Airfix 1:72 Avro Vulcan B.2 "Black Buck (Part 4)

 As good as the instructions will be it never hurts to have some reference material available to double-check a few items. For this project, I purchased the Haynes Manual on the Avro Vulcan. This is a very informative book as it covers the difficulties Avro had testing the bomber to an entire chapter dedicated to Operation Black Buck.  

Another aircraft I'm researching is the Yokosuka D4Y "Judy", and finding information on that aircraft is so difficult. But with this Haynes Manual, I'm almost overwhelmed with the amount of information, and the chapter dedicated to the restoration has provided invaluable pictures for me to use with this upcoming build section.

Let's fill in the gaps here, and talk about putty.

In the previous post I filled in the nose section with Tamiya Putty Basic Type, and I thought it would be a good moment to talk about the other putty/fillers that I use when I'm modeling. I'll begin with Tamiya Putty Basic Type.

-Tamiya makes several different putties, but the Grey putty is the one that I've used the most over the years. It's a lacquer-based putty and it usually bites into the plastic quite well ensuring a good bond. It takes a bit of time to dry, for me in my climate a few hours, but I find it's easier to sand down and polish if I leave it overnight.  

-Mr. Surfacer 500. So technically this one is a primer, however, it also works incredibly well at filling in thin gaps and seam lines. This one is also lacquer-based, and like Tamiya bites into the plastic. There are several grades of Mr. Surfacer, 500, 1000, 1200, and 1500. 1500 is a much finer primer and goes on the model very smoothly, and 500 is a rougher grit primer. A lot of modelers like to use this primer to fill in tiny scratches that might have occurred when they were sanding the plastic. 500 can also be brushed onto a tank turret, or a bomb and then stippled to create a rough cast texture.

-Mr. Dissolved Putty. This one is a godsend to the modeling world, and just like its name indicates it's a thinned down version of Mr. White Putty. This putty is thin enough to get into very small gaps and other places where normal putties would be difficult. And it's easy to clean from those small gaps with a cotton bud dipped in lacquer thinner. 

-Vallejo Plastic Putty.  This is an acrylic-based putty so it dries very quickly and doesn't shrink like lacquer putties can do especially when they are applied in a large amount. Vallejo putty is really useful because it can be sort of sculpted into place, which is helpful in curved sections of a model. It's also incredibly quick to clean up. There are times when I apply the putty into a gap, and then I dip a cotton bud in water and quickly wipe off the excess. And within minutes the parts are ready for painting or primer. A lot of modelers like acrylic putties because of these speedy advantages.

-Tamiya Liquid Surface Primer G.  This is very similar to the Mr. Surfacer primers. Sometimes when I'm sanding the Tamiya Basic Putty, the sandpaper will go too far and take off little chunks creating tiny holes in the primer. I can easily fill these in with Tamiya Liquid Surface Primer, and then sand the section over smoothing everything out. I've found this Primer to be quite strong when I need gaps filled in, and smoother than the Tamiya Basic Putty.

Over the course of this project, I'll do my best to demonstrate these various putty/fillers so you can see how they are applied and how you would like to use them on your future models.

I'm beginning by sanding down the Tamiya Basic Putty on the nose from the previous post. I applied a bit too much putty here so I'm using my Vallejo Sanding Pad to remove the excess just before it gets to the surface of the plastic.

Next, I took a square of Tamiya Sanding Sponge 400 and sanded it over the primer.  

I really love these Tamiya Sanding Sponges, as the cushion of the sponge allows me to apply pressure to the model, but it will still keep everything curved so I don't have to worry about creating flat spots which would likely need more putty to fill in and rounded out again.

Once the putty was sanded down I took some Tamiya 1000 Sanding Sponge, and I polished the nose section in small circular motions. This would help to smooth out the putty, as well would remove any tiny scratches left behind from the 400 grit.

An unfortunate side effect of sanding is the possibility of losing panel lines. To scribe them back in I like to use Tamiya Fine Craft Saws for Scribing (74094). These are thin photo-etched saws that fit into your hobby knife. They are delicate, but they are incredible at carving out new or preexisting panel lines.

In this picture, I'm carefully pulling the saw across with the tip, and once I have a drawn-out line I'll go back and forth sawing out the panel line a little further.

To smooth out the panel lines, which is important if we are adding a panel line wash to the model later on, which I will be. I took some Mr. Cement S and carefully ran the glue along the newly scribed panel line. 

Thanks to the capillary action of the glue it will flow into the small gap and slowly level out the plastic.

