Alex1978 Posted April 16, 2021 Share Posted April 16, 2021 7 hours ago, Back in the Saddle said: I’m still waiting for replacement decals! Time for another email to Philippe - I really want to get this one finished! You still not got them ? 😳 This is really unacceptable,at least he could explain the reason of the delay.Things can happen,but this is highly unprofessional and not a serious way to make business. I had received mine in the end,but this was the last time that I bought from him.I will avoid him from now on. I really hope you can sort this out 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keefr22 Posted April 16, 2021 Share Posted April 16, 2021 14 hours ago, Alex1978 said: I really hope you can sort this out Seconded. Such a shame he still hasn't got them to you, must be really frustrating wanting to get it finished after all the great work you've done to get it to this stage.... Keith Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Back in the Saddle Posted April 26, 2021 Author Share Posted April 26, 2021 On 16/04/2021 at 07:59, Alex1978 said: You still not got them ? 😳 This is really unacceptable,at least he could explain the reason of the delay.Things can happen,but this is highly unprofessional and not a serious way to make business. I had received mine in the end,but this was the last time that I bought from him.I will avoid him from now on. I really hope you can sort this out On 16/04/2021 at 22:09, keefr22 said: Seconded. Such a shame he still hasn't got them to you, must be really frustrating wanting to get it finished after all the great work you've done to get it to this stage.... I have finally run out of patience with Philippe and have asked my credit card provider to step in. He has not responded to emails, so I was left with no option... I guess my home made decals will see the light of day after all! 1 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keefr22 Posted April 26, 2021 Share Posted April 26, 2021 2 hours ago, Back in the Saddle said: I guess my home made decals will see the light of day after all! Such a shame in one way, but on the other hand Matt it'll be great to be able to finish the model having done all the work yourself! Keith Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Back in the Saddle Posted April 26, 2021 Author Share Posted April 26, 2021 3 hours ago, keefr22 said: Such a shame in one way, but on the other hand Matt it'll be great to be able to finish the model having done all the work yourself! It seems to be heading that way Keith! It would also be good to finish this build before the scrap man has reduced all the real ones to fragments... I set to work with Photoshop tonight. Since I last worked on correcting these decals, I have obtained a copy of the original artwork for this design - it is much easier using this than trying to reinvent the wheel and correct the mistakes on the F-DCAL offering. My first job was superimposing the design over a template of the tail fin, using a photo for reference to get this stage as accurate as possible: Once I was happy with this, I trimmed away the excess design from around the fin: I then worked on the rear fuselage section: These were then printed out and offered up to check the dimensions and general appearance: Mine are on the left; the F-DCAL version is on the right. There are still a few errors to fix, as the actual design differed slightly from the artwork it was derived from, but I feel this is a good starting point... 9 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keefr22 Posted April 26, 2021 Share Posted April 26, 2021 Looking good! K 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex1978 Posted April 27, 2021 Share Posted April 27, 2021 Very nice result 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Back in the Saddle Posted April 28, 2021 Author Share Posted April 28, 2021 On 26/04/2021 at 21:57, keefr22 said: Looking good! Thanks Keith👍 On 27/04/2021 at 12:45, Alex1978 said: Very nice result Cheers Alex - it will be more accurate than I originally expected! I've made the required corrections to the image using Photoshop and then printed the design in black and white at twice the required size. As before when I attempted to make these decals, I need to work on the black lines in the pattern which look a bit ragged. Unfortunately my Photoshop skills aren't good enough to fix this - hence the large print. My intention is to use the French curves (purchased months ago for this project) and trace the lines using a marker. I can then scan the lines, shrink the image back down and superimpose them onto my existing file. Hopefully it will work and I'll end up with what I need...! Here's the printout, along with tracing paper and curves - time to get arty. 