In spite of the fact that
the man behind Whiskey Jack Productions is a very good
friend of mine, I will endeavour to be as unbiased as
possible in this review. Having said that I have to say
that these decals are some of the best I have ever seen
and I find it difficult to fault them! I have thirteen
sheets in both 1/144 and 1/72 scale and I present four
of them for review here, most of my comments below are
applicable to all the samples I have. The QCA Stranraer
scan has been darkened in order to show the white registration
letters.
WJ Productions specializes
in, if you haven't guessed from the samples on review
here, Canadian civilian aircraft, although there is also
a small but growing line of 1/35th scale Canadian armour
decals. The extensive aircraft range covers 1/144th, 1/72nd
and 1/48th scales, and has some very colourful and unusual
schemes - where else are you going to find decals for
a Supermarine Stranraer airliner or a Boeing 247 in Chevron
Canada markings?
The decals are printed on an Alps printer and the quality
easily rivals any screen printed decals. The colours are
solid and opaque without any dithering or "dottiness"(?)
as I've seen on other Alps decals and the registration
is flawless. The printing is crisp and clear - even the
smallest lettering and logos are readable under magnification.
The "Canada Air Mail" emblems on the Lockheed
10a Electra sheet for instance are works of art (the image
below is about 3 times actual size!), the Union Jacks
being less than 1/16th of an inch wide yet they are perfectly
rendered and recognisable.
One point to note about the Air Mail emblems that isn't
mentioned in the instructions is that although there are
two on the decal sheet, only one is used on the port side
entry door of CF-TCC, there isn't one on the starboard
side. The two TCA aircraft featured, CF-TCC and CF-TCA,
survive today and are the subject of an excellent walkaround
in the June 2001 issue of "Scale Aviation Modeller
International". Note also that the two aircraft have
different carb intakes. The Planet Models Electra has
no carb intakes at all, so you'll have to scratchbuild
some anyway!
If there is a disadvantage to Alps printed decals, it
is that the wax inks used are not as robust as those on
lithographed or screen printed decals. WJ cautions you
on this in the instructions and recommends a clear coating
over the whole sheet before application.
It's usually about this point in the review where the
author says something like "...decals are printed
on a continuous carrier film so you have to cut each
marking out individually". Excuse me? Don't you
do that anyway, or have I been doing it wrong all these
years?! You mean you're supposed to dip the whole damn
sheet in water and then hurriedly apply every decal before
they dry up and stick to the backing paper permanently?!?
Hmph...! If by chance you are a strange individual
who doesn't cut each decal out one at a time then I guess
you'll find these - or any decals printed on a continuous
sheet of carrier film for that matter - decidedly inconvenient.
For the rest of us who insist on doing things the old
fashioned way, cutting decals apart before dipping in
water isn't really worth mentioning, is it?
Each sheet comes with a single sided page of instructions
that gives a brief history of the featured airline and
aircraft as well as two or three view drawings showing
the placement of the markings and the changes needed,
if any, to model the particular aircraft. The Pacific
Western L188 Electra sheet also outlines the errors of
the Minicraft kit and includes drawings and instructions
on how to correct it.
If I have to have a minor quibble, and really I do or
you'll never believe this is an unbiased review, it's
that I'd like to see a list of references included with
the instructions. These are obviously extremely well researched
decals and I'd like to know what information is out there,
although I suspect that much of Gordon's reference material
is long out of print and unavailable to mere mortals like
myself anyway! On that note however, anyone wanting to
build Matchbox's Stranraer will find a terrific datafile
on the Stranny in the April 2001 issue of "Aeroplane
Monthly" which includes a four page spread on Canadian
Stranraers - two of which are on Queen Charlotte Airlines.
Highly, highly recommended to Canadian and/or civilian
aircraft fans or anybody who just wants somethng a bit
different.
One point to note about the Air Mail emblems that isn't
mentioned in the instructions is that although there are
two on the decal sheet, only one is used on the port side
entry door of CF-TCC, there isn't one on the starboard
side. The two TCA aircraft featured, CF-TCC and CF-TCA,
survive today and are the subject of an excellent walkaround
in the June 2001 issue of "Scale Aviation Modeller
International". Note also that the two aircraft have
different carb intakes. The Planet Models Electra has
no carb intakes at all, so you'll have to scratchbuild
some anyway!
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