There is some unevenness with the lower nose panel, and there was a slight gap in this forward section. I brushed on a coat of Mr. Dissolved Putty into the panel groove. It took only a few hours to dry thoroughly, and after I was able to sand it down smooth the same as I did before on the top.

With the brush, I can push the Dissolved Putty into the gaps a bit and after it has dried for a time I can go back and add a second coat to build it up before sanding.

Before I assembled the wings, I cut out and painted all of the parts to the landing gear bays. I painted the parts with Tamiya XF-2 Flat White, and then I applied a gloss coat of Mr. Hobby 46 Clear. This was to provide a coat for future weathering.

These are the parts for the nose section wheel bay. Thanks to my reference material I was able to accurately paint some of the parts. On the real Vulcan, there are a lot more wires and junctions, but given this scale, I think these details will do nicely.

Once I had the smaller details painted I brushed Tamiya Panel Line Accent Color -Grey- over all of the parts. I decided to add a bit of Tamiya Panel Line Accent Color -Brown- to add a bit more color to the weathering.

From the materials I could find the wheel bays on the Vulcan could be quite dirty, and since I'm building a war-time Vulcan I wanted to replicate that this was a well-used aircraft.

I discovered a new method for removing the excess wash which provided a really interesting effect. I dipped a cotton bud in some Tamiya Enamel Thinner, and I rolled the cotton bud along the surface. As I rolled the cotton bud it picked up some of the paint and left this wonderful effect behind.

I wish that I had discovered this with my recent F-14 project as I think that this look is really fantastic, and I'll certainly be using this on future projects. 

Here are the completed parts after I airbrushed a coat of Mr. Hobby 182 Flat Clear. Next, they are ready to be assembled and installed into the lower wing section.

I've fitted one side of the lower wing to the frame. Using Mr. Cement SP I was able to quickly glue these sections. I took my time applying glue all around and pressing the plastic together to try and ensure a tight and strong bond.

One place in particular to pay attention to is the join on the edge of the bomb bay to the wing section. Add glue and press firmly to this area otherwise, you will end up with gaps and a crooked fit.

Sadly, when I added the other side of the wing I ran into some warping issues. Gluing the other side of the frame to the wing took a long time to do as a result I wasn't able to add in the gear bays I painted earlier. 

I believe that this warping is caused by the extremely large sprues with each half of the wing section. When these parts came out of the molds at the factory they were still hot, and because of their size, they cooled and sagged as they were stacked on top of each other.

I think that if each section was molded with one frame in a smaller section this warping could have been avoided. 

Also, I contributed to the warping to some extent when I took the parts out of the box to take pictures or to get at another sprue in the box. Grabbing the parts would have caused some flex while they were still attached to the sprue frame.

As a result, when you are starting this project I'd suggest first cutting each of these wing sections off the sprues, this could help prevent further warping with these parts.

This section at the front of the wings is quite bent and will need a bit of work to get it back to a proper shape as this part needs to support the weighted nose section.

Despite my best efforts a small gap has occurred and in the next post I'll have to figure out how to fix this area as it needs to be strong to support the forward landing gear bay.

When I started gluing the wing this seam was flush, but as I discovered more warping and glued the frame to the wing the gap emerged.

I had hoped to be a bit further along with the build this week. But discovering this warp really slowed down my work speed.

However, really that's all that it did, just slowed the project down for a bit. It's unfortunate that this happened in the first place, but nothing is ruined or really out of shape.

These things happen, and as annoying as they might be it's thankfully all manageable. And that can be great fun when you are scale modeling. Things don't quite work out so we need to find a solution to the problem.

I've seen too many modelers give up on a kit at any inconvenience, and we're not about to let this stop our fun!

So in the next post, we're going to correct the warping, and hopefully, we'll get to the stage where we can add the tops of the wings, I'm really looking forward to that and I hope you are too.

To be continued...

Airfix 1:72 Avro Vulcan B.2 "Black Buck" (Part 14)

 As I conclude this project, I'm looking out my window, and some leaves are already turning. There is a slight chill in the air this week. Fall is on the way, and I'm glad for the change. I mentioned this in a previous post, but I find my summer projects more memorable than the other times throughout the year. 

I've had to postpone this project a few times during the summer, due to illness, unexpected work, and 4 heat waves that prevented me from painting. And I can't express how excited I am to wrap up this project, and state that I've finally built an Airfix Avro Vulcan!

