Decal sheets - make a little bigger?

[Ian Meadows]

I was wondering what others think about some of the modern decal sheets? The quality is very good and the colours etc are great but I have found a few recently the sheets are so small the individual decals are squashed together making it difficult to use without damage.

Just working on the 1/48 mk1 Tropical Hurricane and had a nightmare with the wing stencils. Upper and lower all mixed together and so cramped together a couple got damaged when I was cutting them out.

I appreciate that smaller equals less cost but a fraction larger would make a big difference. Is it just me seeing this? Am I approaching decals wrong? Should I be doing upper and lower stencils for example at the same time - ie just cut all out at once, soak the lot and work quickly?

Any thoughts or tips?

[Ratch]

I use a scalpel to cut them out, that and a steady hand. Not had any mishaps yet.

[Ratch]

I cut one at a time, dip it in water and allow it to soak through on my cutting mat. I have posted in the Tips forum, how to apply decals. Take a look there.

[Ian Meadows]

Cheers - it's how I normally do it but the last few cutting round the stencils even with a scalpel was virtually impossible the blade was almost wider than the gap. Maybe a razor blade is needed going forward.

[John Symmons]

Hi Ian.

I agree with everything you say about decals being printed too closely together especially in the 72nd scale. The earlier new tooled kits seemed to be better, maybe because Cartograph printed them and planned the decals better. Airfix is not the only one guilty of this some of the newer Revell kits have very cramped decal sheets; think He177, as do some ICM models, see their Do17. i had this problem when I started printing my own decals, the 1.5mm gap looks fine when you're imposing them but trying to cut them out was a nightmare. Just the increase of 0.5mm makes a huge difference. Okay with the extra 0.5 mm might mean i get a few less decals but how many 'No Walkway' or "No Lift" signs do you need, personally, I for one would be grateful for a few extra stencils as I usually somehow seem the manage to ruin one of them.

Remember we do this for fun John the Pom

PS Why is decal paper so hard, even a new scalpel blade goes blunt in a few cuts, and these new cramped decal sheets are going to need multiple new blades before you're finished. JtP.

[peebeep]

Why is decal paper so hard, even a new scalpel blade goes blunt in a few cuts, and these new cramped decal sheets are going to need multiple new blades before you're finished.

 

 

I have whetstones and I know how to use them! wink Scalpel blades can have the edge put back on them in a few seconds.

 

 

My tame graphic designer tells me that the decals are often the single most expensive item that goes into a kit. They'll be using the smallest possible sheet to get the most decals printed onto it.

[RougeTrooper]

I have done the same kit, and I did them one at a time. Must of taken over 4 hours to complete, as I also do them one at a time. I used for the smaller ones a swiss army knife with scissors, which after 30 years are still very sharp and quite thin.

I have only once done multiple decals at the same time and it failed for me, so i'd rather go slow than mess up again.

[Ratch]

My tame graphic designer tells me that the decals are often the single most expensive item that goes into a kit. They'll be using the smallest possible sheet to get the most decals printed onto it.

Dale Luckhurst recently said that the decal sheet can cost as much as the plastic in the kit, which gives him a headache trying to convince the bean-counters that an exclusive set of markings are worth putting in Club Kits.