Estes Nike Apache Build Part 12, Nike Decals

Those black bars are left from the cradle the Nike sat in when it was painted.
A piece of masking tape was lightly set on the body tube to line up and center the ends.

I don't know why, but the United States decals are separate on the decal sheet. It would have made more sense to move them together and clear coat over the two words making it a single decal instead of two.

This two piece decal made it a bit harder to place and line up.

I checked Peter Always ROTW for decal placement.
I still visualized it but the book reference got me closer than just the face card picture.
Again, a piece of masking tape was set down once I figured out where the "U" in United would be.