The Avro Vulcan was quite a dirty aircraft after it had been flying for a while, and I decided I wanted to add some streaking effects to sections of the aircraft. I started with some Tamiya Enamel XF-1 Flat Black.

I'm not going to need a lot of paint for this process, just a small drop of Flat Black. And to help the paint to flow a bit better I've added 2 drops of Tamiya Enamel thinner. You might even find that one drop is enough as you don't want to thin down the paint too much this will make it difficult to create the streaks.

Next, I will brush the thinned black paint into the intended area. As I'm painting I'm partially creating the streaking effect by pulling the paint downwards.

I took a wide flat brush, preferably one that is softer and I dipped it into the Enamel Thinner. I wanted the brush to be damp so I wiped off the excess thinner. If there is too much thinner it will quickly remove all of the paint we just applied. You just need enough to be able to manipulate the paint and not leave a puddle of thinner behind on your model. 

Then I go over the Flat Black and slowly pull the paint dragging it along the model. This might take a few passes to get the desired effect, and what is really nice because you are using Enamel paints on top of Acrylic if you don't like the streaking that you created you can easily wipe it off and try again. 

Here is an example of some of the streaks I added to the underside of the wing. Once I got in the right rhythm adding these on to the model was really fun and very quick. I added these all over the model, and I think it's a nice addition to weathering.

Based on references I found online I kept a lot of the streaks longer on the underside, but you can create these as long as you would like. This effect is also very useful when you want to create exhaust stains from an engine. 

In my first attempt at adding the streaks I used Tamiya XF-10 Flat Brown, and when I had completed the top side I noticed that the brown looked more like rust than dirt. I did remove these in favour of the black paint, but I took this picture to show how choosing the correct color can affect the presentation of the model.

And now for the part that caused a bit of controversy when this kit was announced. The AN/ALQ-101 was a jamming pod that specifically flew with Black Buck One. If it wasn't for this pod the mission would likely have been abandoned. However, as many eagle-eyed Vulcan modelers pointed out the pylon is too long and never existed. So I will have to modify this part to correct it. 

Here is the picture that caused the confusion. Someone mistook the gear bay door for an extension on the pylon.  And I understand how this might have happened as I was only able to find one other picture of a Vulcan with the pod, and it wasn't the best quality. 

Using my Tamiya Scriber I was able to quickly separate the pieces. Next, I'll glue the pod to the pylon.

I painted the pod and pylon the same color as the underside of the Vulcan, AK Interactive RAF Dark Sea Grey (RC296). I then painted some of the smaller sections with Mr. Hobby Aqueous H-12 Flat Black. Lastly, the smaller decals were added to either side of the pod. 

Next, I glued the pod to the underside and it looks pretty great. I'll admit that I was tempted to leave the fiction extension to this part, even though it's not accurate I thought it looked interesting dangling from the aircraft. 

The last part I needed to add to the underside was the lower hatch. The ladder was painted with Tamiya XF-3 Flat Yellow. And I was pleased with how snug this part fit to the model. Just 2 drops of Mr. Cement SP and the hatch was set.

I attached the refuelling probe just before I added a semi-gloss coat to the model. I thought given the size of the model there was likely a good chance that I'd accidentally break this off of the model during construction. 

I sprayed a final clear coat over the entire model. I used Mr. Hobby Aqueous Semi-Gloss Clear (H-110). And once it had dried I was able to remove the maskings from the canopy. As I mentioned earlier there isn't a lot to see in there with the tiny windows, and it seems to be more limited than I had initially expected. 

I painted the wipers with Flat Black, and this was a nice extra detail to the front of the aircraft. 

I wanted to keep the nozzles flat so I felt them off the model until now. I'm really pleased with how they look against the light grey and dark green colors.

With everything completed on the underside, I was able to add the tail section. Due to warping as discussed in previous posts, I had a bit of adjusting to do to get the tail glued securely to the fuselage. It looks great now that it's on, and I'm thrilled that this Vulcan is complete!

I lastly polished up the windows with some NOVUS 1 plastic polish, and now this Vulcan is finally done. It's quite the model to behold, and standing back looking at it all done, the size is really impressive. It's amazing that an aircraft this big was reportedly so agile.

Here I've placed an Airfix 1:72 Spitfire Mk.I next to the Vulcan, just so you can see how massive this giant bomber really is. The Spitfire is barely the length of the nose section, and it almost looks like it's 1:144th scale.

In the beginning, I mentioned the possibility of building the other V bombers, and while I'm not saying for sure that it will happen, you've certainly got to have the proper space for such giant models. 

