1:32 Spitfire Mk.IX - stencils

Art Scale 1:32 Supermarine Spitfire Mk.IX decals: technical stencils

A sheet of waterslide decals in 1:32 scale for a kit of the British fighter aircraft Supermarine Spitfire Mk.IX. They are not national insignia or the personal markings of particular machines but technical stencils: the service captions that on the real aircraft were printed directly onto the skin. It is an accessory for a kit, not a model.

What the technical stencils are for

On the real aircraft they are the small instructions for the ground crew: the marks of the filler necks, the warnings by the gun bays, the captions of the access covers, the lines and the stencils bounding the places where it is allowed to step. They give a model its sense of scale and its credibility: it is precisely this small lettering that makes the difference between a smooth varnished surface and a surface that looks like a machine in service. In the large 1:32 scale they are moreover easy to read, so it pays not to leave them out.

Application tips

The base must be glossy and smooth. Cut the small stencils out individually and close to the lettering, otherwise the edges of the film are visible on a large model. Dip them briefly and use tweezers with soft jaws or a moistened brush. To seat them into the engraved lines and onto curved surfaces reach for a decal softener, and once dry soak the excess water up. Finally varnish with a matte or semi-gloss clear coat. The sheet can be combined with the markings from the box and with other sheets, as the technical stencils are common to the type.

Who the sheet is for

• Modelers who want to take the Spitfire up to the last detail.
• Builders using the decals from the box who lack the small service captions.
• Those interested in the large 1:32 scale, where the stencils are easy to see.
• Modelers building several Spitfire Mk.IX machines side by side.