Shuttle Tile Decals

There is a chap from England doing shuttle tile decals from photos that are outstanding.  You can locate him in Yahoo Group  Spacemodelers

Thank you, I'll give that a try, Magoo

I while back I purchased the Cutting Edge 1:144 Space Shuttle Orbiter Tile Patterns decal set and am finally getting around to applying them to my model. The instructions state they are recommended for the Minicraft kit, but could not in good conscience purchase a kit with such blatant inaccuracies in the shape of the nose cone...makes you wonder how accurate the rest of the model could be if the nose cone is so far from the real thing. Instead I have the Revell 1:144 shuttle with boosters kit, which has some issues, but at least looks more accurate in shape.

Unfortunately the Cutting Edge decals don't come very close to matching the lines of the Revell kit at all. My first attempt was on one of the inboard flaps and found significant overhang as the Revell kit must have smaller inboard flaps and larger outboard flaps than Minicraft's. Applying a liberal amount of MicroSol was not enough to even budge the over handing portions. A little push with a paintbrush and the edges snapped over breaking along the edges of the flap. I finally had to resort to using some Tamiya liquid cement to get a few sections to conform.

So far I am not totally happy with the decal set as it doesn't come close to fitting this kit and the ink appears so thick that decal solvent seems to have little effect on getting the decals to lay flat. They seem to adhere okay in flat areas, but even the gentile curves on the orbiter surfaces are too much for these decals. Additionally, the underside tiles seem far too light in color, so I may have to go back and spray paint over them again to darken them. The patter also leaves a bit to be desired, especially around the window areas as they don't seem to conform to the window masks and seem a bit inaccurate for the area anyway.

If you have this decal set (out of production now) I would be cautious about using it. The effect is rather cool from a distance, but with all the difficulties getting them to conform and inaccuracies in the patterns, I'm considering removing them and sticking with paint.

There is a guy on the ARCForums website, by the name of "Hotdog" that is working on a set of decals for the 1/144th Airfix shuttle that look outstanding.

Check out http://www.arcforums.com/forums/air/index.php?showtopic=278002

Mike

Good to know Mike! If the decals print out as well as the graphics, they do look very accurate. I've considered getting the Airfix kit since I hear it is more accurate...maybe to add to my collection of spacecraft after I finish what I've started.

I've been able to get the Cutting Edge decals to sit better with some Solvaset, but had a few wrinkles come up. I'll probably spray over them with some darker colors to tone them down and might make my own decals for the window and crown area.

I wonder if you could scan some pics of tiles and them make decals on blank decale paper?

Hi All, sorry for the delayed response. My laptop's hard drive failed and I now have to use my wife's computer. I should have asked a more detailed question. The decals and detail parts will be going on two 1/72 scale Revell shuttle models. I know these are large models but sheets would be better that painting the bottom then trying to decal each individual tile with its own identification numbers. Your comments are welcome, Andrew Magoo

Warbird decals just put out 1/72 tile decals for the REV.kit

There is an outfit called the Lake County Space Port that appears to sell shuttle decals. I have not communicated with them yet. It might be worth a look.