Tuesday, February 25, 2014

Estes Saturn V Decal Fix

On the left, look at the "I" in "UNITED".
It's not centered! The type was set with the I a little to the left. It should be in line with the center line of the T.
I spent a few years setting headlines at a print shop. This sort of thing drives me nuts. The fix was touchy, just one chance to get it right on four long vertical decals.
I've built two of the recent run of the Estes Saturn V kits. This is the first time I've tried to fix the "I".

The long decal was set down, centered and allowed to dry for a few minutes. It was about half adhered, I could still move it with more water if I wanted to.
From the side a razor blade was "rocked" just above the top and bottom of the I. Don't slice or cut into the white paint underneath, just rock the blade in an arc to cut through the decal skin.
Being careful not to move the "UN" above it, the "I" was nudged over with the side of my thumb.

This looks better! It's a moot point, but I wanted it correct.
In the end it wasn't that hard to do. I was more nervous about screwing up the only set of decals I had. The horizontal cut lines helped guide the "I" in a straight line when slid to the right.

Only three more I's to move!
There were other wrong decals on the larger sheet - 
The low positioned A, B, C, D and I, II, III, IV decals were reprinted on a smaller decal sheet, correct with white backgrounds.

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