Fairings
Decals
Only cut decals from the sheet as you need them. Otherwise you can easily misplace them. Cut as close to the decal as possible to remove the excess carrier. Use decal solvents like Micro Scales's Micro Set and Micro Sol. Micro Set is what you would normally use when applying decals. And Micro Sol for applying decals over irregular surfaces like rivets, etc. After decaling a clear coat (gloss, semi-gloss, or matt) should be applied to protect and 'seal' the decals onto the model.
Painting
If the inner surface of the fairings need to be painted a different
colour, paint
the inner surface first. It can be very difficult to avoid getting over spray
on the
exterior when painting the inner surface last.
Polishing Plastic
On some models it best to leave the plastic piece unpainted. To replicate plastic fenders on motocrossers, etc. But, in most cases you must not leave the piece untouched. I use TurtleWax Polishing Compound or Tamiya Polishing and Rubbing Compound to polish the plastic to give it a uniform appearance and really shine up the piece. Polishing is also necessary before using metalizer paints Like SnJ and Testors to achieve a blemish free polished 'metal' surface.
Be sure to wash the polished pieces with soapy water to remove any remaining polishing compound.
Ribbed Ducting
Some ducting is 'ribbed' and has a mould line down either side. This doesn't look
very nice even after cleaning up the part. So, I file off the ribbing and then slide a
loose coil of 28gauge wire over the ducting. The coil is made by wrapping the wire around
a 5/32" drill bit. The wire is then fixed into place with some CA glue. For the
'webbing' in between the wire, I coated the wire with CA glue so it fills in between the
wire spiral. This results in a very convincing hose and looks 100% better than the kit
part.
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Copyright © 2003, Kenneth W. Hartlen. All rights reserved
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