The Yellow stripes... the worst part about this kit. Had I realized sooner they were not a decal I might have chosen a different version to build. I was looking at a set of Fundekals for a similarly marked F4U. Only recently did a realize these Yellow stripes were not a part of the decals included in the kit. My bad, and not a fault of the kit.

To start out, I sealed the decals in using several coats of Future, thinned down a little with "unicorn tears" Mr. Color levelling thinner.

This stuff works great !

I did some calculations after studying the illustrations showing the markings for this particular FM-2 from the USS Nehenta Bay. It appears as if these stripes were approximately 6 inches wide. In 1/48 scale that equates to an 1/8 inch.

So I cut out some 1/8 wide strips using a glass panel and a steel ruler. The tape I used for this was 3M "Safe Release" for delicate surfaces.
I started out by masking the rear most portion of the fuselage, working my way forward from there. I used a strip of tape to use as a spacer too. This spacer was removed prior to spraying the Yellow on.

Now I'm not a fan at all about masking over decals. This is a recipe for disaster if you do. But I had no choice but to do this by this time in the game.

So the wings were taped off too. I had to tape on top of the Eduard decals for the US National insignias here...

Eventually it looked like this...


I added more tape to reduce the chance of getting overspray everywhere... all while not wanting to tape on top of decals. I also removed all of the decal where the Yellow stripe would eventually go.

I sprayed on a light coat of Flat White first. This is a step I use to make the Yellow easier to get a more complete coverage since it is such a translucent paint.

The Yellow was sprayed on next... and I immediately ran into trouble. I was using some ancient Model Master enamel I had left over. It started clumping and clogging up my air brush. Then I started thinking about the base paint I was using, which was MRP paint, and it's an acrylic.

I didn't want to have any trouble with paint wrinkling later. So I decided to stop using the enamel because the reducer I was using was strong. It could have affected the overall GSB base color.

I switched over to Tamiya "Lemon Yellow" acrylic paint. This is how it looked at this point.

But the damage was already done. I had some slight over spray on top of the GSB paint. I should be able to touch this area up. I can also possibly hide some of it with some exhaust staining.

Carefully I removed the tape. It worked OK on top of the Tamiya decals I used on the fuselage. These markings came from a 1/48 scale Tamiya F4U-1D. This particular FM-2 didn't have any Dark Blue surround on the fuselage insignias, only on the wings.

Thankfully the decals remained in place when the tape was removed.

However, I ended up with some bleed through under the tape. I might be able to fix this with a little work. Time will tell.

I like the overall look with the White and Yellow markings. It "pops" and I think it looks good as a color combination.

This final picture shows how the FM2 looks like right now.

Unfortunately, when I removed the tape from the wings, it pulled the Eduard US Stars off. I have to find something else to replace these Eduard US Star insignias now. You can see how some of the Eduard US Star still remained on the wing.

I am glad I decided to cut away the Eduard decals where the Yellow stripes were on the wings. This will help out later.

This should allow me to cut and piece together a decent looking US national insignia tomorrow.

Overall I did make some progress. I didn't win all the way across the board... I'll call it a draw.

As always, comments are encouraged.

Thanks for stopping by.

Very impressive progress, Louis @lgardner
Good catch on the mounting location of the antenna wire.

Louis @lgardner I am sure you will recover nicely though those little flecks of yellow do look vexing. And the decal coming off ouch but you will pull it all off. Some 'safe release' tape.

I love the Tamiya micro-saws that allows for me to patiently cut away the tiny parts. Found at a Dollar Tree I think this 'X-acto set" that was some cheap knock off but the handle was about 2/3rds the diameter of a real X-Acto handle and it fits the saws a lot better. Which reminds me, I need to order some new blades.

I always get nervous putting tape over decals no matter how much clear sealing protection I give them beforehand. With your skills, you’ll be leaving these yellow speed bumps and decal glitches behind in no time.
Very cool markings you’ve selected, Louis @lgardner.

Chuck A. Villanueva (@uscusn)
John vd Biggelaar (@johnb)
Spiros Pendedekas (@fiveten)
David Odenwald (@kahu)
gary sausmikat (@gwskat)
Eric Berg (@eb801)
Tom Cleaver (@tcinla)
Thank you my friends for the kind words of encouragement. I have not had as much bench time lately as I would like over the past few days. However, I managed to get past the troubles mentioned in my last posting.

I'm pressed for time right now, (and it getting really late here in our time zone), so I have to keep this short.

Here are some pictures of the Wildcat. I'm very pleased with the outcome. Once I get the rockets completed, and install them along with a few other small parts, this one should be done.

Meanwhile here are some pictures.

I had to carefully remove the cowling in order to get rid of some of the yellow overspray. I used a fingernail polishing board to handle the majority of the overspray.

I was not happy with how the walk ways looked. By accident I fixed this problem...

I was using some post it notes to mask off the area on the top side of the wings, and later when I removed the post it note, it pulled off the clear carrier film on top of the walk way decal. Now they look as if they were painted on, and they are a dull flat sheen now which is exactly what I was looking for.

This particular photo shows how I was touching up the GSB in between the Yellow stripes.

This next photo shows the results of using post it notes. I have repainted the center lines here, creating a much sharper line between the colors.



The Yellow stripe edges were touched up. However I created another problem...

by getting some GSB overspray on top of the previously painted ailerons. More masking was needed... again.


The rear fuselage stripes turned out well on the very first attempt. Sometimes you get the bear, other times the bear gets you... This time I won.

Now the FM-2 was starting to look how I wanted it too... so it was time to add the wing US insignias.

which I did, and then carefully trimmed following the yellow painted on lines.



Then it was time to seal the decals in again. So I gave the entire plane a few coats of my home brewed mix of Future mixed with some Mr. Color Levelling Thinner, and some Tamiya Flattening Agent. This knocks down the gloss some, and makes the model look more like the real one does in the pictures I found of it online.

This plane had an overall GSB finish, but exposure to the elements and UV rays took it's toll and reduced the overall shine somewhat.

Tomorrow evening I hope to tackle the rockets, and various other small bits like the clear parts and wing mounted MG's.

As always, comments are encouraged.

Thanks for stopping by.

I think you really did save it very nicely.

@lgardner - A really great save!

Those yellow stripes sure look fine now. Looking forward to what’s next, Louis, @lgardner.