Faded Markings?

[Leigh]

Ever get a bug up yer bum where you have an idea that you just have to do RIGHT NOW! Got hold of another of the lovely AMT Tigercats the other day and inspired by Baz's Mustang and his current SabreDog I thought how cool would it look as some beat to crap piece of a banana republic air force, with its original U.S. markings still visible too kinda like this but even worse





The effect I'm looking for is a very faded camo and markings over, U.S. sea blue and markings where the current paint is chipped off revealing the blue underneath and plenty of chipping showing bare metal.
So here's the possible plan
Paint it silver apply salt crystals (a new teqhnique for me)
Paint it blue appply U.S. decals and more salt crystals on the blue
Paint a highly thinned cam pattern on top.
Apply banana decals

The area I'm not sure about is how to fade/chip the second set of decals?
When I decal I'll apply a gloss coat over everything before I put a wash on (another area I have very mixed results with), then a dull cote and chalk weathering. Trouble is nothing wants to stick evenly to the decalled area and they still seem brighter than the surrounding area. I've tried dry brushing the underlying colour on to the decal to give it a chipped look and that doesn't work too well either. Tried scratching holes in the decals before I apply them but that just looks like a put a hole in the decal before I applied it.
Suggestions to get an insignia that looks faded and chipped?

[cthulhu77]

For the weathered F-51 I built, that required faded markings, I printed them out on clear decal paper instead of white...came out fairly well.

[bluntie]

Hi Leigh,one idea i have seen used is to mix a tiny amount of neutral grey in well thinned flat clear,spray it onto a peice of card,scrap model or some thing the same colour as the camo on the corsair to gauge the intensity of the of the mix,then adjust as needed.when spraying start on the decals and mist around the rest of the airframe to blend everything in.as for paint chips the salt technique works realy well but is hard to get right first go,a good idea is to grind the salt a little finer by putting some into a spoon and using a second spoon to crush the crystals this way you get a little variation in the size of the chips.for me i still like a 0000 brush and silver acrylic poster paint.  on your canopy question i had the same problem and it turned out to be junk floating around in the future! might be worth getting a fresh bottle and trying again. hope this helps .let us know how it turns out

[Radish]

For that faded look on the final decal application, I've found that a VERY light rubbing with a VERY worn piece of fine wet-and-dry can produce a good effect.

I've the decals for that FAS FG-1D by the way, a stunner ain't it!!

How about "crossed bananas" for the final decal insignia  

[John Howling Mouse]

If you can pull that off, Leigh....mmmmmmm.

I've been experimenting with having a sandable primer in place, wetting the surface, and hitting it with Testors Acryl paint.  Really cool, faded paint effects can be achieved.

Might work over decals at various stages, too.  Just a thought.