F-86 Sabre

Guy Rump
Following! 👍

Łukasz Gliński
Me 2

Roy McKay
And me.. its a Matchbox of course I must!

Skyhiker
Caught my interest

Alberto
Following too!

Chris Autor
Thanks to Roy McKay I recieved this old kit. It has the original canopy that I will remove with a surgery, clean it properly and then attach to my F 86. And don't be afraid, I have an idea to use this old kit so that it will still be a proud member of my collection 😄

Chris Autor
No, the kit did not end on the shelf of doom 😉

Some things need a while. Today I tried the decals and guess what: After 50 years they worked quite well. In the water they have curled up, but streched back and went off the paper in one piece. After using MicroSol I thought thats the end, but after a while they streched themselves and I think it will work. Maybe I will give them a second layer MicroSol.

Next stop: the other decals.

Alberto
Great news about those decals! I am building the same kit and have been wondering for a while if they would hold

Chris Autor
If you look at image #17 you will notice an effect of matt and glossy on the decals. That is from the the paper that covers the decals and I think it was a little bit wet over the decades. I hope this will disappear under the final gloss varnish. If not, then I call it "weathering" ;-P

Alberto
Yes, in other Matchbox kits I've built with the same shine on the decals (due to the protective paper getting a bit stuck), the effect usually disappears after the gloss coat

Chris Autor
The decals are not only water-repellent but also paint-repellent. A beautiful lotus effect, but a disaster for my model building. I also tried Revell Aqua Color with a brush and had the same effect as airbrushing with Vallejo gloss.

I have to think about an solution.

Alberto
That's annoying Chris... I usually apply a Spanish equivalent to the old Future floor polish by brush and never had issues with Matchbox decals

Roy McKay
I'm with Alberto, the old Klear/future by brush always works for me.

Chris Autor
Maybe I was not clear enough. The problem ist not the surface where the decal is attached, but the decal itself. I don't know what happened to this decal, because I never before had this issue. Water AND paint make litte drops and do not cover the decal, so this effect appeared.

My solution is brute force: sandig off the pearled paint, removing the not covered decals, new airbrushing and meanwhile the new ordered decals will arrive.

Skyhiker
Sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do. I wonder if a bit of soapy water brushed on the decal before sealing it would have helped or not? It usually breaks the surface tension.

Roy McKay
That sucks. I have two copies of this kit but only one set of Miss Louise decals which I want to use. Otherwise if I had spares I'd offer them.

Alberto
I'm a bit unsure now what will happen with my Miss Louise decals when I use them 😬, I'll let you know. I'm still just starting the painting phase and I'm rather slow

Chris Autor
I would take one of the other decals and test it. Remembering: While using MicroSol I noticed that the fluid does not cover the decal as usual and the drops ran away. I didn't spend any thoughts about that. The cold shock was when the paint built drops. Maybe soaped water would have helped. *sigh*