So, after a busy holiday weekend and going "Clark Griswold" on the house the past couple of day I was able to return to the bench today. Over the course of several short sessions at the beginning of last week I was able to get the decals done. One disadvantage to the kit (and all HB kits from what I can tell in the three I have) there are not many data stencils. While I would prefer to have more, I just didn't want to spend the money on AM decals. Besides, I really wanted to try the HB decals. I must say that they are actually pretty good. They are nice and thin. First of all, the decals that were placed over engraved detail began to sink into the detail on their own even before Micro Sol. I did Micro Sol them however, and they just snuggled down. The only real issue I had was with moving them around on the surface of the model for placement. That being said, I did use a new gloss coat (Krylon) that turned out to be sticky to the touch even after significant drying time. I believe this may have had more to do with the problem of moving decals around without them being in a pool of water. Usually I have to gloss coat over the decals to seal them in and help build up a layer to eliminate the raised look they sometimes have. With these that was not necessary. I put a flat coat straight down instead.
After decaling I popped out my AK Interactive dark brown wash and tried to do a panel pin wash, but the stuff just wasn't performing that great. Again, I attribute this to the gloss coat. I decided I would try a technique Fermis suggested, and that is what I am going with now. I ground up some black pastels and am brushing it along panel lines. I then use a wide brush to stump out the pastel in the direction of airflow and gravity. See the pics below for an idea of how this looks:
BEFORE:
AFTER:
I really like this effect. It appears to be a good way to give the panel lines some depth and to add some subtle grime and streaking at the same time. I work in sections, and I have only the under surfaces of the wings left to do. After that is complete I will seal it with another coat of Model Master Acryl flat coat. At that point I plan to use some light pastels to fade out some panels and will add some more deliberate streaking to the appropriate areas.