Here is another kit I started years ago and never finished.
It is a Monogram Hi-Tech 1/48 Tomcat that I put Micro-Scale decals on.
This kit had terrible fit around the fuselage back near the horizontal stabilators and was a pain to build. Maybe that’s why it has been sitting for several years. [(-D]
If you look close at the star decal on the side of the fuselage you can see the black and yellow stripe through the white in the star. Does anyone have a good idea how to cover that up?
Oh man, I built that kit too (also years ago) - it was a terrible fit indeed!
Back to the prob on your scheme. You may not like what I’m going to say, but what I’d do, is to take it off. I presume you’ve got enough spare US stars… So now you’ve got the perfect template. I’d say cut off the star (gentlyyy…) and the Jolly’s V’s to the template of the existing star. The add another over the empty space created by that bit of surgery.
However, this will be difficult if your decals aren’t the top layer (i.e. you allready have clearcote over it.
A much easier option which I thought of as I typed is to paint the star white (or gray) so that the V’s can’t be seen. The add another star on top of it all - exactly on the star below. Should be easiest to accomplish.
Good luck on that!!! I’ve been having problems with my decals getting like spidery veins in them. I’ve been using Micro Sol like crazy, but they just don’t seem to snug down at all. Do you use Solva Set?? Is it better for that kind of thing??
Mike, just for interest sake. I just found a pic of the SuperScale decal set. They seem to “advise” using whiting it out before re-applying a star in that they have two white decals to the shape of the star, presumably to negate exactly your problem.
Too bad it’s not armor, then you could just cover it up with mud like a good treadhead would do. HAH! Really though, I think that your easiest way out would be to carefully paint it out with white paint.
Are you saying that they recommend putting white over the star and then applying another decal over the white paint? Sorry if I misunderstood your post. [;)]
My original post said Micro-Scale decals but it is in fact SuperScale decals.
I just looked at the instructions from Super Scale and noticed that on the later lo-vis aircraft they moved the star back towards the wing more so that the arrow stripe is fully exposed. Maybe I should have painted it in that scheme. [(-D]
That was the first airplane kit I ever built! I loved it, but in hindsight, it was not the greatest quality.
Recently I ran into it, for a very very cheap price, but did not buy it. I know that I want to build another tomcat eventually, but I don’t think I want this kit to be it
The best thing to do would be to try and paint over it instead of applying another decal. For me applying a decal over another seems to increase the thickness and doesn’t look good. Try to get a star shaped mask and spray it white instead of hand painting if you bother about small imperfections. Good Luck!.[(-D]
I thought about that but the only problem is that the white would have to match the white in the stripes on the sides of the star. I guess it would come out alright. Maybe I can cut a stencil out of clear acetate. [;)]
Mike, sorry no! What I meant was that I saw the superscale decal set. Included in that (don’t know whether it’s a different version to your exact set) is a white decal to the size and shape of the star (whole thing, incl. stripes). To me, that says they might have learnt from an earlier attempt and knows the decals aren’t thick enough, therefor including another one to go below the star, to thicken the decal and not allow the V’s to show through!
Thus, from that I thought option two is the easiest to perform. Simply paint white (or gray to match the plane’s base?) over the existing star and then apply another star. Carnage’s option is very good, too, but as you said, you must then match the stripes’ white - or otherwise paint them as well.
The “surgery” option would be the cleanest, but more risky. I think the surgery is the option I would have gone for. As Carnage said - decal buildup can look bad. But then again, if you screw up the whole V stripe decal, you’re really up the creek…
Mike I had this occur on a conversion I did of Revells 1/48th scale Tomcat. What I did to fix it was to remove the decals all-together, sand the areas as smooth as possible, then used after-market decals to finish the bird. The result was very impressive. Two-Bobs and Superscale has several sheets available for the “VF-84 Jolly Rogers” scheme. Solva-Set may be too harsh for higher quality after-market decal sheets like Superscale and the like. I’ve had the best, consistant results with Micro Scale’s Setting and Solvent solutions. Give it a shot! By the way the rest of the decal job looks great!
Thanks Greg. Maybe that would be the best way to do it.
By the way I used Solvaset on all the Super Scale decals you see on this Tomcat and it is the only setting solution I have ever used. Can Solvaset be thinned with water to tone it down or would you recommend getting Micro-Scale’s setting solutions that you mentioned?
