Decal Painting or Stencils

[ToonarmY]

Hi all, 

 

I am getting back into model building and have a few kits to practice on, airfix, tamiya and revell. 

 

My question is before I dive back into building and painting, do you all still use the decal stickers which are provided out of the box? 

 

I remember when i was younger these decals used to sit ontop of panel lines etc and take away from the realistic painted on look of the model. 

 

I have seen people also use stencils such as montex, which look good once finished. 

 

Are stencils for each model set and scale easily available in the UK? Or is it not worth the hassle and decals are much better now than they were when i was a kid? 

 

Thanks for the help

[Work In Progress]

Hello and welcome.

 

Decals are generally much bettter than 40 years ago, and people now know how to use them properly, which wasn't widely understood in days of yore.

Masks are in modest supply for some types' major markings in large scales, but choice is extremely limited compared to the decal market.

Suggest you go to the RFI section and judge for yourself the results people are currently getting. 

https://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/forum/87-ready-for-inspection-aircraft/

[Troy Smith]

Hi, and welcome.

many of your questions are "it depends" answers.   Some kit decals are very good, some are good but inaccurate.

5 minutes ago, ToonarmY said:

do you all still use the decal stickers which are provided out of the box? 

 

depends if you like the scheme, and there is often a quest for something different.

6 minutes ago, ToonarmY said:

I remember when i was younger these decals used to sit ontop of panel lines etc and take away from the realistic painted on look of the model. 

there are various ways of applying decals that can overcome this problem,  usually a gloss coat, decal softening and setting solutions, and varnish over the top.  

There are other methods.  

 

7 minutes ago, ToonarmY said:

I have seen people also use stencils such as montex, which look good once finished. 

 

Are stencils for each model set and scale easily available in the UK? Or is it not worth the hassle and decals are much better now than they were when i was a kid? 

They are easily available, via hannants or ebay, and even from abroad are cheap to post as only a letter type size.

They are really for airbrushing,  and are not for beginners.   They have the advantage of allowing different paint colours,   again, for accuracy, or to allow fading for example.

 

Depends when you were a kid,  but even old kit decals can still provide a good result,  Frog ones from the 70's seem to hold up well.

 

Really, what you are asking is just too vague.  In general modern kit decals are better than they were, but that is also true of kits in general.

So, you need to be specific. I have kit X, how are the decals for example.   

 

You can usually  find builds online, and see how they got on with the decals if they used the kit ones.

 

A tip, if you add britmodeller into a search term this works better than the site search.  

 

A really good way to help with your return is to do a Work In Progress build here, as this will get you help, advice support and tip and tricks.   

Doesn't matter what level you are at,  one of the worst things you can do on here is be an arrogant twonk. 

Say where you feel you are as a builder,  and the last time you built a kit, we get lots of middle aged returnees ,  and there is something useful about the perspective that putting up photos of your work brings,  seeing it alongside everyone else in the same format.

 

Finally, don't worry too much about "fashion" , we have builders of every type and style,  from master scratchbuilders, to those building older kits in a nostalgic way,  box schemes and decals, and accuracy be damned. 

HTH

[noelh]

Yes the decals are better. But we also have decal setting solutions, notably Microset, Microsol. Which pull the decals onto the surface. They're also applied over a gloss varnished surface. It looks almost 

 

There are various YouTube videos on that very topic. Check them out. Very helpful. 

[Work In Progress]

If you want a quick sense of what the decal after-market looks like these days just try the Advanced Search on Hannants

select "All Decals" and whatever scale and type you may be interested in building

https://www.hannants.co.uk/advancedsearch/

 

[iainpeden]

Just to add that decals adhere better to a gloss surface which can then be matted down with appropriate varnish and you summed it up in your first sentence - practice. 

[dnl42]

Welcome aboard! 

 

Lots of good advice here. I've used window masks and made some marking masks for simpler markings. That's the big advantage of decals, they can far more readily depict complicated images.

 

Do note there are a variety of decals and qualities among them. Of the brands you mentioned, my experience is Tamiya are the thickest--without proper application, they'll look more like your recollections.

[ToonarmY]

Wow thanks for the speedy replies everyone. 

 

I have the below models to build over the course of a little while. A couple I got as gifts and others in sales. Il probably be tired of spitfires by the time I finish these 😂. 

 

Il check out hannants. 

 

The last model I built was probably about 22 years ago, so it will be interesting to see how they have developed. Although I expect that airfix one is still an old mold. 

 

 

 

Edited January 4, 2020 by ToonarmY

[Graham Boak]

Deleted, wrong scale and mistaken kit.

Edited January 4, 2020 by Graham Boak

[Troy Smith]

1 minute ago, Graham Boak said:

not sure about the Revell Mk.II - may be considerably older!   I suspect that their Mk.IX is somebody else's originally, and possibly at least one decade? 

the Revell Mk.II and IX kits are the most recent of the above,  new-ish tool from Revell of Germany,  though the Mk.II got quite bashing over shape accuracy aspects, and the Mk.IX is based on the Mk.II, but is supposed to be better.  

Revell did a Mk.I (and a Seafire) in 1/32nd in the late 60's when 32nd first became popular,  the Spitfire was one of the better ones  I believe,  with fine engraved panelling and overall decent shape, though it missed the gull wing.

These two should have decent modern decals BTW.

