I know this has been kicked around by some other members but some of my recent experiences urge me to bring it up again.
Jurgen in Belgium needs swastikas, I needed New Zealand Kiwi roundels (thanks for sending them !!!)…someone else needed “x” or has “y”…
There are gobs of aftermarket sheets as well as some quality manufacturer’s sheets. Problem is they don’t always seem to be the right one or there are just too many of the other types. I would ask how many times you could do an F4 or a P51 or any other type, but each bird has it’s own fan club.
So here goes, for your consideration and critical analysis and input:
1. For Forum members 2. The webmaster or Powers That Be (PTB) establish a dedicated forum “room” for the exchange. 3. It be broken down by subject and scale, i.e Aircraft, 1/48, 1/32 etc. etc. 4. There is no charge to the requesting person other than postal costs. We do not want to frost the makers or the first distibutors, like Squadron or Meteor or Pacific Coast or Mike Grant. 5. Sender has to fully disclose the condition of the decals. IE they are “leftovers” or the sheet had one of 7 aircraft removed from it, as well as the approximate age of the sheet.
I think this is a good idea, though it could rapidly become an administrative nightmare. It is ironic that my topic about needing some 1/48 Memphis Belle decals came up at the same time! And yes, I’d be happy to swap if I’ve got anything you can use!
Sorry no 1/48 Belle sheets…You are from Albq…could never spell it…my sister in law lives there, right at the base of the Sandia’s…how often do you get down to White Sands?
Yes I got them, have not had a bunch of time to really take a look at that sheet for the suspect decal you mentioned before, I will and will be in touch…
I think it’s a great idea! I have decals for 1/32 and 1/48 a/c that I’ll never use. I also suffer from the dreaded “can’t find a certain decal” disease. I’ve been the recepient of both parts and decals from Forum members before, and it’s been a tremendous help. Again, I have to agree that it would be a task to accomplish a data base, etc., but well worth the effort.[2c]
Guys, I am happy that there are more people wanting to engage on this matter. However. The powers that be on this site, have made it clear that they have certain interests to protect, and arent all that keen on any trading what so ever on this site… As for it just being a decal exchange program, I tried to start interest in it months ago… I for one was very lazy and never followed it up, as I was stuck with work commitments… A member here did however offer his services in a way of a web site… Look, I am sure if it is just simple banter between members, and not a blatant market for profit, then I think you should feel free to let people know what you have to trade… I for one have a box load of decals to trade, so I guess the discussion is in fact healthy!.. I plan on taking pictures of the decals I have, and posting them… ANyone that wants to swap are more than welcome!.
I too have a box load of unopened decal sheets I will never have any use for. Many are quite expensive (I have the Zotz sheet with the Memphis Belle and 15 other B-17F’s on it, but it’s a $35 set of sheets, and I hate to break it up to cut out the markings for one bird in case someone wants to trade it for something I need. If there was a decent B-17F kit in 1/48 – that’s the scale of this sheet, though it comes in 1/72 – I’d buy it and build it in a minute) and many are pretty fancy dry transfers in all scales. But I don’t want to give them away for nothing on eVilBay. I’m not out for profit on the decals, I just want to trade them for things that will be practical for me. But, if we’re going to do it, FSM will not allow us to come within a thousand feet of their operation with this idea. I’m surprised the thread has been allowed to go on this long.
TOM
The idea sounds like a great one…I feel though that the administers of this site might take exception to it if it were organized in such a way where profit could be made from selling the decals…I wouldn’t expect there is anything wrong with trading sheets and paying for postage…if members choose to do so…It would be nice to see an organized section where you could see what’s available…but others would have to contribute…just like they do daily with posts on this site about aircraft…
I agree with the risk we run of having one of FSM advertisers getting P.O.'d about a swap room. There is the arguement that it is almost like free advertising for thier product. However if we run the risk of this frosting the PTB then it should stop…Just an idea that I thought was worth a mention. No offense to the publishers or any of the advertisers…
I offered to assist in this project, using my site as a meens for people to exchange their decals, for those interested the site addy is: s9.invisionfree.com/Scale_Magic/index.php
It’s open to all and I hope this helps most model builders.
Hey Rob,
Thanks for your help… I am sorry I wasnt able to help you follow the decals idea up a few months ago… To be honest. With work, and then getting stuck into a whole heap of projects, I kinda forgot all about it…Thanks again mate!.
Hey Rob. I will be taking pictures of all my decals tomorrow, and so was thinking about putting them up on your decal thread… I think if everyone layed the decals they have to swap on the floor, and take a picture. then everyone can have a look at what they have, and then a trade, or other arrangements can be made!.. Also guys, Rob has a good site there, that needs a little more input. So go have a look at the url above and check it out!.
Great idea in my opinion (it look likes the "Parts yard from JM Perreault)
I have a lot of decal sheet in my collection that i will not use (1/72 and more )some are old (like me !!)and need "Microscale/Superscale " decal restoring system before use.
Best regards P Medard
there is another scale modelling website that already has a forum just for this kind of thing, and they have about the same advertisers and their advertisers don’t object at all.
FYI, If you have paid for kit, you also paid for the decals as well, so with any leftover, you are free to do whatever you want to do with them, as long as profit is not involved.
The decal exchange is a wonderful idea. One thing though that the Iinvisionfree webmasters/owners may want to consider is that if everyone posted their decals as graphic images, it may start eating away at space on their servers. Lobbie can give us a better idea on what is available and what rules we should follow (i.e. JPG or GIF or what other format, how much compression, maximum file size, etc). For example, since I’m involved in graphic design in writing software I know how to and I make my own scratchbuilt decals if there is something I cannot find, and since I also scan and save every decal set I get with kits (for backup purposes in case I mess up!), I have close to 3 gigabytes of images. Even with 50 % compression, we are talking 1.5 gigs of space that I don’t think Invisionfree may want to part with just for one person.
So we may want to start with just a text catalog like JoeRugby suggested, maybe searchable, and if someone is interested in looking at the images, they could email the owner, or if the owner has his/her own website, they may want to have them posted in there and link to them from the catalog.
I don’t know, just thinking, maybe Lobbie might come back and say they have tons of space so go for it just the fact that he is hosting that forum is really gracious of him. I just joined it today, thanks Lobbie!
Christos
… “A modeler with no imagination is like a pilot without a plane” …
just the fact that he is hosting that forum is really gracious of him. I just joined it today, thanks Lobbie!