Wood grain decals from Wood & Wire

[Jamo]

Wood grain decals from Wood & Wire

First Look review by James Fahey



Wood and Wire is a proprietary brand produced by Czech company Nordland Models.  http://www.nordlandmodels.com/

Three types of wood grain decal are available, each in A4 size sheets: Dark (D32038), Medium (D32037), and Light (D32036). The light version was not provided for this review.

Creating the Wood Effect
When done skilfully, wood grain on a model creates a point of interest that catches the viewer’s eye, suspends the disbelief that this really just a plastic model, and says 'I'm made of wood'. We have all seen this online from time to time, the build with the Wow! factor. There are various ways it can be achieved. Some modellers use artists’ oil paints, some use carefully applied acrylics to achieve a wood grain effect and there is also a growing selection of wood grain decals available from a range of manufacturers.

As with many modelling techniques it is a matter of working out which method works best for you. There is no one best solution.

Realistic or artistic effect?
A key decision is what kind of effect you are aiming for: a strictly realistic finish or a more stylised, artistic effect that says 'wood grain' to the viewer’s eye? I have seen hand painted wood finish where the grain was more properly 1:1 scale not 1:32 scale, and yet the effect looked effective and was widely praised. It’s like the debate about pre-shading around rib tapes, a stylised but subtle approach can be very effective but it may not be 'realistic'.

Are wood grain decals easier?
I don't think decals are necessarily an easier approach to wood grain than other methods. Applying wood grain decals is not as straightforward as applying lozenge decals or roundels. Some patience is required cutting the decals into basic panel shapes to fit the subject, and then getting the decals to lay down over complex curves. Much care is then needed trimming the decal exactly to the shape of the panel. Mistakes at this point can be time consuming to fix eg cutting too close. This is possibly the down side to using decals for plywood panels, and I have found this rather too difficult myself.

Wood & Wire Decals
The decals come well packed with a card reinforcing sheet inside a plastic envelope. They are printed on a white base so are completely opaque. This makes pre-shading inapplicable. Designed by digital artist Dave Douglass. Each decal sheet is comprised of 30 panels each measuring 28x50mm giving 420 cm2 in total.  No panels have repeated patterns. Wood grain looks very convincing and patterns vary from relatively knotty to fairly restrained. I would describe most of the wood grain panels as being more stylised than realistic, with relatively heavy grain, but this does not detract at all from the effect. The Dark version has a reddish tone which may be suitable to represent the stained ply finish on some Albatros DI and DII fighters, or LVG C.VI two seaters.

No scale is noted. I expect they would work well from 1:28 to 1:48, and for the sections with the least wood grain, possibly also 1/72.

Instructions
The instructions are rather brief. Cut panels approximately 2mm oversize and apply using decal softeners such as Mr Mark Setter and Mr Mark Softener, or Micro Sol and Micro Set. Trim decal with a very sharp knife – instructions don’t say how long you should wait before doing this. This will be the difficult step - care and patience will be required.

Price Payment & Availability
EU: 285 Kč , € 11.88, $ 16.29 or £ 10.00
Non-EU: 238 Kč, € 9.90, $ 13.57 or £ 8.33

Non-EU customers are not charged VAT – a very useful saving.

Payment only via Paypal. Postage is charged according to destination and weight of order and will be included on the Paypal invoice. Nordland ask customers not to send money until after the invoice email has been received.

As well as direct from Nordland Models, some other online hobby stores carry the Wood & Wire range eg Hannants

Historical Use of Plywood in WWI
As ever, knowing the materials which were used historically is a good starting point for modellers looking to replicate a scale finish. What type of wood is being represented? Was it knotty or fine grained? Was it stained or glazed?

Many WWI aircraft were covered in plywood, typically faced with birchwood and lindenwood or spruce for the core. The untreated ply was typically pale and very finely grained. Here are a few photos which show the appearance.

Untreated from Koloman Mayhofer's workshop





Koloman Mayrhofer has written “it was standard practise in Austria and in Germany in WW1 to prime the outside of wooden fuselages with linseed oil (leinölfirnis) and put two coats of Boatvarnish (bootslack) over it”. After this treatment the ply would take on a golden colour and the grain would be more prominent. Interior surfaces would typically be shellacked –a white spirit based varnish which could be more easily scraped away and repaired with glued patches.

Varnished:








Memorial Flight's LVG C.VI reproduction


Ply finishes from The Vintage Aviator Ld reproduction aircraft:
Albatros DII made by Koloman Mayhofer




Albatros DVa




FE2b


BE2c


Camel


Snipe cockpit:


Conclusion



Things I liked:

• Choice of three colour densities gives modellers more options
• Relatively large panel sizes compared to some other wood grain decals (no repeats)
• Realistic appearance with choices from more subtle wood grain to more knotty, making them useful across a range of scales
• No VAT charged to non-EU customers

These decals look very impressive. The grain patterns are slightly exaggerated from a strict scale viewpoint but they look just like the real thing – a stylised approach, which is very effective. Based on my experience with other wood grain decals I would not suggest decals are a simple and easy approach to wood grain, but with patience and precise cutting a very impressive finish can be created. Highly recommended.





Thanks to Old Propeller for providing the decals for this review