Thanks guys. Greatly appreciated, especially coming from Jeff, whose opinion I have especially come to respect for some unknown reason. I must be wanting the approval of an elderly figure or something... just kidding.

Originally Posted by Gree

Thanks guys. Greatly appreciated, especially coming from Jeff, whose opinion I have especially come to respect for some unknown reason. I must be wanting the approval of an elderly figure or something... just kidding.

I think it looks great. There is only one problem that I can think of. This is your first kit build if I'm not mistaken, if it is you may want to switch back to ARF's for a while. It's going to real hard to top this one.
This build has shown me what you can do with your first kit build as long as you take your time. I would love to have another kit built TF GS Corsair, but that wing is very intimidating to someone who has never built a kit(me). I may just have to take on the challenge though.

Of course you respect me and my opinions Gree...remember I am the ex god of the custom paint shop!

Jeff (O Great One)

You Have to be a Bloody Magician!
Well, I applied the stencils to the left side of the fuse today. Man what a pain until I worked out the secret. I screwed a couple up trying to get it right! Also you'd think Get Stencils would supply a clear instruction sheet about where all of the stencils actually go. But of course not. I had to spend a fair while going through a lot of my books and documentation to find the right locations. Oh yeah and there are a few spelling mistakes in the stencils too, "DON'T LIFE BY STABILIZER" - what the hell is that? Just one example. Oh well!


The Process...
I put my halogen work lamp relatively close to the surface of the fuse where the stencil will go to warm the surface up, leaving the lamp in place throughout. Then I give the area a light rub with prep sol which cleans but also softens the paint. I leave it to dry for around 30 seconds, and then put some paper over the stencil after it is taped in place, and apply heat for about 20 seconds with my covering iron on its lowest heat setting.

Then and only then I rub the stencil down using the side of an audio jack plug. This seems to work 90% of the time. If I don't follow these exact steps however, the bloody things won't stick! If I wait too long after applying prep sol they won't stick. If I don't heat up the surface enough with the lamp they won't stick. If I don't hop up and down on one leg singing 'It's a long road to Tipperary' while applying the stencils, they won't stick!

After all this they get a coat of Tamiya semi gloss clear with a brush to protect them from handling.



I damaged the paint on the fuse here and there through rubbing too vigorously with the prep sol (Jeff you would be ashamed of me), but I am saying it is an additional weathering technique!Well it'll have to do anyway! One more side to go when I get the motivation...

Gree that looks awesome, even the crooked one. It looks really scale.

Here is the other side done.

I have missed one 'step' stencil on the port side, as I have to airbrush a line down to the step associated with this. Wasn't in the mood to clean the airbrush for one line this afternoon!

That's irritating how good that looks.

Now I have to go look at my piles of garbage I call planes.

Hi Gree,

Your plane looks fantastic. The stencilled lettering looks great. I am starting on the wings for mine and was wondering if there are templates around for the retract mounts to put the landing gear in the scale location.

Terry

Guys. Go here for dry transfer placement data. www.tailormadedecals.com.

Cheers

Oh my god 1ruffdog! I have been looking for something like that EVERYWHERE, thank you so much for those. I am very happy to see what I have put on is in the right place (go research!), but I can also see several stencils I have missed. Seriously thank you very very much.

Hi Terry. I have posted the templates for the rib doublers in this thread, and I even reposted them a couple of pages back for someone, so they should not be too hard to find. Do a search in the thread for templates. I also documented the mods required in a lot of detail when I did them here so you should have no troubles...


And thank you Denial. I have seen a couple to your planes and I know that isn't true!

1rufdog... that is a terrific file. Panel lines, rivet lines, zuess nut lines and stenciling all on one tile. Thanks for sharing

Got about 30 minutes today, so I added all of the rest of the stencils to the fuse - thanks again 1ruffdog!

Got my kill mark stencils in the mail from Callie today - so fast! They look good too, just what I wanted. She even threw in a third mask with the circles and swastikas in one. I can't use this for my purpose but hey, it's a nice gesture!

I can't believe how cheap they were. It cost me $6 in total, the postage cost her $2.50 and PayPal would have taken a commission too. And it was all is US dollars so it was a bit cheaper for me as well!


I am off overseas for a week tomorrow morning for work, so the painting will have to wait until I get back - dammit!

YES! My suggestion worked. I have finally contributed (albeit ever so slightly) to this masterpiece.

You are all welcome. I also highly recommend their dry transfers and decals. They are superior, very accurate and the owner is a pleasure to deal with.

Cheers,

"Thunderbolts forever"