F-18F and Mercury-Redstone Update

Last night I sat down to start the decaling process on the Revell F-18F.  It is going to take a few days.

Decal sheet is extensive and include all of the basic markings, as well as airframe stenciling, and weapons striping. The weapons striping is a nice bonus that modern kits are starting to come with and makes marking weapons much easier. It is going to take me a few days to work through these, but it is not as bad as it seems.  Placing small decals is easy, just tedious.  Some of the decals on this sheet are for a different squadron.

Bare and ready to go.

Multiple decals, some fairly large, are provided for the black area around the canopy.  This is great, but also problematic as it can be a struggle making decals conform around compound curves and other large irregularities.  It is often a VERY good idea to cut up large decals into smaller pieces.  For example, the anti-glare black in front of and around the windscreen and the so called "pizza box" came in one large piece.  I cut it up into three.  The black going down the canopy rail is a separate piece, as are the loop overs that will go on top of the canopy, and the pieces that go around the rear hinge mechanism.