Other Decals... (Read 3,753 times)

Just got an email from squadron.com about their decal sale going on through Sunday, April 7th.  All Aeromaster, and Eagle Strike decals in stock are only $2.00 through the web only.  I checked, and the only F-106 set they have for $2.00 is Eagle Strike EP48206, Delta Darts Part II in 1/48 scale which has the mid-life, 3-point 318th FIS, and 159th FIS markings.  I've had this set for some time, and they are very nicely done.  Here's the link...

www.squadron.com/product-p/ep48206.htm

Those custom 456th FIS decals by Superscale are still available, but are $10.00 a set.  (They are nice!  I got a set when I heard about them here.)

www.squadron.com/product-p/ms481020.htm

Sadly, us in the 318th get screwed... it's 48206 (now sold out), the ES late-318th set, the old Expert's Choice long-OOP and never to be reprinted (Bare-Metal Foil is OUT of the decal business--I contacted 'em and asked, and they want nothing to do with decals beyond getting rid of the stock they have due to low demand), or the even OLDER and LONGER-OOP Fowler.

Who prints Eagle Strike? Maybe I should ask them if Late 318th is a candidate for rerun...


Edit by MOW: Attaching a 318th patch here just to test the Attachment function.

Ok, it worked.

]New guy here. My name is Norm Filer and I am the guy doing the artwork for the Draw Decals F-106 project.
I think the project should provide about everything any of you would want in the way of Delta Dart decals. As some of you may know, Draw decals are not printed in the "normal" silk screen process, but are printed on a very expensive printer. That means that there is no minimum quantity required for any particular decal. If only one is required it is put into the print list and if 10 are needed they are printed as required as well. What that means for us is that as long as somebody is willing to do the art work, we can have decals for anything we want. And usually in any scale as well.
Having said that, here is where I stand on this project.
All of the squadron emblems are done. At least they were until today when I started on the 329th FIS and ran into the emblem in the middle of the stripes on the fin. (that search continues).
I have completed left and right side view profiles up thru the 319th. As I am sure most of you are aware, they all seemed to change markings at least a couple times, so that means there are usually two or more profiles per squadron. That project continues.
The plan at this point is to do a "stock" sheet of all the common stuff. Then combine that with the sheet for each squadron. There is a constraint on page size, so at this point I don't know whether I will be able to get all the variations of a squadron on one sheet or not.  I am still seeking a few things like specific stencil stuff, but overall I am making good progress. I have been pretty much into this for about the last month.
When all the profiles are done I will start decal layouts. Since I do the profiles in 1/72nd scale, most of the markings needed for the decals are just copy and paste to the decal layout and it usually goes pretty quickly.
I don't really have a deadline as such. Greg at Draw Decals is easy to work with and has always been happy to get whatever gets done. I can assure you that all of the squadrons is NOT going to just appear all at once. I suspect they will show up one at a time and in squadron numerical order.
That means that some of the releases are going to be duplicates of stuff already out there, and some probably will be dogs as far as interesting markings. But since it doesn't cost anything but my time, why not do the whole works?
At this point I will say up front that most of the Bicentennial birds are currently not on my to do list. The Florida bird is mostly just paint and a whole bunch of stars, the 49th and 318th are a maybe, and the others are mostly just the Bicentennial pretzel on the nose.
OK, now here are a couple things I could use help on.
1. The 318th short lived four point compass scheme. The actual tail marking is pretty easy to figure out, but does anybody have a full airplane shot to tie a s/n and other markings to the tail marking? Both sides would be wonderful.
2. Anybody know what the shield on the tail band of the 329th bird is? I was at George from 1956-1960, but that was before the F-106 era and the emblem is new to me.
Norm
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Welcome to the forums Norm!

Please check out the squadron pages for some detail photos.  Click on the "Galleries" button on the top, left.

As far as the 318th markings go, that sure was fun to figure out.  If you go to that page (gallery) you will see a good -- albeit relatively short -- writeup on those markings as they were actually shared with the 498th FIS while both squadrons were assigned to the 325th FW.  Additionally, there are some pics on www.318fis.com such as this one of 59-0049 which shows the ADC insignia on the right side of the tail.  Very few actually carried the 318th insignia, but there is a good photo of 59-0051 showing it, so that may be a good choice as so not to confuse one with a 498th bird during the same time frame.

