Hi everyone.

I have to remove a decal from a seat already glued into the cockpit of my P-51D build. The decal is in there something fierce. I soaked it in warm water: no dice. I am hesitant to scrape at it because I just painted the seat to the point where I like it. Any suggestions.

In addition. the directions for the Tamiya P-51 D Tuskegee Airmen call for the propeller blades to be painted semi-gloss black with lemon yellow tips. Is this correct? The challenge I face is, when I paint the base, some of the black paint leaks onto the yellow. When I touch up the yellow, it gets onto the black and so on. The tips seem to look uniform in all the photos I've seen of these planes. I mask off the pieces yet still run into this situation. Any suggestions or weathering techniques you could offer to make these blades look better. I know that the Tuskegee Airmen kept their planes pretty clean and I want to keep weathering to a minimum in that spirit.

Thank you everyone.

Alex

Try using either Solvaset or Microset or Sol to soak and soften the decal then take masking tape to pull it off or a toothpick to scrape It off.

I spray my prop black and when dry, tape the tips and lightly spray away from the tape line so as not to blow any paint under the tape.

It looks like I have to get some Microset. I use True Earth Crystal Lock to set the decals. That stuff works miracles yet when it's dry, you have to make sure it's what you want. I tore my decal as it dried.

Trey to get Solvaset which is stronger than Microset.

Will do. I will probably have to order it online because I don't know if my local hobby store carries it. Thanks a million . Alex

Alex

I think Walthers picked up the Solvaset line a while back. My bottle has lasted years. Try the model railroad shops too. Plain vinegar might just work too.

Alex,
I've never had an issue removing a decal if it needed to be removed. I just used masking tape. It will pull the decal up in pieces, so you need to repeat as necessary. The remaining little bits here and there I've removed with Micro Set, the Blue bottle.

For masking the tips of props, or for that matter, any hard edge line, I seal the tape with a gloss clear coat of either Pledge or Glosscoat. Just a light single coat is more then enough to prevent any paint from running under the tape.

When I paint a straight line I airbrush along the line with the gun slightly pointing at the tape. Holding the gun at a angle away from the tape can cause an uneven line &/or a color intensity variance. To combat this, more paint is needed then necessary, which in turn will cause a higher then usual raised edge.

Joel

This method has worked for me for the last 40 years.
I see where that can happen if using super thick tape or spraying at a extremely steep angle but not when at a slight angle away from the tape line. I set my AB to about 8-9 psi and apply light coats. Works every time.

Propeller blade tips are invariably a relatively light colour like yellow.
I spray the yellow first, mask off the relevant amount and then spray the 'black' of the propeller blade. The black will cover the yellow much better than the other way around and this avoids spraying multiple or heavy coats, risking either bleeding under the mask, or the build up of a ridge which will then need removing.
Cheers
Steve