Re: Albatros DV Markings

Douglas R. Jones (djones@iex.com)
Fri, 5 Aug 1994 13:12:47 -0600

May I suggest getting some decal material from LABCO and if you have a
color photo or print of the emblem, go to a copy shop and get a color copy
on paper to make sure of the size. Then have them use the reduction amount
or blow up amount necessary o put it on the LABCO paper. Spray the decal
with some artist set etc to protect it and float it off. One warning, I
used this technique to put the Dragon and letters ona 1/6th scale Bristol
M-1C. The LABCO paper is a base paper with the actual glue on the surface.
It does not seem to bother copy machines or laser printers, but the decal
IS THE IMAGE and any protective coat you place over it. Bottom line it can
be VERY THIN. As in my case. The letters and dragon were cut from paint
mask and sprayed with Sig dope in proper British WWI colors. I then floated
the letter/number for the tail off and that's when I found out that there
was nothing below the paint but the water activated glue. I sprayed the
dragons with a coat of flat clear dope. This helped but I should have done
several coats.

The beauty in this is the decal can be extremely thin! Interesting stuff
and certainly deserving of another try.

On the subject of painting/markings. I suppose in the 1/72 and 1/48 world
there are plenty of aftermarket options available for markings. But this
isn't quite the case with 1/6 and 1/5. If you need to make roundels or the
like. Try a sign shop. They will cut paint mask (4 mil think white mylar)
in reverse. All you have to do is apply, burnish, and remove each section
and paint. Very simple and quite cheap. The C4096 for my M1C cost me $5 for
2". Cheap and look great! Most sign shops also have 2mil mylar in various
colors that could be used as decals. They can generally cut most any shape.
And some will use your .bmp or .gif/.tif files.

Doug
-------------------------------------------------------------------
'I am a traveler of | Douglas R. Jones
both Time and Space' | IEX Corporation
Led Zeppelin | (214)301-1307
| djones@iex.com
-------------------------------------------------------------------