Mark Deliduka Posted January 1, 2014 Report Posted January 1, 2014 I'm going ahead and declaring this thing finished for now. This is the old Arii Cessna 172 floatplane in 1/72 scale. I had gotten it for a mere $5.00 and was hoping to make this look really good. From the beginning, this gave me all kinds of trouble: Prop getting lost, decals shattering, white paint needing to be stripped and re-painted etc. Finally, I got the red stripe decals I needed and some dry transfers to add the registry numbers to the fuselage. Well, this has revealed to me how badly I suck at dry transfers!So, I put on what I could and now I'm calling this thing done because I'm simply tired and fed up with dealing with it! Once I get some new water based decals, I'll remove these bad numbers and letters and replace them. Until then this thing is going onto my shelf as a finished model:I even had to scratch build the rudders on the backs of the pontoons since they had broken off and disappeared.You'll notice that one side is even missing the '9' because the stupid thing folded up and disappeared. And there were only two of them that size on the sheet!Thanks for looking in, any suggestions for this thing are welcome. I still can't get over how such a simple, easy little model with so few parts can be a hundred times more troublesome than Dora!
Ron Bell Posted January 1, 2014 Report Posted January 1, 2014 Everyone has several of these on their shelves. It seems the simpler you think a project is going to be, the more vexing it gets.
ghodges Posted January 1, 2014 Report Posted January 1, 2014 Looks good Mark, especially considering the troubles you had! As for dry transfers, I like them! Most people put them on clear decal sheet so that you're working on a simple, flat surface, and can use a faint pencil line or a piece of tape as a registration marker for alignment. That works best, especially if you're not confident, but leaves you with the same problems of using a decal, and losing the advantages offered with dry transfers. I prefer to rub them directly on the model. The biggest obstacle here is usually fitting a larger sheet into a smaller space in order to rub the one item into place. You can overcome that by cutting the sheet into something small enough to work, but big enough to hold in place. You can also tape it in place long enough to rub it on. As for alignment of the items....simply use the other items on the sheet (which are already aligned and spaced) to help! The hardest part is getting the first one right! After that, you can align what's already on the model with the items on the sheet beside the item to be rubbed on to keep it in line and properly spaced. The other advantage to dry transfers is that unless you're running short of that item, if it goes on badly, it's easily removed and replaced by a better placed one! It's not as hard as it sounds, but like airbrushing, experience and confidence makes all the difference! Hope this helps! GIL
Mark Deliduka Posted January 1, 2014 Author Report Posted January 1, 2014 Thanks Gil! Most of what you described re: applying directly to the model, I had tried. I couldn't do it to save my life! Then again, that was not the easiest place to apply anything, but I appreciate the tips. Maybe someday I'll have a go again, meanwhile, I'm keeping my eyes peeled for some wet-transfer numbers and letters. Everyone has several of these on their shelves. It seems the simpler you think a project is going to be, the more vexing it gets. Boy you said it! That's a very accurate description, especially considering that this simple little thing took me eight months to finish!
aAzZ09 Posted January 1, 2014 Report Posted January 1, 2014 I flew in a fixed gear version of one of those a long time ago. Nice work Duke! Mark
WildBill50 Posted January 2, 2014 Report Posted January 2, 2014 Mark, This kind of reminds me of my Cessna 337 that was built last year. Twenty parts and two months to build. Sometimes it's just not a fair fight and I mean a fight with the kit. Anyway, You know once it's on the finished shelf it won't be coming off soon to get a couple of decals re-applied...or will it? It still looks cool though. I wish they made one with fixed gear in 1/32nd scale. Bill
Mark Deliduka Posted January 2, 2014 Author Report Posted January 2, 2014 Thanks guys! I appreciate the support. Mark, I also have a model of the fixed gear one. That had been built about three years ago. Thanks Bill, this was a tough fight, far tougher than it should have been. And yes, I will be pulling it down to fix it once I find something that I know I can apply properly! Every time I look at it that mess on the side is going to bug me till I fix it! Yes, Jim, this is tiny. The fuselage from propeller to tail is only about 3 1/2 to 4 inches long. Once I get it fixed, it's gonna look good next to all my other civilian aircraft.
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