JayDee

1:32 Hannover and Albatros Lozenge decal sets Old Propeller Catalogue #: see article for # and price Available from Old Propeller Old Propeller have begun to extend their already excellent range of lozenge decals by introducing these THREE new sets which I picked up from Vladimir Ziska whilst at Scale Model World, Telford, recently. If you'd like a recap as to the previous releases from this company, take a look at the review we posted HERE. These new sets introduce two aircraft previously not touched by their specific cookie-cut sets, and these are: D32049T, 5 colour lozenge for Albatros D.V/D.Va, blue rip tapes (variant 1, pattern 2), transparent base, £13.89 D32061W, 5 colour lozenge for Hannover CL.II, lozenge rib tapes, white base, £19.65 D32063, painted lozenge for Hannover CL.II, £6.32 Needless to say, all of these sets are designed to be used exclusively with Wingnut Wings kits. Up until now, the ever-popular Fokker D.VII has been the subject of decal manufacturers cookie-cut sets, and with good reason too, but now the significance of releasing the same type of item for other WNW kits, is now becoming very apparent. As I can see an Albatros in my not-too-distant build schedule, I was delighted t see that this is one aircraft now being catered for. Both the fabric decal sets here are produced with either a white base or without, the latter allowing the translucency of the decals, combined with your preparation, to create the final effect. The Albatros set we have received falls into the latter category. This particular set includes TWO decal sheets, packaged into a sturdy, card backed clear wallet which can be re-sealed. Of course, the Albatros fuselage was wooden, so the decals in this set are for the various flying surfaces. Albatros D.V/D.Va As this is a cookie-cut sheet, all of the decals contained have been shaped specifically to fit the WNW model, and you will need to trim them all the way around due to them being laser-printed on a single, continuous sheet of carrier film. The fabric effect on these looks a little different to the sets from Aviattic. Perhaps almost a little stylized, but certainly very attractive looking, and most definitely of a fabric appearance. Where the rib tapes are included, and where the fabris stitched together, there is a narrow, slightly dark shadow which gives everything a 3D look even before you apply these to your model. The larger sheet contains the upper and lower decal panels for the Albatros upper wing, complete with separate aileron decals. A small panel for the fabric bulkhead, to the rear of the pilot, is also included. Decals for the lower wing panels are contained on the second, smaller sheet. No strut positions are marked, but as these decals do settle down very well over raised detail etc, you will have no problem in locating various panels and rib detail. Interestingly, all wing panels are full span (port and starboard), instead of being included as smaller panels for ease of use. You may wish to apply in sections instead. Your surface preparation is key with these decals, and you need to ensure that you have a white, high gloss finish on which to lay them. You can add shading and staining prior to application too, but remember that everything you lay under these decals, will form a part of the eventual finish. Hannover CL.II Again, the fuselage of the Hannover was timber (moulded wood, to be more precise), and therefore the decals represent the lozenge fabric of the wings and tail. As with the Albatros, this set also contains TWO decal sheets, with these both being A4 in size. These decals are not translucent, and are clearly printed onto a white, silk-screened ink layer. What this means is that you get exactly what you see on the sheet itself. The printing, again, is exemplary, with a beautiful texture effect in clear evidence, and the lozenge rib tapes and fabric join exhibiting a very clear layered effect which makes things look a little 3D. The first sheet has the port/starboard inboard and outboard wing panels printed in two sections each for upper and lower wing, with a few of these parts spilling onto the second sheet. Ailerons and wheel hub lozenge is included here, as are the various tail plane parts. The second sheet has the lower wing panels included, as well as a few other parts from the first sheet, which wouldn't fit on there. As with the upper wing, the lower wings are split into two panels per side, upper and lower. You notice I referred to the upper wing as inboard and outboard? This is because the centre section was covered in moulded wood. For this, you'll need this third, last set: Hannover CL.II Painted Lozenge In order to match the lozenge applied to the wings and tail plane, the wing centre section and vertical tail areas where hand painted in a lozenge pattern which was different in hue, creating an excellent contrast in the two types of surface. This decal set is smaller than the fabric lozenge one, and has only one sheet therein. The upper and lower centre section for the upper wing is printed with 'holes' through which the various protrusions can poke, such as the radiator panels. This centre decal was missed out for the schemes included in the WNW release, but the remaining decals are numbered to reflect the kit decal parts, so will be easy to locate. Whilst these aren't printed onto a white base, their solid colour does look like very little of the undercoat colour will affect appearance.....but still use a light colour! Assessment All decals are superbly printed, and the colours are very much full of life. The carrier film is pleasingly thin, but remember you will need to trim around the individual parts before you apply them. Registration is irrelevant as these are laser-printed. Register only applies to traditional silk-screen print decals. Conclusion It's hard to fault these releases. They help to create an effect that the original kit decals struggle achieve without fading and filtering, and of course, these sets have the fabric effect. I've seen these in use, and the effect is spectacular. We've seen this style of decal used on the Large Scale Modeller forums, so head on over there and take part! Highly recommended James H Our sincere thanks to Old Propeller for the review samples seen here. To purchase directly, use the product links in the above article.

