This decal sheet from
Hobby Decal
includes dry transfer stencils
for the 1/32 Bf-109. 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 Bf-109 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 to 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....and for a
bare metal finish there really is no substitute for dry transfer stencils.
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 product sample.
Steve
Bamford
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