Boultbee Spitfire Tr.9 - AZ Model 1/72

[Beard]

1 hour ago, CedB said:

something in the stash, or to be able to buy something for goodness sake, but I can't find anything of the same font. Goodness knows what it is... not standard RAF WWII that's for

 

How about modifying some 'standard' decals so they, at least, look a little like the font? I'll have a look through my extensive collection of rubbish leftovers in a while and see what I've got.

[Cookenbacher]

I've used these before on 1/72 Spitfires, but they only come in 24", and you may need 18" and the font may not match.

 

These also work well, but again, the font won't match perfectly.

 

I'm in the preliminary stages of researching a cutting machine to apply my Christmas/birthday funds to in order to be able to make any mask I can draw, so if you want to wait a month or so, there is a 72% chance (optimistic) I'll have the skills and equipment to make some masks for you.

[CedB]

4 hours ago, Courageous said:

Yeah Ced, what Perdu said...didn't you know that.

 

Starting to think that this DIY decal melarky isn't that straight forward.

Thanks Stuart - I'm with you! Getting beyond a joke now...

 

Thanks Simon - I have no idea why the idents are so weird. Thanks for the kind offer, but I'm going to try masking (see below).

 

Thanks Cookie - I'd looked at those, I think, but dismissed them because of the shape of the 'J'. I've just noticed there are two styles, but the 'K' isn't right.

I've also considered the cutters. They're a bit pricey aren't they... but I found a few for under £300: Silhouette Portrait 2, Xinghoo A3 and the Cricut Explore. Of course I have no idea of the pitfalls of these machines (Hendie had a bigger one but he was cutting styrene sheet for the Pullman) or what to look out for. Please keep us updated!

 

 

Only one thing for it now - masks:

 

Let’s try this by Ced Bufton, on Flickr

[Beard]

Good luck with the masks, at least you won't have to worry about matching the colour.

[CedB]

Thanks Simon

Didn't take me long to realise that I won't be able to cut the masks well enough to ensure a clean set of idents - just too small, especially the bottom of the 'I':

 

Too tiny by Ced Bufton, on Flickr

 

Bill has kindly PM'd me and offered to give it a go for me - what a nice man.

 

In the meantime the one fuselage roundel I've applied so far has had another dose of Daco strong:

 

 

I'll have a think...

[Beard]

That transfer doesn't appear to want to settle... do you think some very hot water might change its' mind?

[perdu]

Is there something underneath that roundel, it looks very weird...

[Courageous]

2 hours ago, CedB said:

They're a bit pricey aren't they... but I found a few for under £300

How much, I'll give that a miss .

[giemme]

Ced, the cutters you found seem quite pricey to me. Last time I checked, a silhouette Curio was a little over 200€.

 

See here, for instance

https://www.amazon.it/gp/aw/d/B00ZOU0W4K/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?__mk_it_IT=ÅMÅZÕÑ&qid=1515007146&sr=8-1&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_FMwebp_QL65&keywords=silhouette+curio&dpPl=1&dpID=31vPfEHrfAL&ref=plSrch

3 hours ago, Cookenbacher said:

there is a 72% chance (optimistic) I'll have the skills and equipment to make some masks for you.

Cookie, it's much easier than you think, and you have the hardest part sorted having learned Inkscape, believe me

 

Ciao

[charlie_c67]

Just in case you wanna try once more with the home brew ones, the below pics are ones I've printed on an A4 sheet. The worksheet is 5100 x 7014 pixels inside, with a resolution of 600 x 600 dpi. May sound extreme, but coupled with an admittedly new HP printer, it gives decals like those below printed on clear paper.

 

Please excuse the bad iPad sourced pics with shocking lighting.

 

 

 

I probably should've included a ruler for a size comparison, but they are all 1/72 scale if that helps picture them in your minds eye!

 

[CedB]

5 hours ago, Beard said:

That transfer doesn't appear to want to settle... do you think some very hot water might change its' mind?

