Airfix Spitfire MkIa - Part VIII

There no way around it - this little model keeps surprising me in every possible way and its decals are no exception. When I sat down last Saturday, I was fully expecting to be done with this step of building process in twenty minutes or so. Four hours later and more than eighty decals of varying sizes later I was slightly stupefied by the value I got for just a couple of bucks. I was also rather pleased with the the result, even with the mistakes I made along the way (two decals scrambled beyond repair and tossed, I dare you to spot what's missing :-).

Couple of things of note. First of all, patience pays of. Deal with decals of same type all at once and take your time while positioning them. The brush comes handy if the decal dries out and needs to be "re-weted". Also, its tip works quite well as readjustment tool once the decal is set on the surface. Toothpicks are excellent holders while placing long, thin decals. Finally, MicroSol and MicroSet - if you're to get only two chemicals for this hobby, those are the two you need to get!

 Below are the pictures of the model being almost finished. Decals are in place and a final coat of Vallejo blank varnish has been applied to protect them. Finally, all the engraved panel lines have been highlighted with a very thin dark brown and black wash.