B-52 Decals

Did I mention the trouble I had trying to find some usable SAC bomber Green and Tan? I finally located some Testors rattle cans and was able to decant the paint needed.

Is there any way you can scan what's left and print new ones?

Where are you located?

I'll have to consult my 1-1-4 to get the right size national insignias and I have a partial sheet of red numbers.  I can't guarantee the font will be right though.  I may have a S.A.C. shield too.  I checked my photos I took during the war and on the ones showing the right side there were no unit insignia dispoayed, only the three digit number on the nose.  Unlike the tankers, only what was absolute necessary was applied.  You will have to paint the red no walk lines of the wings and fuselage and tail but the kit has those laid out already, just a matter of masking.

Another way is to paint the red first, them mask with the correct width pinstripe tape.

Nice project good to see it come together.

Bill

Might dig back into " in the buff" group build.  Maybe one of the guys there has some help or ideas.

PM or email a couple of them.

I was just looking at some of the shots I took back then.  I didn't see any walk stripes on the 52s.  Nowhere on the tail or the wings and fuselage that I could see.  The tail would particularlly stand out with a red againts black and being so tall.  For the angles I have on the  wings and fuselage I didn't see anything.  It's possible that when they went in for a wash and paint job they just didn't bother taking all the time needed to put those long lines back on.  

GMorrison

Is there any way you can scan what's left and print new ones?

 

I hadn't thought of this approach as I had never attempted this before. I am goint to scan them and then copy. I know I have seen the decal paper or perhaps it was a kit? at my local Hobby Lobby store.

Here are some high resolution scans of the decals from the 85-5709 kit.  One is normal and the other is very dark to highlight the two white lines on the decal.

Right click and download them.

Thank you all for the the input and thank you John, for the scans. I'm going to head over to HL as soon as they open (in an hour) as I seem to be up very early today. I can give this all a try as at this point, as I just want to complete this behemoth and 100% historical accuracy is not going to be huge thing here for me. I just want it to appear authentic and interesting - and done!

It is an interesting build as the size is so large that I have to work on the parts seperately! It's as if I am trying to complete a half-dozen kits all at the same time!

Once assembled comes the next big problem - what the heck am I going to do with this thing? LOL! I will let you all know how it goes.

Thanks

John's first scan you'll want to print on clear paper. His second scan would be printed on white paper just for the mouth and nat. insignias.

Or you might paint the white parts and put a clear decal on top. 

Be sure to pick paper compatible with your printer- inkjet or laser print.

You'll need a fix- I like Testor's decal bonder in a little spray can.

What I do is print the art on 8 1/2 x 11 that you run through the manual feed.

Then cut out a piece of decal paper the size of the decal sheet and tape it over the image on the paper print, putting tape along the leading edge only.

Run it through the manual feed again.

Let it dry for at least two or three days.

Spray bonder on it.

Let that dry for two or three days as well. I usually find one coat works.

You've created one big decal at this point, so trim each marking out as closely as you can to the image.

It will take a little experimenting to get the right paper type selected, the printing quality setting etc. but once you do write it down.

Bill

Trying to remember how to post a photo.....

I don't remember how I did the photos before, but if you click the little "thingy" above, you will see the decal I am trying to save. I had a Photobucket account but I refused to pay a monthly fee to keep it.

Got the Testors decal paper and after an afternoon of experimentation with scans, and photo editing, got a decent rendering of the large winged 2 on the tail. I also found a sheet of red numbers of various sizes so maybe I can toss some numbers on it and call it good.

The decal I made is out in the shed drying as I have a swamp cooler and it is always too damp in here for things to dry