After a Future overcoat, I applied the decals. I started with Albemarle number one. The instructions called for roundels above and below the wing surface. Decals applied easily. After they dried, I applied Future again as a protective topcoat. Not protective enough apparently!
My painting jig (a piece of Styrofoam) wasn’t the greatest and at some point, I had used some Tamiya tape to keep the plane secure. Such tape inadvertently went over one of the underwing decal roundels. I removed the tape and aargh again!
How to fix? Well, why not take one of the decals from Albemarle number two and just reapply it over the damaged one (after a reapplication of Future)? Double aargh! The new decal wouldn’t budge after placement and I couldn’t get the roundels to line up perfectly. Like some other modelers, I dread applying decals as the cost of failure is high.
So I used some Scotch tape to remove the decals (both layers) and then did a lot of sanding.
This was followed by masking and respraying and then touching up the weathering. Finally, the last decal from kit number two was used on kit number one. Important to have spares!
The astute reader will ask: “If you used the roundels from Albemarle number two, what would you do for the underwing roundels when you got around to applying those decals?”
And the lucky answer (for me) was P1372 – the second Albemarle’s serial number. Per the kit and photos, there were no underwing roundels. Albemarle number one was P1393.
All this repair work meant I needed something happy in my modeling life. So, a little retail therapy.
Cropredy Albemarle Project 