Jump to content

Request of Aftermarket Decal Makers


Recommended Posts

How about giving us 1/72 scalers some love? Some of you are putting out subjects in 1/48 scale that we would love to have in 1/72 scale. I would prefer to build 1/48 or even 1/32 due to eye site, but I can not due to living in a small 1 bedroom apartment. Your putting out very nice decals and it is a shame that some of us cannot use your products. So please if you are going to make decals in 1/48 make some for us in 1/72?

 

Link to post
Share on other sites

I understand your wanting some of those gorgeous decals in 1/72 scale. Unfortunately, the bottom line is about money. I'm not talking making money. I'm talking hoping you break even! Doing a run of 500 sheets can cost in the thousands of dollars. That's a big gamble if you're not sure you'll sell enough. For an established company, they might be able to weather a sheet that doesn't sell. But for smaller companies, a sheet that doesn't sell can be the end of business for them. It's hard enough trying to pick a sheet that will sell in 1/48 scale, let alone one in 1/72 scale. The reality is that 1/48 sells better. There are a couple companies that cater to 1/72 scale. Wolfpack Decals comes to mind. Mark has create quite a nice little niche market with the way releases multiple subjects on a sheet. I think your best bet would be to approach Wolfpack Decals with subject matter and see if he'd be willing to put it on a future sheet. I know it stinks that 1/72 doesn't seem to get any love. Back in the 1970's, 1/72 was huge, at least in the US. That started changing throughout the 80's to 1/48 scale. 1/32 is making a run, but the models take up so much space, I don't think it will supplant 1/48 anytime soon.

Link to post
Share on other sites
4 hours ago, Darren Roberts said:

I understand your wanting some of those gorgeous decals in 1/72 scale. Unfortunately, the bottom line is about money. I'm not talking making money. I'm talking hoping you break even! Doing a run of 500 sheets can cost in the thousands of dollars. That's a big gamble if you're not sure you'll sell enough. For an established company, they might be able to weather a sheet that doesn't sell. But for smaller companies, a sheet that doesn't sell can be the end of business for them. It's hard enough trying to pick a sheet that will sell in 1/48 scale, let alone one in 1/72 scale. The reality is that 1/48 sells better. There are a couple companies that cater to 1/72 scale. Wolfpack Decals comes to mind. Mark has create quite a nice little niche market with the way releases multiple subjects on a sheet. I think your best bet would be to approach Wolfpack Decals with subject matter and see if he'd be willing to put it on a future sheet. I know it stinks that 1/72 doesn't seem to get any love. Back in the 1970's, 1/72 was huge, at least in the US. That started changing throughout the 80's to 1/48 scale. 1/32 is making a run, but the models take up so much space, I don't think it will supplant 1/48 anytime soon.

Darren

I understand its a crap shoot for them when they have decals printed. All I am saying is if they have a minimum order of say 500 sheet why not mix it say 400 of one then 100 of the other. I am sure the print services would work with them. If I had the capabilities id do my own. I don't have the knowledge or the  equipment. If something doesn't change then I might as well get out. I am sure there are others that feel this way. If we don't everything to expand this hobby then it will die off. I understand and respect your opinion.

Link to post
Share on other sites

I wonder whether something like crowdfunding via Kickstarter or Patreon could work. Say, a manufacturer says they're intending to release decal sheet X in 1/72, but only if they can get amount Y pre-financed through a crowdfunding site. If amount Y is reached, the sheet will go to the printer. If amount Y isn't reached, the sheet won't be printed.To basically eliminate the risk and make sure the sheet won't sit on their shelves. And money ill only flow once amount Y is reached. So no hassle with pre-orders for something that may not ever get off the ground (which I understand is a reason for lots of manufacturers not to take pre-orders).

 

Wouldn't have to be anything fancy with stretch goals, add-ons, or premium stuff for higher-paying backers. Just a pledge for a copy that particular sheet. And maybe a 1 or 2 dollar courtesy donation towards getting that sheet off the ground and supporting the 1/72 decal business in general.

