Q&A
Here you will find some of the questions we have been asked. If you would like to ask a question, please fill out the form below.
Posted: 13th June, 2008
RAAF F/A-18 Hornet Decals - MAS-489015
Jarrod asks This may seem a basic question, but I have the 20th Anniversary decals for the RAAF F/A-18A in 1/48 scale. I recently purchased the Hobby Boss kit to use with these decals. Do you have an easy way to cut and fit the blue roundels for the wing tips, especially if I am to build it with lowered flaps/slats. I figured I would either make a template of the wing profile or simply lay them on wet and trim after they were dry. Any other suggestions?
Thanks.
Dear Jarrod, thanks you for your email. The reason why we produced complete roundels is that most of the kits have slightly different wing dimensions and we felt that the complete roundel could be cut out from the sheet and templated on the kit wing before being cut to fit. Leading Edge decals also produced this scheme but they had roundels pre shaped which do not fit all models, especially the new Hobby Boss kit.
An alternative is to lay the decal in place and when set trim the leading edge.
As for dropping the wing flaps and making the decal fit, this may be better templated on clear tracing film and then overlaid over the roundel. I am sure you will then have to paint some of the areas.
However, I would look at pictures of this on the RAAF web site to ensure accuracy. Best of luck and let me know how it goes!
The Aviation Workshop Team
Posted: 6th June, 2008
Nimrod Decals
Ian Bennett asks Your Nimrod decal sheets where excellent, by far some of the best decal sheets released to date and far superior to the Xtradecal sheets. I cannot understand why they copied subjects you had already produced. Can you tell me if you are producing any other Nimrod decals as I am looking for the sharks mouth marking on the MR.1 from Malta in the early 1970's and also AEW markings. I have been informed by Cammett that they are working with Model Alliance to go with their great conversion set. I am also interested in 1960's Naval aviation. Have you anything planned?
Dear Ian, Thank you for your question and great comments about our decals.The Nimrod sheets were produced in close cooperation with Jonathan Mock who was the artist for the Airfix kit as well. Our Nimrod stencils are now available and have been limited to only 500 sheets per set.
As for the Xtradecal, sorry but it is difficult for me to comment on these as I have not seen them but I do agree that there was enough choice for them to do other schemes.
The new Nimrod decal set will feature the sharks mouth MR.1, plus some other schemes and will include the AEW decals for white and light grey and hemp aircraft.
We are planning some major Royal Navy decals in both 1/72 and 1/48 scale including Sea Vixens, Scimitars, Buccaneers and Gannets. We are also in production of the next Naval Air Power On-Target Special covering HMS Eagle.
The Aviation Workshop Team
Posted: 8th June, 2008
On-Target Special 4: HMS Ark Royal '50 Years of Flight 1955-2005'
Colin Johnson asks The Ark Royal book has just arrived. Well done.Served on her with 892 Squadron F4K. I see you do other books and decals and I am making out an order now. Wessex decals for 845 NAS Fleet Air Arm please plus what about the chance of decals for Fairey Gannet C.O.D NO1 Courier FLT, 849 D, FLT HMS Eagle?
Dear Colin, Glad you enjoyed the book. It was a long time in production due to the technical difficulties with the MOD License Procurement. HMS Eagle is the second RN Carrier we are covering and hope to have this out for the Fleet Air Arm Model Show in February 2009 at RNAS Yeovilton. We will look at the aircraft requested and see no reason why these cannot be included. Please look at the web site for release dates! For your information HMS Victorious will be the third carrier book in the series and we are always looking out for pictures. If you have any from HMS Eagle that you think would be suitable please contact us.
The Aviation Workshop Team
Posted: 4th June, 2008
ISTAR Sentinel R.1
Chris Clifford asks I note that you will be producing decals for the RAF's new Sentinel ISTAR asset...can you please tell me who might be releasing a kit of this aircraft, and possibly when? You surely must know in advance to some extent, or you wouldn't be producing the decals? Thanks
Dear Chris, This sheet was originally designed with the close co-operation of RAF Waddington and 5 Squadron so a decision was made to cover the RAF's ISTAR triad (Nimrod R.1, Sentinel R.1 & Sentry AEW.1) in its entirety. We are fully licensed to produce British military markings and as such were the natural choice for 5 Squadron/RAF Waddington to approach. We believe that a British model manufacturer is currently in the process of designing such a kit but our information is some months old now so nothing can be confirmed with any degree of certainty. However, like our Wings of Silver decals which have inspired kit manufacturers to produce models of the subjects covered, we would hope that a similar situation may present itself for the Sentinel in due course. Watch this space or our regular UK Air Arm Update column in Scale Aircraft Modelling magazine!
