Am I the only one who hates Stencil Decals?

[Curt B]

They are VERY difficult for me to put on...too tiny, even in 1/48, 'my' scale.  Seems I mess them up, so they aren't usable, more than I get them in place.  I always put them on first, then, like a reward, I put on the big, 'fun' decals, like national insignias, etc.  Does anyone have any good ideas as to how to either do them more easily, or if not that, make them less of a chore?  I suppose I could just not put them on...would that be a bad thing?  

[Da SWO]

Nope, I just skipped a bunch of no-step decals for a build.  You building for competition or for yourself?  If it's the latter, then don't sweat the small stuff.

[boom175]

I do a section of the model at a time. I actually do it upstairs on the kitchen table so I can have the TV on for some background noise. When I get a little tired/frustrated I get up and leave the table for a while. It will take me several sessions but I think a full set of stencils does make the model "pop" a bit. Just use Qtips and tissue paper and make sure the decals is fully down on the surface use a good solvent to insure that they fit over the details. Keep a eye out if you accidentally dislodge a decal that you put it back in position.

[airmechaja]

Some planes you just need them all but they ARE a pain!

 

[Napalmakita]

I try to do as many at once as possible.  So, instead of cutting n placing one at a time, I'll cut a square of 6 'no steps'. Dip that whole square at once and slide them on one at a time.  If I'm frustrated I walk away and I've absolutely skipped them..on grey Marine and Navy jets they are hard to see anyway

[Helmsman]

I consider them as necessary evil. Lots of work but rewarding result. Kind of love and hate relationships, especially with Begemot decals. 🙂

[Chuck1945]

The F-100Ds and F-4C/D/Es I encountered in USAFE and subsequently TAC, 1968-75 were pretty much stencil free. Ejection and rescue markings were always there, but the rest…
 

That said, I build for myself and 99.5% of the time I follow the adage that ‘life is too short to worry about stencils’ …😛

[Niels]

Hate them. But as already mentioned depending on time period you can't really see them and hence get away with leaving them off. Worst is late 70's USAF when you had the contrasted stencils whereby showing absolutely ALL 😝

[Andrew D. the Jolly Rogers guy]

Necessary evil.  To me, the end result is worth the investment.  Assuming I did it right...