Eduard Italian Smoke Ring Camouflage (D48084) 1:48

[Mike]

Italian Smoke Ring Camouflage (D48084)

1:48 Eduard

 

 

It’s the end of the hobby as we know it!  …Again.  A while before I came back to the hobby, a hapless entrepaneur released a set of Italian smoke ring decals, and was angrily accused of killing our hobby by some.  All the poor chap was trying to do was make it possible for modellers that aren’t airbrush gods to make realistic-looking camouflage for their Italian models.  Hopefully this set won’t be greeted by shrieks of derision, and those that did the shrieking last time now feel thoroughly ashamed of themselves for it.  They won’t. 

 

This set arrives in a clear foil re-sealable envelope with a card stiffener, a cover page with instructions, plus the decal sheet with wax paper protecting the delicate printed surface.  The instructions are simply the two drawings on the cover, and a short length of text states that they have been drawn exclusively for the M.202/205, although I have a feeling that they’ll be useful for all sorts of other Italian aircraft subjects too.  At the risk of being told that there are duplicates by someone with a far better set of eyes and grasp of tessellation, I think that all of the various rings are individually designed, which will make applying them less arduous of a task.  There are 111 rings of various shapes and sizes, all of which are in-scale with each other, and printed in a green shade with fuzzy edges as they were sprayed by the groundcrew on the real thing.

 

 

The decals are printed by Eduard and have good register, sharpness and colour density, with a glossy carrier film printed close to the edges of the printed areas.

 

Conclusion

If you’re a wizard with an airbrush, you probably don’t need these, unless you’re a lazy wizard.  If you’re one of the rest of us, it’s a choice of get these decals and do a good job of the smoke ring scheme, or don’t.  It’s that simple, and I’m more than happy to have one tricky job taken away when I inevitably build an Italian fighter.

 

Highly recommended.

 

 

Review sample courtesy of

[Julien]

I do remember the uproar about the Mike Grant sheets.

[janneman36]

Well there are still more and more techniques being developed and we use those without hesitation....

I always thought it was a good solution if you don’t have the best airbrush or skills to do it !
 

cheers, Jan

[Troffa]

A pleasant trip down nostalgia lane- I wish I'd bought the mug! 🙂  

 

 Hobby Killing Mug

[Mike]

46 minutes ago, Troffa said:

A pleasant trip down nostalgia lane- I wish I'd bought the mug! 🙂  

 

 Hobby Killing Mug

That's brilliant! I was around then, but not in those neighbourhoods.  I was probably too busy with growing Britmodeller.  Poor Mike

[Graham Boak]

I remember Mike Grant's smoke rings, and how popular they were.  I don't recall any great outcry, other than the odd joke.  After all, "destroying the hobby" goes back to the invention of the plastic kit, if not before.