Old Propeller 1:32 Four Colour Upper/Lower Lozenge Decal with rib tapes

[James H]

1:32 Four Colour Upper/Lower Lozenge Decal with rib tapes

Old Propeller
Catalogue number: see article
Available from Arrow Wolf Models for £9.99 per set

 

 

We've written a number of articles recently which relate to the increasingly popular genre of WW1 aviation modeling. Whether it be kits from Wingnut Wings or Eduard, aftermarket detail sets from HGW, or indeed the fabulous spoked wheels we recently looked at. Whilst HGW themselves have produced their own lozenge decal sheets, until now, they were really the only game in town for 1:32, with the exception of the decals already supplied in the Wingnut Wings kits.

 

Very shortly, we'll have a whole range of new releases from Aviattic, but in the meanwhile, we thought it would be useful to introduce these rather excellent lozenge decal sheets from Czech company, Old Propeller. Under their 'Wood & Wire – Fabric Lozenge series', we have these initial two releases which we think you'll be seriously impressed with.

 

D32004, 4 colour upper Lozenge with rib tapes, 1:32, £9.99
D32005, 4 colour lower Lozenge with rib tapes, 1:32, £9.99

 

Both of these decal sets are presented in a large, re-sealable clear wallet with a product hanger topmost. Each set contains two sheets of decals, A4 in size. The actual lozenge sheet has four lengths of lozenge, 250mm long, and at a pre-determined scale width, whilst the second sheet contains a multitude of rib tape decal in both salmon pink and powder blue colours. This is noticeably more vivid than the actual lozenge decal, which creates an outstanding effect as seen in these images of a Wingnut Wings Albatros D.V, built by Darren Newport (Coolbox) on the Large Scale Modeller forums.

 

 

 

 

The first thing that strikes you when you see the lozenge is just how ultra-realistic it looks. The real thing was printed onto Irish linen, and of course you would still see some of the warp and weft of the fabric, irrespective of the inks used to colour it. This is what Old Propeller have tried to create here, and in my eye, they've nailed it. Of course, this is another one of those things which some will argue against and say that the fabric weave wasn't really noticeable, so at 1:32, it should be almost, if not completely invisible. I suppose it's like the panel line argument all over.

 

If you've seen the lozenge decal which is supplied with Wingnut Wings kits, you'll certainly be struck as to just how different this approach looks. It makes the WNW decals look quite radioactive in their colour intensity and solidity. Remember that the WNW decals are printed as solid colour lozenge with no fabric representation. I have seen modellers work absolute wonders with the kit stock decals, as Jeroen Veen did with the Fokker D.VII which was/is to be published in Tamiya Model magazine. Jeroen toned down his decals with oils to fade things out and make it look more organic.

 

 

These decal sheets are FOUR colour lozenge, whereas WNW supply FIVE colour, but I have tried to show you the difference in approach between the two types of decal.

 

For the Albatros that Darren built using Old Propeller decals, he used carbon to gently tone the fabric adjacent to the rib tapes, then he used a fixative spray to set everything in place. Combined with the actual fabric appearance of the decal, the effect really does look like fabric stretched and tightened between ribs. Quite outstanding.

 

 

 

The printing of the lozenge is also of the very highest standard, with beautifully reproduced colour across the strip. The accompanying sheet states that there was a slight over-printing of colours on the real thing, and they have indeed represented this on these sheets. Whilst subtle, I can indeed see that effect. I think something is slightly lost in translation on the instruction sheet, but from what I can gather, the lozenge is produced on a high grade laser printer, whilst the rib tapes are produced in the traditional way using silk-screen methods. It would certainly appear to be so as the tapes have a thickness to them over the top of the carrier film, whereas the lozenge doesn't.

 

 

 

The instructions also suggest you lay a coat of Mr Surfacer 1000 over the wing/fuselage to be decaled, and polish. Of course, this is standard practice, but it also mentions pre-shading around the 'ports'. I presume from this, it actually means 'ribs'. If that pre-shade can be seen, it of course means there is at least a slight translucency in the decals, so be careful about whether you use grey or white primer. Try a test piece first. An 'installing lotion' is mentioned, but of course, this is a decal setting solution. It does say only to use on the underside of the decals, presumably to protect the laser inks. No filters are required either, as this may impair the visual aspect of the fabric texture.

 

 

 

 

Conclusion
These decal sets are stunning, and I hope to be able to bring you further products from this exciting company. I've already decided to strip the Pfalz D.IIIa wings and use the correct Old Propeller equivalent sets. I'll keep you updated on that. In the meanwhile, seriously consider giving this product a try. You can see the results for yourself.

 

Very highly recommended

 

James H.

 

Review samples courtesy of Arrow Wolf Models. To purchase directly, click THIS link.

 

[JeroenPeters]

Wow! Grant! Order incoming!!

[coolboxx]

Great review thx James

[coolboxx]

Great review James thx. I used the 5 colour version for this model they where nice to use i could do little patch repairs with no evidence of repair and a little trick was to use the out lined Blue border around the rib tape sheet as The thin Blue tape on the ailerons had to stick it down with satin acrylic varnish as they are not glue backed

[mikec]

.

.

.

Greetings Guy & Gals;

 

 

..... Very nice ........... these decals look very close to fabric. They also look very nice realistic when viewed 

from the cockpit. If you build WW-I, German aircraft, they are Highly desirable ........    .

 

 

 

Mike

[Vladimir Ziska]

Hello Jim,

 

thank you very much for your review.

 

Cheers,

 

Vladimir