The Little World

Having painted a picture of myself as a miserable skinflint who wouldn’t pay a penny for a souvenir piece of the rope that they’ll eventually use to hang the Prime Minister, I must correct this. I would.

And I pay for good quality aftermarket parts if they are necessary – and there is nothing more necessary than a good set of decals. Oh, the modern sets included in good quality kits are fine, and some finer than others, but you cannot geet everything you want in the kits – there are more liveries out there on separate decals sheets to purchase.

There is a danger in this, of course – the price of the aftermarket decal sheet can be a great as the original kit. And some decal sheets are produced by marginal firms on marginal machinery…with the result that you can sometimes have a very thick time of it when you come to lay them down. This can also be true of decals from major makers, but the risk is less.

Of course there are the decal softening liquids that you can resort to – the Micro Set/ Sol or the Mr. Mark Softer, or similar things from Testors and Tamiya. Apparently some are more powerful than others and some can react to underlying paint. I know that the Humbrol Decalset liquid is murder on bare acrylic paint. However, you want to have a good printed product in the first place, rather than a sheet of trouble that you bludgeon into shape.

Let me report the good news – I bought a sheet of decals for F-86 Sabre jets to build an RCAF fighter in 1960’s colours. The same sheet contains roundels and insignia for Pakistan, Malaya, and Great Britain as well – so it is a sheet than can make more than one model. Upon this basis, it is good value.

It’s produced by On-Target Decals and the results are all you could want. Thin, tough, in registration, good colour, and no silvering under the minimal clear film. The first Sabre is decorated and I am already thinking on how to get tail flashes or additional roundels for a second RCAF version. Then the Malayan one.

I can thoroughly recommend these, should you ever see them in the decal boxes at model shows. If you want to make multiple models, they are a good buy.