Once the paint was fixed, it was time to do waterslide decals.
I always get nervous before doing waterslides. For the record, they usually go on just fine, but the few times I have problems are so frustrating that I get a little stressed each time I have to put them on.
Even when they go on just fine, I often get them a little crooked. More often than that, if I have two decals that go on either side of a rocket, each side looks great by itself, but if you look closely, you can see that they're not in the same spot. Lining them up right has always been a challenge for me. I've put pencil marks on the paint, but usually get a clear part of the decal over the pencil mark, so I can't go back and erase it.
I also wasn't exactly sure how far up from the base the lettering should start.
I printed out Peter Alway's drawings of the Nike Smoke. I needed some reference.
I measured the drawing in metric, then measured the airframe of my rocket, and decided that the lettering should start about 24cm (I think) from the aft end.
Side note, when I posted this on the NAR FB page, Peter Alway mentioned that he often eyeballs the lettering. But it looked right to me, and it meant that I didn't have to decide myself where the lettering should start.
I placed a bit of tape to mark 24cm (I think) from the base of the rocket, on the rail button side.
The UNITED STATES lettering reads upwards on one side, and downwards on the other. I wanted to make sure the ends of the lettering were even on either side of the decal, so I cut them apart and flipped them so they'd read in opposite directions from one another.
Looked good.
Then I measured the distance from the edge of the lettering to the edge of the decal.
About 9mm.
I decided to make a guide with waxed paper. I would place the decal just at the edge of the waxed paper, and hopefully, the decals would be even with one another.
I placed the waxed paper 9mm from the leading edge of the blue tape.
Then, it was go time...
After smoothing out the decal, getting all air bubbles out, I took off the waxed paper, and let the first side dry. Came out great!