robstopper Posted October 28, 2022 Share Posted October 28, 2022 (edited) I'm going to be building an example in 1/48 scale of the Bf109E4 which resides at the Biggin Hill Heritage Hangar, which is painted to represent the aircraft when it was flown by H-J Marseille. I've got the kit, and most of the decals, but am struggling with the decal for the fuselage aft of the Balkenkreuz. Simple enough to mask the black circle, but getting the white cross over it is a little trickier, and it would be easier to do it in one decal. There's a photo calibration marking I've seen recently in a book about test and development aircraft which would fit the bill, and Fineline did a pack which featured it, but its long out of production. Any ideas or advice please, fine folks of Britmodeller? https://www.asisbiz.com/il2/Bf-109E/LG2-I/pages/Airworthy-Bf-109E4-1.LG2-White-14-Hans-Joachim-Marseille-France-1940-02.html Edited October 28, 2022 by robstopper Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JackG Posted October 28, 2022 Share Posted October 28, 2022 Staying with the home made masking, spray the disc white first, and leave the circle mask in place. Apply two strips of tape to create the 'X' followed with a spray over with black. regards, Jack 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robstopper Posted October 28, 2022 Author Share Posted October 28, 2022 that's what I had in mind, was just a little unsure over how crisp the masking would leave the segmented black circle. May try a practice one on my mule kit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tail-Dragon Posted October 28, 2022 Share Posted October 28, 2022 If you burnish the tape edges down with the rounded end of a paint brush handle, and fog the black on in thin layers the result should be crisp and sharp. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JackG Posted October 28, 2022 Share Posted October 28, 2022 Decal wise, I found this but is just the markings while the book associated with it is not available anymore - 19.50 € very pricey! https://www.luftfahrtverlag-start.com/decals/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robstopper Posted October 28, 2022 Author Share Posted October 28, 2022 thanks for that. I did also find some, but they're the HGW wet transfer variety which I don't fancy using, and nearly £18 which is a daft amount of money to spend on two small decals. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tail-Dragon Posted October 28, 2022 Share Posted October 28, 2022 43 minutes ago, Tail-Dragon said: If you burnish the tape edges down with the rounded end of a paint brush handle, and fog the black on in thin layers the result should be crisp and sharp. Just as an example of how crisp and sharp you can get with tape, I had to do this with a translucent decal a while ago ... 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chuck1945 Posted October 28, 2022 Share Posted October 28, 2022 For added ‘insurance’ against bleeding, you could also spray a second coat of white after marking the X, this will result in white bleeding under the tape and also finishing the seal before you apply black Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crimea River Posted October 28, 2022 Share Posted October 28, 2022 If you don't like the masking idea, another solution would be to find a white field in your spare decal stash and cut a thin white strip of white decal from it with a sharp blade. Cut 2 pieces to the length of the legs on the "X" and apply them like any other decal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robstopper Posted October 28, 2022 Author Share Posted October 28, 2022 Will give both methods a practice 👍 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robstopper Posted November 25, 2022 Author Share Posted November 25, 2022 I was watching Warplane Workshop last night, the episode on the Spanish Civil War Bucker Jungmeister, and the penny dropped. This marking on the rear fuselage of White 14 is the Legion Condor marking! So, on to the Hannants website this morning, and I think if I used these in 1/144 scale, they'd *probably* be the right size to go on the fuselage at 1/48 scale instead of the wings at 1/144 - or at least close enough anyway. LF Models Aircraft decals - LFMC44109 | Hannants https://www.hannants.co.uk/product/LFMC44109?result-token=TJ2zu Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zigomar Posted November 25, 2022 Share Posted November 25, 2022 Save a lot of anxiety, use masks it works very well! I join an example to show you what can be obtain: The Japanese letter in white and the Hinomaru are masked painted. DSC_0003 by jean Barby, sur Flickr 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JackG Posted November 25, 2022 Share Posted November 25, 2022 The 'Spanish' marking is a bit different because it has the arms of the X extended all the way to the edges of the disc. If lucky, they are a bit undersized to what is required. Then just need to spray a slightly larger black disc and center the decal over that? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robstopper Posted November 25, 2022 Author Share Posted November 25, 2022 well spotted Jack, good eyes - I hadn't noticed that slight difference in my excitement at having thought I'd solved the problem. Masking the black disc then slicing up some white decal strips to suit will probably be the cheapest and easiest solution. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now