Century of Progress Vega

off it goes....a simple build with little detail because the decals are what this piece is all about.... 

....time to try these Red Pegasus decals.... 

...read those instructions! Basically, they say be careful and decal setting agents won't do much with this type of decal material..... 

....glossy surfaces required...check.... 

.....decals need to be trimmed individually....check... 

....temp controlled water bath (way too big...purchase years ago).....check 

....dry fitting decals..... 

....in the end, it "worked" with some issues....the decals never really set down.......maybe more heat will help.....creating little holes for air to escape did not work well and the decal itself tore a bit....finally, the position of the decal was tricky for sure...I used the windows as a guide....but, the cool sign for all the world records up front was getting lost in the cowling and encroached on the landing gear struts...that can't be right....see comments for more details.....basically, this was a decent test but it can be done much better with some experience and planning.... 

....cutting many decals out....one strong tip...buy multiple copes of these decals....it really does take some time to get used to them....several tail feathers were trashed in the process and having spares was key.... 

...the side decals got a small hole for the landing gear to show through.... 

...progress! It takes some getting used to how flimsy these decals are and how tuff they are....its a challenging combination but, with practice, it can be done....the big wing really had me worried....but it went well...the paint on the fuselage was a bit darker than the decal but using Insignia Red, instead of Red, cleared that up...the paint mismatch on the tail looks fine and was left alone... 

...assembled fuselage and landing gear....third time was decent with the horizontal stabilizer decals.....the big wing decals went well but it was tricky to get a fix on the little crack in the middle....covering up with other decals did not work...it created a dark spot....paint ended up being used...hopefully, it won't detract too much from the final result....the landing gear shock absorber housings had that white stripe down the front and back and it was easy to paint some tape red to add them...

....the final challenge will be the cowling setting in the just right position ...shims are in place now but it is not fixed yet...the photos were staged with it just sitting there... 

...all done....nothing but a kick to do... 

...trying out new lighting with much work to do....the wing got a pitot tube..... 

...underneath.....landing & navigation lights, inspection panel outlines..
..i was hesitant to cut into the decals but they stood up well and the resulting inspection panels seem realistic...