Modeling Monday: Adding "F"s and Builder's Plates to the 1109

Last time, I described how I forgot to apply "F"s and Builder's Plates to the side sill of the frame on the 1109 . . .

Once you notice them . . .

. . . you notice how naked the frame looks without them.

The frame was already painted and dull-coated, so here's what I did to fix the mistakes:

A decal applied to a dull finish will typically "silver" due to the air inevitably trapped between the finish and the decal itself. So the first step is to add a gloss finish. For that, I brushed-on Future where the decal would go, placed decal on Future, let dry, then applied an overcoat of Future to hide the edges of the decal.

I used the same process to apply the builder's plate decals to scale 1"x6" strip styrene. After the Future dried, I cut to length, and "painted" the white edges with a black Sharpie.

Finally, I glued the "plate" to the frame with a couple drops of thick CA.

Engineer's side builder's plate

Engineer's side "F"

Here's how it looks of tonight:

Next step will be to "spot" spray a dull coat to have the finish match. I plan to do that by airbrushing Testor's Dullcote, thinned 1:1 with lacquer thinner, and using a frisket (in this case, cardstock with a small cutout) to mask.

This mistake (along with the others I'm making on this "test" model :^) is teaching me some very important lessons: Mistakes are one of the most effective ways to learn, they are usually fixable, and the process itself builds skill and confidence. And the more you learn, the more you realize you can fix mistakes, and the more skill you develop, the more fun you'll have in the hobby.

And, ultimately, isn't fun one of the most important things you can get from a hobby?

What are some of your fails - and how did you fix them? Share in the comments - I know we'll all get a little jolt of inspiration and motivation from seeing how others have "failed" and fixed . . .