Fuselage Band

[tempestwulf]

Hey Guys

Masking off a fuselage band is probably not hard but I'm lazy at times and have plenty of decals for it - albeit they're the wrong colour. If I was to spray the appropriate colour onto the decal would it prevent the decal being usable or stop if coming off the backing paper?

I'm pretty sure it wouldn't but want to know if anyone has actually tried it?

[Bruce]

I have had some sucess overpainting decals with tamiya acrylics (brushed on though - not sure how spray thinners react), however I'm not sure it would be worth it for a fuselage band. In the instances I have done this, it is overpainting wing and fuselage roundels which dont have to be curved around a surface as a band would. the big thing is masking where you want to re-colour. Remember that decals normally have a band of clear film outside the graphic, if this gets painted it looks terrible, so it has to be masked up close. You need to use low - tack tape to avoid damaging the lower layers. As fuselage bands tend to be crescent shapes, you've got a pig of a masking job to do, whereas masking the band directly on the model and painting it may be a lot easier. The painted decals may not respond to decal softeners, and they also wont stretch to conform to compound curves in the same way. Acrylic paints are better than enamels in this regard, but not perfect. Translucency of some colours may also be an issue. At least if you want to experiment you wont risk anything, as damaged decals come off easily with a bit of sticky tape, then you can directly mask and paint the model if it didnt work.

[Craig Sargent]

I tend to mask and paint the majority of the bands on kit wings and fuselages. Much easier in the long run as Bruce has said.

Here are a couple of mine which were masked and painted:
www.aircraftresourcecenter.com/Gal5/4301-4400/gal4365_Wyvern_Sargent/gal4365.htm

www.aircraftresourcecenter.com/Gal6/5001-5100/gal5068_Macchi-C200_Sargent/gal5068.htm

[Calum]

Agree with Bruce and Craig. Masking and painting is easier than get the decal right IMHO

[tempestwulf]

*nods* hmmm I seee. Well the good news is I did mask and paint and it worked out swimmingly on my Spit Vb, made strips about 1-2mm wide and they conformed to the fuselage without fault. Thanks guys, was great help and gives me great confidence in future.