fxsti03-42
This may be a silly question, but when do you decide to paint something instead of using the decal. i.e. the Tamiya P-51B Mustang that I'm working on right now has the white lines on the wings. These were four part decals and a *bad word* to line up. I should have masked and painted, but poor pre-planning on my part, I didn't. So, this got me to wondering how others decide what to paint and what to use the decals.
No right or wrong answer, no hard-and-fast rule. The answers will be as individual as the respondent, though there may be some common themes.
For me, how good the decal will look, and whether painting will look better, and how difficult it will be to reproduce the marking with the decal or with painting, which usually means masking.
In this case, for the stripes used as theater markings on USAAF aircraft, I'd mask and paint them before using a decal. It's just easier, provided you do it right, and looks better than most of the decals that might be provided to do it. When I say, "provided you do it right", I mean you don't do like I have done and lay down the main colors first, then realize you forgot to paint the stripe, so you have to mask a lot more than if you had laid down the stripe color first (lesson learned). If you use the decal, you might want to or even need to lay down a base color because the decal is too translucent, or for some other issue. That's an additional step.
In the case of the horizontal rudder stripes US aircraft carried when we entered the war, I might choose to use a decal instead of painting. Though in this case, the effort required for either option is closer to equal. If you use a decal, you might want to lay down an undercoat, and you might have some trimming or some trouble fitting around things like hinges or the edge of the vertical stabilizer. If you choose to paint, you have to prepare masks and proceed through the 3 colors. Same kind of decision for me with yellow wings markings-paint things like the wing stripes, or use decals, if provided?
The scale just goes up. Probably the toughest subjects are checkerboard markings and US roundels. Mask them and paint them? Use decals? For the roundels, decals are easier, but some modelers are dissatisfied with the quality of many, or with the bit of raised relief the decal shows.
So, like I said, for me, mainly it's a balance of factors, of the way the finished result will look and the amount of effort it takes. Others will have their own preferences.
Best regards,
Brad