Lozenge Decal Sets – Faded and Factory Fresh Aviattic See article for code and price Available directly from Aviattic Is it really 4 months since we looked at the inaugural releases from Aviattic? Proprietors Richard Andrews and Harry Green have been beavering away behind the scenes for a number of years, travelling the world to look at and analyse fragments of orginal WW1 German lozenge fabric. This has been a costly feat and a labour of love which resulted in the first decal set releases that we reviewed HERE. I already know there are countless other sets which will be added to this initial portfolio, and today we are lucky enough to look at some of the next sets, with some in both larger and smaller scale too. The first thing I have to bring to your attention is that the previous sets we looked at are now designated as 'Brown Varnish', due to the filtered effect that was applied to them during the artwork process. These new sets we look at today include sheets described as 'Factory Fresh' and 'Faded'. The sets we have to look at are: Fokker D.VII, 32/5U&L Factory Fresh (Lozenge Tapes) cs Fokker D.VII, 32/5U&L Faded (Lozenge Tapes) cs Fokker D.VII, 32/5U&L Factory Fresh (Lozenge Tapes) cp Fokker D.VII, 32/5U&L Faded (Lozenge Tapes) cp Fokker D.VII 32/4U&L Factory Fresh (Lozenge Tapes) cs Fokker D.VII 32/4U&L Faded(Lozenge Tapes) cs Fokker D.VII 32/4U&L Factory Fresh (Lozenge Tapes) cp Fokker D.VII 32/4U&L Faded(Lozenge Tapes) cp 32/4U Bolt Sheet (Factory Fresh) Full width 54" 32/4L Bolt Sheet (Factory Fresh) Full width 54" 32/5U Bolt Sheet (Factory Fresh) Full Width 54" 24/4U Bolt Sheet (Factory Fresh) Full Width 54" 24/4L Bolt Sheet (Factory Fresh) Full Width 54" 72/4U&L+Int.Rev (Factory Fresh) Full Width 54" 72/4U&L+Int.Rev (Faded) Full Width 54" These new sets have been re-adjusted and re-created in line with what modellers have been asking for, hence the initial series of sheets being re-classified as a result of further research on lozenge colour reproduction. In order to make things easier for the modeller to understand, these new cookie-cut and bolt sheet releases are simply 'factory fresh' and 'faded'. Now, that's easy to understand! There are so many variations in colour finish, and if you include the different colours of lozenge rib tapes, the sheer number of sheets that would need to be made available is staggering. Fokker D.VII, 32/5U&L Factory Fresh (Lozenge Tapes) cs Fokker D.VII, 32/5U&L Faded (Lozenge Tapes) cs Fokker D.VII, 32/5U&L Factory Fresh (Lozenge Tapes) cp Fokker D.VII, 32/5U&L Faded (Lozenge Tapes) cp Fokker D.VII 32/4U&L Factory Fresh (Lozenge Tapes) cs These first new releases under the 'Factory Fresh' and 'Faded' banners, carry lozenge rib tapes, with other colours to follow in the near future. The lozenge tape variety has been incredibly popular, hence the reason why the first releases in these styles are of this type. Keep an eye out on the Aviattic website and FaceBook pages for announcements on this range being expanded further. Notice also the 'cp' and 'cs' designations on the inventory? Aviattic have tried to make their range of decal sets as easy to understand as possible with the 4U (4 colour upper), and 5L (5 colour lower) etc to guide you as to the number of colours on the lozenge panels, and to whether the decals are upper or lower styles. Going back to the 'cp' and 'cs' though, these tend to be more of interest to the purist, and relate to where on the wing sections that the first strip of lozenge fabric was laid down. CP = Centre Panel CS = Centre Seam Ok, let's explain. CP means that the first fabric panel was positioned centrally over the mid section of the upper wing. From there the remaining panels were folded and stitched, with the joints lying about 52" apart (after the fabric was folded and sewn). CS means that the first TWO panels were stitched together with the seam lying directly down the centerline of the upper wing, in line with the pilot. There you go. Now you can choose which you think might apply to you. In actuality, this is still an old train of thought that Aviattic caters to for those who think this detail actually matters. For the rest of us, perhaps not... The D.VII cookie-cut sheets look very similar in layout to the ones we first looked at, but look more closely, and you'll see a subtle change. In these new releases, the wing panels have been broken down into smaller sections. There is a technique involved in applying Aviattic decals which means that you need to nigh on float the sections from the decal paper before you apply. This is due to the elastic properties of the decal film. If you try to force the decal from the sheet, it will stretch and deform. Breaking the wings down into smaller panels means that you no longer have to run across a long decal in order to expel any water or setting solution. Of course, this means less likelihood of any stretching. Fokker D.VII 32/4U&L Faded(Lozenge Tapes) cs Fokker D.VII 32/4U&L Faded (Lozenge Tapes) cp Fokker D.VII 32/4U&L Factory Fresh (Lozenge Tapes) cp 32/4U Bolt Sheet (Factory Fresh) Full width 54" 32/4L Bolt Sheet (Factory Fresh) Full width 54" It is also worth pointing out that with any wing panels that you need to really work from the trailing edge of the wing, aligning along the scalloped edge, and concluding at the centerline of the leading edge. If you need to trim in this area, then this is very easy, and more so than at the trailing edge. As I've said, all of the cookie-cut sheets here have lozenge tapes, and the difference in tonal values of the individual colours, between the factory-fresh and faded sheets is both significant and incredibly authentic looking. If you want an idea about just how realistic the fabric is, I can tell you Aviattic are so pleased at the result of their design work that not only does it look correct to the naked eye, but at Scale Model World 2013, they were letting potential customers even look at the textures under a magnifying glass, to show the delicate weave was maintained and not just broken down into a pixilated nightmare. I hope the images I show here help to illustrate the complexity and authenticity of that aspect of these sheets. Wingtips are usually something of a problem when it comes to forming the decal around them, but as this decal film is pliable, it really is very easy. It also works well with Mr Mark Setter. Just in case you do dither and get into difficulty, spare wingtip decals are printed for you. These guys think of everything. Ailerons are also included on these cookie-cut sets. Please have it noted that even the cookie-cut sets will need the parts trimming around, unlike a normal decal sheet.The D.VII sets do not contain the tail plane or fuselage lozenge panels. You will need to use the Bolt sheets for this, and use the WNW decals, carefully cut around, in order to create the shapes. This is very easy, and here is an example that I'm currently working on, just to prove that our reviewers aren't all talk, as was once insinuated by a two-bit modeling news site once. 32/5U Bolt Sheet (Factory Fresh) Full Width 54" 24/4U Bolt Sheet (Factory Fresh) Full Width 54" 24/4L Bolt Sheet (Factory Fresh) Full Width 54" 72/4U&L+Int.Rev (Factory Fresh) Full Width 54" 72/4U&L+Int.Rev (Faded) Full Width 54" Please remember that if you wish to use the bolt sheets to decal your wings, and then apply your own rib tapes, you will need to trim around 1mm from the width off each side of the strip. This is to countenance the fold and stitch area aspect of how this material was used in real life. The cookie-cut sheets also include small swatches of the various lozenge colours, so if anything needs patching, you have the material to do it with. These sheets are also printed with a translucency to them. You MUST prepare the surface beforehand in a gloss white/light grey colour, remembering that any mark on the surface will show through to the final finish. This has some interesting possibilities though. You could now add the castor oil stain to the fuselage and wings BEFORE decaling. This will have the advantage of it looking very organic and natural once the lozenge is applied. Exactly because the decals are translucent is a work of caution too. Ensure that your decal panels butt up to each other and don't overlap. The result will be a dark edge. The bolt sheets exhibit the same beautifully rendered textures of their cookie-cut cousins, with each A4 sheet containing 4.5 strips in landscape format. For adorning your fuselage in these colourful plumes, you can get an entire length in one piece due to how the fabric was unrolled from tip to tail. For wings, however, you will need to run the strip from trailing edge to leading edge, as already explained. For the first time, we also see these bolt sheets printed in 1:24 and 1:72 scales! The larger 1:24 are designed to cater to the guys who like to scratch-build their WW1 models. You'd be hard pressed to find many injection plastic WW1 models in this scale, but should you do so, then this is for you. For 1:72 scale though, there are numerous kits, so I imagine that this sheet will be popular for those modellers. Due to the small nature of the lozenge, both upper and lower are printed on one sheet, as are the internal reverse patterns. Both 1:24 and 1:72 sets are available in both Factory Fresh and Faded types. Conclusion Aviattic promised that they were going to roll out an increasing number of sets in various formats over the next months, and 4 months on from their first releases, we are starting to see these sheets, including the faded sheets. I expect these to be particularly popular. The range will increase steadily again over the next months, and we should start to see cookie-cut sets for the Hannover too. These are exciting times for Great War aviation modellers! Highly recommended James H Our sincere thanks to Aviattic for the review samples seen here. To purchase directly, click THIS link.

