Eduards new decals

[Mo_]

Not sure where to put this. First off let me say that I'm a eduard fanboy. We all have our favorites. If you dont know eduard is now printing their own decals. and its been hit or miss with them. I got my kits in, the spitfire mk.I and VLR mustang and the fist thing I did was look at the decals because I wanted to see if they have improved. LOL, the rice paper was stuck to the sheets and lifting the carrier film in some spots and some kind of chemical reaction in other areas. I got 4 mustangs kits and 4 Spits kits (dont judge me!) I've only looked at one of each kit but suspect they are all like this. Guess now I will have to either contact SB or eduard. I have no idea how they will react to water.

It's hard to see but the rice paper has the perfect imprints of all the code letters from the spit kit.

Onto some other items, I knew this was going to be the case on the spits exhaust. People who got the kits first overseas have stated such. I know Its fixable....we are modelers! My question..how would you feel on a new mold from a company like Eduard? Also the spit kit can be built as a early or late mk.I. You have two different IPs to choose from, and for the life of me I don't see a difference in either one.

 

[phantom II]

My experience with Eduard decals is not a Good one. Somehow pink Russian starts were not to my liking .
Talked with the Eduard crew at the Nat.s in Columbia .... They were of no help at all.
So, I Emailed Eduard about the decal problem and nicely enough , they sent me a new sheet with equally pink Russian stars .

Finally ordered an aftermarket set of decals from people that actually new that they were supposed to be red . Good luck .

Cheers, Christian

 

[moon puppy]

They were of no help at all.

Sorry for your troubles Mo.

 

[Barney]

I bought a SE.5A a couple of years ago that did not include decals. I contacted Eduard and they were zero help. I contacted Sprue Brothers and within a week I had decals. Previously, I have contacted Eduard and they were very helpful. Stuff happens... I have also had some troubles with Academy and their US distributor has been zero help.

 

[Heavens Eagle]

Looks like the instrument panels had different instruments in the holes. I see the 2 panels and the instruments in the rectangle center are look different.

As to the decals, good luck. I don't know what to say about the weird stuff in your photos. My thought would be to use a little steam from a tea kettle to help soften the sticky in order to get the paper loose from the front. As to the clear stuff peeling, not sure what that is. I guess be aware and test with some of the minor decals to see what they do before using the larger ones.

 

[Mo_]

Thanks all for your opinions. Tonight I checked my other kits and all was well. So now before I do anything else I will try and get better pics and send to Eduard customer support and see what happens.

Heavens Eagle, yeah i see it now! I was going cross-eyed looking! Was tired from a long days work.

 

[helios]

I haven't noted any issues w/ decals yet...but I also haven't gotten any new release Eduard stuff yet either (I'm usually not in a hurry so I wait for them to pop up on SB's Deal of the Day ). I suspect mine haven't been new enough for Eduard printing. I usually open kits right away and put the decals in ziploc bags.

Good to know it's something to watch for. That could be a shame if it becomes a common issue. Part of my draw to the Eduard kits is they usually have various decal options that interest me.....which is something that is becoming rarer as more manufacturers focus kit decals on CAG birds and other bright/colorful one-off show/event schemes and get away from the actual line aircraft.

 

[Sharkmouth]

Would it be the 'new' type like these?

Regards,

 

[RichB]

While not directly decal related, check your Spitfire serial numbers in the kit. It looks like Eduard only included the manual pump undercarriage system. This was only on the first 175 aircraft, up to about K9962. The change to the hydraulic system with emergency CO2 system began about May 1939 along with the universal prop shaft, Merlin Mk.III and blown canopy.

Cheers,
Rich

 

[Big10]

I've seen that video posted on Facebook and I don't agree with it. I've built a lot of Eduard kits and even posted about the switch when they went from Cartograf to their own. I feel (and others by post on Facebook) that this is a big mistake by them. Sure they are thinner but something with the carrier film is not right. I've have had so many problems with the new decals it's nuts. The tiny stencils and to fold and roll in on themselves. I've had to rob stencils from to extra kits just to finish one model. It's to the point that I will not use their stencils anymore.

I've tried what the video showed with some left overs from my B-26. I was able to pull some of the film off but not all of it. Then I was left trying to scrape up an edge with my knife and really made a mess of it. They are not like HGW transfer, I've use those before and work flawless.

Point in case, I email Eduard directly about the decals and this was the response.

Regarding the new decals - they can be recognized by having a production date on them - 23.06.2020 and forward.
Its true the coat can be removed once dried, but it requires some skills and experience. We do not suggest to our customers they should or need to do this. The decals can be worked with the same way as before- with the older once.
So using the method of removing the top layer is up to the customer - at their own risk.

I wish they would go back to using Cartograf decals

This was from my Spitfire story kit.

 

[moon puppy]

Well at least with my issue(s) they admitted to having a problem.

 

[Barney]

Thank heaven for the 12 bazillion After Market decals.

 

[jeaton01]

Looks like a royal pain in the