SPA Modeler

Very nice! It looks great!

Thanks guys! Well the decals are on it, but I can't say I'm super happy about it.

Started off this morning with brush painting over the white areas. Tried to make things looks a little messy.



I decided to start with the wing walk decals, since those are my arch enemy. I had bought an aftermarket decal sheet, and it had them in the proper shape, vs the kit decals that were just straight lines you have to cut to size. I went the harder route of trimming the kit decals since I noticed the aftermarket sheet ones were wider, and I didn't like how that looked.



Even the tail numbers were larger. I landed up piecing together the kit decals to make the proper tail number.



One thing I didn't notice until it was too late was the aftermarket sheet only had 1 Jukin Judy decal. I know from looking at pictures it was on both sides of the plane. The shark mouth also didn't line up well at all, and I'm going to have to do some careful painting on the nose to join up the mouth pieces. So what the hell?! Not a fan of Print Scale decals right now. They didn't lay down as well as the kit decals either. They took forever to even loosen up from the backing. Kit decals came off in seconds after being dipped. So it's only got Jukin Judy on the left side of the plane.









I will just have to accept it the way it is and move on at this point. I'm not ordering more decals. Hoping I can have this finished up Sunday. I might be able to have a few hours at it tomorrow, but I have more PE to mess with, so that is going to slow me down.

Looking good! Great progress

Frustrating! I like my ALPS and laser printer just for days like this, but they are also work and time intensive. Sometimes a Tamiya kit is needed just to keep one's sanity, even with their somewhat thick decals.

We’re usually our own worst critics. I think this is looking really sharp now that you have the markings on. I’m sorry to hear about the Print Scale decals. I have read similar such tales regarding Tech Mod decals, so I’m a bit leery to try that brand. I guess that Print Scale goes on that list now as well.
Looks like you’re on the home stretch now!

Stik now you say something about Techmod. I have a set on order for my Hellcat


Keyda the Widow is looking great. Probably one of the nicest build ups if that kit I've seen in a long time

Stikpusher wrote: ↑Thu Jan 12, 2023 6:52 pm We’re usually our own worst critics. I think this is looking really sharp now that you have the markings on. I’m sorry to hear about the Print Scale decals. I have read similar such tales regarding Tech Mod decals, so I’m a bit leery to try that brand. I guess that Print Scale goes on that list now as well.
Looks like you’re on the home stretch now!

I Just used a Printscale sheet for that OTS A-7 Corsair I posted a few weeks ago. The only issue I had was that they were incredibly thing -- making the smaller stencils almost unusable. My usual method of brushing them off the decal sheet with a small flat paint brush resulted in may destroyed decals...

Stikpusher wrote: ↑Thu Jan 12, 2023 6:52 pm I have read similar such tales regarding Tech Mod decals, so I’m a bit leery to try that brand.

I actually have a beautiful sheet of Techmod decals for some 1/48 109E's but have not had a chance to use them yet. I have heard of The Techmod Trap before though. I'll cross my fingers and hope their issues had been ironed out by the time they produced this sheet..

You are doing a good job adapting and overcoming Keyda
It should look just fine when it's all done.
Stripes look good to me.

On a side note: Every time I see a build of this kit, I want to build one again . I remember the P-61 being a very fun build (challenging, but fun). I loved all the interior detail plus it's just such and interesting aircraft. I have one in the stash, and somehow, the decal sheet looks like it was printed yesterday. Would love to do 'Husslin Hussy', but OD widows don't float my boat... 'Times a Wastin' isn't a a bad option though...

Thanks Keavdog!

jeaton01 wrote: ↑Thu Jan 12, 2023 6:28 pm Frustrating! I like my ALPS and laser printer just for days like this, but they are also work and time intensive. Sometimes a Tamiya kit is needed just to keep one's sanity, even with their somewhat thick decals.

I've got a couple Tamiya kits in the stash, I think I will drag one out after I'm done with this, lol.

Stikpusher wrote: ↑Thu Jan 12, 2023 6:52 pm We’re usually our own worst critics. I think this is looking really sharp now that you have the markings on. I’m sorry to hear about the Print Scale decals. I have read similar such tales regarding Tech Mod decals, so I’m a bit leery to try that brand. I guess that Print Scale goes on that list now as well.
Looks like you’re on the home stretch now!

I am my own worst critic that is for sure. It's the first time I've ever had issues with aftermarket decals, so I was surprised. Just several minor issues with them that added up to some frustration.

tempestjohnny wrote: ↑Fri Jan 13, 2023 4:24 am Stik now you say something about Techmod. I have a set on order for my Hellcat


Keyda the Widow is looking great. Probably one of the nicest build ups if that kit I've seen in a long time

Thanks! I'll be glad when its off my bench. I feel like I've been working on it forever, lol.

cbaltrin wrote: ↑Fri Jan 13, 2023 6:56 am You are doing a good job adapting and overcoming Keyda
It should look just fine when it's all done.
Stripes look good to me.

On a side note: Every time I see a build of this kit, I want to build one again . I remember the P-61 being a very fun build (challenging, but fun). I loved all the interior detail plus it's just such and interesting aircraft. I have one in the stash, and somehow, the decal sheet looks like it was printed yesterday. Would love to do 'Husslin Hussy', but OD widows don't float my boat... 'Times a Wastin' isn't a a bad option though...

It has certainly had it's challenges, but it hasn't been horrible. I was prepared for the problems before I started, so that helped. I expected it to be a pain in the ass, and have a lot of seam work, and some other things I would have to overcome. The kit decals worked great, I had no issues with those what so ever. I think my boxing was done in 2005, so a bit older, but not that old. There are so many other planes out there that are OD, I opted for the black too. I really wanted to do Double Trouble, but couldn't find decals for it. So Jukin Judy was the 2nd choice.