Moments of Zen

[DogfighterZen]

My suggestion was only to put it aside if you were not sure you could pull it off.  You sound pretty positive to me so as Womby said, Good Luck.

And a very welcome suggestion it was but i'm stubborn by nature, Fred. Once I realized that I can get a much better result with the XF-50, I knew it was just a matter of having the patience to go back and paint it again and the ride yesterday was very good to clear my mind so I got home determined to do it right. 

[DogfighterZen]

Well, not sure if this time it came out right but i'm sticking with it, i don't want to mask it all up again.
Used the XF-50 this time and although it might be a bit too much on the grey side, it looks better to me than with the Gunze H326 so, it stays like this.



It's already been coated with some X-22 so it's ready for decals. I'm leaving the exhaust to paint last cause i'm still not sure on how i'm gonna do it. Initially i was thinking of painting chrome with molotow chrome taken from a marker but after some airbrush test, i'm not so sure if i'll be able to achieve what i want so that's on hold for later in the build.
I'm going to put the Blue Thunder aside for a while again, at least till i'm done with the Recce GB's RF-5E...

[Old Wombat]

Well, this is a Grail kit, you want to take your time with it & only work on it when fully committed to modelling ... you don't want to bugger it up!

[DogfighterZen]

Well, this is a Grail kit, you want to take your time with it & only work on it when fully committed to modelling ... you don't want to bugger it up!

Yes, it is and yes, indeed! 
As i've mentioned before, i do have another one of these kits but that one is reserved for a Blue Thunder 2.0 build.   
I also have 1/48 Gazelle kits in the stash, 3 to be precise so, i may end up trying to convert one into a BT and try again if i fail on this build.
I'm just going to put it aside to get the RF-5E done and then get back to this one.

[DogfighterZen]

Ah, excellent!! I was expecting this so it's no surprise, the Blue Thunder's decals are ruined...
I wanted to test the decals cause i'll have to find an alternative. Fireball model works had the sheet but they've stopped printing them a long time ago and i think i'll have to resort to making my own... I'm even thinking of painting most of the markings on but that will require quite a bit of planning for the numbers. The red stripes are easy to mask and paint but i'll have to raid the spares box for a few of the smaller stencils. We'll see how that goes.
Well, while i sort that out, i'll have time to finish the RF-5E.

[Old Wombat]

Ah, excellent!! I was expecting this so it's no surprise, the Blue Thunder's decals are ruined...

Good to see such a positive attitude to such a negative moment!

[DogfighterZen]

Ah, excellent!! I was expecting this so it's no surprise, the Blue Thunder's decals are ruined...

Good to see such a positive attitude to such a negative moment!

Well, i had a feeling those decals were already useless when i got the kit but i guess i was hoping i'd be wrong... no point on being upset about it.
I did look for decal sheets with similar yellow numbers but i can't find any with the same font. Anyway, i'll try to print my own numbers, mask and spray all the reds lines on the canopy framing and use the smaller ones which i'll have to cut the film off. All of the decals have a lot of film around them and that film is very visible, even after some microsol goes on so, not usable.
If that plan fails, i guess i'll either have to buy a sheet with some yellow numbers of a similar font and size and live with it.
Although it's something i don't like to do, i'll  leave that for later, after i'm done with the RF-5E.

[Pellson]

I might be totally off here, but if it's American eight corner digits you're looking for, then I will likely have a few in the odd WW2 decal sheet, obviously depending on size. Let me know what you need, and I'll get back to you.

[DogfighterZen]

I might be totally off here, but if it's American eight corner digits you're looking for, then I will likely have a few in the odd WW2 decal sheet, obviously depending on size. Let me know what you need, and I'll get back to you.

All i can say is that folks on this forum are the best.
I've already been offered help by another member on here who said he could print them but i can also do that because i have all i need to do it. I don't want to seem ungrateful because i am indeed very grateful for having such a good bunch of friends on here, hence why i don't want to bother others when i can probably do it myself.

With that said, i don't know the name of the font but they all have 45º corners... i think that's the angle, also not sure about that.

This is not the original monogram sheet but it's and exact copy of it, from either the Idea or Kitech kit.


The smaller numbers (25102) are 3mm in height and 2mm in width each, except for the number 1, and i imagine these can be found on some available decal sheets but the big 02, which are 9mm in height and 7mm in width will probably be very hard to find anywhere else, i guess. They even seem wider than the normal font but that may be an illusion because of their size.
I guess it's a long shot but if you have a pair of yellow 25102 with those measures, that would probably make my life much easier but seeing that i have transparent decal paper ready to print, i feel bad for making someone else go through the hassle of finding and sending stuff over.
I'll be trying to print the numbers because they would be really hard to mask and spray without a vinyl cutter or something like that where i could print pre-cut masks. The red stripes are easy to mask and spray and the yellow stencils will probably be easy to find in other decal sheets or my spares bag.

I've seen the Techmod sheets of yellow US numbers which have a similar font and, although it seems like the sizes of the 1/48 scale sheet would have the appropriate ones, i'd have to buy two sheets because they have 3 different types of font for the number 2 but only one of each type...
That option is out of the question so, i'll try to print them and if that fails, i'll surely be needing all the help i can get so i really appreciate the offer, Pellson. Let me see if i can pull this off, if not, i'll let you know, ok?

[frank2056]

If you can print your own decals, try a free online font. The Norfolk font looks close you can also search for military on the same site.

[DogfighterZen]

If you can print your own decals, try a free online font. The Norfolk font looks close you can also search for military on the same site.

Frank, thank you! That should help, it is easier to make a sheet to print if i have the individual elements which I can organize and adjust to the specs i need. 

[zenrat]

Unless you get hold of, or have access to, an ALPS printer you will need to print onto white decal paper and then cut around the letters.  I have never had 100% success doing this as the water tends to get under the decal sealer at the edges where you cut, washing the ink off.
Sealing the decals after cutting to seal the edges also has issues as sealer can get on the underside and prevent the decal from releasing from the backing paper.
I'm not trying to put you off, but think seriously about stencils.

[DogfighterZen]

Unless you get hold of, or have access to, an ALPS printer you will need to print onto white decal paper and then cut around the letters.  I have never had 100% success doing this as the water tends to get under the decal sealer at the edges where you cut, washing the ink off.
Sealing the decals after cutting to seal the edges also has issues as sealer can get on the underside and prevent the decal from releasing from the backing paper.
I'm not trying to put you off, but think seriously about stencils.

Thanks for the warning, Fred. I've printed a few designs in color but never got to using them so i haven't had that issue before. It didn't happen to the black ones I did use on the Harrier. Those were printed on my laser printer, on Experts choice clear decal film and sealed with liquid decal film from deluxe. I guess it will be a matter of testing it out. I'm not if I'll be printing the smaller stencils because of the quality of the images i have.
I really wanna learn how to do it right cause I have a lot of stuff I'd like to print that would allow me to escape the normal PoAF markings and that would surely upset quite a few Portuguese rivet counters.

[zenrat]

Black works on clear decal paper because, well because black is dark.
Yellow isn't and on clear the underlying colour will show through affecting the final colour off the design.  Yellow letters printed on clear placed in a dark blue model will end up looking like dark green letters.
One way to avoid the cutting is to print yellow letters with a dark blue background on white decal paper.  Make the dark blue area large enough that the decal can be trimmed to fit an entire panel (easiest way is to make it oversize, put it on the model and trim along panel lines).  You will have to match the blue to your paint.

[PR19_Kit]

  You will have to match the blue to your paint.

And that's a LOT easier said than done sadly. I've spent HOURS chopping and changing RGB values to try and match colours.