And I will say this, this is a challenging model, it's not impossible to build but you need to work slowly at it and carefully see how the parts fit together and match up. It seems like such a simple subject, but it's surprisingly more complicated than you would think. 

It's also a lot bigger than I had expected it to be. And I'm not talking about taking up shelf space when it's completed, but it was a great challenge for me at times to photograph, record, and at times build. There were times I'd turn the model around and knock into my desk shelf or lamp so I learned to be careful around my desk.

All that being said, it was a very fun build, and I'm so excited to have had the chance to build one of these kits. I wanted to build the older Airfix Vulcan, and when this new one came out I was so excited, and I'm glad that it was as much fun as I had imagined. 

This is one impressive model, and I think it will certainly steal the scene in your collection or at a model show!

Airfix 1:72 Avro Vulcan B.2 "Black Buck" (Part 13)

 Now that the decals were added I decided that it was time to add a panel line wash to the entire model. I like to add panel washes to my models as it's a lot of fun and it allows more details of the model to be seen.

There have been discussions on the accuracy of painting in the panel lines on models, but it's a great way to show off the details at such a small-scale replica. Plus, there is the argument that dirt gets into the panel lines from general use, and this dirt does show off the panels, so there is some accuracy in painting the panels.

Regardless of overall accuracy, it's a stage in modeling that I personally enjoy, and I hope that in this post I can answer some questions you might have the next time you decide to add a wash to your model.

Before I painted on the wash I decided I should finally add the bombs and bomb bay doors to the model, especially since the bay doors had panel lines that would be painted in with the rest of the model.

The bombs are built in two halves, and the fit was generally okay, I used the back of my hobby knife to carefully shave down the side edges to be smooth.

The pylons were painted with Tamiya XF-2 Flat White, and then each of the bombs was carefully hand painted with The Army Painter Army Green, which is also an excellent color for WWII USAF cockpit interiors. 

This was a very tedious process to paint each of these bombs, and I do understand why Airfix designed them this way, but after all of this painting and avoiding the white paint I do wish that each of the bombs were separate.

Because the bombs were all connected I decided to use the kit supplied decals for the yellow bands instead of painting them on myself. These were tricky to add as they were very thin but they only needed to look good from the underside as the tops wouldn't be seen once they were installed in the bomb bay.

It was tedious work to get all of those decals added, but they look really great now that they are stacked on top of each other.

Attaching the bombs to the interior was really easy, there was a small peg that the pylons fit around, and I secured the bombs with Mr. Just super glue.

Now that the bombs were fitted I could add on the bomb bay doors. I was really impressed with how easy these parts were to add to the model.

Thinking back on previous projects, I think that this is the first time I've ever built a model with the bomb bay opened, and I'm really glad that I decided to with this one. It won't easily be seen by the average modeler inspecting the Vulcan, but when you flip it over you can really appreciate all of the detail Airfix put into this section.

There are many different enamel based panel washes that you can use, and my preferred paints are the Tamiya Panel Line Accent Colors. 

Before I painted in the panel lines I needed to decide what colour I would use. Generally, when I paint an all or mostly silver based subject I use Black, as this color is dark enough to stand out against the bright silver paints.

For blue or grey models, I like to use Dark Grey, as this color has a nice balance against grey paints, and I could have used this color for the all grey underside.

However, I ultimately decided to use Dark Brown for the entire model as it will highlight the panel lines but not be as bold and stand out like the Black. 

I dotted the paint into the panels and the pre-thinned paint slowly flows along the panel lines. This is really the fun part for me watching the paint gradually fill in those panels. You might also recall that I added a gloss coat to the entire model before I applied the decals, and this will also help improve the flow of the Panel Line Accent Color.

Sometimes the Panel Line Accent Color doesn't flow as smoothly or at all. This could be the fault of the panel lines being too thin or not deep enough, which I did encounter a few times with this project. It can also be caused by too much paint being used and this fills in the gaps for the panel line wash. This was one of the reasons I tried to layer the paint on as thinly as possible.

 

I left the panel wash to dry for about 24 hours, and after I took a cotton swab gently dipped in Tamyia Enamel Thinner. I brushed the cotton swab against the panel line to remove the excess. Running the swab along the panel line you risk removing the paint inside the panel.

Here is a section of the wing with Tamiya Panel Line Accent Color -Dark Brown- added. The dark brown looks really great against the light grey and dark green camouflage and the model is now ready to have some weathering added. 

