Groot, I used the 3M blue painters tape for the mask.  It doesn't stretch so it gives you a couple of attempts to get it centered.  Japanese planes are know for the paint chipping.  I think I'll start the 1/32 Hasegawa.  The 1/32 has the yellow wing leading edge as a decal but it's an old model and old decals are what I'm trying to get around.  So it 's a good place to start trying out the some of the techniques you guys have suggested here.  On this Monogram Zero I did some light sand papering to expose the rivets and rough up the meatballs a bit.  But with the 1/32 I'm going to have to move forward a bit on technique.

Thanks.

I agree with Groot, though I use a light tan as an undercoat for the yellow.

Jack I know how you feel.  After decades of absence I've got a lot to catch up on.  What's driving me nuts right now is the lack of info on decals.  I'll watch a sequence of photos in detail about most everything but decals.  In the current issue of FSM there is a 1/32 Me109.  The sequence of photos carries an explanation but suddenly there are beautiful decals and no explanation.  

The more you show the more input you get.  Warts and all with pictures is the way to go.

There was an earlier issue somewhere of FSM that really covered decals pretty well, but I've found that digging around in the decals section of the forum can be really helpful too.  What decal questions do you have and we can try to answer them?

By the way, Gamera's suggestion of light tan is probably better than the silver I tossed out (flat versus gloss and more tooth for the yellow paint to adhere to).

Groot

I shot the green first then the yellow.  Explains a lot.  Regarding the decal problem there is a variation in the quality of decals due to age manufacture, etc.  The process of getting the decal to lay down and conform to the surface is the issue.  I'm seeing what to me are master builders and they say very little about the decals as if decals are a foregone conclusion.  That's why I used this zero for an attempt at masking to get a feel for the problems.   Some decals lay down with the application of a solution, (vinegar based?).   I've got about a 50% rate of completion.  The fails are primarily due to faulty decals or my lack of experience in recognizing when things are going wrong in other areas.  If I paint wrong I can remove the paint.  The decal has to be replaced.

If I were to make a top ten list of the things that I need to address to become a better modeler the #1 spot would be headed by the problem of the last model.  

There was a handy chart in that FSM issue (I'll try to dig it out this weekend) that provided recommended solvents for different brands of decals.  Micro Set can be used universally in that it is used to get the decal to stick to the surface. Micro Sol actually makes the decal conform to bumps and ridges by softening the decal.  This works pretty well for most decals (and you can apply another coating of Micro Sol at a later time.  SolvaSet is really strong stuff and is designed to help thicker decals conform.  Then there are solutions in the middle.

Aftermarket decals are usually good with Micro set/sol, some thicker manufacturer decals need something stronger.  Some just refuse to cooperate.

Groot

Just to add my 2 cents worth Groot.

I bought a set of Starfighter decals by Mark's Models from Freetime Hobbies and they where just fantastic.  They came off the backing easily , set so well that I used very little micro set to get them to draw into the panel lines.  Mine where "Pearl Harbor defenders "  And can be used for 5 different aircraft (2 of which I am building now ) so at a price of $8.95 they are well worth the extra expenditure.

I have had few decals that didn't work with ModelMaster decal set.  I've used Solvaset for particularly stubborn decals.

Gary

I know I'm a bit late on this but next time you have to mask something like the yellow spray around the tape with the green to seal the tape edge so the yellow doesn't get under.

Hope you can you this some time.

Good advice from the guys, I've had a few decals that didn't want to work with Micro Set/Sol but not many. However I did learn the hard way don't use a strong solution like Sol on Hasegawa decals- they crinkle up and won't uncrinkle.

Well done.  I recently started painting my hinos in too by the same method.  

Thanks.  In the most recent issue of FSM one modeler painted on his 42-43 US roundel using 3M blue tape and it came out great.  I guess he cut out his own star but I don't know if he had a template or just a steady hand.  My own experience showed that I tried to spray the mask in one pass and that contributed to the paint running beneath the tape.