Spada Decals

[WarrenD]

Has anyone here ever used Spada Decals?  If so, your thoughts and observations would be appreciated.

Warren

[rhallinger]

I had a very difficult time with the Camel F1 set for Jan Olieslagers.  The Belgian roundels were not printed on a white base, and the colors disappeared when applied to the PC10 wing surface (I ended up painting on my the roundels).  The green tail flashes and cowling tulip triangles were the wrong size and did not fit the parts.  The thistle emblem for the fuselage was a black outline printed on white paper, so had to be cut out with an x-acto knife, then was so delicate that it disintegrated.  I ended up cutting a mask from kabuki tape and painted that as well. 

I have another Spada set for Lafayette Escadrille Ni.17s, but I'm almost afraid to use them.  Maybe Spada has since corrected the problems, and maybe I just got an early set, but my experience suggests caution.

Regards,

Bob

[WarrenD]

Thanks Bob. I've got a 1/72nd set for a Nie.17 and just ordered another from Flightdecs. I must admit that the roundels on my first set looked awfully thin in terms of color. I do think they were intended to go on a white background.
Thanks for the heads up so that I now know to proceed with caution.

Warren

[davecww1]

Hi Warren, I have not used these but since they are printed on a home printer (not sure if they use inkjet or an ALPS) they are very fragile.  I would coat them with Micro Scale liquid decal film to prevent them from cracking.  Also get a sheet of the white Micro Scale trim film if you can find it and use a compass to cut out white circles the same size as your cockades and lay them down first, or mask and paint white if you prefer.
Dave 

[WarrenD]

Thanks Dave, will do if I used them. The set came in from Flightdecs, but they sent the 1/48th set. They're yours if you want them, just PM your address.

Warren

[Rob Hart]

I tried to use a 1/48 set for Italian Nieuport 17s. I put a coat of Micro Scale liquid decal film over them and they would not lay down. I ended up stripping them off, photo copying the artwork, and printing my own with Micro Mark decal paper and a laser jet printer.

[WarrenD]

Thanks Rob. I guess it's easy to see at this point why Spada decals never took off or were/are not popular.  A shame, they had some interesting schemes.

Warren