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Modeldecal brand decals
Topic Started: Sep 24 2017, 02:15 PM (650 Views)
jvd59
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Has anyone ever heard of or used MODELDECAL brand
decals? Do they have a website, still in business? Thanks---John
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Scott Hemsley
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Beast
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John...

Modeldecal existed back in the 70's and were fairly prolific. Well printed and researched, their accompanying instruction sheets were regarded as reference material by aircraft modellers in all scales. I knew several die-hard 1/48 modellers wou bought 72nd Modeldecal sheets just for the decal placement instructions.

IMO, if you come across any, pick them up. The quality was excellent. I still have several of their generic RAF sheets (codes and roundels) 'squirreled' away in my decal stash that I still use.''What I havew discovered over time is that Modeldecal (and Xtradecal) don't respond to decal solvents, but work best with plain water and they still lay down over surface details. Even though Modeldecal are no longer in business, many of their sheets have been picked up and reprinted by by Xtradecal (Hannants?).

Possibly someone else may come along with a more detailed account of Modeldecal. All I know for sure is that, for me, I'm still finding myself going to their WW2 RAF generic sheets as replacements for some decals on both kit and (some) AM) sheets.



Scott
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Chuck1945
Hero
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As Scott said, they started about 1968 or 69 and really flourished in the late 70s through to the early 90s. In comparison with modern decals, the Modeldecal decals were relatively thick and fine detail like stencils weren't as sharp. I used a lot of their generic WWII sheets and purchased most of their aircraft specific sheets for the RAF. EE/BAC Lightning and Gloster Meteor sheets were particularly prolific. My comment about relative sharpness of printing came about when new BAC Lightning kits were released a few years ago. I immediately dug into my Modeldecal stash for subject choices and compared them to the new issues from Hannant's Xtradecal range and noticed the difference. Their instructions regarding painting and decal placement remain unrivaled today IMO, only Aviaeology and Fündecals are as complete
Chuck
Eastern WA, USA
Finished 2018:
Eduard Spitfire IXc, VIII, Monogram/Starfighter BFC-2
On the active bench:
Eduard Bf 110C, Hasegawa B-24D, SH P-40E
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jvd59
none
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Thanks, the sheet I am looking at is slightly yellowed around the edges.
This should not effect them? And do you really need to put them in the
sun to bleach them white again? Isn't it only the decal paper that's actually
yellowed? Thanks again.---John
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peebeep
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Lots Of Trouble Usually Serious
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Basically what Scott and Chuck say. Modeldecals were ground breaking in quality when Richard Ward first started up the range. I'm sure if Dick Ward were still doing decals at the present time they would be amongst the best around, but the fact is that print technology has moved on a lot since the last Modeldecal sheets were issued and if you compare them with contemporary products the difference in quality is noticeable. That said, many of the sheets contain gems of artwork and colourful schemes, in some cases probably unique in subject choice and as mentioned the instructions are incredibly useful mini reference works in themselves. It would be worth looking through old listings to see if there's anything you like the look of, I'd say some, if not most of the sheets are still worth a punt. Hannant's list everything that they still hold and the sheets of generic stuff are gradually being replaced with equivalent stuff in the Xtradecal range. If you do an ebay search you'll get dozens of hits.
www.locate-and-cement.com
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RevellAtions
Bring me my chariot of fire
Paul Brown, Chelmsford, UK Posted Image
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peebeep
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Lots Of Trouble Usually Serious
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Sunlight really does bleach out any yellow in the decal varnish. If you have a UV lamp that will work just as well.
www.locate-and-cement.com
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RevellAtions
Bring me my chariot of fire
Paul Brown, Chelmsford, UK Posted Image
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jvenables
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Hawk
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There seems to have been quite a lot of Modeldecal sheets appearing on eBay over recent months which has me wondering if the brand name has been rejuvenated...?
James from Brisbane, Australia
Now living in Laos

Nil illegitimi carborundum
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Paul Boyer
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Hero
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As others have stated, Modeldecal items were top quality for their day. I still have several sheets in the pile. One thing I noticed is that the first few sheets had decals that did not respond to ANY solvent. I even got so frustrated with one of the decals that I placed one in lacquer thinner to see it it would soften. Nope. However, they reprinted many of the early sheets and used a different carrier film that would respond to typical decal solvents. Considering that their main competition in those days was Microscale, it's really amazing how superior Modeldecal sheets were at the time, especially when it came to detailed instructions. Here is a Fujimi A-7E done with one of the reprinted Modeldecal sheets:

