The Little World

Using foam board is now becoming the new trend around here. We’ve stopped using sheets of pasta when we make lasagne – it’s foam board instead. It also makes pretty good non-lethal ninja stars, if you’re into sex games…

It also solved a problem in the decaling of a new fighter plane. I built an F-100 to the point where the gear legs were in and epoxied solid before the decals were due to go on. This was because I was doubtful about the strength of the structures – and also about whether the decals would stick before the final varnish. Both worries proved to be groundless, but the business of doing the decorations with an awkward lump called forth…the foam board.

If I’m doing the underside or top of the wings it’s easy to rest aircraft in a cradle made of a Tupperware or tissue box. Then it stays still as you lay the decals down and press or brush them into place.

However, when the sides of the fuselage come due, there is no way to hold the plane and have both hands free for delicate work. Taking your shoes off doesn’t help. A chimpanzee would make short work of it but my family’s far from the jungle these days. So I experimented with the foam board and box to make a platform that let one wing and the horizontal stabiliser hang down unimpeded while I worked on the opposite side.

The strip of masking tape you see closing the gap keeps the plane from tilting forward out of the cradle.

The decaling job was tedious – USAF aircraft and their stencils are always a problem – but it all went without a hitch.

One caution, though, for younger modellers and those who may have recently married. If you are going to use Mum’s or the wife’s Tupperware, make sure you have permission and that you return it straight away. Hell hath no fury like a woman who discovers that you’ve spray painted the Tupperware or lost a lid.

Note: This post was written before I acquired the Slovakian Vertigo jigs. They have made decal work a lot easier.