This decal sheet from
Hobby
Decal
includes dry transfer stencils for the 1/48 Spitfire. Full sized 1/1 aircraft have
their stencils painted on using paint stencils. Regular decals are
ink printed on a clear carrier film....which is fine, but they are not as
accurate in look and application as dry transfers.
Dry transfers are
reverse printed on a temporary clear film. When you apply the
stencils you lay the back of the stencils on the painted surface of the
model and then burnish (rub) them down through the clear temporary carrier
film. The dry transfer sticks to the model and dis-engages from the
clear carrier film. The beauty of dry transfers is on models with
bare metal finishes. On bare metal finishes you do not have any
clear carrier film as you would have with regular decals.
Click on
images below to see larger images
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The dry
transfers are very clearly printed and will replicate the actual
stencils on the 1/1 Spitfire perfectly.
I must confess it was
quite difficult to photo these tiny stencils and accurately capture
them in an image for this review. But rest assured....these
are very clearly printed and you will be impressed. To apply the dry transfers
you need a rounded tool to rub the clear carrier film to burnish the
dry transfer top the painted surface of the model. Above is
the tool sent to me by Hobby
Decal....my wife recognized this as a Crochet needle....a type
of knitting.
The 2 pages of
instructions are clear and include 1 page of Black and white line
drawings showing stencils placement. Plus a second cardboard
page which includes 8 steps of instructions with drawings and text
instructions. This page is cardboard to give protect to the
product and avoid bending during shipping. The Hobby
Decal website
also has instruction on installing dry transfers.
If you want
maximum realism.......then try these dry transfers, you will be impressed.
Hobby
Decal has a
variety of dry transfers for a large variety of aircraft.
I would like
to thank Hobby
Decal for providing
me with this review sample.
Steve
Bamford
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