Posted Image
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dknights
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The court of LAST RESORT!
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Paul Boyer,Sep 24 2017
10:23 PM
As others have stated, Modeldecal items were top quality for their day. I still have several sheets in the pile. One thing I noticed is that the first few sheets had decals that did not respond to ANY solvent. I even got so frustrated with one of the decals that I placed one in lacquer thinner to see it it would soften. Nope. However, they reprinted many of the early sheets and used a different carrier film that would respond to typical decal solvents. Considering that their main competition in those days was Microscale, it's really amazing how superior Modeldecal sheets were at the time, especially when it came to detailed instructions. Here is a Fujimi A-7E done with one of the reprinted Modeldecal sheets:

Posted Image

Paul,

I remember that sheet. As you say, for their time they were just amazing sheets. I still have a few.
David M. Knights
Fortes fortuna adiuvat

14 Finished: Special Armor V-2, Airfix P-51
15 Finished: SBS Gladiator engine
16 Finished: Brengun C2 Wasserfall, Merit SS-N-2 Styx, World's smallest diorama, Airfix Hurricane.
17 Finished: Japanese Carrier Deck, Belcher SS-4, Italeri AB41, PLAN Type 039A (not 72nd scale)
18 Finished: NONE
The bench:Platz T-33, Trump. T-34/85, Meng F-106, Airfix P-51 #2, Airfix P-40
Revell MiG-21F-13, Ace Citroen V-11
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peebeep
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Lots Of Trouble Usually Serious
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Paul Boyer,Sep 25 2017
02:23 AM
One thing I noticed is that the first few sheets had decals that did not respond to ANY solvent. I even got so frustrated with one of the decals that I placed one in lacquer thinner to see it it would soften.

I think Dick Ward probably regarded setting agents as a newfangled idea. ;)

Here's a sample from the instructions that appears on quite a few of the sheets:

Posted Image
www.locate-and-cement.com
Locate and Cement website
RevellAtions
Bring me my chariot of fire
Paul Brown, Chelmsford, UK Posted Image
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Chuck1945
Hero
[ * ]
peebeep,Sep 25 2017
09:32 AM
I think Dick Ward probably regarded setting agents as a newfangled idea.  ;)

Here's a sample from the instructions that appears on quite a few of the sheets:

Posted Image

I used the generic roundels a lot (still do in fact) and remember those instructions and that even without Micro-Sol or similar, they still managed to settle over or into panel lines. Given the time frame and raised panel lines, I guess 'settle over' is the operative expression :)
Chuck
Eastern WA, USA
Finished 2018:
Eduard Spitfire IXc, VIII, Monogram/Starfighter BFC-2
On the active bench:
Eduard Bf 110C, Hasegawa B-24D, SH P-40E
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Jonathan
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Destroy All Monsters
[ * ]
Modeldecal was the brainchild of Dick Ward and remains the gold standard for how you research and design decals. I buy any sheet I can find simply to marvel at the detail and thoroughness Dick applied to his work. The man was a genius.

The only debit was that the printing - by Colourslide - often resulted in thick varnish, and that's only in comparison to today's ultra thin, tough varnishes.

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jimmy brown
Beast
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A name from the past! Had many of their sets for WW2 aircraft in the 70s, very good at the time
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Dave Fleming
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Beast
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Hannants have reprinted several of the generic roundel sheets, and whilst the printing is superb, sadly the colours are not as accurate.

I suspect this is down to modern printing, where the colours are printed from the standard Pantone ranges, whereas Modeldecal had silk screen inks mixed to match the proper BS shades. This is especially noticable in the blues.
IPMS UK Harrier SIG

http://harriersig.org.uk/
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John Thompson
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Hero
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Yeah, like most of us of a certain age, I too have some (actually, quite a few) Modeldecal sheets socked away. While the old Microscale sheets were certainly good decals, there's just no comparison whatsoever between the detailed Modeldecal instruction sheets and the crude things produced by Microscale.

I do have one beef regarding the ink on these sheeets, though - I've got at least one (for the Gloster Javelin, IIRC) where the white in the code letters or whatever has a very noticeable pinkish tint to it, which doesn't respond to sunlight bleaching.

John
i cant brain today - i have the dumb
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