The Little World

I am never satisfied these days – even annoyance isn’t as good as it used to be…you got that nice crispy angst before the war…

But occasionally in the gambling hell the wheel stops at my number and the goodies are pushed to my side of the table. This week it has been decal paper.

I love to create my own decals for 1:72 aircraft that can never be found in the commercial sheets. Plus I hate paying the price of a kit for just a few more insignia and numbers. My Epson inkjet printer and skill with Adobe Photoshop Elements means I can cobble up a version of nearly anything. There may be scanning and copying involved but eventually I can have a set of whatever I’ve seen on the internet.

But that was when there was Testor’s paper in the stores. When there was Testor’s in Australia. 6 sheets of white or clear decal paper for $ 35…the sheets were 5 1/2 by 8 1/2 inches. That’s a subset of American paper sizes but fortunately was catered for in the drivers of the Epson printer. I laid out as many designs as i could on a sheet, printed away, and hoped that nothing smeared or caught in the mechanism. Most batches were clean, and I learned to let them gas off and dry for a couple of hours before spray coating the surface. To the credit of the Testor’s people, the decals did what they said on the tin – they released quickly and snuggled pretty well.

It was temperamental paper, though. You needed to keep it cool and dry in storage or it would spoil and not accept the inks. I learned the hard way…

However, that was when Testors considered Australia worthwhile bothering about – which was some time ago. Now we are off their Christmas list* and have to find other suppliers. Last week I used the last of the old paper and decided to risk getting a substitute in from New South wales. There’s a firm that calls itself Dr. Decal And Mr. Hyde in Padstow that advertises on the net. I found what I wanted on their site and risked a credit card order on a Sunday night.

Next Thursday 10:00 Australia Post delivered the paper – wrapped in a tough bag and sandwiched between stiff cardboard protectors. Perfect condition. And turning over the large sheets I found out it’s the same paper that Testors used to cut up and repackage in those half-sheet sizes.

The costs?

6 sheets Testor’s at 5 1/2 x 8 1/2 inch…………………$ 35

20 sheets A4 Dr Decal and Mr Hyde………………….$ 35 delivered.

That’s value, folks.

* To be fair we won’t be sending them any more of our money so that evens it up.