 

The Tamiya is mid 90's, and is very well engineered,  having done some horrible things to the same Mk.I to deal with it's shape issues...  I'll dig out some info on Tamiya decals in a mo.

 

@ToonarmY a word of caution, the Airfix 1/24th kit is the oldest of the bunch, circa 1970, and Airfix have sold a lot over the years, and some more recent issues are not in the best of shape.  It's also a bit basic in a lot of places, like the non existent wheel wells and the general opinion is it really needs a spar adding.   The Airfix decals will depend on boxing. 

Dinner calls

[ToonarmY]

Yea i thought the airfix would have been an older one and have heard its a bit of a pig to build. Il start that one when I have plenty spare time and patience. 

 

The plan is to try the following paints. 

 

Edited January 4, 2020 by ToonarmY

[Troy Smith]

33 minutes ago, ToonarmY said:

Yea i thought the airfix would have been an older one and have heard its a bit of a pig to build. Il start that one when I have plenty spare time and patience. 

There have been builds on here, with plenty of tips and advice. 

If you have not made a kit in years, or like some of us on here (what me.? and some others) who end up talking more than building, it's not a bad idea to do something simple and just aim to get the damn thing finished..

I forced myself to stop procrastinating last year and did this.

https://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/235052380-hurricane-airfix-72nd-fabric-wing-mki-oob/

 

I bedded the kit decals on this in Kleer,  which I found worked very well.   If I was too pick a kit out of the above 4,  I'd suggest the Tamiya,  as they build really well. 

This is well worth a read, lots of hints and tips

HTH

T

[ToonarmY]

29 minutes ago, Troy Smith said:

There have been builds on here, with plenty of tips and advice. 

If you have not made a kit in years, or like some of us on here (what me.? and some others) who end up talking more than building, it's not a bad idea to do something simple and just aim to get the damn thing finished..

I forced myself to stop procrastinating last year and did this.

https://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/235052380-hurricane-airfix-72nd-fabric-wing-mki-oob/

 

I bedded the kit decals on this in Kleer,  which I found worked very well.   If I was too pick a kit out of the above 4,  I'd suggest the Tamiya,  as they build really well. 

This is well worth a read, lots of hints and tips

HTH

T

Thanks for the above links for both your own build and the other. I now have about 10 tabs open and feel like im dissappearing down a wormhole. Tonnes of info in these 

[Troy Smith]

2 minutes ago, ToonarmY said:

I now have about 10 tabs open and feel like im dissappearing down a wormhole. Tonnes of info in these 

yep!   I sure it can be a bit overwhelming.   There is an serious knowledge base on here,  but helpful with it.  It's also a bit addictive,  I don't 'do' social media, apart from here really,  you soon get to know the regulars .....

I've not tried the Mr.color paint,  but other have.   as i said earlier, try using adding in Britmodeller to a google search term and see what turns up.

 

One point to bear in mind, if the material and technique you use, get the result you want, then it's the 'right' one.  Some brush paint only, some only use acrylic, other can't stand them.   Sometimes I think some folks overcomplicate what they do, but if it works for them.

 

BTW, the most useful thing I have used since rejoining the hobby is superglue, and I just use the packs you get cheap in the pound shop.   

 

look forward to the WIP  

[Chuck1945]

Note the paint sets pictured are from different companies. Mr Color paints are from Japan (Gunze) are not the the pictured bottles which are MRP (also known as Mr Paint), airbrush ready, and are from Slovakia

[dnl42]

Mr Color and Mr Paint are both lacquers. They're outstanding when airbrushed; but not for brushing. IMHO, lacquers provide the best possible finish when applied properly. They can be finicky to apply, but they're well worth learning how to use. Thin Mr Color with Mr Leveling Thinner to about the consistency of 1% milk (or a tad thinner). That should be the consistency of Mr Paint straight out of the bottle.

 

Mr Color are my #1 paint brand, by a clear margin.

[Phantome]

You can't go wrong with Mr Color and Mr Paint, both are among the most accurate in the business. However, Mr Paint is ink thin and not suitable for brushing. Mr Color will probably need some levelling or retarder and even then, far from ideal.

 

Go enamel or water-based acrylics for brush painting.

 

As for decals/stencils the best are probably those by Cartograf and a bunch of model kit makers use them (including Airfix). Tamiya decals don't get much love but if you use very hot water, they work fine. Just make sure to get new kits since old second-hand kits can have ivory-colored whites and yellow easily.

[ToonarmY]

Thanks guys, i have a harder and steenbeck ultra 2 that I will be practicing on paper etc befor setting myself loose on the models. Glad to hear those paints are highly recommended. 

 

Thanks for the hot water tip on the tamiya decals. 

 

I hope the newer decals and new microset or microsol will give a much more realistic finish. 

Edited January 5, 2020 by ToonarmY

[ToonarmY]

I picked up a couple of Montex masks for the canopy and roundings. So i have the option to try decals on one of the models and stencil another. 

 

Does anyone have any experience using the montex masks, any tips would be much appreciated and accurate paint colour numbers. 

 

Thanks 

[spaddad]

Maybe think about going along to your local  IPMS branch where you will find modellers who will be glad to help you. Google IPMS (International Plastic Modellers Society) & that will take you to the National website or if, as I suspect, you're a Geordie boy, Google IPMS Tyneside to get local contact details, hope this helps.

[ToonarmY]

Cheers il look that up. I am indeed a geordie boy. 

 

I wasnt aware of that group thanks