Well a lot of cotton swabs were used to tidy up this Vulcan, but it was worth it in the end to see those lines all filled in. In the next, and most likely final post for this project, I'll add on some weathering to the Vulcan using Tamiya Enamel Paints.

Once the weathering is done I can add on a few more small parts, and give the model a flat coat to seal everything together. I'm very excited now as I can't wait to call this project done and add Airfix's Vulcan to my list of completed projects.

-To be concluded...

Airfix 1:72 Avro Vulcan B.2 "Black Buck" (Part 12)

 I've always loved putting on decals, even as a kid it was one of my favourite parts of modeling. I just found dipping the decal in water and sliding it onto the model incredibly satisfying. Later in life when I got into modeling on the internet I was surprised to learn that many modelers didn't share my enthusiasm for decals. In fact, I would also learn that many despised the process, or that it filled them with so much dread they'd put off applying them for as long as possible. 

I understand their trepidation, and I can relate as I've had several occasions where the decals just went wrong, and sometimes for no reason whatsoever. There are even a few decal brands I avoid at all costs because the experiences I had using them were so awful. 

In this post, I'm going to go through my process and show some of the tools and products I use when I'm applying decals. Hopefully, this might help overcome any worries or questions you might have with decals. 

You might recall in Part 11 that the last thing I did to the model was add a gloss coat over the entire model (Mr. Hobby Aqueous H-30 Clear). This was applied to not only protect the paint but a glossy surface that is very smooth and this will help the decals adhere more securely.

Next, I'll grab the various tools and products I need for the decal application.

-Hobby knife with a new Excel #11 blade. This is needed to carefully cut out some of the smaller decals. Use a new blade with your hobby knife, this will make cutting into the paper a lot easier. 

-Pointed Tweezers, are essential when I'm putting the decals in water and to hold onto the paper backing as I slide the decals onto the model.

-Decal Brush, this is a dedicated paintbrush that I only use for decal solvents. It's from an Airfix starter set, and it's excellent for adding solvents or more water if the decal is suddenly stuck in the wrong place.

-Cotton Swabs, are used to gently push out the remaining water from underneath the decals once they are in place. I can also use these to mop up excess or stray decal solvent.

-Tamiya Decel Scissors (74031), are extremely useful and something I'd suggest adding to your cart immediately next time you are in the store or online. I use these scissors all of the time to carefully trim off the decal film, or cut out the larger decals from the sheet. I feel a lot more control and precision when I use these, and I only wish that I had purchased a set of them earlier as they would have made so many decal projects in the past much easier.

My decal process with aircraft typically goes like this. First I apply all of the tiny stencils, as they are the smallest and most tedious I find it's better to get them out of the way first before I move on to the more fun decals. I begin with the tail and I gradually move towards the nose of the aircraft. Then I apply the decals to the underside, and once that is done I finish with the decals on the top. 

What is possibly the most well-known of all decal solvents comes from Microscale Industries. Micro Set and Sol over the years have been go to products for many modelers as they aren't too aggressive and typically boast excellent results with many different companies.

Here I'm applying the flag pennant to the tail. I'm brushing on a base coat of Micro Set in the place where the decal will rest. The Micro Set will help soften the decal so that it will be more snug to the surface and help achieve a more painted on effect.

Now that the decals are in place and I've carefully pushed out the excess water from underneath the decal (this was accomplished by slowly rolling the cotton bud over the decal) I'm ready to apply a liberal coating of Micro Sol. Micro Sol will melt down the decal, and this will be even more secure to the surface. It will also melt the decal into the panel lines for a more authentic look.

Once you apply the Micro Sol carefully place the parts away and give them time to dry. This solvent is usually done in an hour or two, but that will also depend on the brand of decals you are using. 

Here are the end results of the Micro Set and Micro Sol a few hours after the solvents have been applied. The decals with this Vulcan are very thin and this greatly assisted in the decals conforming to the surface. You can see how nicely the decals have fallen into the recessed panel lines.

Over the years I've looked for a one-size-fits-all decal solvent. As a result, I've tried out a few searching for the perfect solvent. But a lot of this comes down to the brand of decal, and even that's not a guarantee. I've had decals from Airfix and Tamiya that looked similar and once I got them off of the paper they turned out to have very different properties.

A friend of mine even claimed that he'd only use Japanese decal solvents like Mr. Mark Fitter, and Mr. Mark Setter for Japanese brand decals. And Micro Set and Sol for everything else.

