[Shaped Transfer/decal Film Process]

I have had a browse through previous topics and yet to find anything covering this question. 

I can make very clear decals, however stepping it up a level is eluding me, and that is to do with shaped transfer film. Professional companies know how to and can do this, but they have not shared what the process is with me.

Currently I print on a full transfer sheet, however professional decals come pre-shaped to the individual decal/transfer. Images below show this as a reference.

 

 

Does anyone know how I can achieve a shaped film for the decals?

[Anyone here with the Airfix and/or Matchbox/Revell 1/72 Halifax ?]

1 hour ago, tempestfan said:

Thanks for the link - but in this case I do not trust Scalemates dates. Their 1975 date is wrong for the Type 5 box, IIRC it was actually released 1978. Would you mind having a look at your box? There will be a (C) date somewhere, and I doubt it says 1982 - there were very few photoboxes with a 1982 (C) anyway (offhand I only remember Swordfish, Hunter 9, OV-10D, 727-200).

I can but will be in about 4 weeks till I get eyes on them again.

[Anyone here with the Airfix and/or Matchbox/Revell 1/72 Halifax ?]

1 hour ago, tempestfan said:

I would be interested in seeing the 1982 Airfix boxing (I am something of an Airfix kit historian and strive to have all possible baggings and boxings of all aircraft kits up to 1985), and that 1982 date would indicate a Series 5 photobox, which I have so far not seen (in contrast to the 1987 version, which was elevated to Series 6).

 

I happened to have a MB kit handy, and the relevant section is a mere 2mm high - it appears fortunate the MB is not in this game here...

Here is the 1982 Series 6

 

Handley Page Halifax B Mk.III, Airfix 06008 (1982) (scalemates.com)https://www.scalemates.com/kits/airfix-06008-handley-page-halifax-b-mkiii--146962

 

It actually shows the timelines and boxes below it

 

[Anyone here with the Airfix and/or Matchbox/Revell 1/72 Halifax ?]

Hello, 

 

This is my large scale project.

Kits in use are pretty much everything excluding Matchbox. 

There are Airfix kits from 1961, 1963, 1970, 1975, 1982, 1990 & 2005, along with the majority of kits being Revell 04936.

 

Thank you very much @dogsbody for getting those up to a rule.

[Decals - Art creation & Production - Wanted*]

Hello, 

 

I have been reading quite a few threads in the decal section however I still not much the wiser.

I have seen people offering out a free (basic) art creation service, people recommending various peoples work and a fair few going the DIY avenue, only to see plenty of complaint threads later about wrinkling, fading, peeling etc. This alone has told me not to even consider the DIY route.

 

What I am looking for is a sizable amount of decals for numerous aircraft in both 1/72 & 1/48, about 50-55 aircraft in total.

70% will be letters, numbers and roundels, the usual stuff, however I also need some complex nose-art images made from historic images of varied quality and clarity. 

 

I have no problem in paying for such a service if it can be completely achieved and produce unquestionable quality products.

 

Is there a reputable company or individual out there who can take on such a project?

["I've got the Explosives but where are the detonators private!"]

14 minutes ago, Dads203 said:

Might be an idea to let us know the make and type of compressor fella, there are quite a few types 

some with different connections.

 

Also remember that you should have a good quality moisture trap fitted and you'll need to dial down the pressure as not to blow the seals

in the airbrush, by the sounds of it you have bought something akin to a spray shop compressor so the pressure will be rated well above the normal operating pressure 

of an airbrush. Grab yourself a good set of ear defenders if you are planning in using it inside, most of these  light industrial units kick out about 98db of noise when filling the tank.  

 

 

Regards

 

Dan 

As you say, its a small workshop style compressor instead of the conventional scale modelling airbrush compressor. Simply because I also like my cars and I can now use some air tools and can do a bit of shot blasting rather than sending to companies and paying for it.

I did see a video on youtube before buying where someone used a similar system and for the two minutes of noise to fill, it gave him his day worth of painting from it.

It does go up to about 115PSI, I know, far too much, but I believe 20PSI is suitable for airbrushing, give or take?

 

The compressor I bought was fairly cheap and in the link below:

https://www.thedandys.ie/product/aerlik-50l-compressor-2.0hp-8-bar-230v

 

You mentioned a moisture trap. Is there certain ones to go for? Ones better than others?

