The Little World

And wouldn’t we all like to know. I have been building kits for a little over a year now – in my old age – and I am learning by experience. So far I’ve racked up:

a. Revell Germany

b. New Airfix

c. Mach 2

d. Academy

e. RS

f. Special Hobby

g. ICM

h. Zvezda

i. Italeri

j. Hobby Boss

k. AZ Model

And out of all of them I can really only recommend the avoidance of the two worst – ICM and Mach 2. They are unsupported things and tend to fragment badly under any manipulation. Both need a coat of decal rescue film straight out of a new box if they are to get onto the model’s surface, and even then I would not ask them to cover a really compound curve.

Best? Well the Italeri and Airfix gave no trouble at all, despite needing a longer soaking than most. Some reviewers complain about the thickness of he films, but I think that if you intend to topcoat them with any normal varnish that this will be fine.

I note that the Zvezda colour film may not be as thick as others and show and echo of the underside colour – normally only a problem if the decals transitions a change of paint underneath.

The home-made decals that are printed on the Epson inkjet printer seem to be fine – as long as I am not asking too much. The substrate I use is the white type so I am restricted as to what can be laid down over it, but that white is strong and makes for good roundels and fin flashes. Now that I have a digital guide to RAF service colours I can probably make major ID panels myself for 1:72 scale.

Cutting stencils? Spraying letters and numbers? Possible, but still a delicate new territory to explore.

Addendum: You can always learn new ideas. I attended the Men’s Shed Modeller’s Morning yesterday with a decalling job to do on the new Bolton Paul Defiant – a simple set of roundels and stencils. The surface was Mr. Hobby Super Clear, so it was good and glossy.

My next door neighbour noticed me beginning and advised me to change the way I prepared the decals. On his advice I laid out a piece of damp paper towel. only wet the decals for 6 seconds, then laid them to rest on the towel. I prepared their position on the model with Micro Set and when they were ready slid them on and proceeded as usual. Apparently the quick dip and rest lets the decal come off without losing any of the adhesive film, and lets it cling better once in place.

As there was no silvering – even with a fair bit of clear film involved between the squadron and aircraft codes, I think we have a winner. Thanks, John, for the advice.