Following on from Jeroen's Junkers J.1, I thought I'd publish this one here; the WNW Airco DH.2 This was published in Military Illustrated Modeller back in April this year. I hope you like her.

One of my favourite J.1 builds. Very nice to visit it again

Hellfire Bo....just when I thought that I would never see a build as great as the last, are up there with the very best of them. This is just mind blowing. How did you achieve those shades on those frames in that first picture? I really have about 1000 questions, and I don't really know where to begin. Thanks for the inspiration

Hey Paul, this is a BIG bird, so I expect things to take a little longer Just keep us updated with this. I think 2014 might bring the cutaway version for me, and I'll need pointers from you.

Jeez....will it fix up ok?

This has been a hell of a ride Iain. I can't wait to see it under a single primer coat.

So can I, these days. This one is just superb, and I can give nothing other than many thumbs here, among friends

I feel for you. The fit isn't great, and it's nothing to do with the builder when you look at that joint. Still, you fixed it up and it'll look just fine. I'm leaving the tail off my Komet, so I don't have to worry about that...

Can you tell me how you got this great metal effect on this:

Hi Steve, I saw this in a recent Airfix Model World, and I'm using for reference for my build. This has to be one of the best Eindecker builds I saw. I seriously hope you can share your ongoing projects with us.

...always a pleasure I think I might roll this one out myself next year.