["I've got the Explosives but where are the detonators private!"]

I'm completely new to all of this and so I have bought myself a 50 litre compressor and an Iwata HP-CS Airbrush.

 

The little problem I have is that there is nothing in between to connect the two...!

I went onto the Iwata website and was just bamboozled with all sorts of connections and fitments, and with nothing actually in the paperwork regarding thread sizes or internal or external diameters, I'm just left wondering, "What the hell do I need!"

 

Does anyone has some insight into making this as simple as possible?

[Handley Page Halifax III April 1945 Airfix 1/72]

A very splendid job you have done on this!

The efforts over the years have clearly paid off.

[1/48 HP Halifax. Friday 13th. New photos added.]

On the 24th of August 1944, this aircraft along with 11 others from 158 Squadron took off from RAF Lissett to deliver their payloads at targets in Brest, France.

 

Exert from the Pilots logbook:

 

‘Just because we were knocking poo-poo out of the German submarine pens in Brest, they took umbrage and decided to knock poo-poo out of us. They did to a certain extent but with much reference to Jesus, God and a lot of sweat, we were seen by two Mustang fighters who were in the area and saw we were having a problem. They escorted us back across the Channel to the English coast and we got home half an hour after we should have done. Everyone else had gone! Much beer was consumed that night (again).

 

Splendidly well made that chap!

 

Edit: poo-poo was not in the logbook, this forum has changed the word. Ha Ha

[1:48 Grumman A6E TRAM Intruder]

This looks absolutely superb!

As an A-6 fan you get a big ole thumbs up!

[* Aprons & Pans - Egg Banjo anyone? * DIORAMA INFO NEEDED]

16 hours ago, Rickoshea52 said:

I hope you find this of interest and not too show off like.

They're all good examples of different levels of complexity. 

Certainly useful and food for thought.

[What's In The Armoury?]

This is a little checklist for what I have and what I want for the shelves.

I'm sure we all have something similar and just getting back into this I thought I would start somewhere with a wee list.

There obviously is included a couple of very large projects, and no helicopters added yet, but hopefully this list will alter over time.

 

 

OWNED

 

1:48

4 x Handley Page Halifax B.III

B-17 - 'Memphis Belle'

B25 Mitchell - 'Doolittle Raider' 

3 x A-6E Grumman Intruder - 'Flight of the Intruder - VA-196'

Gladiator

Sea Gladiator 

Sea Harrier - Falklands War

Hawker Typhoon - 183 Sqn JR383

Spitfire Mk2

 

 

1:72

35 x Handley Page Halifax B.III

Warrior MCV - '1 Highlanders No.23'

3 x A-6E Grumman Intruder

 

1:200

USS Missouri BB63

 

1:350

HMS Campbell - 'The Greatest Raid of Them All'

 

1:670

USS Voyager NCC-74656

 

1:800

USS Enterprise CVN-65

 

STILL TO BUY

 

1:48

Avro Lancaster - 617 Sqn Dambuster

C47

Spitfire - Malta Sqn

Spitfire - Battle of Britain Nightfighter

Spitfire - Battle of Britain 

Spitfire - 602 Sqn

Spitfire - Eagle Squadron

Handley Page Hastings C1 - 511 Sqn

Avro Anson - RAF Cark LT146

Avro Anson - Southern Rhodesia

Tiger Moth - Southern Rhodesia

T6 Harvard - Southern Rhodesia

Hurricane - Battle of Britain

Hurricane - Battle of Britain Nightfighter

Hurricane - Malta

Nimrod

Lysander - Special Duties

Avro Shackleton

B-24 Liberator

B-29 Superfortress - Enola Gay

Vickers Wellington

Beaufighter - Malta

Seafire

Buccaneer

Tornado 

Tomahawk - Hawaii Dec 1941

Stuka

A10 Warthog

2 x Sea Gladiator - N5519, N5520, N5531

Whitley

Stirling

F117 Nighthawk

AC-130 Spectre Gunship

C-130 Hercules

Handley Page Victor

Avro Vulcan - Falklands War

 