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Spadgent Posted April 28, 2021 Share Posted April 28, 2021 Sorry to hear about the decals. If you like I could help you with photoshop. I could make some vectors for you. Let me know. If not that’s cool. Good luck either way dear boy. Johnny 4 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Swindell Posted April 29, 2021 Share Posted April 29, 2021 As Johnny says above, the best way to deal with your problem is to trace the jpg image in a vector drawing program, you'll get solid colour panels, smooth lines, and it will be scalable without any of the jaggies you're getting. I use Coreldraw, but I'm sure Inkscape which can be downloaded for free would do just as well. There's a bit of a learning curve, but as you're used to manipulating images in photoshop you've got a bit of a start. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Back in the Saddle Posted April 30, 2021 Author Share Posted April 30, 2021 I have traced out the black curves on the tail fin and now have something that will be useable - if needed. However I have also taken Johnny up on his kind offer, as I suspect he will produce something far more elegant than my scribbles on tracing paper! Thank you @The Spadgent! In the meantime, on the basis that the decal stage is finally here (again!), I thought I would make a start on the fuselage. I have sourced some replacement decals from V1 decals in Canada, which have already arrived - for some reason this was far quicker than ordering from France... I've had excellent service from Ben at V1 throughout the whole process - he will be getting more custom from me in the future.👍 I cut some out, ready for application: And suddenly she's starting to look the part: I had a minor problem on the other side, which was primarily caused by the shape of my cut out - there were too many odd bits sticking out and one folded back on itself and I just could not untangle it... Fortunately I had a spare, so I cut this one out with more generous amounts of carrier film. Hopefully this will make application easier: I will let the successful side dry before attempting the other side! Finally a reminder of how it should look - a gratuitous, but very useful 747 photo: I'm going to take this stage very slowly and carefully... 11 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex1978 Posted April 30, 2021 Share Posted April 30, 2021 Great to see the 747 project back on track. Me too had always very good experience with V1 decals. Fast shipping,great quality. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keefr22 Posted April 30, 2021 Share Posted April 30, 2021 Lovely pic Matt, the more gratuitous 747 pics the better! Was sat out the back in the lovely sunshine we had earlier in the week and in the space of an hour we had 4 744's, a Lufthansa 748 and a Fedex MD-11 go OTT - it was just like the good old days! Great to see decals going on, and Johnny @The Spadgent's kind offer just goes to show what a great community BM is! Keith 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sturmovik Posted April 30, 2021 Share Posted April 30, 2021 Amazing, the decals look as if they had been painted instead of decals. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terry1954 Posted April 30, 2021 Share Posted April 30, 2021 Awesome work on those decals Matt. This is going to be one superb looking BA 747! Terry 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Back in the Saddle Posted April 30, 2021 Author Share Posted April 30, 2021 5 hours ago, Alex1978 said: Great to see the 747 project back on track. Me too had always very good experience with V1 decals. Fast shipping,great quality. Thanks Alex, it's great to be working on this one again - I missed this build! V1 are now my 'go to' place for decals. The service was exactly what I wanted - a very professional company.👍 3 hours ago, keefr22 said: Lovely pic Matt, the more gratuitous 747 pics the better! Was sat out the back in the lovely sunshine we had earlier in the week and in the space of an hour we had 4 744's, a Lufthansa 748 and a Fedex MD-11 go OTT - it was just like the good old days! Great to see decals going on, and Johnny @The Spadgent's kind offer just goes to show what a great community BM is! Hi Keith. That was a lot of 747 action for one hour! The decals are really bringing this model to life and The Spadgent has come up trumps too - more on that in a mo...😉 3 hours ago, Sturmovik said: Amazing, the decals look as if they had been painted instead of decals. Thank you! They will hopefully improve even more once dried and coated in Micro Sol - a job for later.👍 1 hour ago, Terry1954 said: Awesome work on those decals Matt. This is going to be one superb looking BA 747! Cheers Terry!