British ammo box decals

[APA]

As I move on to the accessories for the universal Carrier build I'm looking for decals for ammo boxes. As usual there are dozens for US and every version under the sun 3 times over for German but very little for british. Specifically vickers 303 but anything that resembles it will do at a pinch. 

 

Anyone help? 

 

Cheers in advance. 

 

Andrew 

[Ade H]

We British modellers are still not very well served in some respects. I've looked into this before and the best choice was Archer's AR77009. It doesn't cover everything, of course. With so many resin sets of British WW2 ammo boxes without decals, you might think that there is a gap in the decal market. Injection molded stowage sets include decals, but I don't know of any with .303 boxes. I would recommend transfer sets (such as Woodland Scenics and any remaining Archer stock), but I doubt whether any have lettering small enough for this purpose (mine don't). Maybe you'll have to grab your finest Kolinsky and switch to decaf coffee!

Edited December 8, 2021 by Ade H
typo

[Bullbasket]

As well as Archer fine decals, have a look a the Quartermaster's Depot. They do a few. Accurate Armour also do some as well. Have a look at any of the sites of resin accessory manufacturers such as Resicast. They quite often produce decals for the stowage items which they produce.

 

John.

[Modelholic]

I too have thought a few marking on boxes would give that little bit more oomph to a build.

Not only ammo. What about 'biscuit tins' etc. Virtually everything had markings applied!

The Bronco Lloyd carrier had 6pdr markings for it's ammo stowage. I only put the decals on the visible surfaces so as to have some spares in case of future needs!

Tom

[APA]

6 hours ago, Ade H said:

We British modellers are still not very well served in some respects. I've looked into this before and the best choice was Archer's AR77009. It doesn't cover everything, of course. With so many resin sets of British WW2 ammo boxes without decals, you might think that there is a gap in the decal market. Injection molded stowage sets include decals, but I don't know of any with .303 boxes. I would recommend transfer sets (such as Woodland Scenics and any remaining Archer stock), but I doubt whether any have lettering small enough for this purpose (mine don't). Maybe you'll have to grab your finest Kolinsky and switch to decaf coffee!

Thanks Ade. Yes that is the closest I've found but not really suitable. I think I might have a crack at doing my own again but not had much success. Failing that it will be the stick with one hairs! 😳 The ammo liners in the kit seemed to have labels rather than stencil so that might work. 

5 hours ago, Bullbasket said:

As well as Archer fine decals, have a look a the Quartermaster's Depot. They do a few. Accurate Armour also do some as well. Have a look at any of the sites of resin accessory manufacturers such as Resicast. They quite often produce decals for the stowage items which they produce.

 

John.

Thanks John. Yes I've had a good look round with little success. The one Ade has referenced above seems close but no cigar. 

2 hours ago, Modelholic said:

I too have thought a few marking on boxes would give that little bit more oomph to a build.

Not only ammo. What about 'biscuit tins' etc. Virtually everything had markings applied!

The Bronco Lloyd carrier had 6pdr markings for it's ammo stowage. I only put the decals on the visible surfaces so as to have some spares in case of future needs!

Tom

Agree with you Tom. Lots of accessories would really benefit from decals. You do get decals for the water tins in the Riich kit so the ammo would have been nice to but oh hum. 

 

Thanks everyone for the help 👍🙏

 

Andrew 

[PF Naughton]

Hi, 

Maybe you could just add the words "Ye Olde" in front of the American decals and hope that people assume they are British 😜

[Kingsman]

For WW2 British we really are badly served.  There are any number of British ammunition box types available from Panzer Art, Resicast etc but none with decals.

 

The Archer AR77009 set has yellow 25pdr box markings, which suit a couple of the available types often seen as extra stowage boxes.  Unless you have microscope eyes I imagine they will work for other artillery and tank ammo boxes.  It also has yellow 0.30 and 0.50 box markings, and these are boxes often seen on US-supplied British vehicles armed with those calibre weapons.  The 37mm box and 0.50 "tombstone" can markings are less useful.

 

There is also Archer AR77008.  This is primarily black US 105mm ammunition box markings but it also has some Compo box and biscuit tin markings.

 

Echelon have a wide range of 0.30 and 0.50 box markings, some more useful than others.  I can't conceive of a need for markings for boxes of primers.........  Accurate Armour don't seem to do any ammo box markings at the moment, although their modern 7.62mm cans do come with decals.

 

These are things you could home print on clear decal film, with 2 reservations.  Normal home printing ink is not waterproof and will run when you soak the decals.  You can varnish over the ink but that makes quite a thick decal.  Also, the ink is so thin and translucent as to be almost invisible on any colour other than white.

[APA]

On 12/8/2021 at 11:21 PM, PF Naughton said:

Hi, 

Maybe you could just add the words "Ye Olde" in front of the American decals and hope that people assume they are British 😜

Now there's a thought 😉🤣👍

On 12/9/2021 at 1:18 AM, Das Abteilung said:

For WW2 British we really are badly served.  There are any number of British ammunition box types available from Panzer Art, Resicast etc but none with decals.

 

The Archer AR77009 set has yellow 25pdr box markings, which suit a couple of the available types often seen as extra stowage boxes.  Unless you have microscope eyes I imagine they will work for other artillery and tank ammo boxes.  It also has yellow 0.30 and 0.50 box markings, and these are boxes often seen on US-supplied British vehicles armed with those calibre weapons.  The 37mm box and 0.50 "tombstone" can markings are less useful.

 

There is also Archer AR77008.  This is primarily black US 105mm ammunition box markings but it also has some Compo box and biscuit tin markings.

 

Echelon have a wide range of 0.30 and 0.50 box markings, some more useful than others.  I can't conceive of a need for markings for boxes of primers.........  Accurate Armour don't seem to do any ammo box markings at the moment, although their modern 7.62mm cans do come with decals.

 

These are things you could home print on clear decal film, with 2 reservations.  Normal home printing ink is not waterproof and will run when you soak the decals.  You can varnish over the ink but that makes quite a thick decal.  Also, the ink is so thin and translucent as to be almost invisible on any colour other than white.

Yep, agree. I've done my own decals in the past with varied success. The papers I've tried are terrible to work with as the transfer is like soggy gloop when off the backing paper. I'm assuming you can't buy blank decal sheets like the ones used for commercial preprinted like in the kits which are stiffer? 

 

Andrew 

[Kingsman]

There are several brands available and they presumably vary in the same way that decals in kits do.  Ironically we quest for thin flexible decals that conform to surfaces well, but some can be very floppy.  The fuel and oil can branding decals I tried printing I found hard to use, but better after a coat of varnish.  Can't remember the brand of the decal paper.

[APA]

Duplicate please delete! 

[APA]

18 minutes ago, Das Abteilung said:

There are several brands available and they presumably vary in the same way that decals in kits do.  Ironically we quest for thin flexible decals that conform to surfaces well, but some can be very floppy.  The fuel and oil can branding decals I tried printing I found hard to use, but better after a coat of varnish.  Can't remember the brand of the decal paper.

Yes I've used a couple of brands, one recommended, with the same results. A couple of varnish coats and don't cut close to the ink is the key however it's the handling that's the problem. Might not be so bad on such small ones like this. Persevere I suppose. Hell I'm almost warming to PE after this build so who knows 😊. 

 

Andrew