AdrianMF Posted June 6, 2022 Author Share Posted June 6, 2022 Hmmm I am trying out a larger scale of decalling than I’m comfortable with. The fuselage and fin decals come from some modified profiles from the web, and the underside decal features a hand cut white border in the lozenge decal and a hand cut black cross in the hole. I’m happy that they are bedding in over a layer of Future but sceptical about everything else… Most of my home made decals are either font based in which case the OS and printer are optimised to deliver perfect results, or constructed pixel by pixel on a drawing program and not compressed. These, on the other hand, are suffering from all the reproduction losses you would expect from scanning, compression, scaling and format conversion, not to mention cutting through two layers of decal! I will carry on and see if I can haul it back to OK. It’s meant to be fun, right? 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Spadgent Posted June 6, 2022 Share Posted June 6, 2022 Fantastic modelling work as always. I can’t tell if that fuselage cross is a little blurry ( as you mentioned ) or it’s the photo. It looks good just not sure if I can see pixels. Which makes me twitch ever so slightly. I feel you have this one in the bag however. The office is spectacular and the belly sanding you just breeze through is second to none. 👊👏👏👏 Johnny Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AdrianMF Posted June 7, 2022 Author Share Posted June 7, 2022 4 hours ago, The Spadgent said: I can’t tell if that fuselage cross is a little blurry ( as you mentioned ) or it’s the photo. It looks good just not sure if I can see pixels. Which makes me twitch ever so slightly. Thanks for the feedback! I'm back to the drawing board on this one. This picture illustrates the issues: I have a low-end Lexmark 3200 series colour laser printer, so I am down in the pixels at the mercy of the rendering. * Top one is the original profile. Blurry and rather yellow. That's what is on the model now. * Middle one is me re-drafting the fuselage and doing some schoolboy manual anti-aliasing. * Bottom one is the profile, sharpened, contrast wound right up, shadows darkened. My wife took one look at my version and said "It looks like a bad copy". Well, I did ask! So I think I need to try number 3. And I will have to man up to learn Gimp well enough to superimpose the crosses onto the decal sheet, rather than crudely cutting them out. What with the MS.406 that's my second run in with decals in two builds! [edit] I've now manned up, learned Gimp and have managed to integrate the crosses and lozenge fabrics. I've also learned how Word uses pixels per inch and DPI to size its graphics whereas Gimp uses pixels all the way - that'll teach me to use different programs to prepare my graphics! So all the decals will be coming off and getting replaced in the next day or two. Pheon do a lovely decal set for this in 1/32, which inspired me to choose the scheme, but there's nothing in 1/72. There are pictures of an Albatros D.Va and a Roland D.VIa in this scheme but I think there's some uncertainty as to whether Otto Kissenberth actually flew the Pfalz D.IIIa. I've not seen a photograph of the Pfalz D.III wearing this scheme but I'm doing it anyway because I don't have any aircraft wearing flowers in my collection! Regards, Adrian 4 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Spadgent Posted June 7, 2022 Share Posted June 7, 2022 4 hours ago, AdrianMF said: This picture illustrates the issues: Thanks for the explanation. That’s exactly what I thought I was seeing. If you had photo shop or similar you could scratch over the top with vectors and then scale to your hearts content. There is a free vector programme too but I’m dammed if I can remember its name. *searches google. “Inkscape” 😇 Of you’re learning new stuff that’s great but if you do get stuck I could deffo help out with a bit of photo shop action. Just say the word. I’ve never made my own decals. One day I should give it a try. A brave scheme to match a brave build. 👏👏👏👊 Johnny 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StephenCJ Posted June 7, 2022 Share Posted June 7, 2022 9 hours ago, AdrianMF said: And I will have to man up to learn Gimp You are braver than me. I took one look at the gimp and ran like hell. Stephen 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Putty Animal Posted June 7, 2022 Share Posted June 7, 2022 I'm just catching up on this one. I was looking at the latest pics and thinking; really nice job on the Eduard kit... Then flicking backwards through the previous pages and realising: My Goodness, that's a vacform! 