🙂 As mentioned, @The Spadgent has done a great job with my ragged lines and sent me this: I can tweak this quite happily and produce the decals for the fin - thanks Johnny! I will work away when I get the chance during the weekend. Apart from the fin, the fuselage decals are now complete. Here's the nose: The rear: And the underside: It feels great to be getting this done at last! 12 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Spadgent Posted April 30, 2021 Share Posted April 30, 2021 Hope they work out scaled down. I can see the angles but hopefully smaller they should look good. If not I can refine them for you. 🤞🤞🤞🤞 The other decals look spot on. 🤛 All the best. Johnny. 👍 4 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Romeo Alpha Yankee Posted May 1, 2021 Share Posted May 1, 2021 That is looking great Matt, make me want to start my BA A380 and 747-8... though I have had a couple of red wines and easily swayed at the moment and may not remember tomorrow! 🍷🍷😋 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Back in the Saddle Posted May 3, 2021 Author Share Posted May 3, 2021 On 30/04/2021 at 22:21, The Spadgent said: Hope they work out scaled down. I can see the angles but hopefully smaller they should look good. If not I can refine them for you. 🤞🤞🤞🤞 The other decals look spot on. 🤛 Thanks very much Johnny. Over the weekend I managed to get hold of the painting guide for the real aircraft. The excerpt below shows the top of the fin - the very front is the bare metal anti-icing strip then the rest of the fin is divided into 1m x 1m sections for painting: The pattern is obviously 100% accurate now, but I need to remove the grid lines, correct the colours and generally tidy it up before printing. One thing I had not realised was that some of the yellow areas had red dots on them - online photos from 20+ years ago are not always sharp enough to pick up detail like this... Here's the same area after initial editing: I think I still have a few hours of work ahead of me(!), but I should also have the definitive version of this livery of this aircraft by the time I finish...🙂 On 01/05/2021 at 09:10, Romeo Alpha Yankee said: That is looking great Matt, make me want to start my BA A380 and 747-8... though I have had a couple of red wines and easily swayed at the moment and may not remember tomorrow! 🍷🍷😋 Ray - don't forget to start those models!😆🍷 5 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keefr22 Posted May 3, 2021 Share Posted May 3, 2021 Must have cost a small fortune to paint all the world tails across the BA fleet when they went into that sort of detail! Keith Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keefr22 Posted May 3, 2021 Share Posted May 3, 2021 Just been reading an article on the World Tails, and now fancy doing this to one of my Hasegawa 1/200 744's - one day!! http://www.aussieairliners.org/b-747/vh-nlh/4631.199l.jpg Keith 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Back in the Saddle Posted May 8, 2021 Author Share Posted May 8, 2021 On 03/05/2021 at 15:51, keefr22 said: Must have cost a small fortune to paint all the world tails across the BA fleet when they went into that sort of detail! I believe it was quite expensive! On 03/05/2021 at 16:02, keefr22 said: Just been reading an article on the World Tails, and now fancy doing this to one of my Hasegawa 1/200 744's - one day!! http://www.aussieairliners.org/b-747/vh-nlh/4631.199l.jpg If you're doing a world tail design they don't get much easier than that one! Give me a shout if you do go ahead, I can probably help with decals.👍 I have been mostly dabbling with Photoshop this week - it's been too wet outside for painting... This design is getting closer to completion but there is still a bit more tweaking required: Those small pegs are handy for this job! 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keefr22 Posted May 8, 2021 Share Posted May 8, 2021 41 minutes ago, Back in the Saddle said: Give me a shout if you do go ahead, I can probably help with decals. Thanks Matt, I appreciate that! Latest tail decal is looking good! Keith 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Back in the Saddle Posted May 10, 2021 Author Share Posted May 10, 2021 On 08/05/2021 at 20:36, keefr22 said: Latest tail decal is looking good! Cheers Keith. I did a bit more tweaking tonight and then committed to printing some decals: I will seal these tomorrow and then see if they do the trick! 10 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keefr22 Posted May 10, 2021 Share Posted May 10, 2021 The world is your lobster now Matt!! Who needs aftermarket decals when you can print your own like that?! Great stuff! Keith 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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