Baltic Encounter - Planes Completed

The bad guys - East German MiG-15 and MiG-17

This post was an effort to push me to take care of the chore of adding decals to planes that were mostly painted and just awaiting those final touches that bring a miniature to life. Applying decals is not what I call an enjoyable task, and I think it is mostly from a time perspective that I dally when it comes to this stage of completing planes for the table top. I have my system worked out fairly well - put a little gloss finish where the decals will be applied (this makes it easier to move the decal into proper position), apply Vallejo decal fix, cut the decal, soak in hot water while holding a non-printed corner with tweezers, and after about twenty to thirty seconds of soaking slide the decal into place with a brush end (although sometimes I forego the gloss and even the decal fix as I have also had good luck in not using either). If needed I roll a Q-Tip over the decal to absorb the excess water while pushing out any bubbles, and adjust the decal so that it is perfectly placed. Once the decal is dry, I brush on Vallejo decal softener which "melts" the decal so as to conform to ribbing or panel lines. To complete the process, and the plane, I spray with satin finish from Army Painter.

In this particular case I used Flight Deck Decals for the Swedish and East German national insignia and Dom's Decals for the Americans (I had a sheet I picked up in a trade for some Korean War planes years back). The blue letters on the J 29s and the red numbers on the MiGs are from I-94 as part of their Beacon range. Flight Deck's decals come as one complete decal sheet and one needs to carefully trim around the desired decal, while Dom and Beacon decals are easier to deal with since the decal is just the printed portion. Flight Deck and Dom's take a little longer to soak and loosen, while the Beacon decals are usually ready to slide off in ten seconds. 

Free world nations' FJ-4 and J 29

The blue letters came out a little light and are not very noticeable, but the red numbers on the MiGs certainly catch the eye. Overall I am fairly happy with the outcome. There are some issues on the national insignia decals on the bottom of one J 29, caused I think by too much decal fix, and even the coat of satin finish didn't really correct the haziness around the decal, but luckily it is on the bottom and really not noticeable. 

These planes are now ready for the tabletop, and to be used for my Baltic Encounter scenario found on the Downloads page.