My preferred and go-to decal solvent is Tamiya Mark Fit "Super Strong" as it's aggressive on tough thicker decals and it can be very gentle on thinner decals like the ones provided with this kit.  Although it's not as slow setting as Micro Set and Sol, as you can see from the picture this roundel has conformed really well to the surface.

And it's so snug you can faintly see the outline of the green paint. This was something I tried to avoid beforehand by gently sanding it down. I honestly thought everything was levelled out, but this decal solvent has proven me wrong. 

After I applied the Tamiya Mark Fit "Super Strong" the decal began to wrinkle up and it looked like a complete disaster! But don't panic, this is a normal reaction for many solvents. This is just the solvent doing its job, and it will gradually level out and once again conform to the surface of the model.

Resist the urge to touch the decal, or worse add on more solvent. The decal at this stage is melting and it's incredibly delicate, you can very easily ruin the decal beyond repair. 

"But what about silvering", or "What is silvering"?

Silvering happens when air is trapped behind the clear carrier film. A good gloss coat helps prevent silvering from happening, but even with a gloss coat, it can still happen. 

And it did with this decal just below the canopy. The solution is to add more decal solvent (Tamiya Mark Fit "Super Strong") all around the decal. I then took a sharp sewing needle and I carefully stabbed out all of the air bubbles. This allowed the air to be released and the decal solvent to flow in.

I'd like to talk for a moment about some of the other decaling products I use. Tamiya Decal Adhesive is basically a glue for decals. For those times when I might have left a wet decal for too long on the backing and most of the glue is now gone I can brush on Tamiya Decal Adhesive to the model and then lay down the decal. 

It provides an excellent bond between the decal and the surface, and it can even help prevent silvering from happening. 

This product has saved so many tiny stencils over the years that had quickly lost their backing. I think I can consider this product essential for modeling.

Tamiya Decal Adhesive -Softner Type- is a fairly new product. This is similar to the previous product, and you apply it in the same way, brush it onto the surface and then lay the decal on top. But the difference with this adhesive is that it also helps to soften/melt the decal before you apply the decal solvent on top.

I've personally had mixed results with this product, there are times when it seems to really kick in and then there are times when little to no effect with other decals. So you might have better luck with this one than me, but I still think it's very useful with thicker decals.

There are 3 levels of Tamiya decal solvent, and each one is easily identifiable on the front label. There is Mark Fit, which is a basic solvent for thinner decals. 

Mark Fit Strong- which I've had varied success with. I've found that it works quite well on thinner decals, but it had a hard time with thick decals, and I ended up having to apply a lot of solvent to get the decals just right.

Mark Fit Super Strong- this as I mentioned earlier is my go-to solvent. It's really aggressive on thick decals and gentle on the thinner ones. I would suggest caution when using this solvent and test it out on a few spares first to better understand and see how this solvent works and reacts.

If you are feeling adventurous you can go one step further with the decal. I took a new blade in my hobby knife and I carefully cut the decal following along the panel lines. I then applied more solvent to allow the newly cut decal to fall into the groves. 

This is of course completely optional, but it will help the effect later on when I add a panel line wash to the model. 

After the solvents have done their job and I'm satisfied with the decals, I'll airbrush on some acrylic gloss coat. Here I'm again using Mr. Hobby Aqueous H-20 Clear, but I've also used Tamiya X-20 Clear in the past. I'm spraying on 2 thin coats over the decals and only on the decals, as I already sprayed a gloss coat on the model before the decals were applied.

I prefer to spray an acrylic coat onto the models as some lacquer paints can be too aggressive, and as I encountered once before as I had a decal melt and form many tiny bubbles that melted rock hard. I had to carefully sand down the bubbles and mask off the decal to spray paint recovering the project. This happened last year, but even since then, I'll only apply acrylics over the decal.

But once the decals are sealed over I can apply a stronger lacquer finish.

I hope that this post has been helpful in better understanding how to apply and care for decals. With the right tools and solvents, the decalling process can be a lot easier. And I understand how it can also be overwhelming, so the next time you are in the shop ask an associate for their advice and see what experiences they've had with various products.

I'm just as excited as I was when I was a kid looking at all of these decals laid out on the model. It's a great feeling of accomplishment seeing all of those tiny stencils splayed around the model. As frustrating as they are they really add a welcome detail to the model.

I'm going to let the clear coat around the decals harden just a bit more, but next, I'm going to be adding a panel wash and then some weathering. I've been looking forward to this part as the Vulcan could get really dirty, and with all of those bombing missions in the Falklands, they would be particularly grungy.

To be continued...