 

 

41 minutes ago, tosouthern66 said:

<...> if they have a minimum order of say 500 sheet why not mix it say 400 of one then 100 of the other. I am sure the print services would work with them. <...>

 

That's not how it works. The minimum order here would be 500 copies per sheet, not 500 sheets in total. Sure, there are outfits that will print fewer copies, but it's gonna cost ya.

Edited by ChernayaAkula
Link to post
Share on other sites
1 hour ago, tosouthern66 said:

Darren

I understand its a crap shoot for them when they have decals printed. All I am saying is if they have a minimum order of say 500 sheet why not mix it say 400 of one then 100 of the other. I am sure the print services would work with them. If I had the capabilities id do my own. I don't have the knowledge or the  equipment. If something doesn't change then I might as well get out. I am sure there are others that feel this way. If we don't everything to expand this hobby then it will die off. I understand and respect your opinion.

Just front the money. I'm sure one of the companies would help.

Link to post
Share on other sites

I would LOVE to be able to print more 1/72 decals. I know Kursad has had success with his 1/72 decals, and I'm glad to see ALL of the decal companies doing fairly well right now. The trick with 1/72 vs. 1/48 is that 1/72 modelers tend to think along the lines of "oh, my kits are smaller and cheaper, so the decals should cost less..."  I know this, because before Brian M. and I started Vagabond, I thought it, too. Cartograf, Microscale, Canuck, etc. all charge not by the size of the markings, but mainly by the number of colors on a sheet, with size of the sheet playing a factor, as well. Assuming the same size sheet (which is reasonable - decal sheets generally speaking are half a standard size piece of paper, roughly), there will be no difference in cost to the decal company if the markings are exactly the same in 1/72 as they are in 1/48. 

 

I'll use the Fights On A-4 sheets as an example. Each sheet has roughly 20 colors on it. If Mike P. were to downscale all the markings by 66.67% to fit a 1/72 A-4 (Fujimi, for example), and send the art to Cartograf, the cost to Fights On to print 500 of those sheets would be... the exact same cost it was for us to print the 500 1/48 scale version of the sheet. There's zero cost savings for smaller scales, and us 1/72 scale guys are cheap, and don't want to pay $20 for a decal sheet, even though that's what the 1/48 scale version costs.

Link to post
Share on other sites
20 minutes ago, MHaz said:

I would LOVE to be able to print more 1/72 decals. I know Kursad has had success with his 1/72 decals, and I'm glad to see ALL of the decal companies doing fairly well right now. The trick with 1/72 vs. 1/48 is that 1/72 modelers tend to think along the lines of "oh, my kits are smaller and cheaper, so the decals should cost less..."  I know this, because before Brian M. and I started Vagabond, I thought it, too. Cartograf, Microscale, Canuck, etc. all charge not by the size of the markings, but mainly by the number of colors on a sheet, with size of the sheet playing a factor, as well. Assuming the same size sheet (which is reasonable - decal sheets generally speaking are half a standard size piece of paper, roughly), there will be no difference in cost to the decal company if the markings are exactly the same in 1/72 as they are in 1/48. 

 

I'll use the Fights On A-4 sheets as an example. Each sheet has roughly 20 colors on it. If Mike P. were to downscale all the markings by 66.67% to fit a 1/72 A-4 (Fujimi, for example), and send the art to Cartograf, the cost to Fights On to print 500 of those sheets would be... the exact same cost it was for us to print the 500 1/48 scale version of the sheet. There's zero cost savings for smaller scales, and us 1/72 scale guys are cheap, and don't want to pay $20 for a decal sheet, even though that's what the 1/48 scale version costs.

Mhaz

I am not one of those guys that thinks 1/72 should be cheaper than 1/48 and I do not have an issue paying the same price as 1/48 scale decals. I only buy the subjects that I want in any scale. If there are other squadron marking on the sheet that I am not interested with I give them away or trade them. Sometimes I will keep them for a later build. I understand the cost issue it's just that I see many 1/48 scale subjects that I want in 1/72 and no one is making them. My opinion is if we only supply one or two scales, then we will slowly loose builders and the hobby will die. We are already seeing a decrease in the number of builders cause the younger generations are not interested in building they are interested in playing. This just my opinion from my observations locally and at the San Antonio show not being what it once was in the numbers of attendance in contestants and observers.

