/tlcc-000-thinnerline-circle-cutter.html

[fredjocko]

I'll take the middle ground here on decals and masking and say that it's a crapshoot.  It can be done though, definitely, but it depends I think in great part on the decal's own adhesive strength.  Destickying the tape a bit can help, as Borsos says.  Alex Glass (Uschi van der Rosten) had a little tutorial on his site with his recommendations.  It's the second tutorial down in the following link, titled Creating Dark Types of Wood / Using Paint Masks on Decals:

https://www.uschivdr.com/tutorials/

As an aside:

I bought a Shadow Hobby Thinnerline circle cutter after seeing it posted here in the 'Whats New' subforum by Bo and then researching it a bit elsewhere on the internet.  Would highly recommend trying it out for cutting perfect roundel masks, but it's a bit pricey - especially the replacement blades.  I'd like to convert the blade holder to fit a regular Xacto pen-knife blade, in which case it would be fine since those are comparatively cheap.

http://shadowhobby.com/tlcc-000-thinnerline-circle-cutter.html

I used the kit decals and they were a bear to put down and there are some areas that kind of bubbly and fuzzy and putting tape down even it is "destickified" really scares me because of the trouble with them. If you blow up the lozenge pictures you can see what I'm talking about with the decals having some weird places. I was playing with the paper mask and then I thought about making the roundels out of decals and using my Olfa circle cutter it wasn't that accurate the smaller I got so I will check out your suggestion. The roundels are 76mm in diameter (almost three inches) and it looks like painting is the answer unless someone has an Alps printer and they can print me some roundel decals. I think I need to work on the engines or cockpit and come back to this. The struggle is real.

[Wodehouse]

I would recommend using your Olfa for the larger circles and the Thinnerline for the smaller ones, as it can cut the tiniest circles perfectly (I believe down to something like 1 mm).  You'd want to get the center locator too for roundels or anything concentric.  You could also use it with plain white decal paper to cut circle decals if masking over decals doesn't work out for you. 

If you're especially handy (I'm not), you could probably make a Thinnerline yourself.  It's really the simplest thing:  Just a race/bearing device with a flat portion on top to accommodate a slider parallel to the diameter of the Thinnerline that adjusts for the size of the circle you want to cut.  The blade holder is a simple metal tube with some sort of adjustment wheel to set the depth of the blade, but the blade must be able to swing freely 360° around as it curves through the cut - it will do so naturally, taking the path of least resistance - so the adjustment screw doesn't actually lock it in place per se; it's just a movable blocker, so to speak. 

[Edit] You wouldn't need the adjustment screw at all if you simply have a good idea of the depth you want for the thickness of the material being cut.  In the case of decal paper or masking tape, of course, it would be very shallow, with the knife just protruding a tiny bit from the bottom of the cutter.

[rhwinter]

Also, would the roundels have the white outer band because they are on a dark surface? From the below picture it looks like there is not the white ring, so would the top be the same or would the ring still be provided. And lastly, would the roundels be painted over the Balkenkreuz or would they remove them or would the roundel cover them up so you wouldn't see them anyway?

Carl, unfortunately this is all I can contribute to your most interesting build... I also have a slightly better version of that photo (but it's to big to post it here), which suggests NO White ring around the cockardes.
Richard

[krow113]

lol

Quite the pickle!

So its test your decal application , which I would optimistically describe as 'a crap shoot' or try another solution.

 Perhaps the leading option would be to mask and paint white decal film then apply those to the model
 , if I was at all worried about the already applied decals , and it seems you are , I think that is what I would do. This procedure jeopardizes the model or the applied decals in no way.

The only concern I have there is whether the white decal film will react to being masked. Will it pull up from the decal's carrier  sheet in its 'dry' state?
Of course the highly technical and university level descriptions of the 'de-stickification ' process have to be taken into account, I don't recommend the use of ones selves body parts to do this as it has the chance of introducing dead skin (!) , hair and body oils into the modelling arena. Applying the mask to a substrate and pulling it up a few times may be another option there.
I would still recommend the expeditious execution of the work, don't let the mask adhesive (whatever your choice) to sit for any length of time, get it on and get it off!