Tornado IDS

Gluefinger
A comment after building the kit:

These decals had every chance of becoming the best set I have ever used. The designers took extreme care to make sure they fit every aspect of the kit - every nook and cranny, every lump and bump is faithfully reflected in the decals in sub-millimeter precision (e.g. the holes for the vortex generators on the fin). And there is next to nothing left to paint. Simply unbelievable.

So what went wrong?

The printing of the decals is not only rather thick, but brittle and, worst of all, highly inflexible! Even the little bit of bending that is required in places such as the wing leading edge becomes a nightmare that can only be overcome with repeated applications of copious amounts of Future underneath and MicroSol on top. And in spite of several layers of gloss cote added on top, they are already beginning to flake off at the edges.

Using very hot water (> 90 °C) to detach the decals from the backing paper helps a tiny little bit, but also enlarges the decals noticeably - not really surprising.

The fact that you can get anywhere at all with these decals is probably due to the angular and "boxy" nature of the Tornado fuselage. They would have been totally useless on a "curvy" F-16 or Rafale.

Given the perfect design, the performance of the decals is highly frustrating. This must be the biggest waste of opportunities since the introduction of celibacy.