Oh its really easy to mess it up. The key is that the MC decals have holes in them so you need to paint the substrate the colour you want to show through. The carbon / Kevlar in the tub front and back section is really hard to get right. If you look at the car today those sections up close are actually a mottled greeny-black with yellow dots. If you look at pictures of the cars back in the day the tub wasn't that yellow so I suspect that age has had an effect. I took a picture into B&Q to their fancy paint matching machine and got a sample made up :-)

Some folks have carbon patterned stuff that technically isn't carbon (weave) but each person makes a person choice and if they are happy with it, its right! I have seen the front and back of the tub carbon weaved and technically it is beautiful but it isn't historically correct as the actual car is a Kevlar material here, and this was the early days of the technology.

Basically, try it, if YOU like it great, if you don't just clean it up and try again :-)

Happy modelling :-)

I have bought the full sponsor decals and the museum tyre decals, I've not gone with the carbon ones as no one will see it . The two sets of decals have cost me around £37

I have bought the Marlboro decals for the wings and body, the tyre scripting decals and I'm thinking I might try doing the brake ducts and turbo inlets. I think trying to do the monocoque is beyond my skill level!

Edit: Hang on, the colour of the paint underneath the CF decal shows through? Sounds tricky!

Mattsr I ordered some the other week with PayPal. I didn't get any email (confirmation or dispatch) from autograph but just one confirmation email from PayPal itself. I wouldn't worry, they come from Germany, took 8 days for me. Hope this helps.

The other well-reputed source of 1/8 scale Museum Collection decals is of course HobbyLink Japan, they are much cheaper than Autograph and depending on where you are in the world, can be faster. Don't get deterred by stocks of items being listed as unavailable or on back order. They get replenished quite often.

I have never applied carbon decals before this model and I must say I didn't find them too difficult, they were certainly at times tricky especially the monocoque and side-duct applications.

As laneridd and others have pointed out, getting the colours underneath correct before hand will help bring out their effects and it is quite worthwhile and rewarding especially if you're after detail that stands out.

That would be useful indeed Phil!

I apologise for making it sound easy, applying the carbon decal to the monocoque actually took me 3 days!

I'm a beginner myself and this is my first model car but what I'm finding really great about this kit is that it has taught me so many new skills and given me a lot of confidence to try things that I did not think I could do.

I no intention of doing monocoque initially but as I started to apply carbon to the the front and rear wing end plates, I went for the nose and then figured I might as well give the rest a go.

I'm sure there are way more experienced modellers out there who can do a much better job and have a much better way of doing it but to colour the front of the monocoque, I started with a layer of light gun metal spray (Tamiya TS-42; I don't have an airbrush), then gold (Tamiya TS-21) and finally a light dusting of the light gun metal to tone down the gold. The gold obviously did not go on the back part of the monocoque.

For the application of the decal, I used Mr Mark Setter and Mr Mark Softer (Micro Set and Micro Sol equivalent). I found it easier to apply the decal if you prick the spots where it goes over the rivet holes and if you keep the decal wet with brushings of Mr Mark Setter, you can pretty much take your time adjusting and aligning it to fit.

I've also read that you can cut up the decal into smaller sizes to make it easier but then you'd have to align the weave pattern with each part so it looks complete.

Hope this inspires those thinking about it to give it a go!

Thankyou, Wheeler, I have found their website, and you're right, they are cheaper. If Autograph don't get their act together I'll order from Hobbylink instead.