4 hours ago, perdu said:

Is there something underneath that roundel, it looks very weird...

Thanks Simon and Bill - yep, there's a canopy rail and a probably-a-vent thingy under the roundel. i've poked it with a 10a and applied more daco strong. If that doesn't work I'll get the boiling ater out!

 

4 hours ago, Courageous said:

How much, I'll give that a miss .

I know Stuart, but looking at this build and its 18 pages of frustration it's like £10 a page, and given the cost of AM decals (of which I've just ordered three more sheets) it's probably justifying itself isn't it. Isn't it? Plus it's a new toy tool that will always sometimes come in handy

 

3 hours ago, giemme said:

Ced, the cutters you found seem quite pricey to me. Last time I checked, a silhouette Curio was a little over 200€.

 

See here, for instance

https://www.amazon.it/gp/aw/d/B00ZOU0W4K/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?__mk_it_IT=ÅMÅZÕÑ&qid=1515007146&sr=8-1&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_FMwebp_QL65&keywords=silhouette+curio&dpPl=1&dpID=31vPfEHrfAL&ref=plSrch

Cookie, it's much easier than you think, and you have the hardest part sorted having learned Inkscape, believe me

 

Ciao

Thanks Giorgio - there's a supplier here for £205 with a free Weeding Tool, whatever that is, plus other goodies.

Is this the one you use? There are some videos on YouTube too. I shall ponder!

 

Thanks Charlie - those look really good. I've had some success in the past with custom transfers too but I've had straight images as the source rather than, as in this case, having to manipulate photos. I think that's what's giving me the problem; that and the mix of software.

 

Fear not ladies, Bill has very kindly just PM'd me some images to try tomorrow - thanks Bill

 

 

[Stew Dapple]

19 hours ago, CedB said:

(Eleanor Tomlinson of course. You know, the Poldark lady. I have developed, in old age, a certain 'interest' in red heads that I didn't have before. Theories?)

It's not your age Ced, except in the positive sense that your eyesight has not deteriorated beyond use; it's because she is smoking hot*.

 

Can't offer any help with the transfers but just thought I'd pop in to offer support. Chin up mate  

 

Cheers,

 

Stew

 

* As the young people say. See, I am down with the kids too!

[perdu]

When you right...

[perdu]

Ced, printed waiting varnish mist

 

When you varnished the last sheet you showed us I bet you just sprayed a coat all over

If I'm right the problem was that wet varnish can eat/drink ink

You need a couple of misted lightly setting coats that can dry almost on touching the paper, then a pause whilst the volatile (usually shiny) elements flash off

After about half an hour (not less, I'm impatient too) you can then risk lightly laid on coats of varnish

Give it a couple of coats, letting the shine dry out first

 

I'm doing this for your sheet this morning, be in the hands of Brian, the Royal Snail this arvo.

 

I've done several sizes of the serial, pick the ones that suit. ☺

[giemme]

9 hours ago, CedB said:

this the one you use?

I actually have a Brother scan'n'cut at work, that we normally use to cut cardboard templates for testing purposes prior to aluminium machining.

That is much more expensive, but has no management software. I'm considering getting the Curio for home (if I can find a place where to put it ) as my friend @Gene K is successfully using one, also to score through plastic card

 

Ciao

Edited January 4, 2018 by giemme

[perdu]

Just been re-looking at your masks, unmasked

I think you could go ahead with them

The serifs at top and bottom of the I can be cut first with a very new blade

You can cut across past the edges of the verticals then cut out them after

It will not matter if you leave cuts as long as you burnish them closed before you paint

That is what has to happen when multicolour masks are employed after all

Crisp and Giorgio must be able to advise you thusly

 

Just thinking, I may look for some masking film myself

Been promising myself a bash at masking after all. 

👌

[Deanflyer]

11 hours ago, CedB said:

Thanks Simon and Bill - yep, there's a canopy rail and a probably-a-vent thingy under the roundel. i've poked it with a 10a and applied more daco strong. If that doesn't work I'll get the boiling ater out!

