I was wondering when people in general apply decals. In the past, I usually do that as a last step, after painting and applying a gloss varnish. But I’m working on a small helicopter (Hasegawa UH-1H Iroquois) and it seems easier to paint and apply the decals on the two halves of the body separately, before I glue them together. This way the two halves lie flat on the table and are easier to work with. Have others had experience in doing painting and decaling earlier in the build?
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I always do it on the next to last step, after gloss coat but before final weathering/final clear coat.
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I agree with Samphoto, I will apply the decals as after the gloss coat, but before the final weathering. I will also apply some decals on hard to reach locations or apply the decals tot he interior while building and mask off those areas during the final painting.
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It is best to build the model as a complete fuselage, fill and sand joints, then paint and decal. After the decals dry/cure, then dull coat and weather. Painting the two fuselage halves first is a pain, then you have to scrape paint to add other parts and join them, then fill and sand joints and go back and touch up those areas. All the while tempting fate to screw up the decals along the way.
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I would paint and decal only after assembly