The Past is Prologue (or something)

I tested one of the Stoppel decals and was very pleasantly surprised. It worked perfectly.

This marking came from this sheet that I bought for a few bucks on eBay.

This sheet has to be thirty-five years old–probably older than that. More like forty? That would be 1977–when Stopple decals were sold by The Squadron Shop and listed in their catalog/magazine. They were actually a bit less expensive than Microscale decals. This kind of quality IS possible. I have a sheet of Japanese “meatballs” from Stoppel and from Authenticals. Both sheets are in good condition and the decals are fully usable. The Authenticals sheet is fifty years old.

Old decals that “go bad” do so because they are cheaply made, at best. Either cheaply or incompetently. You decide. My choice would be “both.”

Here’s the excellent Stoppel Hinomaru Sheet.

I did some painting with a brush and some MM Acryl “Insignia Red.”

Supposedly, the “insignia red” (U.S.) is a close match to the Japanese color of WWII. Maybe. I also know that if Britmodeller or Hyperscale had existed in 1977, they would have been full of “how can I dull the over-bright hinomarus?” and “how to replace those too-bright Japanese decals from the kit” threads. Japanese national insignia from WWII were KNOWN to be a dull red, almost a brown color.

Until what was “known” changed. Keep this in mind, youngsters…

It will change again.

2 Replies to “The Past is Prologue (or something)”

  1. That looks great. Is that without a topcoat of matt varnish? If so, brilliant. I will have to see if I can find some of these floating about (haha)

    1. They’re for sale on eBay. The example shown is the most basic, 12 year old kid method of decal application. Paint. Let paint dry. Put decal in water. Put decal on model. Done. It helped that “Conrail Blue” is a semi-matte color, just like the actual Conrail locomotives. I guess….

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