 

 

 

 

Hi Ced,

 

Sorry to compound your decal troubles, but that semi circular thing under your roundel shouldn't be there. The canopy rail guide should be, but not that. I've just looked at my kit, and it looks like a moulding flaw to me, like an ejection post mark, or a dent in the mould. I'm building a 1/32 scale version of a T9 and it doesn't appear on any of the many reference photos I've been looking at lately, and certainly doesn't appear on SM520. I'd shave it off and touch it up if I were you, save the bother of trying to get the decal to conform to it...if it's not too late!

 

Cheers,

Dean

[AdrianMF]

I'm currently muted on a conference call that I need to know about but don't have any input to. 1 hour 27 minutes so far. So I have used my time constructively. Here's the method I use to mask up codes. It expects you to be able to mark up some tape accurately, to lay tapes close together side by side, and to burnish your tape down well:

[edit]                                                                                                 Mask the sloping end of the “J”.

With acrylic grey (Hu64) codes I need two coats to get opaque. There will be some touch up afterwards and it needs a light sanding to remove the ridges next to all the tapes, but it's quite simple. The "stroke tape" ensures that all the characters are the same width everywhere, which is the key factor in making them look real.

 

I drew the "real" codes on the presentation using the tape lines as a guide, so it even works in Powerpoint!

 

Call is winding up now, have to go to say "Thanks, goodbye, most constructive"!

 

[edit] no it's not winding up, we have just circled back to slide 11...

 

Regards,

Adrian

[perdu]

Brilliant

 

simply...

 

Reminds me I used to use Powerpoint like that but quite forgot its use in the ten or so years since I had to use it

Thank you for a great lesson Adrian

Edited January 4, 2018 by perdu

[perdu]

Just to mention to Ced you can follow these stages on a masking film as well as on the model if you want to use the method to spray the Sky

type-S

 

I have just saved it all as a Powerpoint exercise, ashamed to admit I forgot all about Powerpoint although I was best student at a LA Powerpoint course back in the day

 

Doh...

[AdrianMF]

...or indeed to paint up some clear decal film...

[Procopius]

2 hours ago, AdrianMF said:

I'm currently muted on a conference call that I need to know about but don't have any input to.

The history of every conference call I've ever been on, even ones where I was the only person on the line with the relevant specialised skills and experience.

[Avereda]

On 03/01/2018 at 10:29 AM, CedB said:

 

(Eleanor Tomlinson of course. You know, the Poldark lady. I have developed, in old age, a certain 'interest' in red heads that I didn't have before. Theories?

Wild, unresearched theorising - I’m in. I have a feeling I’ve been susceptible to this myself, two possible answers spring to mind:

 

1. As I’ve got older younger women have all started to look the same, thus the redheads stand out from the crowd.

 

2. There’s more of them on the telly these days, Mrs Poldark, Amy Pond and that French lawyer in Spiral to name a few.

Edited January 4, 2018 by Avereda

[perdu]

5 minutes ago, Avereda said:

Wild, unresearched theorising - I’m in. I have a feeling I’ve been susceptible to this myself, two possible answers spring to mind:

 

1. As I’ve got older younger women have all started to look the same, thus the redheads stand out from the crowd.

 

2. There’s more of them on the telly these days, Mrs Poldark, Amy Pond and that French lawyer in Spiral to name a few.

It's a good theory which I might be tempted to have considered but for the Ms Pond actor(?) doesn't remotely raise my interest level at all

 

 

[Procopius]

On 1/3/2018 at 4:29 AM, CedB said:

(Eleanor Tomlinson of course. You know, the Poldark lady. I have developed, in old age, a certain 'interest' in red heads that I didn't have before. Theories?)

 

I never had a "type" (with my looks and personality, one can't afford to be discriminating), but having married a redhead, I think it's simply that they can scarcely be bettered.