The Aviation Workshop Team
Posted: 20th May, 2008
Purchasing from South Africa
Dave Harvey asks As a avid modeller in South Africa I have to rely on the Internet to purchase items etc. Can goods be purchased directly from you?
Dear Dave, Greetings from us all here in the UK. You can indeed order directly from us by emailing aw.benita@btconnect.com. As yet I'm afraid we have not quite managed to set up a shopping cart facility on the new site as extremely busy periods in our full-time jobs have rather got in the way! Our project manager is due to be away in New Zealand during June so hopefully we'll be able to re-address the issue as a matter of priority soon after that. Please bear with us in the mean time and thank you for your message. We look forward to hearing from you via email soon.
The Aviation Workshop Team
Posted: 20th May, 2008
Nimrod Stencils
Michael Mettman asks I was wondering if there was an update on the status of the stencils for the Airfix Nimrod Kit? I am looking at doing two different birds and I am using the previously released decal sheet MA-72160 for both birds. Fortunately this sheet covers both airframes I wish to do but was wondering if I do the original H.S. Nimrod MR.1 XV251/51 No.120 Sq. RAF Kinloss UK 1971 and Nimrod MR.2P XV260/60 120 Sq. RAF Kinloss UK 1993 can I use one stencil sheet for this or will I need two?? Thanks for your help and keep up the amazing work!
Dear Michael, In an effort to keep the cost of the sheets to an absolute minimum we have elected to include enough decals for only one airframe on each sheet. This has allowed us to adopt a retain price of £7.50 within the Premier Plus range whilst maintaining a high print quality. So, unfortunately you may well need two sets! Best of luck with the builds.
The Aviation Workshop Team
Posted: 18th May, 2008
Nimrod Stencils
Michael M asks Now that you have produced three very popular sheets for the Airfix Nimrod are you planning on releasing any stencils for this great kit and when may we see them available?? Interested minds wish to know! Thanks Greatly!
Dear Michael, Apologies for the slow response to your message. We will indeed be producing Nimrod stencil sheets to complement the earlier releases. There will be four options in total - one each for the MR.1, MR.2 (old and new) & R.1.
The Aviation Workshop Team
Posted: 11th April, 2008
Re-prints
Matt Roberts asks If new tool kits or re releases of older kits become available would any of the out of print decals possibly be reprinted? Or would new decals with new subjects be printed? Thanks for humouring me...
Dear Matt, On the whole once a decal run is exhausted we tend not to reprint again unless there is enough of a demand to justify it. That said, we are looking at taking some of the more popular schemes from the past and including them on future sheets where the majority are still in fact new subjects. We have to be quite targeted in our approach to reprints but perhaps you had something specific in mind?
The Aviation Workshop Team
Posted: 9th April, 2008
US Stockists
Doug Summers asks Is there anyone on this side of the pond that carries your decals etc.? I purchased several from Two Bobs when they carried your excellent products but no one I am aware of has anything current. I am looking for a Nimrod R.1 sheet as well as others. Thanks for the time.
Dear Doug, Unfortunately there are no suppliers stocking our decals in the US at the present time. We have had a lot of interest but to date nobody has approached us with a reasonable offer and so disappointingly it has not been possible to arrange. Indeed one stockist actually wanted us to make a substantial loss and subsequently couldn't understand why we turned them down! If/when the right offer is laid upon the table then we'll be sure to give it serious thought and we can only apologise for any inconvenience for now. We're more than happy to ship direct to the States whenever you need anything though. Fingers crossed for the future!
The Aviation Workshop Team
Posted: 5th April, 2008
Westland Wessex Decals
Steven Crabtree asks Will the Aviation workshop be considering producing a sheet on the Westland Wessex, especially The Queens flight and any other oddball schemes?
Dear Steven, We'll certainly consider anything and there are a couple of sheets for the future that may well include examples of the Wessex. As for the Queen's Flight aircraft we may well consider such a sheet as and when we can fit it in to the program. Should you have any detailed reference material we would be happy for you to send it to us at aviation-workshop@btconnect.com and we'll certainly review it as an option. Thank you for your message and we hope that helps.
The Aviation Workshop Team
Posted: 2nd April, 2008
Nimrod Stencil Sheets
Jack Thomas asks I am interested to know when your Nimrod stencil sheets will be available?
Dear Jack, We have at least two sheets in the pipeline. One will focus on the R.1 variant and the other on the MR.2, and probably the MR.1 as well. We expect the sheets to be available within 2 months!
The Aviation Workshop Team