1:32 Lozenge, faded and overprinted, and Naval lozenge Wood and Wire Catalogue #: see article for #, links and price Available from Nordland Models We recently took a look at the Fokker D.VII lozenge sets from Old Propeller. These sets are what is described as cookie-cut, meaning the shapes are pre-printed, and just need removing from the decal sheet. If you want to approach your model in the traditional lozenge manner, and lay strips of decal instead of whole pieces, then this is the decal type you've been after. The sets we're looking at today are: D32001, 5 colour upper lozenge with rib tapes (faded and overprint effect), £9.12 D32002, 5 colour lower lozenge with rib tapes (faded and overprint effect), £9.12 D32041, German Naval Lozenge (Brown version), £8.25 These Wood and Wire decal sets are packaged into a resilient clear, re-sealable wallet, and come with a sheet of stiffening card within, and a high quality colour instructions insert to the rear. The 4 and five colour lozenge sheets are NOT base-white, but instead are printed directly to the decal paper, without the while silk-screen inking layer. If you are ordering decals from Old Propeller, this is a highly important factor in your purchase. The base-white decals, having a solid white ink layer underneath the laser printed fabric, means that what you see on the decal sheet is actually what you get in terms of the applied look. From there, you will need to add any shading etc over the top of them. These transparent decals are a different animal. D32001, 5 colour upper lozenge with rib tapes (faded and overprint effect), £9.12 With transparent decals, the laser printer(which cannot print white) has simply printed the fabric pattern to the decal paper. Beyond this pattern, everything else which you will see on your model, pre-decaling, will be seen through the decal itself. Transparent decals mean you need to thoroughly prepare your model for its eventual appearance, BEFORE you decal. This actually has many possibilities that base-white decals don't. After painting your model white, you may decide to add some shading to the wing rib areas, or the fabric edges in between the fuselage formers. You may also decide to add the oil and burnt castor stains to the model before you apply the decal. When the decal is applied over these, these stains will appear more ingrained, organic and very natural. Of course, test your depth of pre-shade and pre-weathering on a scrap piece of plastic first, with a sample of the decal sheet. D32002, 5 colour lower lozenge with rib tapes (faded and overprint effect), £9.12 Each of the lozenge sheets is printed with an exquisite fabric texture, which may or may not be slightly over-stated. Either way, there's no doubt that this looks like a woven and printed fabric cloth, so in that respect, it's mission complete. Compared to the Wingnut Wings lozenge decal, this makes the latter look very drab and monotone indeed. The actual finish too is that of an aged/faded fabric, where the colours have lost a little of their initial vibrancy, and the actual fabric effect is more clearly seen in this respect. The 'overprinted' effect referred to on the description relates to the way that some lozenge panels slightly overlap the next colour. This is exactly how the real fabric was, with the slight tolerances in the printing process causing this same effect. The effect is infinitesimally subtle, but can be seen in you stare for long enough! Each A4 sheet is divided into 4 longwise strips of lozenge fabric, as you would see if unreeled from their spool (bolt). As these were slightly doubled at the joints, before stitching, you might want to check the width if you are a scale freak. You may or may not need to reduce the width by a millimeter either side to represent that surface loss. Naval Lozenge We revert back to base-white for this particular set, with the laser-printed decals being laid over a base of screen-printed white ink. This means that the finish you see on the decal sheet is exactly what you will see after decal application. The lozenge isn't the strange pattern used on standard Idflieg aircraft either, but instead is a more regular, slightly stretched hexagonal shape. The fabric weave seen on this is again excellent, and a little more understated than the regular lozenge sheets. The sheet is also printed as one solid 'mass' of lozenge, with feint horizontal bars which may or may not indicate the edge of that particular fabric roll. Check your reference as I'm not very clued up on Naval lozenge. This set is also described as 'brown version'. This basically means that the colours used seem to have a brownish tint/filter applied to the standard colour. Again, I'm not certain if this is how the material was printed, or perhaps how it eventually looked after exposure to light/salt air etc. Either way, it does look quite superb. Conclusion I wanted to show you something from Old Propeller which was a little more generic for WW1 builder, and this was the result, with the exception of the Naval lozenge which is aimed at a fairly narrow market now. The possibilities with transparent decals are far greater than using base-white ones, but of course, need more discipline in preparation. The overall quality of these sets is everything that we now expect from this relatively new manufacturer, and I don't doubt we'll start to see more models on display stands, finished with this quite extraordinary product. Highly recommended Our sincere thanks to Old Propeller for the review samples used here. To purchase directly, click THIS link. James H.

Hey Rosco, welcome to LSM. I do have one comment about your workspace. It's TOO tidy. The best remedy is to open a kit and share it with us

NOW, you are talking! That looks simply astounding......

Superb! Any more like this?

Extremely impressive. Just how do you follow on from this build?

Where am I at with this? Well, the model is mostly assembled, and I've started to prep this for Uschi wood grain decal. For this, a base coat of Gunze Flesh goes down, followed by a thinned black for pre-shade, and Radome for lightening. After this, the whole lot is blended with Radome. More soon!

That looks fantastic stuff, and very natural looking. Do you recommend the Pro-Vitamin B5 hairspray, or would regular Silvikrin be ok? I've got loads left since I lost all my hair.

Another superb 'how to'. Can you tell me how you get that realistic leather effect on the edge of the cockpit exterior?

Bloody hell Peter, you're a brave man. Such great work, and you make it look so easy. I know it's now though

Such a simple idea and I never would have thought of doing it. Thanks for posting this.

The Bradley is one of those armour subjects I really like. I have one of these myself, and perhaps next year, I'll resurrect. Your finish is superb, so I'll be checking into this topic for reference.

PERFECT!