 Nazca Decals
Although the airliner community is only a small segment of the overall
plastic modeling universe, we have seen a wonderful growth in both product
and numbers throughout the past decade. With the ability to communicate
through SIGs and the explosion of e-commerce, ours is a pretty happy
and well served lot. There are many sources of supply available and the
model makers like Revell and Minicraft have seen fit to grace us with
some of the best kits we’ve ever seen. One of the dilemmas we often
run across is what to do about all of those wonderfully colorful schemes
that the airlines are presenting on their flying billboards. Although
the decal sheets that come with the kits are often pretty good, what
is one to do if they want a specialized scheme? Enter the aftermarket
decal producers.
 There has been discussion recently about the cost involved in putting
together the artwork for these “custom” sheets. As well, one
of the producers has hinted at backing away from the business due to
the large quantity required to do a silk screened print run (usually
a minimum of 500 sheets) and the fact that he might be stuck sitting
on large stock supplies if the issue is not as popular as it was hoped
to be. While a silk screened product is the ultimate way to go in regards
to quality, his concerns are understandable. There are other methods
of achieving our means, though. Decals can be produced on color laser
printers and thermal ink transfer printers such as are or were produced
by ALPS and Okidata. There are several decal producers utilizing this
method and they are coming up with some very impressive end results.
Due to the method employed, printing on an as required basis is possible
thus lowering the potential risk to the decal maker.
 The
newest kid on the block is based in Germany. Nazca
Decals is
the baby of Gaston Roca. Gaston is a commercial pilot and airliner modeling
enthusiast. He has created a line of decal sheets using both laser and
thermal printing methods. Which one is used on any given project is dependent
on what is required vis-à-vis the effect, metallic content, and
so on. The decals are printed on a continuous clear sheet so each individual
design must be cut away from the carrier as close as possible to the
artwork itself thus avoiding excessive clear around the applied decal.
A
visit to the Nazca web site will present you with a message that ordering
is not yet possible. That’s not true. I guess Gaston has been so
busy with his projects that he hasn’t had time to update that part
of the site. Clicking into the decals will bring up a list of available
and proposed projects. While most are of South American subjects, there
are a few European airlines available and even Tiger Airways, the new
Singapore Airlines owned LCC. It was the Tiger A320 sheet that intrigued
me most, so I
placed an order for that and several other sheets on the list through
Nazca’s e-commerce site. Payment by PayPal was a rather easy affair
to handle and within 10 days of placing the order, the decals arrived
at my mailbox in Canada. Great service!
 THE SHEETS
Along with the Tiger sheet for the Revell A320, I also ordered ACES
Colombia’s new Summa scheme and TACA/Cubana sheets for the same
aircraft. As well, two sheets for the Welsh Models ATR-42 in Air Dolomiti
and Contact Air schemes. Both
are Lufthansa Regional carriers. The final sheet ordered was for the
Revell Dornier 228-200 in Air Guadeloupe’s new color scheme. This
is one kit that is sorely lacking in aftermarket subject availability
so it’s nice to see that Nazca has given it some attention.
All decal sheets are fairly complete with titles, windows, doors, and
multiple registration decals where applicable. The ATR and Dornier sheets
are full of detail subjects as well. The A320 sheets lack the detail
bits. Those could be taken from the rather complete decal sheet that
comes with the kit or from the detail
sheet available from LU/AHS.
 The instruction sheets are rather sparse showing only a color drawing
of the subject aircraft in scheme. There are no suggestions given for
any special paint colors required to complete a scheme so you’re
on your own in that regard. A quick check on airliners.net would likely
yield some suitable reference photos if you need them.
If I have one criticism, it’s that on the A320 sheets, the passenger
windows are printed
as part of the overall scheme. This could cause a couple of problems.
The first is for those who choose to keep their kit windows open and
fill them with Kristal Kleer or Clearfix. It’s not an easy task
to trim out those decal windows. The second comes for those of us, like
me, who do use decal windows. Having them as part of the complete scheme
means that a rather complex task to apply smaller bits is further complicated
by having to concentrate on the entire fuselage side rather than directly
on the required subject. I’ve voiced my concern about this to Nazca
and hopefully they will 
consider a redesign to have the windows as a separate item.
That having been the only negative I could find thus far, I must say
that the product I see is well worth the price. Average is around EURO
8.00 per sheet. The colors are vibrant and seem to be accurate, printing
detail is excellent, and the service from Nazca is first rate. I’m
looking forward to applying these schemes to some real plastic. I’ll
report further when that has been done. In the meantime, have a look
at the web site and enjoy yet another opportunity to pick up some great
looking artwork for your airliner collection. |
|
