Shapeways plane models and Reviresco decals and/or accessories

[gjp626]

Long time browser, first time poster.

I was wondering if anyone has tried using the Reviresco decals on Shapeways planes. A lot of the look quite interesting - nice selection of Fokker DVII's and Hannover Cl III's. If anyone has tried this, what was your expereince? (Good/recommended or bad/won't try that again).

Also, just wondering if anyone has tried using the Reviresco lead/pewter pilot/gunner figures in their Shapeways planes. Do they work or not.

Also, I can't wait for Colinwe to finish his MG's. I so waiting for these before I order some Bristol fighters and Halberstadt Cl II's.

GJP

[pflanzer]

I have only done one. The Junkers and the Reverisco decals were very close. By the way thats a Reverisco pilot also.



A couple of othe views in my Shapeway album.
Tony

[gjp626]

Wow! (no pun intended) That looks great! Was there any problem fitting the pilot into the model (any cutting, filing or the like)? Any extra work for the decals (cutting into sections or other fiddly bits)?

The part that intimidates me is using the lozenge pattern decals on upper and lower wings when the model is already built. I've read one of the "How To" articles on Reviresco's SS IV with their own decals and it appeared there were some problems. Just thought I'd ask. Enquiring minds want to know.

[Flying Officer Kyte]

No George, but I do use them with my Skytrex models on occasions when I need full camo decals. They fit quite well and are superb quality.
Rob.

[Boney10]

Shapeways DVII kit with Reviresco Hex decals



I have used Reviresco decals on a lot of my models, maily Skytrex but just lately a couple of shapeways.

Skytrex Halberstadt CLII & AEG IV





I found the decals very pretty and a lot of nice schemes. They can be difficult to release from the paper, especially the long wing for the AEG.
However on metal models they do stick well using water then micro-sol. But remember to have a light undercoat or the decals will not show. The decals are quite robust and can be wet, moved and re-wet if required, but dont over do it otherwise they will curl and then you will not get them flat again

With the reviresco my first attempts with Shapeways models did not work too well, the porous material just soaked up my water & micro sol/set and the decals did not stick.
However I now varnish my models a couple of times & then undercoat and this seems to have worked.

[Womble]

I've used Reverisco lozenge no problem. I found that the shapeways planes have smoother wing edges and don't cut the decals like lead does sometimes. I've used peter pig pilots and Reverisco and both fit fine.




(Reverisco wing decals)

[Capt Croft]

Nice ! That Junkers is awsome....... I just threw a bunch of Reverisco decals away.....(curled up and see through).. I think they were too old, over 3 years. Needless to say I just ordered a bunch more last week, Im hoping to have a different experience this time around.

I think there Renwall style of sets are great, I have fond memories of glue fumes with those Renwall kits

[PANdemonium]

how the heck do you decal the bottom wing with all those struts??

[Zoe Brain]

how the heck do you decal the bottom wing with all those struts??

Two ways of doing it on the top of the lower wing, or bottom of the top one.

The easiest is to cut the decal about where the struts are, and finely "herringbone" the edges with slits like a comb. Slightly harder is the same technique, but not cutting all the way through.

This way, even if your cut isn't quite right, the decal fits in with only one or two "teeth" on each part of the decal sticking up where the strut is. This you razor away with a craft knife after it's set.

This was the technique used here - the 3-bay Pfalz XII:



And on these:

[gjp626]

Absolutely amazing! Fantastic work I was wondering how to fit the decals around the struts on the top side of the bottom wing and on the bottom of the top wing. Cutting little slits, how clever. How much pre-measurement did you have to do? Did you use the Reviresco "generic" 5-color lozenge sheets or specific decal sheets for the plane models you did, such as the Pfalz DXII. Since you have some Austrian camoflage on another model, you may have used both. For measurement, do you lay the model over the decal sheet and trace around it with some type of pen or marker?

Have you used any of the Reviresco gunners for your 2-seaters? Do they come with guns?

Thanks for the help!

[gjp626]

Varnish and undercoat with a type of gloss paint or "floor polish" seems to be the key. The Halberstadt that you've done is exactly the one I want to do. Did you put the decals on during assembly or after?

[Zoe Brain]

\How much pre-measurement did you have to do?

See below. My technique means if you make a mistake, you don't waste decal paper.

Did you use the Reviresco "generic" 5-color lozenge sheets or specific decal sheets for the plane models you did, such as the Pfalz DXII.

I print all my own decals. See below for details. The hexes were "fitted", the lozenge on Pfalz etc generic (but self-printed).

Since you have some Austrian camoflage on another model, you may have used both. For measurement, do you lay the model over the decal sheet and trace around it with some type of pen or marker?

I've used both techniques. If I can get my hands on some good 1/72 or 1/48 plans, I reduce them using Microsoft Paint (free with Windows) by 1/2 or 1/3 respectively, then lay on strips of lozenge in cut'n'paste on Paint. Haven't worked out how to mask in GIMP yet, that would make it less time-consuming. This is what I used on the Siemens-Schuckerts in the picture.

This is also the technique I used for the Aviatiks, only using some blank hex templates. The colours on those were then inserted using the "fill area" tool once I'd got the shapes right. This way I can make many different patterns in a few minutes by duplicating the original file, and just changing the colours.



"5.85cm" means "when printing, reduce this picture so it's 5.85cm wide, preserving aspect ratio".

I print on normal paper, trim, correcting fit and updating the original file, until I have a printout that suits (and know where to cut for the struts). Then just print it on decal paper. It was a bit more complicated with the Aviatiks, as I wanted the decals to be suitable for other makers models too - so they need some post-production trimming.

Usually though, I trace around the wings on normal paper. Then cut. Then check fit on the actual model, trimming as needed. If I make a mistake and over-trim, just repeat until I have a shape on paper that works. Again, I mark on the paper where the struts go. I then use this as the template for cutting out the decal from sheets of lozenge decal paper I'd printed out earlier.

Finally, I put on the markings.




The trick here is to work on a file far, far too big. That way, when you reduce it to the right size, the numerous small imperfections get lost in the shuffle and are too tiny for the printer to print. That file is an excellent example. I work in Bitmap files, which are converted and interpolated into PNG when reduced.



As you can see, the working image is maybe 4 times larger than the printed one.

Note that I can't print white, so print a background colour that's "about right" around a white cut-out. I trim most of this off, but if I leave a pixel or two on the decal, it won't show.

Have you used any of the Reviresco gunners for your 2-seaters? Do they come with guns?

You get a mix of pilots and gunners. The gunners are assorted, some with lewis, some with parabellum. If you want hotchkiss etc you need to do a bit of scratch-building.
All the 2-seaters in my pictures have Reviresco gunners.