As usual, I am dreading working with the Hobby Boss decals - they can be a nightmare.
But before I even start I have a criticism! Take note of the 'Lemon Yellow' decals - the identification letters and fuselage band - these are completely the wrong colours for RAF aircraft of this period. They should, actually, be the RAF's 'Sky Type S' (a light blue-green shade of grey) and, ironically, Hobby Boss has this colour right in their colour instructions (note the propeller boss, aircraft ID letters and fuselage 'band')...
So, what I have done is to modify the colour of my propeller boss to match HB's incorrect 'lemon yellow' decals by painting it lemon yellow too...
Bit annoying, but cheaper than buying a set of third-party Hurricane decals in the correct colour. I'll just have to accept that the finished model will be that much less authentic. So, let's get on with applying the darn things...
Microset solution really helps out and is a little less aggressive than Microsol. I've had these type of cheap Hobby Boss decals actually melt when trying to apply them using Microsol, so I'm erring on the side of caution here.
This worked pretty well, however, once applied the poor quality of the Hobby Boss decals became apparent...
Now, I had the same problem with the previous Hobby Boss model (their 'easy build' Spitfire Vb) and I found that applying a coat of spray varnish alleviated some of the 'wrinkliness' - it's the best you can do, they won't be perfect.
For me, the biggest challenge with military aircraft decals is the plane's ID letters. Lining them up and getting them to look 'straight' on the fuselage can be a wee bit difficult sometimes. But, then, I'm a bit of a fuss-pot and a worrier who will stare at something like this and convince myself it's not straight when it quite possibly is!
To add to my personal woes, Hobby Boss have provided a set of decals for the fuselage colour bands. Now, I could have (and maybe should have) dumped these and painted on the band instead, but I wanted to try out all the HB decals for this model, so here we go...
Honest;y, I don't know how aircraft modellers do it - it' took me ages to apply the ID letters and I still don't think they are straight! (This is why I like vehicles!)
The HB fuselage 'ring' decal is a little wobbly too, but that's more to do with their horrible two-part decal than my application. I did my best with it but will still end up straightening the edges using a brush and some paint. However, now these decals are on you can clearly see the inaccurate 'lemon yellow' colour I complained about earlier...And one more thing...
WARNING: As I have noted before with Hobby Boss 'Easy Build' series decals - these 'budget' decals do not work well with MICROSCALE'S MICRO SOL. It actually melts them!
Micro Set seems to work fine, but the more aggressive Micro Sol (designed to soften decals) caused the decals to 'bubble' and disintegrate with just a small application.
I would avoid Hobbyboss decals. There are so many aftermarket sheets out there for 2c types. And decals aren't that expensive. I think it would make your modelling life much easier! Nice job on the kit.
ReplyDeleteReally like the kit, and the Hurricane is definitely one of my favourite aircraft!
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