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My CF-188 build has stalled out waiting for decals to come in the mail. So I'm going to start a project I've wanted to do for a long time: I bought this in 1996 with the idea of fixing one of my biggest modelling disappointments ever. See, in high school I got this: And I worked really hard on it to make it the best I could, and I got to the decal stage.... and... I got this: which, does not look like this: The decals were transparent, and while bright red on the sheet, turned a hard-to-see dark red on the model. I was terribly disappointed since I'd been looking forward to making that model for a while and the manufacturer let me down. For years afterwards I thought of ways I could re-do it and make it right, and it always came back to making some sort of stencils, painting them white and then painting the red over that. I just couldn't figure out how to make the small "U.S. Air Force" on the sides of the fuselage. But, I found the kit and bought it hoping I'd figure out how to do the red lettering properly someday. A couple of years ago I was looking at other people's builds and found a few B-57s with bright red lettering, and they all had the same scheme, which meant they all used the same decals. But no one was kind enough to say what they were!! Well, one person did, which is how I got them. So if any one is in the same predicament I was: it is Xtradecal X72103: So, away I go! The obligatory parts shot: and the decals, which thankfully I'm not using because they are woefully out of register: And here are the replacement decals: I've looked at a lot of photos of the "Night Intruder" B-57s and most are quite glossy, but those that were in Vietnam became a little more dull. I think I will stick with glossy because the subject was at Laon Air Base in France, 1957, and I figure they kept the aircraft clean as it wasn't war time. I plan to dress it out with full ordnance (that is 2 bombs and 4 rockets per wing) -- I found plenty of evidence of peace time Night Intruder B-57s carrying bombs under the wing, but I haven't found any pictures with rockets. I've seen several models of peacetime B-57s with rockets, but I don't know how accurate that is. But, unless I hear any different, I'll probably swipe the rockets off my Testors B-57 to use on this one. There really isn't any weathering on this project, except for the wheel wells and the cockpit. I couldn't find any pictures of these gloss black B-57s with noticeable weathering. probably because they are black. I plan to make the red lettering a little grimy, but nothing too drastic. As for the Testors B-57, it will likely get hung up on the ceiling, but since the Xtradecal sheet has all the markings I need for a SE Asia camo version, I may consider re-making it at some point. I really, really hope the lettering turns out as bright as I've seen on other's builds. It would be nice to have this finished properly!