Link to post
Share on other sites
3 hours ago, MHaz said:

The trick with 1/72 vs. 1/48 is that 1/72 modelers tend to think along the lines of "oh, my kits are smaller and cheaper, so the decals should cost less..."

 

I have never understood this -often the same with actual kits too! "Think a-bout it, ya?!" What is the PRACTICAL difference in scaling down to 1/72? A few ounces of plastic or a little less paper! How much is that going to save??? :dontknow:

Link to post
Share on other sites

From a different perspective....

 

Many manufacturers produce very comprehensive sheets with a large number of different options for, say, 17 Tomcats or 23 Vipers. While I appreciate the effort there's not many (if any) of us that are going to build a kit for every marking on the sheet. You end up with a partial sheet of dozens of markings you may never use or didn't want/need in the first place. 

 

Why not offer 48+72 combo sheets covering fewer options in both scales?  Instead of 17 Tomcats in 48th offer 8 or 9 options in each scale on the same sheet? You reach a wider audience, potentially sell more sheets, and the modeler gets to choose? From the modeler standpoint they still spent the same money for a big sheet which they won't fully utilize but they were going to do that anyway.

 

I know Twobobs did this with 48+32 sheets in the past, I don't know how those sheets sold or if the concept is comparable to 48+72.  

 

Just my $0.02 (not adjusted for inflation)

Link to post
Share on other sites

habus

 I had forgotten about that. It would be nice if they went back to mixing scales on the sheets. If the modeler doesn't build in 48th he could trade off those for 72nd that a 48th builder would never build. Plus 2 builders could get together and by those sheets and split them up.

Link to post
Share on other sites
12 hours ago, ChippyWho said:

 

I have never understood this -often the same with actual kits too! "Think a-bout it, ya?!" What is the PRACTICAL difference in scaling down to 1/72? A few ounces of plastic or a little less paper! How much is that going to save??? :dontknow:

 

It's about the space for storing the model after it's done. It's why I model in 1/144. I can fit 17 aircraft and helicopters in a single 11x17 medal case. There's no way I can put 17 1/48 aircraft in my apartment.

 

Link to post
Share on other sites
On 4/1/2017 at 4:03 PM, tosouthern66 said:

Darren

I understand its a crap shoot for them when they have decals printed. All I am saying is if they have a minimum order of say 500 sheet why not mix it say 400 of one then 100 of the other. I am sure the print services would work with them. If I had the capabilities id do my own. I don't have the knowledge or the  equipment.

Wading into the mix...  Speaking about (and only) printing of the color placement guides... I have the unique enjoyment of printing the placement guides for a few of the elite decal companies on ARC.   Having owned a printing company since 1997 I can tell you that a production run of 400 of one thing cannot and will never be combined with one of 100 to arrive at the same overall price as a standalone 500 batch - t'aint possible.  It gets treated as two production runs.  Way too many technical aspects in PrePress among others to elaborate on why.   On the 400 lot we'd ship the bulk, chuck the extra 100 yet still charge for 500 since that is the minimum OFFSET press run (editorial boring portion of dollars/time = OFF).  Digital printing is a different beast, more tuned to small batches (100s) yet with a higher price point per piece due (split evenly) to its toner-based system and inability to use larger more economical 'Parent Sheets' that an offset press enjoys.  I have thought about starting our own silkscreening line to crank out the decals themselves, yet have way too many daily interruptions to think about going up against Carto or Micro.     Cheers, off to work on my Tornado

Link to post
Share on other sites
22 hours ago, tosouthern66 said:

<...> It would be nice if they went back to mixing scales on the sheets. If the modeler doesn't build in 48th he could trade off those for 72nd that a 48th builder would never build. Plus 2 builders could get together and by those sheets and split them up.