There is a great pic of 59-0106 in 329th FIS markings on that page.  (I personally believe that "106" would be an excellent tail number to use for a 329th FIS bird!)  The insignia in the RWB stripe is the 28th Air Division.  Easily seen in the pic here.

I noticed in your email to me a few of the drawings have the early-style, external tanks.  As I know of no one that makes those subsonic tanks for the Six in any scale -- and knowing that they were really only used to cross-county, sub-sonic flights -- I'm of the opinion that they just be left off the drawings.  Most photos of the time period actually do not show them being used at all, in fact.  (BTW, the early tanks used on the F-106 were NOT the same as the ones used on the F-102.  I see that mistake often.)

Anyway, LOVE your work!  Can't wait for the decals, and please keep us posted.  If you need any help, or a question answered you have come to the right place!

Mark

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Thanks for the welcome guys.
Mark, I looked thru the decal pages and was surprised at how many there are. As expected, most are 48th scale. Both the Monogram/Revell kits and the Hasegawa kit are antiques, but the Monogram kit is really a very nice kit. It appears that Trumpeter has both the A and B models in their sights, but the accuracy of their kits is always suspect and their release schedule is...well unpredictable at best. A lot of us dinky scale guys (seventytoothers) are hoping Meng will follow up the nice Deuce kits with the Six.
I have most of the 72nd decals, but have intentionally ignored all the previous artwork efforts. I am sure I will make plenty of errors on my own, I would rather not perpetuate somebody Else's.
So far I have found most of the stuff needed. It is amazing to me the amount of effort that has gone into this web site. Clearly are some very dedicated, hard working folks here.
Norm

Nice seeing that exercise mentioned, Mark!

Norm, if I might make a suggestion: Would you be open to doing a sheet for each squadron with just that squadron's tail/buzz/etc.-numbers as well? Not all of us are so great at cut-and-splice, and some folks have specific aircraft in mind to model, say aircraft that we personally or a friend or family member have ties to--for example, I'm planning a late 318th in 1/48 (will be giving it a whack on the Trumpy since my Revell I had started was stolen in a break-in), but someday I also want to do the entire 318th flightline ca. '68 in either 1/72 or if by some miracle an option develops 1/144.

Not to blow your request out of the water, but all markings are just a slice in time Snake.  (William Tell special schemes, for example)  Sometimes one has to get the masking tape out, mix your paint, and make your own markings.  (My son is great at that!)  As you know they also make generic "number" sheets that can come in handy.

Excellent work Norm.  (Email will follow.)

Mark O

Jim,
Thanks for the comments.
You may have already figured this out, but if you click on the small images attached it should take you to a bigger full screen image. I "think" I have the canopies correct for early and late birds. But I have been mired down in the various details for so long I very well could have missed one or two.
As Mark pointed out. Each of these is a snap shot it time. I always try to work from photos and finding good photos of each can be a challenge. There are times when I have made assumptions based on several photos. An example would be the placement of squadron emblems on the left side and ADC/TAC on the right side of the tails. I am seeing examples of squadron emblems on both sides, new and old ADC emblems, round and rectangular ADC emblems and then the same thing with ANG emblems. Figuring out what was on a specific A/C at the time of the photo is a crap shoot at best.
One of the things I have been lucky at is even figuring out what some emblems even are. the TAC/ADC and First Air Force emblems and the emblem in the middle of the stripe on the 329th bird are examples.
When you guys look at these I know you see markings that interest you, but you would like slightly different markings or different a/c. I see that too. As I research these I often see variations I like and would like to include. If the markings differences are significant I have tried to do those as a separate profile. But slight changes like s/n I have not done. The reasons are many, but usually I just don't have enough information about the whole a/c to feel comfortable doing it, or I suspect there isn't going to be enough room on the decal sheet to do it. What I do is file the note away and I will revisit that when the decal layout for that is in work. If alternatives can be done I will include them.
The B model is another story. Currently there is no kit and no known prospect of one in 72nd. A few of the B models had big stripes or something unique enough to make them worth doing. But with no kit there is no reason to do decals. Again, should the 48th Trumpeter kit show up later maybe a few decals for that would be a good idea.
Thanks guys for the comments. I printed them and will go back and look at each item.
Norm