Half the upper saucer done with Tamiya smoke and the Molotov chrome top coated. All the rest on that side will eventually get the tech pen fine liner…
Time consuming but I’m glad I decided to do it.
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I agree. It will look great when done.
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Good to see some star wars birds getting in on the action …
While painting in the view ports, I noticed on the underside of the Saucer that I hadn’t done the raised rib sections in Camouflage Grey… 
So that was then started …
And complete…
Also did the 2 triangular shaped areas in dark grey. A few of the ribs had overbrush so that has been tidied up now.
That’s pretty much it for the painting… May look at some references to see if there’s any Nav lights I could colour…
All viewing ports are done…
Next up … Decals …
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I know I have said it before…but simply amazing paint job, you have much more patience than I have.
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Cheers Bucco…
Now to the annoying part … Very very annoying part.
These decals are absolutely crap. And that’s being kind.
I decided to start at the top and work down on the saucer section.
As per the pic below, the obvious decal split, tore , exploded in no less than 8 places, and the one below that in 3 places.
Every decal so far has split in some form. I’m gutted. It’s going to have to stay as is sadly… I may try some paint touch up at the very end.
You only have to look at them wrong, talk to loud in their direction, even attempt to move them… And hello Mr Split… I am not happy … At all.
For the other side, I’m going to attempt strategic cuts on each decal and join them on the hull…
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To prove the point …
I cut this straight from the sheet. The actual sheet has never been folded or bent was in a sealed bag.
I put it in warm water for 10 seconds and laid it flat
It then split into 12 pieces 
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Yep, that’s Round2’s decals for you. Exactly the same happened when I built the reissue Romulan Bird of Prey, Vulcan Shuttle and those in the 1/1000 TOS Enterprise. They’re junk and I couldn’t get them to respond with setting solutions either.
The next one of theirs I build I’m going to give them a coat of Tamiya clear. Hopefully that will stop them disintegrating.
I’ve had aftermarket sheets from PNT decals and JT Graphics that have worked beautifully. Trouble is, getting them is expensive for UK modellers.
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Your painting and windows really pop and give the ship a very dynamic look. Damn shame about these decals. That’s just not fair.
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Cheers Matt @SSGToms , it is a shame about the decals. I am happy with the rest of it so will just plod on till EndEx…
I think I remember you mentioning the issues you had with yours Stephen… It is a shame, but I’m not going to chuck anymore money at, will just crack on with them as they are…
I may actually do a Tamiya clear coat … See if that helps them…
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Ok, so slightly less annoyed now… Slightly…
Made the cuts on the bigger decals. A few very tiny splits, but a lot happier how they went down.
Going to sacrifice a 6 set of escape pods which would go on the saucer bottom and put in where the other one split into 12…
Also micro set and Sol are playing a pivotal part of this phase.
It looks ok from 4 foot away … I may just do long distance shots from now on lol
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Looking good. Hope you can get the others to go down well.
What really sticks in my throat is the fragility and poor quality of the decals has been a known problem with Round2’s kits for years, but they haven’t done anything to rectify the it. How difficult is it for them to find a better source of decals?
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That is the part that’s annoying… It’s a simple fix… Yet nothing …
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They’re in denial about it. When I had issues with the Enterprise decals, they’re response was ‘we’ve never heard of this happening before’ despite EVERY review I could find pointing out the problem. In their defence, they did send me a replacement sheet free of charge, so between the two I was able to finish the project.
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So while we are talking about decals, I am looking at geting a sheet of Aztec decals for my new series Galactica…it says to cover the decal sheet with Testors Decal Bonder to strengthen the decals when removing them…what other products would work…figure acrylic would disolve in the water, and, or the decal solution?
Thank you
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As per Stephen’s advice above, I just thinly coated the decals on the sheet with Tamiya x22… It seems to have paid off. All the escape pod decals went down perfect, and there were visible thin crack lines you could see so I’m sure they would of disintegrated if I hadn’t done the clear coat… Well at least some of them.
I am doing some larger more complex ones shortly… Will update again after that
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Happy to hear it helped! Is that the X22 in the jar or the aerosol can?
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Did the X22 not dissolve in the water?
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Was just the small jar, neat on a brush. Worked a treat.
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