SPA Modeler

Thanks guys. I started putting on the decals today, amd let’s just say that I hit something of a major speedbump. Those Draw Decals were not very co operative…. So I had to improvise and use a mix of he Draw Decals and the SuperScale Decals that I had previously planned on using. Let’s just say that I will not buy anymore Draw Decals after my experience here. I’ll get photos up later on.

I'm a fan of Draw decals but they are continuous film and extremely thin which makes managing them difficult some times so I hear your frustration.

keavdog wrote: ↑Sat May 17, 2025 6:32 pm I'm a fan of Draw decals but they are continuous film and extremely thin which makes managing them difficult some times so I hear your frustration.

They remind me of the decals that used to come with old AMT or MPC kits… like you said, continuous film. But cutting as close as possible to the colors appears to lead to them “cigarette rolling” as they are slid off the backing paper onto the model. That happened with several here today. And I could not get one of the major ones unrolled. I’ve used sooooooo many other brands of AM decals with zero to fewer problems.

Anyways, due to the long lightning bolt markings for decal having a major malfunction that I could not undo…



I substituted the markings from this SuperScale sheet… and the national insignia as well



I was able to use the tail art, numbers, and aircraft name from the Draw Decals sheet, so here is what it’s starting to look like as of this evening



I’ll finish up the underside and stenciling tomorrow hopefully…

Oh wow... that is looking very cool!

Ya - you can't let them float off the backing paper. Just let them get loose but not free. Having done 10 inch airliner decals from Draw.... I have the gray hair but I've learned to work with them.

keavdog wrote: ↑Sat May 17, 2025 8:27 pm Ya - you can't let them float off the backing paper. Just let them get loose but not free.

I didn’t let them float off of the backing paper. I followed their directions to the letter… dip in water for 5-10 seconds then let them sit for x amount of seconds more and get loose from the backing paper. Seriously they are the worst quality AM decals that I’ve yet used in 50 years. The decals that I ended up using off of the sheet are worth a fraction of what I paid for them.

Looks good. Pretty cool choice of markings

Cool. You building airplanes, I'm doing tanks. The world order is in chaos.

Thanks TJ

LyleW wrote: ↑Sun May 18, 2025 6:16 am Cool. You building airplanes, I'm doing tanks. The world order is in chaos.

Yup… like the song says, “it’s a mixed up, muddled up, shook up world”… or as Bill Murray put it, “dogs and cats living together, mass hysteria!”

Awesome stuff Carlos! I love,those markings!