Yep, @airbum, looks magnificent!

Thank you @kalamazoo and @fiveten.

George @gblair, I am sorry that I have not been better at explaining (just went through the posts, and next to nothing was mentioned - my bad!) The decals were found on the Arctic Decals site; https://www.arcticdecals.com/products.html?id=21442/641031 and I really did not wait for one second to order a pair. He did a perfect job, even though the registration should be a VERY dark blue, it is laserprinted in black. At the moment we are checking for an update as the 1:1 plane recently had titles (GLAF) and CESSNA on the wingtips. The White and other small bits are ALPS printed, and I guess I have to take a lot more care with those when I get that far?

In conclusion, I did the original drawings for the 1:1 plane, Arctic did the decals - highly reccomended, not least because I personally like the design of the original - OK a lot of hot air and bragging on my part here - please bare with me. I think some more decals may be added tonight, perhaps a bit of detail paint, and I guess that the ALPS printed decals will need a layer of gloss acrylic when they are fully dry. I will get back with a report on how it all went, what I did, etc. Thank you for asking George.

And the main decaling is done!

I had a go at the rest of the decals on the fuselage

And it actually went well. First I did try to add some "Decal Sol" to the spare name-decal

No problems there, just as advertised on the homepage.

A few pictures from different angles of the laserprinted decals.

Will need a sharp knife in the deep lines, but rather nice so far. The decals were easy to move with just demineralised water (ask whoever is doing the ironing at home what that is) and took moderate abuse and moving with only minor issues like printertoner cracking, but all in all it held its own.

The logo is another printer called ALPS, and the decal is actually two decals, so alignment is all by your own hand. First the all-white background is placed, and then when that is set, the Black outlines are added on top

and that’s it. Now the propeller needs paint and decals, the fuselage will get a coat of gloss clear (need to find one first) and the anti-glare needs masking and semimatt black as does the wheels, some minor details, and that is it.

Closing in here – stay tuned

Decals look great Erik (@airbum). The ALPS printer is one of the few printers that can print white decals. I have seen white ink cartridges for Laser printers advertised on MicroMark, but they are really expensive. The paint scheme on this model is really striking.

Clearly it had some gloss

Gloss Clear on top of the decals

Yesterday I had my first day off for 6 weeks – not so, as I was called to work anyway. Happily my good friend came flying in the C172 that my girlfriend used for her training some years back.

They had a short flight – properly dressed for COVID-19 (His girlfriend is expecting their first and she has weak familymembers so we prefer to take good care)

Anyway – today I shall have a lot of time. Well, no, there are two jets that need me to be at the airport, but I did manage to spray one layer of Gloss Clear

The clear was OK on the laserprinted Decals.

The ALPS on the tail – strangely they did make the clear acrylic lay in drops.

Also the layers of paint and clear acrylic makes it a close call with the balance – I will paint the antiglare in a few days and see if a tiny bit of extra weight is needed.

And with that it is off to work again. Hopefully the next few days off will actually be days off so the bench can be where I will be

Looks great, Erik (@airbum). Sounds like you are working way too hard. Don't the people at your work realize they are interfering with your modeling? As far as the balance goes, perhaps you can find some heavy paint for the anti-glare panel and fix the center-of-gravity? :o)

Time to finish?

Not quite – worried about the balance!

Today I thought I could finish the Cessna. Well, the clear gloss is making the tipping point just a hair off. That is, a hair under the nosewheel and it sits on the tail.

Now, I could have searched for some heavier black for the anti-glare, but there is just enough room for a few small bits of lead in the enginecompartment – and the propeller shaft.

And while it is on its back, glue drying, I re-visited the registration under the wing, running over it with a sharp knife, and one more layer of Micro Sol.

Worked like a dream even though it had been treated with clear gloss acrylic!

Next time I may use George’s (@gblair) idea and get some masks made on a scan and cut machine for the letters. They should be large enough to make it useable.

And when the white glue has cured it is right side up and add antennas – Fox Juliet has some very long wires for the HF radio, not usually seen on a Cessna 172

George, that was the most kind words I'we had recently - if that is the case then it is off to the workbench again. Got to take advantage of such a positive situation 🙂

Anyway, last post comin up shortly.