The Ship Model Forum

There are some times where I feel like I should just give up on this project. This is one of those times. 

I did a test with putting just the US national insignia roundels on two F-18's and nothing else. To say it looks like crap is an understatement.
I wished the roundels were "slightly" bigger, but what you see on the aircraft below is all I've got to work with at home.
There is a website that makes aftermarket airwing decals here:
https://davidsscalemodels.com/decals/1- ... wQHOMKsK8q
.............but at anywhere from $25-75+ per sheet, that can get to be quite expensive. And it's money I don't have.
As I said in a post on a different forum:



So if I only put the national insignia roundel on all the aircraft and nothing else, that REALLY will make my aircraft (and the whole model ship display) look cheap, plain, and boring. So........what else can I do? What alternatives are there? Taking a carrier model to a contest with an empty flight deck is going to look pretty damn pathetic.
Though I have seem some people do it. The second picture below is from the IPMS Nationals that I went to last year. Somebody built a Gerald Ford carrier, but only added about half a dozen aircraft. I suppose I could do something similar, but it's still going to look pathetic.

The other option is the last picture below. I could build and display the carrier, but leave the flight deck empty. And only put a small display of 9 or so aircraft in front of the carrier to give the impression of what types of aircraft the carrier could carry.

I'm stuck.
Not putting on a lot of decals on all the aircraft makes them look cheap, plain, and boring.
Not putting a lot of aircraft on the flight deck or only a few makes the carrier look cheap, plain, and boring.
What other options are there?

There are ways to make the planes pop in addition to decals - panel lining being the major one. It'll highlight all the moulded-on panel lines to give the planes more of a 3D appearance than just flat paint.

You can also look for other sources of decals - on Ebay, if you search up "1/350 aircraft decals", there are plenty of option at various price points from a wide range of sellers and no-name manufacturers.

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De quoi s'agit-il?

EJM,

Well, it looks like you've sort of boxed yourself into a self-imposed corner, so to speak. I'm not sure of the way out, but I do have a comment to make regarding part of your described project. You mentioned that your carrier is a "future" ship, 20-30 years from now. Well, that would certainly eliminate most, if not all, of the current crop of carrier planes in service. A couple possible exceptions would be the unmanned tanker variation (MQ-25) and the X-47 series. So, I think if you could find some examples of these two aircraft in your scale (if anyone makes these models??), perhaps do them in a dark gray/black with minimal insignia, that might suffice.

If you recall the first (future) aircraft shown (hypothetically as it were) in TOP GUN, PHOENIX - the stealth job that was REALLY cool in the opening scenes - that would be the plane to put on your carrier - done in flat black with perhaps typical markings/insignia - I can't recall what it was called or its designation, but there are online photos of this plane that I've seen for quite a few years. It, of course in reality, does not exist - but neither does your carrier. If this plane kit was available from some manufacturer, that might really be the cat's meow for your project. Just a thought - and maybe only a few of them spread around with service vehicles in attendance.

As you can see, the insignia/signage is extremely minimal.

Hope this helps!

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HMS III
Mocksville, NC
BB62 vet 68-69

Builder's yard:
USS STODDARD (DD-566) 66-68 1:144, Various Lg Scale FC Directors
Finished:
USS NEW JERSEY (BB-62) 67-69 1:200
USN Sloop/Ship PEACOCK (1813) 1:48
ROYAL CAROLINE (1748) 1:47
AVS (1768) 1:48

I work with 1/700 helos, jets and prop planes. I feel your pain. Trying to do squadron insignia in 1/700 plus national insignia is a pain. When one builds bird farms you must plan ahead on how you wish the flight deck to appear. At sea the angled flight deck is kept clear for flight operations, So there is very little room left for parking aircraft. Behind the island, beside the island and forward of the island. At least one of the bow catapults is operational. Full deck parks has to be done carefully because aircraft are heavy things. Nobody wants a list. So a great deal of time there maybe 10-15 aircraft on deck. WW2 flight operations were far different. I typically purchase 1/700 3D printed aircraft with loaded pylons (drop tanks and weapons). Before I paint the aircraft I do very faint panel lines with a . 005 micron black marker.and paint over in my acrylic paint. Go to any arts and craft store and you can pick up micron markers from 1.0 to .005 in various colors. I usually do engine intake arrows in red arrows, wing edges in black etc. Study pictures of the aircraft. Bombs, missiles, cockpit, wheels, struts get painted. Also remember aircraft should not look like they just came off the paint assembly line. Dry brush a little wear and tear. I only decal national/service insignia only. If you feel you have to do squadron markings try it with the micron pens. The pens add color to your planes. I also invest in Tillys, tugs, forklifts, supply pallets these to add color to flight deck and catch the eye. Flight decks are busy places. Really the only time I do a full flight deck is a WW2 USN aircraft carrier with mostly folded wing aircraft preparing to launch a strike. Hope that helps.