Unknown Scale

HMS Hermes - Centaur Class

HMS Invincible - Invincible Class

HMS Fearless - LPD

HMS Intrepid - LPD

HMS Bristol - Type 82

HMS Sheffield - Type 42

HMS Coventry - Type 42

HMS Glasgow - Type 42

HMS Cardiff - Type 42

HMS - Exeter - Type 42

HMS Glamorgan - County Class

HMS Antrim - County Class

HMS Brilliant- Type 22

HMS Broadsword - Type 22

HMS Active - Type 21

HMS Alacrity - Type 21

HMS Antelope - Type 21

HMS Ardent - Type 21

HMS Ambuscade - Type 21

HMS Avenger - Type 21

HMS Arrow - Type 21

HMS Andromeda - Leander Class

HMS Argonaut - Leander Class

HMS Minerva - Leander Class

HMS Penelope - Leander Class

HMS Yarmouth - Rothesay Class

HMS Plymouth - Rothesay Class

HMS Endurance - Ice Patrol Ship

HMS Conqueror - Churchill Class

HMS Courageous - Churchill Class

HMS Onyx  - Oberon Class

HMS Valiant - Valiant Class

HMS Spartan- Swiftsure Class

HMS Splendid - Swiftsure Class

 

[* Aprons & Pans - Egg Banjo anyone? * DIORAMA INFO NEEDED]

Let me clear this up...

Truly if it was a case of "how hard can it be" then I don't presume I would have had a need to ask for advice or assistance initially and create this thread.

The poor insult of "truly spoken as a home handy man who has watched a youtube video" was pretty uncalled for given that you know nothing about me and degrading to those who produce their youtube video guides to assist others, of which you will find many with suitable step by step guides producing very impressive works of art, and they are works of art. You may find that you're inadvertently causing offence to many others yourself.

 

Just be friendly and a little less on the negative.

 

 

 

[* Aprons & Pans - Egg Banjo anyone? * DIORAMA INFO NEEDED]

1 minute ago, s.e.charles said:

truly spoken as any home handyman who has watched a youtube video!

 

point being, a lot of people can build crap and boast with confidence. what are your performance standards? what is your audience? what is your goal?

 

once you minimize someone's contribution, you may be alienating someone who could have helped you.

Well this is the problem with reading text, you read it in the manner that you choose, and not the manner in which it was written.

[Spray booths]

47 minutes ago, bmwh548 said:

The cardboard box will only make it worse. All the fumes will be trapped inside and because of the airbrush's airflow they'll be pushed back towards your face. 

Hence the respirator, but we all die sometime, you might as well go doing something you enjoy.

"Bob died today making a scale model" 

Heard on the evening news... never.

[* Aprons & Pans - Egg Banjo anyone? * DIORAMA INFO NEEDED]

21 minutes ago, Paul821 said:

I would suggest the answer to this is down to your skills, how realistic you want the result to be and how much time you are willing to give to building the base(s).

 

My check and cheerful solution is to purchase suitably sized pictures from charity shops, where the frame is what I want. Put a formboard insert into it and then useptinted tarmac etc and static grass. 

 

There are a number of free, and paying, sites on the internet where you can download surfaces

 

I have used both:

 

https://www.scalemodelscenery.com/

 

 and

.

I would say that I've never made dioramas before, but "how hard can it be".

 

That site is much cheaper than the Coastalkits boards you can buy, the only thing I would say is that it's a little limited on types of surface and for me, since accuracy is important for me, I couldn't use the generic stuff they have on there. 

I will have a look around for some of those other sites you mention to see if they have the surface type that I need.

[Spray booths]

I was just thinking about getting one, but when I saw they were £80.00 and over, I thought, A cardboard box is pretty cheap.

Buy a respirator for £15.00 and Bob's your uncle and Fanny's your Aunt!

[* Aprons & Pans - Egg Banjo anyone? * DIORAMA INFO NEEDED]

On 13/08/2019 at 19:52, Black Knight said:

For a base see Coastal Kits; www.coastalkits.co.uk 

You can add your own grass to the Coastal Kit bases to make them more 3D

 

Amera does vac bases for you start making your own;  http://www.amera.co.uk/

It may have to be those CoastalKits, though at £25.00 each for a flat dispersal pan, plus whatever extra, this could turn out to be quite expensive.

On 14/08/2019 at 10:38, Gorby said:

I kept well clear of dioramas for a long time because I thought they were too difficult, but now I find that they are one of the most enjoyable parts of modelling, so why not give it a try? This is my second dio – which cost only about £50 (excluding the aircraft and other vehicles):

 

 

It doesn't have to be expensive. This base I made for virtually nothing (I said £0 but the milliput for the sandbags probably 20p and the PVA probably 10p):

 

I'm never really very impressed with the realism of the commercially available dio bases, and the cost is usually quite high. Give it a go yourself, you might enjoy it.