 

And from the producer's point of view, we'd be back to square one: just a single sheet sold. What would the manufacturer gain from catering to the 1/72 crowd? A few more copies sold vs. the additional investment of scaling down the artwork (which, I take it, is not as trivial as it sounds). 

This mixed scales approach will only work if it can generate sufficient additional sales over the run of a 1/48-only sheet.

 

I bought one of Fightertown's VF-1 Wolfpack sheets in 1/48 because it contained a 1/144 option. Specifically for the 1/144 option. Didn't think it was expensive. Thought it was money well spent. Great quality decals for the price of, what, a cinema ticket? 

I could have cut out the decals I needed and sold on the rest. But I thought that way I would've screwed Fightertown out of a sell. 

 

Link to post
Share on other sites
On 4/2/2017 at 2:34 AM, tosouthern66 said:

Mhaz

I am not one of those guys that thinks 1/72 should be cheaper than 1/48 and I do not have an issue paying the same price as 1/48 scale decals. I only buy the subjects that I want in any scale. If there are other squadron marking on the sheet that I am not interested with I give them away or trade them. Sometimes I will keep them for a later build. I understand the cost issue it's just that I see many 1/48 scale subjects that I want in 1/72 and no one is making them. My opinion is if we only supply one or two scales, then we will slowly loose builders and the hobby will die. We are already seeing a decrease in the number of builders cause the younger generations are not interested in building they are interested in playing. This just my opinion from my observations locally and at the San Antonio show not being what it once was in the numbers of attendance in contestants and observers.

 

Perhaps not, but there are a LOT of 1/72 guys who do complain about how their prices should be lower because their kits are smaller. I hear this at least half a dozen times at every show I vend at, and I'm only a few hours north of you in DFW. That, and the ever-popular "why don't you do decals for XYZ... you'll sell a million copies of it!!!" (usually as I'm noticing that the ONLY example of that aircraft in the show was brought  by the person I'm talking to) are the 2 more frequent interactions I have with customers outside of the actual sales process. Don't get me wrong, I love the passion for the hobby from both types, but y'all have to understand, as much fun as this is, it's a business. The average print run for a single standard-sized decal sheet can run anywhere from $900 to almost $2000, depending on what's on it. (The Thunderbirds T-38's ended up being almost $3000 to print, by the time the final bills came in.) That's a lot of money to gamble with on a sheet that may or may not sell well.

 

On 4/2/2017 at 11:07 AM, habu2 said:

From a different perspective....

 

Many manufacturers produce very comprehensive sheets with a large number of different options for, say, 17 Tomcats or 23 Vipers. While I appreciate the effort there's not many (if any) of us that are going to build a kit for every marking on the sheet. You end up with a partial sheet of dozens of markings you may never use or didn't want/need in the first place. 

 

Why not offer 48+72 combo sheets covering fewer options in both scales?  Instead of 17 Tomcats in 48th offer 8 or 9 options in each scale on the same sheet? You reach a wider audience, potentially sell more sheets, and the modeler gets to choose? From the modeler standpoint they still spent the same money for a big sheet which they won't fully utilize but they were going to do that anyway.

 

I know Twobobs did this with 48+32 sheets in the past, I don't know how those sheets sold or if the concept is comparable to 48+72.  

 

Just my $0.02 (not adjusted for inflation)

 

On 4/2/2017 at 11:52 AM, tosouthern66 said:

habus

 I had forgotten about that. It would be nice if they went back to mixing scales on the sheets. If the modeler doesn't build in 48th he could trade off those for 72nd that a 48th builder would never build. Plus 2 builders could get together and by those sheets and split them up.

 

I've done a couple of the combo 1/72-1/48 sheets, and they've sold agreeably well. I fully intend to release more in the future. The problem with combo sheets, though, is everyone reselling the half they don't use. It's 100% perfectly legal to do so, but it DOES effectively cost me the sale of a sheet, or delays the sellout of a sheet. That's why we try to mix stuff up a bit with the combo sheets.

