Ascensio Decals, your thoughts ?

[PMG Offramp]

Hi,

I recently discovered Ascensio Decals, they seem to have quite a nice range of special liveries. Before ordering, I would like to know more, what are your experiences with these ? Are they laser, ALPS ? How do they behave ? Is the printing fine or pixelized like on some laser decals I own ?

Thanking you all in advance.

Cheers, Steven

[Skodadriver]

I don't have any personal experience but you might want to see this link:

http://airlinercafe.com/forums.php?m=posts&q=7790&n=last

[PMG Offramp]

Skodadriver, thank you VERY MUCH for the link, I was interested in 8-10 sheets but it looks like I'll order just 1 as a test.

[Skodadriver]

Probably a good idea!

The link is nearly two years old so it's possible things have improved. I'll be interested to hear your opinion once you see an actual sheet. I really do fancy that Ural Tu-154.

Edited November 26, 2014 by Skodadriver

[Mike Taylor]

I recently used their Sibir decal set for the TU-154, and I was very disappointed and will not buy another set. First of all, the decals are all printed on a single clear sheet so you have to cut and trim each individual decal. You can't just rough cut the decal and dip it in the water because you will have a large amount of clear film surrounding it.

 

The colors were very transparent. The blue was so thin that any amount of overlap will greatly darken it. So the edges have to line up perfectly. It seems to be asking too much to be perfect with each decal that has edges that must line up with another decal edge. Also, the white parts of the tail logo were actually just clear on the decal. Not really a negative, I guess, but I expected all the colors to be present and opaque.

 

No amount or sol or set seemed to have any effect. Once dried the tail decal easily flaked off.

 

The instructions were not that good either. The top and bottom view diagrams were so pale it was impossible to read where many of the decals had to go. Also, the master decal layout, the ones that had the decals numbered so you can match the decal number on the diagram, did not match the decal sheet itself.

 

So, overall a very bad experience. I would not recommend them at all. It is a shame because they have a nice selection of liveries.

[stringbag]

From your description Mike it sounds as though these are laser print decals as opposed to silk screen decals.  The constant carrier film, lack of white in the print and the opacity issues are all hallmarks of the laser process.

Excellent results can be achieved with this type of decal, as you will no doubt find if you have a look at the work on show in the civil aircraft section but,  laser print decals need to be applied using slightly different techniques. 

 

Chris.

[Skodadriver]

1 hour ago, Mike Taylor said:

I recently used their Sibir decal set for the TU-154, and I was very disappointed and will not buy another set. First of all, the decals are all printed on a single clear sheet so you have to cut and trim each individual decal. You can't just rough cut the decal and dip it in the water because you will have a large amount of clear film surrounding it.

 

The colors were very transparent. The blue was so thin that any amount of overlap will greatly darken it. So the edges have to line up perfectly. It seems to be asking too much to be perfect with each decal that has edges that must line up with another decal edge. Also, the white parts of the tail logo were actually just clear on the decal. Not really a negative, I guess, but I expected all the colors to be present and opaque.

 

No amount or sol or set seemed to have any effect. Once dried the tail decal easily flaked off.

 

The instructions were not that good either. The top and bottom view diagrams were so pale it was impossible to read where many of the decals had to go. Also, the master decal layout, the ones that had the decals numbered so you can match the decal number on the diagram, did not match the decal sheet itself.

 

So, overall a very bad experience. I would not recommend them at all. It is a shame because they have a nice selection of liveries.

 

Sorry Mike but the problem isn't primarily with the decals.  Ascensio decals are laser-printed and I'm afraid you don't seem to understand the characteristics of that type of decal.  I appreciate that you may not have encountered them before but laser-printed decals are, by the nature of the process, translucent.  They must be applied over a white background and they cannot really be overlapped.  Laser printers can't print white so it's completely normal to have, say, a tail logo (or even a decal for the whole fin) with a transparent section where the white should be, the idea being that the decal is applied to a white-painted fin. Having to cut out each individual piece is also completely normal.  You have to be very careful with masking for cheatlines and the like and one company (F-DCAL) sometimes provides masking templates to help this.

 

There are literally hundreds of laser-printed airliner decals available and for my own part I use them regularly. Most companies who produce airliner decals use laser printing for at least part of their range (the only significant exceptions I can think of are Lima November and BOA) but the user must understand how they work otherwise the result is liable to be disappointing whoever the manufacturer is.

 

Since I wrote my earlier comment in this thread (in 2014!) I have had first-hand experience of using Ascensio decals.  Here is the thread and you will see my comments about how to deal with the lack of reaction to solvents.  Admittedly that model was in a simple livery but I was very impressed with Ascensio decals and I have bought several more sheets which I'm looking forward to using.

 

Dave G

[JagRigger]

I've recently bought two KLM sheets for the Embraer and 737 . I'm pretty pleased with the ERJ190, and the 737 is still building. Only real issue I had was the lack of identification on the sheet, something that the 737 seems better on.