Instruments-For the sake of realism

I would usually use deecals for the instruments but I still have some of the Waldrton instruments and die punch sets that I use depending on the project. 

The die punch sets have come in handy for certain other projects I have done and not alwways because of instruments.

Airscale makes really good instrument dial face decals.  They look really good, but I have found that you usually want to go one scale smaller.  For a 1/32 aircraft panel, the 1/48 decals are a better fit as the 1/32 scale decals are just slightly too large to fit within the bezel in most cases.

It is mostly military aircraft that have front-mounted instruments in them due to easier removal for maintenance...that is, as long as the aircraft manufacturer left you enough rope to pull them out far enough to disconnect them.  Some of them, like UH-1s, have everything front-mounted, but pitot and static lines are aluminum tubing.  That's OK though, pretty easy to reach up behind the panel on those to disconnect the tubing/fittings.  Or you can go in through the access panel on the nose.  In the civilian world, there are a few exceptions to the rule of seeing screws with back-mounted instruments.  In a 1955 Bonanza, for example, the nuts are captive on the back of the instrument panel, and you actually have to use a long screwdriver to go from behind the instrument and take the screws out...after removing the firewall kidney panel of course.  The surface of the panel inside the aircraft though is totally smooth.

Love the Quinta stuff too, so I use that whenever they have a set available for the aircraft I'm building at the time.  I've tried a few other brands of 3D printed cockpit decals, and nobody else comes close to Quinta yet.  Since they're thin and flexible, they're easy to cut up and rearrange too...so you can turn an Su-25K into a Ukrainian Su-25M1 with the help of a little Evergreen plastic and your imagination.

I think if your talking about 1/48 or smaller you may get away with car decals for aircraft gages in most cases, so I sort of agree with your statement. 

But I believe aircraft 1/32 or larger need aircraft specific decals. Now I am not a rivet counter but I think an altimeter, artificial horizon, or speciality gages can be easily seen and only be replicated with the real thing, especially if their is a clear view through the canopy.

Other than that I think your spot on with individual gages, displays, bezel, etc. they can be a game changer. 

Then there's stuff like Quinta 3D cockpit decals and others. While most are awesome, some seat harnesses that are full 3D suffer a little on the metal components of the harness, especially if they are conforming to the curves and details of the seat. 

Just my humble opinion 

Regardless, todays aftermarket offers so much more than just a few years ago. We are indeed lucky to be modeling in this era.

Hi Guy!

         Ah! I should've gone into more detail. I sorry! I was just trying to show for somepne who wants the detail, but for whatever reason has no research or doesn't want to get that serious. Someone who loves flying, but who knows little about planes and wants his model to be a work of art anyway. Yeah, come to think about it I should've clarified that and I didn't. 

There are differences between gauges used on aircraft and cars.  Most aircraft white symbols on a black background.  There are a few of the reverse, but rare (ie Piper).  And bezels are universally black or very dark flat gray. There are two types of bezel, one just a thin black circle on instruments installed from behind panel, and the other a bezel that may be used in the mounting.  These are cast bezels, and have most material on cabin side of panel.  But they are flat black or dark gray  Flat metal can be used with the kind mounted from behind, as long as they are dark.  This type of mounting should show mounting screws.

I have compiled a number of aircraft instruments from google searches, and can print these on photo paper and stick behind holes drilled in panels.  I'll maked up a group image and post that later.