 

Link to post
Share on other sites
On 4/2/2017 at 0:07 PM, habu2 said:

From a different perspective....

 

Why not offer 48+72 combo sheets covering fewer options in both scales?  Instead of 17 Tomcats in 48th offer 8 or 9 options in each scale on the same sheet? You reach a wider audience, potentially sell more sheets, and the modeler gets to choose? From the modeler standpoint they still spent the same money for a big sheet which they won't fully utilize but they were going to do that anyway.

Not sure that combining the 2 scales would be a practical way to MARKET the product, but taking you idea of putting fewer options on the sheet, for the exact reasons you stated and I snipped from the quote, combine the 2 scales on the sheet for PRINTING.  You're still getting the 500-sheet minimum print order, but you now have 1000 decal sets to sell instead of just the 500.  If the up-front costs are the same, it may be feasible to price  the product such that 60-65% of the run is sufficient to make back the investment and provided a bit of capital for the next run - that way if the whole run doesn't sell as fast as hoped, the maker still breaks even/makes a little bit of profit.  Admittedly, there's a bit more to do after the sheets are printed - gotta cut the sheets to separate the scales, and package twice as much product. 

Link to post
Share on other sites

I'm a small and slow release manufacturer with AOA decals and I've only released a few in 1/72 so far. Unlike some others that have a larger following, distribution, publicity, etc, I struggle with selling even 1/48 so I'm even more resilient to releasing 1/72. My sheets tend to also have many schemes but specific for each rather than generic, I like to give options so not everyone has the same one generic aircraft for a particular squadron. Granted that means lots of unused extras which sounds like some/many don't like. Then there's also a balance of more schemes = better potential sales. Yet price may be "high" and more unused.

 

After the end of 2016 and some tallying I decided to hold off/slow more down now releasing across all scales of what I had planned to release over the past winter and what I wanted to do this year. I had heard often since I started in 2014 about how much 1/48 Vietnam A-4 sheets were needed/wanted since the "old" Victory Productions sheet was pretty much the only one and long OOP, so once I finally got to the 1/48 A-4's after the 1/32 A-4s I thought they'd do a lot better than the under-performing 1/32 ones. And I was wrong. Now the planned final part 4 is on indefinite hold.

 

Anyway, to get somewhat to my point: I've heard similar stories I had for 1/48 A-4s for those wanting A-4 or A-6 (or whatever) sheets in 1/72, I have a stash of Fujimi kits myself of both, but after mediocre sales in 1/32 and again in 1/48 even, I'm now much more reluctant to do 1/72. Others seem to have great success in these scales but personally I can't keep pouring away money and not selling enough even though I really would like to release everything in all three scales.

 

Edited by ziggyfoos
Link to post
Share on other sites
2 hours ago, Joe Hegedus said:

Not sure that combining the 2 scales would be a practical way to MARKET the product, but taking you idea of putting fewer options on the sheet, for the exact reasons you stated and I snipped from the quote, combine the 2 scales on the sheet for PRINTING.  You're still getting the 500-sheet minimum print order, but you now have 1000 decal sets to sell instead of just the 500.  If the up-front costs are the same, it may be feasible to price  the product such that 60-65% of the run is sufficient to make back the investment and provided a bit of capital for the next run - that way if the whole run doesn't sell as fast as hoped, the maker still breaks even/makes a little bit of profit.  Admittedly, there's a bit more to do after the sheets are printed - gotta cut the sheets to separate the scales, and package twice as much product. 

 

While it's been tried before, doing this is rather frowned upon by the printing companies. I know Microscale told me flat out "thou shalt not!" when we tried it one time, and charged me as if they were 2 separate sheets, instead of one larger sheet. When Microscale, Cartograf, etc. look the files over to make sure there won't be any issues with their presses, they see that it's an obvious double release being attempted.