I really like how you've used fine grit sand paper for concrete! 

The dioramas I need will not be so overwhelming with so many intricacies, but I wonder if there's a diy way to produce many from bulk material.

[1/48 VCP diorama accessories help]

Hi,

 

I assume you’re talking about snap VCPs, so everything for them, you would have to take with you. 

In NI you would have a sign in either direction ‘Checkpoint Ahead’ or words to that effect. But you would literally have just your two or three vehicles and a section or multiple of eight or twelve men respectively dismounted. 

You might also consider a stinger hidden behind the controlling vehicle for fast movers running the CP and a cone or two. 

 

For the Middle East, let’s say Iraq, HESCO arrived much later on during the conflict, by which point, WMIKs were not used for VCPs. WMIKs generally were only used up until mid to late 2004 when the threat changed from man on man to IED’s and the unarmoured WMIK was restricted to the like of internal wire QRF. (Someone breaches a fence at the airport). 

WMIKs were more used in Afghan as fire support vehicles for companies clearing compounds. 

 

I would say, the use of WMIKs, RAF Police and RAF Regt doing snap VCPs is highly unlikely. They would have more established checkpoints at say Basrah APOD with Jersey barriers then T walls (the big ones) with sangers. 

 

If you switched from the RAF angle and went for the Royal Marines or Para Regt in early 2003, then WMIKs were everywhere doing snap VCPs, but you wouldn’t have much checkpoint apparatus. Perhaps just a battered up Toyota or Mercedes from the 80s in the old white and orange taxi colours.

[HMS Hermes, Broadsword and Yarmouth 1/350]

So much detail in such a small space, and to occupy five and a half years, that's dedication to the cause.

[* Aprons & Pans - Egg Banjo anyone? * DIORAMA INFO NEEDED]

Dioramas!

 

Never made one but I've seen a couple of short videos on YouTube about them, and the seem quite involved to say the least.

I'm going to be looking for a few, and specifically a circular RAF dispersal pan from WW2 for a Heavy Bomber in 1/72 and 1/48 scales.

 

I was wondering, what is available out there, made and ready to go?

I have seen the sort of flat rectangular cardboard types (not really a fan of these), but what do people know about others with texture, foliage and a little bit of undulation etc?

 

I was also wondering if there are companies, or people on here that will commission and create dioramas to  a clients request?

What experience do people here have with either of these avenues and the cost implications?

 

Would be great to see some images from anyone that has made or bought some of these dioramas!

 

[* Mass Bespoke Decals * RECOMMENDATIONS NEEDED]

4 hours ago, Pin said:

Begemot of Russia prints decals in small batches. PM @Kotey on this forum 

https://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/profile/11212-kotey

 

 

Thank you, I take a look.

[* In Brave Company *]

5 hours ago, FPDPenguin said:

Best of luck. Can't wait to see how this one turn out. Where are you going to keep/display them all? 

 

I've had to start taking books to the charity shop to make spaces on the shelves. 😂

Thank you very much.

I have a few outbuildings, one of which I can renovate in to a display building.

We have a selection of military history throughout the generations so it would be a fine idea for the family to have our own museum as such.

[* Mass Bespoke Decals * RECOMMENDATIONS NEEDED]

12 hours ago, JackG said:

Have exchanged a few emails with Greg from DrawDecal, and he informs that the digital silk printer does not rely on dots to replicate colours - now that has me excited.  

 

Artwork has to be created in CMYK form, with white as a separate layer.    Client must do the prep work for the artwork, and 'pricing starts at $25 for an 8 x 12' page plus shipping.'  Am assuming those are Canadian dollars.

 

regards,

Jack

Thank you for the heads up. 

If that's the route to go, I'll need to find an artist to do the pre leg work as that's beyond my skills.

[* In Brave Company *]

1 minute ago, Duncan B said:

That's some project you have planned there, good luck with it. You will find lots of helpful folk on here who'll be really happy to help you with anything you might need to know.

 

Duncan B

Thank you very much.

 

I only started on this forum yesterday and already people have stepped forward and offering to lend a hand and doing some research for me to get things moving.

 

Humbling Sir, humbling.