The Little World

The gradual build-up of the Mister Craft Potez 540 has been a delight until today.

The engine nacelles were complex but fun. The fuselage and tail went fine. The undercoat and colour coats went as expected – even masking for the national markings on the wing and fuselage. The assembly of the engines, struts, and wing all was clockwork.

Then I got out the decal sheet…and the Polish Curse settled on my shoulders.

I’ve written before about fragile or mis-printed decals from the Eastern Bloc countries. Not – it must be stated – the Czech Republic. The short-run kits from Prague have nearly all been accompanied by top-notch decal sheets. I’ve cursed their cockpits but by the time it got to the decorations all went well.

Well, Prague is not Warsaw, and the decal sheets from Mister Craft kits are on a whole ‘nother level – the basement, as it happens.

I am lucky in this kit in that the surfaces upon which decoration goes are flat. I shudder to think what the decals in this kit would do if you tried to force them over a  complex curved surface.

As it is, they are prone to cracking and disintegration – thus happened several times – and it requires real patience and courage to get the fragments assembled into the final result. Once you are done with one side you need to steel yourself for the other one…knowing what is to come.

Answer? Thicker carrier film, with more flexibility.

Note: Only thing worse was an ICM kit from some years ago. The Soviet insignia literally exploded as soon as you touched them.