Print Scale 1/48 US Stars Dry Transfers By Mike Whye

Besides its waterslide decals, Print Scale has also released CatNo 0002-48, dry transfer 1/48 scale decals of the U.S. national insignia from 1940 - 1942. The sheet title notes this sheet is Part 1; Part 2 is another decal sheet representing the markings of 1942 - 1943 (when viewing Print Scale’s online catalog, be aware that although the titles for some images read as 1/72 scale decals, when you view the sheets up close, you can see 1/48 is actually written on the sheets). From what I see on the Print Scale‘s current website, Parts 1 and 2 are the only ones so far for American national markings.

The Part 1 sheet has blue roundels with white stars of different sizes and three types--just the basic blue roundels and white stars, roundels with yellow outlines and roundels with red centers. I think they look fine and will go good with any model. Although I like the density of the blue, I wonder if the red circles are a bit light. This could be my eyes playing tricks with me but I dug into my stash of decals and came up with, lo and behold, the realization that each manufacturer of decals has a different idea of what’s red. Look at the attached scan of five decal sheets to see what I’m talking about.

The top one is by Hobbycraft, next down is Monogram, then Minicraft, the fourth down is SuperScale and finally at the bottom is the Print Scale sheet. Draw your own conclusions.

As mentioned, these are DRY TRANSFER decals, just like rub-on lettering. You must burnish them onto the wings and fuselages of your models. I have to say that this will be a new venture for me as I have used only waterslide decals to date on my models. When I worked on architectural drawings eons ago and used rub-on letters, I used the back end of an X-acto knife handle to burnish the letters into place. I would imagine you can buy burnishing tools at art supply stores and perhaps model stores as well, especially with dry transfer decals showing up more and more. However, most of the modeling dry transfer decals made so far are used by armor modelers so if aircraft modelers want some application hints, turn to a website like Lynn Kessler’s to see how he applies the dry transfer decals.

I tried a couple of Print Scale’s dry transfers on the bottom of an old Revell 1/32 Spitfire I’ve had hanging around, unpainted. After removing the backing paper from the rear of the dry transfer sheet, I laid the dry transfer sheet atop an area that had a couple small teardrop-shaped bumps, a small rectangular deflector and an ammo chute exit, and burnished away. Now, keep in mind I’m a complete novice at applying a dry transfer decal. Small amounts of the decal didn’t take to the bumps all that well and that may be because of my technique, not knowing how to handle those bumps. But the rest of it took beautifully and with some more burnishing, using the non-stick backing paper, I was able to get the wing’s recessed detail to show pretty well in the decal. I applied another dry transfer decal to a smooth portion of the wing with no trouble at all and, again, by using the backing paper, burnished it more and voila! This time the decal looks great, again, showing recessed detail very well. I even ran a fingernail over the decals where a recessed panel line passed under them and that technique worked nicely too, showing the panel line in better relief than before. Also, with a sharp blade, I was easily able to cut a hole into where the ammo chute is. With a matte finish, the decals look very impressive.

I’d say with some more practice, I think I could handle these dry transfers pretty well and if I can, I think anyone else should be able to too.

[Editor's Note: Print Scale also supplied the other set of US Star Dry Transfers 003-48 "USAF National Insignia 1942-1943 Part 2" for review. All of Mike's comments apply to these except for one caveat. I'm still trying to figure out where and why the markings with the yellow bars came to play. If any one knows more about these, please email one of IM's staff members. - MEB]

For more information about these decals and others by Print Scale, visit their site. Keep in mind, the website has only a few words in English. Thanks to Print Scale for the review decals.