😮 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AdrianMF Posted June 7, 2022 Author Share Posted June 7, 2022 1 hour ago, Putty Animal said: vacform Yeah, My plastic card wasn't even flat. It had bumps in it! 3 hours ago, StephenCJ said: I took one look at the gimp and ran like hell We are talking about the software package and not the scene from Pulp Fiction, I trust... Regards, Adrian 2 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AdrianMF Posted June 7, 2022 Author Share Posted June 7, 2022 Ri-i-ight... so after sneaking some more time in amongst the work tasks today, I've got this: At the top, the airframe has been denuded of decals and the underlying paint using mainly a fingernail (gotta love acrylics!) and a light sanding, then re-coated with Citadel (insert silly name here) white. Then L-R we have: * Upper wing top with handed embedded crosses, courtesy of Gimp * Lower wing underside with handed embedded crosses and a spare section to finish covering under the upper wing * Port and stbd fuselages of my tracing and the enhanced version, with a couple of spares * Upper wing top with printer issue (uh-oh) * Upper wing underside , nearly long enough, corner folded down to remind me to cut off that bay with a scratch on it * Original upper wing top with printer issue (the first time) but enough there to cover the lower wing if I cut carefully * Original fuselage attempt So there will be decalling tonight! I think I will have to do it in stages to let the wing underside decals set well before trimming and adding the topsides. Then, if it hasn't got a decal on it, paint it black!* Simples... I'm going to have to google that printer issue * Apart from the carefully-masked white stripe that I'm in no danger whatsoever of forgetting, of course... 13 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AdrianMF Posted June 9, 2022 Author Share Posted June 9, 2022 I’ve applied the decals for the wing undersides: I've applied them over a layer of Future and I used Revell Decalsoft round the edges. I've wrapped the overlap over the top to make sure the edges are covered. When they are dry I will trim off the excess before applying the upper side ones: The decals are on clear paper, so they rely on having a white background to get the correct colours. Because the cross on the upper wing overlaps with the aileron, I have cheated and I’m just relying on the pencil shading on the part to show the aileron rather than applying a non-matching fabric decal on it, which would have involved far too much Gimpology! 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AdrianMF Posted June 9, 2022 Author Share Posted June 9, 2022 I trimmed the lower decals, applied the upper ones and trimmed them back too: Have to say I’m pretty pleased with it. I will touch them up* and get a coat of matt varnish on before I handle the model any more. * by brush. No masking and spraying here, @AliGauld and @Dunny! 13 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AliGauld Posted June 9, 2022 Share Posted June 9, 2022 Very nicely and delicately done. That just shows the difference between a true artisan and myself who gives it a belt with a large spanner to see if that fixes it. Cheers, Alistair 2 1 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaddyO Posted June 9, 2022 Share Posted June 9, 2022 Brilliant work so far Adrian. 👍 I'm a fan of the small stuff, but difficult to get everything looking 'scale'. Just messing about with brass u/c legs on the latest so I can appreciate the job you've done on these. 16 minutes ago, AliGauld said: Very nicely and delicately done. That just shows the difference between a true artisan and myself who gives it a belt with a large spanner to see if that fixes it. Cheers, Alistair 🤣🙃 Funny fella Alistair Reminded me of the old phrase 'If you can't fix it with a hammer it must be an electrical fault' Paul 2 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dunny Posted June 9, 2022 Share Posted June 9, 2022 1 hour ago, AdrianMF said: by brush. No masking and spraying here, Through no Pfalz of your own 🤣 Looking good Adrian... 1 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AdrianMF Posted June 9, 2022 Author Share Posted June 9, 2022 18 hours ago, AliGauld said: Very nicely and delicately done. I know you know more than a thing or two about nice and delicate. Spanner, indeed.... (Sorry for not masking up and spraying the lozenges) 18 hours ago, DaddyO said: difficult to get everything looking 'scale' "Precision is everything". I measured everything off the plans, worked out the true length of the foreshortened sloping legs, transcribed the lengths carefully onto the brass rod, bent with extreme accuracy and care, put it on the model.... Didn't look right, took them off, messed about with pliers until they looked righter, then glued them on quickly before I changed my mind again! 17 hours ago, Dunny said: Through no Pfalz of your own Remind me never to build a Fokker when you're around... Thanks chaps, Adrian 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StephenCJ Posted June 9, 2022 Share Posted June 9, 2022 Brilliant work Adrian. You seem to have mastered the Gimp. I use Photoshop it is more civilised and I pay a monthly subscription for the privilage. Again Brilliant work. Stephen who has had sunshine for 2 days in a row. 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AdrianMF Posted June 9, 2022 Author Share Posted June 9, 2022 Thanks Stephen... 