Valiant Decals

[Mike]

Paul kindly sent a sheet of his latest offering to me the other day, and as this is my first experience of decals that have not been produced by one of the major players, I was intrigued to have a play with them.

The set comprises a large A4 sheet of codes in both black and anti-flash blue. Each code is provided twice in three sizes, the largest of which are suitable for the underwing serials. From this sheet you can model 15 different airframes, WP220, WP381, WB210, WP204, WB215, WZ400, WZ403, WZ366, WZ393, XD826, XD816 and XD875 in black, WZ374, XD818 and XD823 in anti-flash.

Also included as anti-flash roundels and fin flashes, in the familiar pale blue and pink colors. Of course there is no need for the white parts of these roundels to be printed, so these sections are transparent. Finally, Paul provides you with a set of squadron emblems appropriate for the serials provided, which will doubtless have you checking your references for the correct one. While you have the books out, check to see whether the airframe you are modelling has the large underwing codes applied, as they were occasionally absent.

The decals are well printed and on continuous carrier film, so a little patience will be required to cut them out. It will repay your patience to trim them closely, as it minimises the appearance of carrier film. For application, Paul recommends Microscale MicroSol setting solution, followed by a coat of Klear once dry. I experimented with Gunze Mr Mark Softer out of sheer curiosity, and the decals settled down well, even over panel lines. I also experimented with dipping the decal into Klear before applying it, which wasn't so successful and left a noticable carrier film edge, so the sensible modeller will follow Paul's instructions.

Conclusion

At time of writing, 1:72 scale modellers are restricted to either the ancient Contrail vacform kit with its dubious wing "shoulders", or the awful Mach2 kit that I finally wrestled into submission in 2008, but following Airfix's announcement of a new tool Valiant for the 2010 Limited Edition release, these decals will have you up & running in no time, permitting you a little more variety of subjects than the ubiquitous XD818 and whatever offerings are included with the new kit, which are unknown at this time.

Modelling the camouflaged Valiants will have you reaching for some British post-war roundels to complete the decaling, while the Anti-flash modeller will be able to complete their project from this sheet. Of course, if you wish to complete multiple models, a ready source of anti-flash roundels will be required unless Paul offers extra sets of roundels for a small additional fee.

Whether you've had experience with limited production decals or not, this issue can be recommended.

Review sample courtesy of Paul at Parkes682Decals