Link to post
Share on other sites

Tosouthern66,

 

How many decal sheets have you bought in the last five years?   If there isn't market demand as a manufacturer you can't make money.  As the other manufacturers have noted it's all in the numbers.  In the last eight years I've produced over 100 1/72 scale sheets with typically a minimum of 5 different subjects on each sheet.  Think my total now is close to 600 individual subjects.  If you combine my work with the others we have produced over 800 subjects in that time period.  In my mind it would be hard to say that the 1/72 scale market hasn't been served.  If there are subjects that you are looking for give us a list and I'm sure between all of us producers we'll give it consideration in our future releases.

 

Mark S.

Wolfpak Decals

Link to post
Share on other sites
21 minutes ago, MHaz said:

 

While it's been tried before, doing this is rather frowned upon by the printing companies. I know Microscale told me flat out "thou shalt not!" when we tried it one time, and charged me as if they were 2 separate sheets, instead of one larger sheet. When Microscale, Cartograf, etc. look the files over to make sure there won't be any issues with their presses, they see that it's an obvious double release being attempted.

 

Whoa! Seriously? Why would they care what you do with your decals? Do they not charge by a combination of size and colours?

Link to post
Share on other sites

Damned if you do,damned if you don't....the ongoing struggle of a decal manufacturer trying to please everyone...its never gonna happen.

 

 Builders/decal collectors just need to suck it up and diversify if its subject you really want,I'm still a committed 1/48-1/32 guy at heart but find myself buying more & more 1/72 and even 1/144 stuff simply because of the subject matter is only available in that scale from that manufacturer...Wolfpak Decals have done so many subjects in 1/72 that i would love to see in larger scale,but given the choice of downscaling or missing out completely...its a no brainer.     

Link to post
Share on other sites

tosouthern66, why don't you ask if a decal marking scheme is available in 1/72?

 

I ask that because I think Mark S's estimate of what has been available in the last 5 years is on the very low side.

 

I configured a very specific, fairly narrow subject collection,,,,and was able to find and purchase "modern" markings for about 250 (of about 270 models) markings schemes for them in 1/72. These include companies that said they wouldn't do much in 1/72, but occasionally did do some.

 

In every case of that happening, we modelers need to support the decal guys and buy the sheets. (two copies, whenever possible)

 

Counting Zeroes, -109s, Phantoms, etc, etc,,,,,,,there are thousands of 1/72 subjects currently available, and available recently enough that you can still get them from another modeler.

 

Search someplace like Hannants, go to decals tab, 1/72 tab,,,,,,and look at the listings.

 

Now, I will grant that if you are looking for "the Zero that the Great Uncle of the Japanese guy that I met last week in Tucumcari's Denny's restaurant" flew in 1943,,,,,,,that sort of thing might be hard to find. (in any scale, to be honest, not just our's)

 

But, for "I have an Intruder" and want to build it with modern decals,,,,,,,Mark S and Ziggy (AoA) have you covered.

Link to post
Share on other sites

Some really insightful discussion here. As for the idea of putting two scales on the same sheet, personally, I don’t like it. Take for example that 1/48 F-15 Aggressor sheet that had both 1/48 and 1/32nd on it. When I first saw that release, I was hesitant to pick it up even though I really liked the Aggressor Eagles and 1/48th is my scale of choice. I actually don’t have that many friends who build 1/32nd and even less that build 1/32nd modern jets. I eventually ended up getting it but with the intention of cutting the 32nd portion off and selling it.

 

 

The other thing that gets me is the sheer quantity of schemes on one sheet. There is no way in hell that I am ever going to do 24 (or however many) schemes of aircraft X. I completely understand the rationale as it is all a number of colours game for the printers. Most modelers have their favourite schemes while others hold no interest so if the decal producer issues multiple sheets with four or five schemes on each sheet some sheets will sell like hot cakes while others don’t do so good. Not good for business to have product sitting on your shelves gathering dust. Hey I remember a decal company producing decal sheets with just one scheme on it. I think  it was Tally Ho and obviously that did not last too long. I think even Superscale has some with at least two schemes and in the olden days it used to be three, at least in 1/48th.