1 hour ago, StephenCJ said: You seem to have mastered the Gimp Well, not quite, but I'm making progress. I couldn't understand why the wing decals were so much better than the fuselage decals, so I went back and had a look. The metadata in the JPEG said 96 DPI for the original fuselage images, whereas the wings (because I had scanned the base picture) were at 300 pix/in. So I changed the metadata to 300 pix/in, fiddled with the image again and got a much better result: The top two rows are the new decals at 300 pix/in and the bottom row shows my two attempts with the original 96 DPI. I printed off extras in case the smudgy drum thing happened again, but it seems to have gone, fingers crossed. I try to avoid learning things until I have a real-world problem to solve, so I’ve been putting off Gimp for ages. Getting there... Regards, Adrian 12 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brandy Posted June 9, 2022 Share Posted June 9, 2022 Very impressed with those home printed decals, they look great! Ian 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marklo Posted June 9, 2022 Share Posted June 9, 2022 (edited) Wonderful work. I’ve discovered a program called amadine on my iPhone ( would also work on iPad) probably on android too. Above image is my wip for decals for my Yugoslavian Do17. I did my goat, which I’m quite proud of for black 4 with the program. I was been using word(!!!). Amadine is object based and superior to word or paint and much easier than photoshop or the Gimp. The only downside is it cost €9.99 but I reckon it’s already paid for itself a few times over. Oh and on the printer front ( I used to work on manufacturing inkjet cartridges) most printers default to an everyday mode try going into the driver and setting the print to either best or photo. Also some printers will have a setting to use actual black instead of composite black, which can sometimes com out as olive if the three colours aren’t exactly right. Edited June 9, 2022 by Marklo 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AdrianMF Posted June 9, 2022 Author Share Posted June 9, 2022 16 minutes ago, Marklo said: black 4 I think I would have been cutting up some D-Day stripes for that one! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marklo Posted June 9, 2022 Share Posted June 9, 2022 18 minutes ago, AdrianMF said: I think I would have been cutting up some D-Day stripes for that one! Well the goat and the tail markings I made myself, the Croatian markings were from a decal sheet and the Luftwaffe markings from the spares box. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AdrianMF Posted June 9, 2022 Author Share Posted June 9, 2022 12 hours ago, Marklo said: goat and the tail markings Ah, I thought you did the “4”! How did you do the white on the tail? In particular the emblem above the checked shield. Did you print the green and red and put it on over a white background, or do you have some super-secret white inkjet ink? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marklo Posted June 10, 2022 Share Posted June 10, 2022 11 hours ago, AdrianMF said: do you have some super-secret white inkjet ink? This is the holy grail of inkjet development and I have seen working prototypes, but Afaik it’s never gone to market. I have white and clear inkjet printable decal paper. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AdrianMF Posted June 12, 2022 Author Share Posted June 12, 2022 Well, no updates this weekend! I have been sent to hospital rather suddenly for an issue that’s been grumbling on for a while. In my part of London the “normal” way to get into hospital is to turn up at A&E and get processed. In my case, the doctor’s notes got lost so I arrived at 5:30pm and finally got to the ward at 4:30 am after innocently enquiring at 4am if they had a booking for me… A very interesting slice of Friday-nightlife! I assume I’m not allowed sharp tools in a hospital (“no fighting - this is the War Room”) so I shall restrict myself to reading other threads and making far too many comments. Sorry about that! Regards, Adrian 11 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billn53 Posted June 12, 2022 Share Posted June 12, 2022 1 hour ago, AdrianMF said: Well, no updates this weekend! I have been sent to hospital rather suddenly for an issue that’s been grumbling on for a while. In my part of London the “normal” way to get into hospital is to turn up at A&E and get processed. In my case, the doctor’s notes got lost so I arrived at 5:30pm and finally got to the ward at 4:30 am after innocently enquiring at 4am if they had a booking for me… A very interesting slice of Friday-nightlife! I assume I’m not allowed sharp tools in a hospital (“no fighting - this is the War Room”) so I shall restrict myself to reading other threads and making far too many comments. Sorry about that! Regards, Adrian Get well soon! We need more of your builds! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brandy Posted June 12, 2022 Share Posted June 12, 2022 Hope it all works out quickly. What's the beer like in hospital? Ian 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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