Estes Phoenix Bird Build Part 18 Main Body Wrap

This is the tough one!
I like to work from the center out instead of edge to edge.

A light pencil line was extended up from a fins root edge.
The center of the wrap was marked with a pencil at the top and bottom.

The wrap was removed from the backing paper but half of the backing paper was stuck back on the lower half of the wrap. The top half will be wrapped first.
Line up the center marks on the wrap with the center marks on the tube and press the center line of the wrap down the tube.

Work slowly around the top half smoothing out the decal as you go.

After the first half is applied, remove the backing from the other side.

Here you can see the overlap where the edges met on the other side.
The problem is, the overlap will cover up the red point!
I had to go back and carefully trim the edge so the underlying red would fully show. The backing was left on while the edge was trimmed with a sharp razor blade and straightedge.


 It seems to make no difference how careful you are, if the printing and die-cutting aren't perfectly square, it won't lay down correctly!

The red arrow points are in near perfect alignment with the fins but the ends of the wrap didn't line up.

I've wrapped a square of cardstock around the body tube.
It was slid down over the mismatched red edge. The edge of the cardstock was used for a guideline for the razor blade cut.

After lifting off the the cut edge, here's a better match of the red color separation.
This I could live with!

TIP: Save the leftover edges from the chrome trim sheet.

There's quite a bit of chrome trim left, especially the long strips along the sides.

You can use the chrome for body bands similar to the trim on the Semroc Nomad.

The Estes logo will go on my rnage box. It's too big to go on the model.