Hi all,
I’m about to restart a 1/72 Piper L-4 Grasshopper (Cub) model that I put away 30 years ago when the model demanded more from my skills than I had at the time.
I’ve been thinking that the best way to do the canopy frames would be to carefully cut olive drab decal strips to fit rather than trying to mask the canopy.
I found this product: Trim Film - Olive Drab – Stock# TF-50 (Microscale Decals: Trim Film - Olive Drab)
It looks like it could work for me, but the instructions seem to indicate that I need to coat the decals with decal film first. Has anyone used this product? Any tips?
Thanks!
Microscale liquid decal film? Yes, I’ve used it. Just brush it on and let it dry. Problem with decal is you then have to match your paint color to the color of the decal sheet.
I think he was talking about trim decal sheet, not the decal film. With those films you don’t need to paint. Admittedly you still need to match the color of the trim to the fuselage, but that is not super important. The color differance problem is only at the ends of the strips, avery thin distance.
It looks like you can get a canopy mask set for that model. Look for a Peewit 72021 masking set. 1001Hobbies in France has them. Shipping takes a little while (about 3 weeks) to the States, but they have been a reliable source for me in the past.
I’ve used their trim film stock in all different colors for decades, and I don’t think I’ve ever coated it with anything (pre-application-wise, at least) – UNLESS it’s old or has been improperly stored, and has dried out enough to make it prone to cracking.
I’ve always found their decal stock resilient and very easy to work with…whether cutting stripes or shapes, sometimes even lettering or parts for multi-layer graphics.
I’d recommend giving it a go by cutting your strips with a new blade and a steel straightedge, and they should be just fine.
Cheers
Thanks for the quick replies, everyone! I’ll post some pictures soon of what I’m working on.