Best 1/48 aircraft decals?

Modeling Subjects Aircraft
1

My Tamiya 1/48 Fock Wulf 190 F-8 is on hold. I tried to put on some decals and they would just disintegrate (break up into tiny pieces) when I attempted to slide them off the carrier. I’ll now do what I should have done when I first received the kit - scan the decals so if something bad happens (which, unfortunately it has.) I’ll have recourse to print my own.

However, and to the point of this topic, I’d like to know what brand(s) of third party decal makers I might put some faith in since I’ll also probably be ordering a set from somewhere on the internet. Any opinions? I’d sure appreciate some.

Mike

2

Was this s new Tamiya kit? If so you can contact them for free replacements.

From experience, I cannot narrow down a specific aftermarket decal maker as the best one. I have used alot of brands and they were all excellent.

3

Well, after about an hour and a half of going through about 1500 receipts I finally found the receipt for the kit. I bought it on eBay back on 6/15/13. I’ll contact Tamiya but I don’t want to wait 6 weeks for a replacement - time is more valuable than money (within limits [:D]) to me at this point in my life.

Thanks for the reply anyway.

Mike

4

In the a/m decal world…I have learned to STAY AWAY from Peddinhaus and Authentic Decals. Otherwise, I have always had a decent experience.

5

I’ve always had fairly good luck with the Aeromaster line up. I can’t tell you they are the best and all that but I can tell you that they work…well.

6

Unfortunately one of the two sets I ordered before I saw your reply is one from Authentic. The other is from EagleCal. However, in both cases I’ll scan the sets so I have a copy in my computer and should be able to use my decal paper to print them out on my printer.

Thanks for the reply. If I weren’t so anxious to just get on with finishing this kit I’d have waited a reasonable period of time to give members like you a chance to see my post and reply. I’m just real antsy to finish it.

Mike

7

In this case you want EagleCal or Aeromaster. Don’t even bother contacting Tamiya for more of their crappy decals.

8

The Authentic Decals I have used, lloked great…but, as soon as I went to slide the decal off the paper, it just dissintegrated. I sprayed clear gloss(lacquer) over the rest of the sheet and was able to use them. Still delicate, but usable. Each decal had to be cut close to the marking (on account of the clear gloss I sprayed). The smaller decals were easier to deal with…the big one remained a little brittle. In the case of a 1/48 190…you shouldn’t have too much trouble…as long as you give the sheet a good coat of gloss or a liquid decal solution (I can’t think of what it’s called…but I know it’s out there!)

As for the Peddinghaus decals I mentioned…I’ve only used one set. The marking were printed on a whole sheet of decal paper, so each had to be cut close to the markings (not a huge deal), but the colors were pretty much see-through.

9

Fermis,

Thanks again for the info. I have Testor’s Decal Bonder which I’ve used before and will try it again when I get the Authentic decals. I didn’t think I’d need that stuff for the Tamiya decals but, for the remaining kit decals, that’s what I’m going to do. I’ll just have to cut them really closely - as you mentioned - and as I’ve done in the past when I printed from decal paper using my inkjet printer.

Mike

10

I forgot about Eagle Cals. I’ve had nothing but the greatest luck with those. You should be happy with them.

11

Yeah as Nathan said the Tamiya decals aren’t all that great in the first place. I use them sometimes but they’re thick and don’t work as well as most aftermarket.

You should be able to find lotsa decals for a FW-190. Just a few:

Eagle Cals

Eagle Strike

Lifelike

And of course good ol’ Superscale/Microscale which I’m surprised no one has mentioned.

I’ve heard some of issues with AeroMaster getting little things like the colour of ID numbers wrong etc but the decals themselvies work great!