 

 

Hey I am just happy to have nice high quality markings of subjects I love and I am always in awe of how the decal producers can do such fine work to help out us lowly modellers in this great pastime of ours. I am a very grateful customer. Probably why I have over 500 decal sheets with no way to use them all. Would probably make good insulation when I get sent to that great hobby store in the sky or so my wife says. Dirt is cold you know.

Edited by skyhawk174
Link to post
Share on other sites
4 hours ago, Mark S. said:

Tosouthern66,

 

How many decal sheets have you bought in the last five years?   If there isn't market demand as a manufacturer you can't make money.  As the other manufacturers have noted it's all in the numbers.  In the last eight years I've produced over 100 1/72 scale sheets with typically a minimum of 5 different subjects on each sheet.  Think my total now is close to 600 individual subjects.  If you combine my work with the others we have produced over 800 subjects in that time period.  In my mind it would be hard to say that the 1/72 scale market hasn't been served.  If there are subjects that you are looking for give us a list and I'm sure between all of us producers we'll give it consideration in our future releases.

 

Mark S.

Wolfpak Decals

Mark

 

 I normally buy 3 to 4 sheets in 1/72 per year and maybe 2 in 1/48 per year. I try and mix it up by ordering from different decal makers depending on what I see they have I like. I have decals for aircraft I don't even have yet. I do this for when that itch to build a specific air craft hits I have the decals for it. In the past I did it the other way around and ended up not being able to get the decals I needed for the build. My main issue is I have to stay in the 1/72 scale building due to having no room to display my models. That is one of the reasons I don't build as fast as I would like. I have a plan to build my old squadrons aircraft from each type. Right now in the Hornet era I am missing decals for the E. There is only one decal maker that has them in 1/48th scale ( which I have ) but no one has them in 1/72nd scale. Even if I was not doing this there still is the issue that there are a ton of 1/48th scale and a lot less 1/72nd scale decals to choose from. I understand the money issue and I agree decal makers need to be able to recoup their investment or they will not be out of business. My deal is if you are going to design decals in one scale and there are kits in other scales give us decals for all the scales. If there is only a kit in 1/48 then I understand not making them available in the other scales. This hobby is dying slowly due electronic entertainment. Will we ever regain the losses of builders as we die off? I hope so cause this is a great hobby and we need to make it better to grow it.

Link to post
Share on other sites
2 hours ago, Rex said:

tosouthern66, why don't you ask if a decal marking scheme is available in 1/72?

 

I ask that because I think Mark S's estimate of what has been available in the last 5 years is on the very low side.

 

I configured a very specific, fairly narrow subject collection,,,,and was able to find and purchase "modern" markings for about 250 (of about 270 models) markings schemes for them in 1/72. These include companies that said they wouldn't do much in 1/72, but occasionally did do some.

 

In every case of that happening, we modelers need to support the decal guys and buy the sheets. (two copies, whenever possible)

 

Counting Zeroes, -109s, Phantoms, etc, etc,,,,,,,there are thousands of 1/72 subjects currently available, and available recently enough that you can still get them from another modeler.

 

Search someplace like Hannants, go to decals tab, 1/72 tab,,,,,,and look at the listings.

 

Now, I will grant that if you are looking for "the Zero that the Great Uncle of the Japanese guy that I met last week in Tucumcari's Denny's restaurant" flew in 1943,,,,,,,that sort of thing might be hard to find. (in any scale, to be honest, not just our's)

 

But, for "I have an Intruder" and want to build it with modern decals,,,,,,,Mark S and Ziggy (AoA) have you covered.

Rex

 

 Yes I have asked this question, and I either get no response or we are thinking about it. On the we are thinking about it replay it's been almost a year at least and no movement. With me it's not about building a certain aircraft that someone flew in a war. It's about there being squadron jets that I want build but can not get the decals in 1/72nd scale. I would like to be able to build VFA-151 F/A-18E to go with my F/A-18A/C aircraft. There are other squadrons I see I would like to build as well and they are not all in the Hornet type aircraft. There just is no 1/72nd scale decals available but are available in 1/48th. Hope you all see what I am talking about here?

Link to post
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...