Wednesday, November 3, 2010

What's the difference between Alps and regular decals?

This is a common question that I'm currently working on providing an answer to by way of an article I'll publish in the FOR section of Aero Imageworks website. As a decal producer and consumer over many years I'll provide the reader with a unique insight into the production and application of scale model decals together with the pros and cons of Alps and screen printing. Whether you are a novice or experienced modeller I'm sure you'll find it interesting.

Some of it will seem pretty basic such as how I apply decals. However, it's worth mentioning as every modeller has his own technique so there maybe something about my approach that others like and can adopt. I'll also comment on how to review decals. Time and time again I've read decal reviews where the reviewer hasn't really thought about what decals are and how they are applied. Decals end up being cut to pieces (literally!), dunked in water, dissolved, patted, pressed, squeezed, dried, coated with clear paint and finally weathered. Pretty rough treatment!