Thanks everyone for the compliments...
Dave, I feel a connection with the history behind my builds too. It's what inspires me to start my models and helps me to pick out a particular subject.
I "borrowed" the Enterprise photo from one of Rob's Friday Briefing articles. I saw it and was really impressed with it.
I was dreading this next step...
I like they way the alternating red and white rudder stripes look, but they usually don't turn out too well as a rule using only a decal.
So here lately I have been painting the stripes on instead of using decals. It's more work, and sometimes it takes several attempts to get right.
I started out by taking measurements of the kit decals to get a close approximation of how wide the stripes should be. If your kit doesn't have decals to go by, you can simply measure the overall height of the rudder and divide by how many stripes you need.
I took a section of blue painters tape and placed it onto a clean piece of glass. If it's not clean, it will affect how the tape adheres to the part you want to stripe. If the glass is dirty or has lint on it, the dirt / lint will adhere to the sticky side of the tape and reduce the performance of how it will stick to the part you are masking. This can lead to paint bleeding under the edges of the tape, (or cause other problems).
Then I took this measurement and transferred the dimensions on some painters tape. I made small cuts with a single edge razor blade at each end of the tape.
Then I took a small steel ruler and used it as a straight edge to make a cut along the edge of the tape at the width I had indicated with the small cut marks.
Once I had enough stripe materials cut out for the project, I placed them accordingly onto the rudder.
Then it was simply a matter of spraying on some red...
Once the red paint had dried, I removed the masking tape and temporarily placed the rudder into position to see how it looked. I'm pretty happy with the overall results.
I recently used this technique on my Accurate Miniatures TBF-1 "early" build and the Douglas A-20 Havoc that I have been working on. I think it's a great alternative to using decals which normally leave the ends exposed of the rudder where the decal doesn't cover it.
I still need to spray on some clear to give it a comparable luster that matches the rest of the plane...
I'm going to try and finish this one up tonight. Please check back for another update...
As usual, comments are encouraged. Take care and thanks for looking.
