Applying Wingnut Wings Lozenge decals

[Duncan B]

I am getting close to the point where I am ready to apply the lozenge decals to my Albatros wings. I am actually going to be painting over the underside of the lower wing with light blue (so they just show through the paint) but will be leaving the rest of the lozenges visible but I digress. Do I need to do anything special to prepare the plastic for the decals (I have already masked off the radiator and mounting holes), for example will they only settle down onto gloss painted plastic or will they be happy enough on a gloss clear coat. Are they opaque enough for pre shading to show through or not? I thought I had read somewhere that they should be applied to gloss white paint (oh joy of joys!) but can't find that now.

 

Duncan B

[europapete]

Yep, sorry, gloss white base coat. Add any preshading too. Regards, Pete in RI

[Epeeman]

Hello, Duncan -

 

I'm a brush painter but I always apply lozenge decals onto gloss painted surface - the decal always seems to settle down nice and firm doing it this way.   I always use matt biege as base coat which I then paint over clear gloss once dried. 

 

Regards

 

Dave

[Duncan B]

My Albatros wings are now all glossed up and ready for the lozenge decals. I will start with the undersides for obvious reasons. Is there anything in particular I have to watch out for when applying the decals, should I cut them to shape and into more manageable segments before use? I understand they don't react well with setting solutions so just water on the piece to assist with sliding them into place I guess?

 

Duncan B

[FZ6]

Hi @Duncan B,

 

If your using Aviattic Decals, I feel that gloss white with maybe some pre-shading might be the way forward.  For other lozenge decals I've used in the pased based on experience I think the best colour to paint the wing is either a lozenge colour or maybe the same colour as the rib tape might be better so if you have a slight mismatch, it's less obvious.

 

I've got to finish applying Pheon's Cookie cut decals to my WNW D.Va which @redcap is always on at me to finish so really must crack on with it!

 

Anyway, there are some really good tip for appying lozenge on the Pheon website which may help. https://www.pheondecals.com/32020---sold-out---albatros-lozenge.html.

 

Using a thin coating of Klear and a hair dryer to get the decals to settle down really works.

 

If you are applying the lozenge in strips, I found the best way was to apply the underside first. Cut off a little more than intended. Ensure it is lined up perfectly on the leading edge when applying with to overhang at the back. When the decal is dry you can then carefully trim with a new sharp scalpel blade. Wing tips and curved shapes probably need careful trimming to size before hand making them slightly bigger and then again trimming once dry.

 

This is based on my experience with lozenge and hopefully, it will be of some use to you.

 

Regards,

Mark

 

[Duncan B]

Thanks Mark, that link was very interesting. Bookmarked for future reference.

 

Duncan B

[dov]

Hallo 

The longenze decals:

Please consider: Always underside first. Why? Because the upper side fabric was usually bigger than necessary and bend underside and then fixed by needle. Therefore, the upper side fabric encircles the underside!

The decal on a concave surface reacts different to all chemicals normally used when applying decals. The softener solution causes the decals to shrink. It causes on a concave surface the decal to straighten and so to separate from the surface. Microsol SET and SOL: Just use the SET.

If you use HGW longenze: Try it on some scratch. They are a beast. It takes you one wing as experience! They look most natural! It took me one model to learn!

The best thing is to spray them. It is no joke. Montex provides us with wonderful masks. It takes some experience, but if you like to build a lot of WW1 kits you have already (WNW is dead, as it assumes) I can suggest you this way. If you work with brush, not.

Happy modelling

[Duncan B]

2 minutes ago, dov said:

Hallo 

The longenze decals:

Please consider: Always underside first. Why? Because the upper side fabric was usually bigger than necessary and bend underside and then fixed by needle. Therefore, the upper side fabric encircles the underside!

The decal on a concave surface reacts different to all chemicals normally used when applying decals. The softener solution causes the decals to shrink. It causes on a concave surface the decal to straighten and so to separate from the surface. Microsol SET and SOL: Just use the SET.

If you use HGW longenze: Try it on some scratch. They are a beast. It takes you one wing as experience! They look most natural! It took me one model to learn!

The best thing is to spray them. It is no joke. Montex provides us with wonderful masks. It takes some experience, but if you like to build a lot of WW1 kits you have already (WNW is dead, as it assumes) I can suggest you this way. If you work with brush, not.

Happy modelling

Thanks for that advice, I was going to decal the underside first in case I made a mess of it. I hadn't considered how the setting solutions would affect the concave sections so thanks for that information. I did not know about the Montex lozenge masks and will have to try to find some as I do prefer to spray on the markings on my bigger kits.

 

Duncan B